Short barrel 308 factory ammo suggestions

Due to being overrun by reponse for a second hand Lefty 308 and not being able to decide which to choose I have bitten the bullet ;) and ordered a new Tikka in 308.
It's getting the chop down to around 16 inch and a dpt overbarrel can.
Any suggestions from you fine knowledgeable gentleman regarding factory ammo for such an animal.
I realize that most here reload but hoped maybe someone had any experience with factory rounds and could perhaps recommend something to try ... and save me having to buy heaps to find one that works....

If you hadn't guessed going for the bushpig thing shooting maybe 250 mtrs max but mostly closer bush ranges.

180grn winchester power points will take care of the sub hundy work....and you will LOVE them..... the recoil shove is LESS than the same in 150s...and terminally they are awesome....
plenty of options for a 100-250yard round...you could do lots worse than federal blue box in 150grn

Used to load 160 ftx with 40gns 2208 in 308 /307 brass for a 16 no4 7.62 for my old mate he shot at least 100 deer out to 250 and reckoned the were brilliant must have been the xtra speed over 33/30 I shoot in 308 with 44 grns and they shoot 1 1/2 but me more than the gun .

I wont recommend $3 a pop hornady after seeing flattened and popped primers from 150grn .308 4-5 out of 40 and holy shit did they boot..... brand new sako rifle being fed that hot of load is borderline criminal....no rhyme nor reason why the 40 loads shouldve been so different either....put me right off EVER trying that brand again.

The 45/70 loves the hornady ftx leverevolution ammo but strangely the 30/30 and 357 don't at all.
Was using the winchester and remington corlokd in the 7mm08 and they were ok but not the smallest of groups but did the job hunting.

Oh...deer pigs n goats....got the 45/70 for bunnies ;)

Belmont 130gr or superperformance seem to be most popular I hear. Personally reload but have heard good things about both from folks with "bushpigs".

I was loading 130gr ttsx for my 14.5” .308, but now I’m shooting sako 165gr gamehead pro. Very accurate out to 500yards for me.


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Sako have made a 150gr now for their softpoint variety. Unsure where you can get it but will be on the cheaper side and should shoot good from your tikka

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Originally Posted by mimms2

Well. You're going to have to try a few. Or play the reloading game.
But yeah. start https://belmontammo.co.nz/product/be...-130gr-hp-250/

Anything 123gn-155 will do. You wont be eating much of a goat shot with 308. Meat be bruised from neck to arsehole

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Yeah...had that problem with goats with the 7 08 . Why I went to an ar but the kids or missus hopefully will use their smaller calibres for them for meat retention. But being those will be close ranges if with 308 I will neck shoot, should save the meat.

Federal powershok 150g and Belmont both go very well in my 16.5" barrel

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Originally Posted by AP13

Federal powershok 150g and Belmont both go very well in my 16.5" barrel

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Thanks @AP13 , that's great to know. It sounds like the belmont is popping up alot so might have to give them a go first.

I use sst superformance in my shorty 308 and it goes good 0.7 moa at 200m on the only time I've shot that far with it at targets. Shot animals between 10m and 230m with it and they died so good enough for me. Does do a lot of damage tho so not much of a meat saver if shoulder shooting

I used, and suggest you try the Hornady match loads with the 168gr ELD-M. The reason I suggest that is, due the lowered speeds out of a short .308 you want a projectile that will open up for you and create good wounding through fragmentation. They reliable kill down to 1600fps, and I have happily used them on reds at 2700fps impact velocity. You can happily shoot that bullet at any game at expect good results.
They won’t be going fast, but sighted 3” high at a hundred, you should be no more than 3” low out to about 260yds.

I have found the conventional hunting bullets a bit tough as the velocity decreases.

Allrigh then, factory ammo I have used a lot with good results on game from 22" out to 350-400ymax.
Federal blue box 150gr...just works from the end of your muzzel to 400y in a full lenght barrel if a little messy at bush ranges.
I think the reduced velocity of a shorter barrel would actually make it better if you cut max range down to 300y or so.
Belmont 130gr hollowpoint....fantastic accuraccy out of every 308 I have put it threw.....it is a very frangible projectile with not a lot of sd but picking shots neck or lung it is very effective.....once again I think with the reduced velocity of the shorter barrel I think it would be great at reduced ranges.

from my digging it would appear 2500-2600 fps muzzle velocity even from factory ammo should be realistic which for a bush rifle at shorter ranges should be plenty. It will be my rifle for bush with ....maybe.... the possibility of shooting across a gully out to a longer range. If I know I will be shooting further I take the big boy gun but would like the option of shooting further with a bush rifle and not so confident with the 45 at longer ranges as it is fitted with a pistol dot sight to keep the weight down and just finding it to loud with the family around and where we have been hunting doc lately is popular with trampers would rather not give them a heart attack when that cannon goes off. Really need supressed.
I doubt would rarely be shot out past 100m.

@mimms2 just thinking of the last few reds I shot with it neck shot a yearling and its head was only holding on by a bit of skin and shot a hind quartering away behind the shoulder on the right and it blew a bunch of ribs apart and just about blew up the left shoulder. I would've thought they would just go straight through birds without much reaction from the projectile just due to the light frame but have only shot deer with them so no experience

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Originally Posted by piwakawaka

I use sst superformance in my shorty 308 and it goes good 0.7 moa at 200m on the only time I've shot that far with it at targets. Shot animals between 10m and 230m with it and they died so good enough for me. Does do a lot of damage tho so not much of a meat saver if shoulder shooting

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I personally would rather do a bit of extra meat damage and have the animal drop asap rather than minimal meat damage and have it run off through tight bush never to be seen again and lose the whole thing...

That's the same thought process I have. Rather lose 5kg of meat then 40kg. Most of the time I neck shoot anyway so dont lose much doing that anyway

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Originally Posted by piwakawaka

That's the same thought process I have. Rather lose 5kg of meat then 40kg. Most of the time I neck shoot anyway so dont lose much doing that anyway

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better chance of bang - flop that way too

My mate just uses the Winchester 180gn in his 16” 308. Or as VC says, federal 150gn blue box will do the job.

Outdoorlad...your mate has good taste......those 180s are the ducks nuts for sub hundy deer work.....

My last 3 reds shot with Superformance 150grn out of a 22inch barrel. 2 at about 200m and 1 at around 100m.
All didn't go further than 5m from impact. All hilar shots.

If that's any help.

It’s really a matter of trying some different ammo to see if it groups in your rifle. Federal Fusion, Hornady whitetail, or any other middle of the road soft points of 150gr-165gr are worth a try. I’ve used Hornady superformance 150sst a lot but I’m currently using Precision Hunter. This is very high quality ammo that will group well in most rifles but it ain’t cheap. Shot my first animal with this stuff last weekend, and while a yearling red at 200yd isn’t much of a test, it certainly did the business

So your going to cut down a 308 to 16 inches........... What am I missing here?

Just use your 30-30, thats what you will have anyway after you cut it down.

Mate , I know what you're saying. My boy uses the 30/30 and now he has been officially licenced he goes off in a different direction to me now so we can cover more ground and my daughter comes with me ( she's my shadow) hence the reason for another rifle. She shoots her supressed 357 for the smaller animals like goats or small pigs and I am only there for backup but anything bigger than that and I do the shooting.