.308 Deer Ammo

[dchum]

I used my new 308 bolt action for deer season this year for this first time. It has a 16” integrally suppressed barrel, so I get slower velocity due to the barrel really functioning ballistically like a 12” barrel due to the baffles in the last few inches. I used federal 175 gr terminal ascents with a muzzle velocity around 2200 fps. I was a little nervous with the reduced muzzle velocity but with this ammo it was awesome. These are bonded bullets designed to expand at lower velocity. Compact and quiet for blind hunting and absolutely devastating for close range shots.

Dang, that really speaks to the design on the terminal ascent then! That front still expands at way low speeds in your case.

You should also try a traditional cup and core out of that integrally suprised rifle and see how it acts, I’d be curious to hear the results from your 16inch

 

[Ndczerwinski]

Dang, that really speaks to the design on the terminal ascent then! That front still expands at way low speeds in your case.

You should also try a traditional cup and core out of that integrally suprised rifle and see how it acts, I’d be curious to hear the results from your 16inch

I dropped two deer with full pass thru with the Terminal Ascents. Both ran about 20 yards. Very happy with this setup. Was planning on trying 178 gr eldx as well because they shot very accurately.

 

[farmer_john]

Hi everyone, here in central Minnesota our slug/shotgun deer hunting zone will be opened up to rifles next year (2026). I have a suppressed .308 that I would like to use, does anyone have recommendations or experience with a good deer hunting ammo? I have not used this gun for hunting anything yet. I Googled searched some recommendations such as Winchester Deer Season XP 150 gr but was hoping for some real world recommendations. Most likely shots will be 200 yards max and realistically between 50-100 yards.

Anytbing in the 165 to 175 grain catagory will do great 175 goes alot farther better. But for avg hunting distances fimd something in that weight range youll be golden for almost anything

As far as bullets i love swift sirrocos. But realistically most hunting bullets and shapes will work for your prefered application

 

[Tex .416]

I used my new 308 bolt action for deer season this year for this first time. It has a 16” integrally suppressed barrel, so I get slower velocity due to the barrel really functioning ballistically like a 12” barrel due to the baffles in the last few inches. I used federal 175 gr terminal ascents with a muzzle velocity around 2200 fps. I was a little nervous with the reduced muzzle velocity but with this ammo it was awesome. These are bonded bullets designed to expand at lower velocity. Compact and quiet for blind hunting and absolutely devastating for close range shots.

That is the equivalent of a .300 Blackout. There are quite a few bullets designed specifically for the lower velocity of the Blackout such as the Barnes 110 and Lehigh Defense makes a few options.

 

[Wyatt Smith]

I agree with the others, use whatever soft point shoots best.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Hi everyone, here in central Minnesota our slug/shotgun deer hunting zone will be opened up to rifles next year (2026). I have a suppressed .308 that I would like to use, does anyone have recommendations or experience with a good deer hunting ammo? I have not used this gun for hunting anything yet. I Googled searched some recommendations such as Winchester Deer Season XP 150 gr but was hoping for some real world recommendations. Most likely shots will be 200 yards max and realistically between 50-100 yards.

@Schmidty
If you hand load then a 159gn SST and a healthy dose of varget or CFE 223 will give you 2,800-2,900fps and drop any deer that walks if you do your part.
Bob

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Agree. I’m a big fan of Hornady Whitetail ammo. I’ve used it with great success in 25-06 and 30-06 rifles. Plus you can still buy it at WalMart for less than $30 @ box.

@Bonk
I have never bought factory ammo for my son's 308 and load 150gn SST for it and he drops everything.
Lost deer he shot he took my 25 loaded with 115 gn combined technology Silver tips at 3,300+ fps as the area he was hunt the ranges stretch out a bit. One shot at 250-300 yards and down on the spot. He loves his 08 but has come to see the use and value of a good 25.
Bob

apparently that's how he found the deer after being hit with a fast 25. He was amazed
Bob

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

That is the equivalent of a .300 Blackout. There are quite a few bullets designed specifically for the lower velocity of the Blackout such as the Barnes 110 and Lehigh Defense makes a few options.

@Tex .416
A load my son has tried was the Hornady 190gn SubX and 12 grains of trail boss in his 308. Very accurate and 1,200fps.
Haven't tried it ingame yet but sub moa and good expansion so should work well out to a bit over 109yds
Bob

 

[Schmidty]

Thank you, everyone, for the feedback. Being mainly a bowhunter—and having grown up my entire life in a shotgun-only zone for deer firearms season—I have very little rifle experience. My gun evolution has been slow and pretty limited.
I started deer hunting at age 12 with a Remington 870 Express using the bird barrel with a single bead sight, shooting rifled slugs. From there, I moved up to a slug barrel with open sights shooting Hornady SST slugs, then eventually added a red dot, and later a scope. I upgraded again when the Savage 220s came out and have stuck with Hornady SSTs ever since. This setup has been a great deer combo, and I’ve never had any issues with it.
However, since I have a suppressed .308, I figured I would start hunting with that off and on, while still using the slug gun depending on the stand or location.
I also have a Kansas rifle deer hunt booked for 2029, so I’ll have a few years of real-world practice before that trip.

