.308 loads

Anyone ever try a 170 gr flat nose in a .308? It would be a for woods whitetail and normal ranges. Will be out of a 760 carbine. Sierra says they can be pushed up to 2600. I doubt I could get much more than that if I wanted too out of an 18” barrel. I have lots of bullet choices, but it’s a combination I would like to try. They have load data for the .307 Winchester that would be a good starting point. Any thoughts on this?

My .308 is a Mod 7 Remington stainless. Probably 15 years old. Couldn’t ask for better performance than 150 grain cup and core have delivered. Love it for shooting out of enclosed deer huts.

you never know when you might want to shoot a bit further. a bullet with a better ballistic coefficient than a flat nose can be had that will do the same job

P.S. with components hard to find dont be scared to load that bullet. It likely was designed for 30-30 velocities. i would not push the velocity

Why would you use an inferior bullet shape ?? I mean those stubbies are meant to be used in tube magazine as pointy bullets would get very noisy real quick in them. But that is why that bullet shape exists. If you want a bullet that holds together, Load partitions or similar. I have loaded Sierra classic hunters in a 30-06 just for squirts and giggles and they work okish but for hunting a use either partitions or TSX Barnes. Those Barnes TSX are pretty barrier blind if it comes to that.

No need to listen to all the nay sayers. If it is a bullet that you have available, go for it. I’m sure once you find an acceptable load that your gun shoots well the deer will not care what shape the lead projectile that hits it in the boiler room is. With practice, should be a hammer out to 300 maybe. Realistically, I can say a vast majority of whitetails taken are under 200 yards. I know, I know, “my cousins ex college roommate shot his deer at 950 yards” is coming. In reality, keep your shots to distances you’ve become comfortable with, and you will be happy I’m sure. I am not disparaging long distance shooters, just most don’t have the money or time needed to master that skill. Remember, countless thousands are harvested with a bow every year. Getting in close enough for a rifle isn’t all that hard as long as effort is put in prior to the hunt.

I haven’t used the 170 but have used the 150 and they worked just fine and I have no doubt the 170 would as well, yes there better bullets out there but I wouldn’t hesitate to use them if I had them and wanted to do so, why would I choose the 150 RN when there are so many better ones out there, well where I hunt the longest I can shoot is maybe 75/80 yards and at that range the 150RN will do anything a high performance high tec bullet will just fine, I know from experience and have a dozen deer, none of which went more the 50/60 feet. And most of which dropped on the spot to show for it

What are normal ranges? Any bullet under 100 will work provided to hit the spot. Not sure about flat nose as I’ve never shot any. As long as they hit where you’re aiming they would be fine if that’s all you got.

I shoot 165 Hornady behind Varget powder, same gun great combo, very accurate. I think that combo would be great.

Normal ranges in this area can be measured in feet to a 100 yards. This rifle wears a red dot, so it’s not a long range rig in any form. One of my favorite loads is a 150 gr round nose, not fancy. But they work very well. Just an idea that these might do just as well.

When you substitute stuff like bullets designed for low velocity 30-30 rifles into higher velocity 7.62 N.A.T.O. round rifles, you need to watch velocity. The bullet instead of expanding may just come apart if you do not. I feel pretty confident that on that box of flat nose bullets is 30-30 someplace.

Savage model 99 is a lever action chambered for the N.A.T.O. round but it has a rotary magazine so flat nose bullets are not required.

If you shoot a bullet designed for a 2200FPS muzzle velocity at 2800 FPS it may not hold together when it hits.

Ballistic coefficient is just another word for aerodynamic. A flat nose bullet loses velocity faster than a pointed bullet and so it drops more. Especially when loaded at a lower velocity to begin with.

You can make it work as a meat getter no question . No question it wont harm your rifle. Just be aware of what the bullet your using is designed to do and dont exceed that. You will also need to shoot a few to see where they are going to hit.

