Heavy Timber Rifle

[wmdurway]

Hi all,

First time posting here. I’ve been a fan of the content for quite some time and hopefully have some decent questions to share. I think I found the right forum group, but feel free to send me off to another chat if I’m in the wrong spot.

I applied for an elk tag this year and am interested at trying my hand at still hunting the heavy timber. I have a lite weight .308 Win that I am hoping is up to the challenge. I anticipate shots to be close (<100 yards) given the terrain, but may find myself on the edge of a meadow along the way. Max distance is 200-300 yards.

My question is specific to bullet type. I reload Barnes and have 150 TTSX, 168 TTSX, and 175 LRX to choose from. I know you should always push the mono’s as fast as possible, but would a bigger bullet be advantageous given the closer shots inside of heavy timber?

I haven’t chrono’d yet, but anticipated velocities using Varget are as follows:

150 TTSX - 2800-2850 fps
168 TTSX - 2650-2700 fps
175 LRX - 2550-2600 fps

The thought process again being a heavy bullet at close range carrying more umph than the lighter bullet, even at expense of velocity. Maybe wishful thinking in the mono-metals though. Alternatively, would a heavy for caliber bonded bullet (Accubond or A-Frame) be better suited?

Thanks for the time and look forward to hearing y’all’s thoughts.

 

[Hnthrdr]

Should work great. Fun/ frustrating way to hunt elk especially during rifle seasons, but it can work. I wouldn’t have any issue with using a .308. For timber hunting I’m more concerned with my optic, something low power, probably illuminated, with a wide fov that I can shoulder and shoot quickly. As far as bullets all of those will work well inside their optimal velocity which they all are. I personally like something more frangible eld-m/x but to each their own

 

[Corvus Corax]

If you are set on using monos in a .308 Win. Go with a lighter projectile to get the higher starting velocity to initiate expansion. BC isn’t a huge concern for the distances that you have mentioned.

 

[TaperPin]

Still hunting the timber is exciting. It uses all the senses, and all day you’re on alert and should have the rifle in hand. Once you get a feel for it, elk are pretty easy to find, just not always easy to shoot. Just remember if you’re jumping elk and don’t have time for a shot you should be going slower. The catch is you should be going fast until there’s fresh sign, then slow way down.

Monos penetrate a lot compared to anything else, so even the lighter ones are over penetrating anything else. The downside to that extra deep penetration is the smallish expanded diameter.

A 165 gr Partition works well in the 308 for close to moderate range. The front 1/3 fragments and the rear stays intact. Old design with a great reputation. That’s the bullet I use in a loaner 308 for elk and deer.

 

[wmdurway]

Thanks for the info and quick responses! I’ll send a range report. Part of the reasoning for the .308 is it’s lite weight and has a “lower” magnification scope on it. It wears 3-9x40 SFP leupold, but isn’t illuminated. I have a Vortex Strike Eagle 1-8 with illumination I considered throwing on it, but I don’t love the reticle.

 

[Koda_]

At the distances your hunting bullet weight wont matter, the monos will work excellent.

 

[deadwolf]

I’ll be in the process of working up a .308 load with the 168 TTSX, will keep tabs here on your results as well


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[sdupontjr]

Inside 100 yards, a stoked up 130 ttsx at over 3000 fps hits like lightening. Don't discount these either. velocity is your friend with these copper bullets.

 

[wmdurway]

I’ll be in the process of working up a .308 load with the 168 TTSX, will keep tabs here on your results as well


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Are you also using Varget? Barnes shows good velocities with CFE223 but I’m hesitant to switch with it not being as temp stable.

 

[AZ_Hunter]

Since you are hand loading and want monos, you can use some Hammer bullets instead of the Barnes for larger wound tracks. Any of the 130ish gr options would be my suggestion. Speed is your friend in this scenario.

 

[deadwolf]

Are you also using Varget? Barnes shows good velocities with CFE223 but I’m hesitant to switch with it not being as temp stable.

I’ve used Varget in my past .308 loads and have a bunch of it, that’s what I plan to use again. Waiting on a chassis before I get the rifle all together.

This rifle only has a 16.5” barrel, I may have to go with a lighter bullet than the 168. We will see


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[Castle Rock]

If you are hunting in heavy timber the last bullet you want to be using is a copper solid, a bullet that upsets fast and drops game in it’s tracks like a Nosler partition is what I would use

 

[deadwolf]

Everyone’s experience is different, and there’s a lot of guys in Alaska using TSX and TTSX for moose and bear. Those are typically had a closer ranges rather than further.


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[thinhorn_AK]

Go with the 130g ttsx if you’re going to shoot Barnes out of your 308.

 

[longrangelead]

my wife killed several elk from 100-350 with the 165SST, excellent performance on all of them.

 

[SloppyJ]

I think your rifle is fine. However i would have much more confidence in a partition than one of those monos. The 165 recommendation is great.

My 308 loves varget and 4064.

 

[TAArrowood]

I've tried them all (Barnes in 308).. At the distances you're talking about any of them will do the job.. try a few of each and let you're rifle tell you which one it likes best.. Pick the one that shoots the best in your setup... The one thing I've been told by Barnes is that the 168 grain TTSX and the LRX go through a slightly different annealing process and will perform slightly better at marginal velocities.. I can't prove that, but it did come from Barnes directly...

 

[A382DWDZQ]

For woods gun at shorter ranges, I’d even go 180TTSX or 200LRX. I think the advantage of the 168, which is one of my favorites is that you can download it quite a bit and still be pushing it plenty fast to get over the 1500fps minimum impact velocity. The 168 is also easy to load and was made for the 308. I don’t know the miv for the 200lrx, but 175lrx and 180ttsx are both also 1500.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

I think your rifle is fine. However i would have much more confidence in a partition than one of those monos. The 165 recommendation is great.

My 308 loves varget and 4064.

I’ve had good luck with the 165g accubonds in 308, it’s always been easy to make an accurate load with those bullets and some varget.

 

[Castle Rock]

For woods gun at shorter ranges, I’d even go 180TTSX or 200LRX. I think the advantage of the 168, which is one of my favorites is that you can download it quite a bit and still be pushing it plenty fast to get over the 1500fps minimum impact velocity. The 168 is also easy to load and was made for the 308. I don’t know the miv for the 200lrx, but 175lrx and 180ttsx are both also 1500.

You are living in fantasy land if you think you are going to get substantial wound channels from those bullets at 1500fps