 

[Fatback]

I have never shot a 308 but I’ve shot lots of whitetail deer with other calibers and have had lots of success with Norma Whitetail and Hornady Interlock bullets in 25-06, 270, 7x57, 30-06 and 35 Whelen. All have been devastating on deer.

 

[JG26Irish_2]

I used 308 for years exclusively for my deer hunts with 165g Nosler BT's in my handloads with perfect results. A Hornady SST would be similar. More recently I took my 308 to Africa where I took 5 game animals using 180g Federal Fusion bonded core bullets in factory loads. Took little Duiker at 70y up to Gemsbok at 202y all with one shot kill results. My Impala was shot at 180y and being the closest in size to a deer, it ran about 40y and was down. DRT. Use a good bullet and place it well and you will have no trouble. My PH uses 308 for all PG hunting with his clients when they borrow his rifles. Mostly with SST ammo or whatever he has laying around. I like the Fusion, also Barnes TTSX, Hornady CX and Nosler AccuBond for this sort of hunting. See which one your rifle shoots best.

 

[Bonk]

@Bob Nelson 35Whelen I used only my 25-06 during the last 4 or 5 year's whitetail seasons. All were one shot kills out to 235yds using Hornady Whitetail 117gr. Sub MOA and an absolute death ray on deer. I’m a big 25-06 fan. Best whitetail deer cartridge on the planet IMO.

 

[Daisy]

I liked the tipped fusion line by federal. Their terminal ascent is too hard for deer.

 

[Wolfe375]

I love using Norma 150gr SP
S&B 180gr SP
Fiocchi 150gr PSP
Federal 150gr power-shoks
Every deer I have shot using these in a .308 dropped where they stood and I didn’t pay more than $18/box for any of them and they all grouped extremely well in every rifle used which had been a Remington 700 ADL, Mossberg Patriot Revere, M1A SOCOM and Remington 700 XCR.

 

[JG26Irish_2]

I liked the tipped fusion line by federal. Their terminal ascent is too hard for deer.

Same here. I used the Fusion tipped in my 7mm Mag last year on a big whitetail buck from about 125y. It was the 150g ammo if I recall correctly. I do not usually use the 7mm on deer as it is just more gun than is needed but I was auditioning the 7mm for a planned safari in Free State and wanted to get some field time with it. All, I can say is it is a hammer. The bonded bullet stays intact and dumps energy well but does not fragment so the exit wound is only about the size of a quarter but internally the vitals are just puddles of goo. You almost always get an exit wound and that leads to a decent blood trail but you also almost always do not have to track it very far.

I used a 338 RCM with a 225g SST this year on a deer (I was bear hunting at the time), and it did similar results even with the more frangible SST. I was pleasantly surprised with the good result.

 

[coreydb]

Close range hunting, I used 150 and 180 grain bullets in my .308 Win. Nothing special, just bread and butter cup and core lead bullets.

 

[MD Driver]

Well, smarter people figured this out way before I did. Berger "Hybrid Hunter".... wow, cool. Really accurate bullets that Berger is known for, and now they're being made for hunters! Lemme have 4 or 5 boxes of Federal ammo tipped with Berger beauties! Throw in some Berger bullets as well, and I'll reload some. So, reload, and the match bullets I already have seem to match the Hybrid Hunter bullets surprisingly well. In fact, everything matches exactly. Just some slick marketing to appeal to hunters, with match bullets whose terminal performance is just a mess of disintegration in the animal. They are definitely accurate, but WTH Berger? No idea how I missed all of this before dropping a load of cash in some Berger "hunting" ammo. Done with those clowns.

Scirocco II bullets from now on. And I couldn't be a happier idiot now.

 

[miksuv]

I have been using ELD-M for deer up to 500m with success. Great bullet, but not the greatest if you want to save ALL the meat. Another bullet i would cautiously recommend is the new Sako Blade Pro 162gr, only tested with one animal (Whitetail) but terminal performance was excellent.

 

[Trogon]

Federal Powershok (Blue box) 308 Winchester 150 grain PSP (sp) was used by several guys on our northern Kentucky wooded leases for 10+ years, where 100 yards was a long shot. This load, very accurate and reasonably priced, was not an emphatic killer. Most of these shots were behind the shoulder. I would have liked to see what the results would have been if into the shoulder.

 

[Safari Dave]

Unless your rifle won't shoot them accurately, there is no need to spend very much on .308 Winchester ammo for white-tailed deer.

Remington Core-Lokts, Winchester Power Points, and Federal Game Shocks (150-180g) will all work just fine.

(all are less than $30/box at WalMart)



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