There is no shortage of .308 bullets available. Lots of vendors have 150 gr Sierra Gamekings and also Nosler 165 gr Accubonds. I would pick one of those instead of a flat nose bullet. The flat nose is a performance compromise to allow for tubular magizines. You have no reason to compromise in your rifle. You can probably make it work, but what's the point? (pun intended)

I have used a LOT of Varget in 18" to 24" .308 barrels and it is a very stable powder that provides good accuracy. It will easily get you close to 2,600 with a 170, if not a little past that. I'd suggest starting with Varget data for a 168 or 175 grain bullet. RE-15 is another great .308 powder, as are IMR-4895, IMR-4064 and several others.

You might find this helpful: http://www.shell-central.com/Powder1.html
You are absolutely right, and at 500 yards-plus the Spitzer shape is very important and as you get that far and further, a boattail also helps cut drag. In the woods, at typical woods ranges, even out to 200-250 yards, no one is going to notice.The OP said in his first post that the bullet manufacturer says this bullet is fine to 2,600, which is about what he will be getting AT THE MUZZLE. At 100 yards, velocity will be even less (about 1,900 fps).

Danny, I'm not targeting you, but using your posts because you make very clear points.

While the several comments throughout this thread that suggest that a spitzer shape is really important, please know that this is actually a long range consideration and parroting that info that doesn't apply to close ranges isn't helping. People making comments about drop difference are not 'wrong', but the OP simply isn't going see a big enough difference in his situation to matter.

Let's run some actual numbers and see what's REALLY going on. I am using my phone ap "Shooter", proven to work via daily use for 6 years with hundreds of rifles out to 1,200 yards and a sometimes times further than that:

Zero distance:100 yards
Muzzle Velocity: 2,600 FPS
Drop at 200 yards:
Sierra 168 Boattail Spitzer HP MatchKing: -2.0 MOA (4.1")
Sierra 170 FN ProHunter: -2.5 MOA (5.3")

1.2" difference at 200 yards - how close can you hold this rig at 200, anyway?

Now, lets go to 600 yards with the above conditions and the BC comments/points DO become valid:
168 SMK: 17.3 MOA (108.7")
170 FNP: 25.7 MOA ( 161.5")

Here, at 600, the flat nose exhibits 4-1/2 FEET more drop - yes, a definite advantage to the pointy bullet and all the discussion about bullet shape and BC begins to make sense and actually applies.

PLEASE- Don't believe me, go to any online ballistic calculator and PROVE TO YOURSELF that the BC isn't as important at woods hunting distances as people have been conditioned to believe.

Matt,go for it. It will work well for your particular rifle. If the 170 is a nosler partition, then all the better. Bullet placement and modest ranges like you described are fine. Again,go for it. Dead deer is a dead deer. It won't care.Sarge

This post is spot on, at the distances Matt said he would be shooting, a spitzer with a boat tail or a flat nose and base bullet, both will work fine. He's more limited in pin point accuracy by the red dot scope than bullet selection at that distance.

I would be more concerned about meat loss using a flat nose bullet at high velocities than accuracy. I like to eat as much as I can from the animal that I shoot.

I think you bullet choice is perfectly suitable for what you doing.

I won't get as complicated as E. Shell. I'm a hunter not a shooter.

I ran these #'s just to see:

Speer 170 gr FN (#2041)

Muzzle Velocity 2500fps

Point blank range of 204 yards with a 4" target . Sighted in at 1" high @ 50 yrds or 2" high@ 100 your choice

What else do you need for a woods rifle? Even at 250 yards a top of the back hold will give a center chest hit

170 grains should work fine, it is a great weight for a bullet, I use 170 in my 8x57 mauser and it performs well, I have used 180 grains in my ar 308 and it drops a moose where it stands. I would imagine that the 170 grains bullets would have the same effect on a deer.

I don't agree exactly with Mr Shell's analysis because it appears he is comparing flat base bullets to boat tail spitzers instead of flat nose bullets to spitzers. Regardless, comparison of the Sierra 170 gr flat nose (BC=.248) to the Sierra 165 gr spitzer (BC=.409) at 200 yds when zero'd at 100 and leaving the muzzle at 2600 yields exactly the same result he quoted - a 1.2" difference at 200 yds. It just seems to unnecessarily complicate matters when there are plenty of better choices than the flatnose 30-30 bullet available on the market.