question about hunting

[.308owner]

Hi,i am a new member to the forum and jus wanna ask this question.I have hunted deer b4 and last season shot a deer at  maybe 500yds. but it was with a .338 win mag.I recently got a savage madel 12fv in .308.Will the .308 with the light magnum bullets do the job?well get back to me plz.
thanks

[longwinters]

I do not think it would be a good choice over 300 yds.  But some may disagree.

[Ron T.]

I agree with LongWintersÂ…

The .308 Winchester will kill deer well beyond 500 yards IFÂ… IFÂ… IF you can place the bullet in exactly the right place.  But thatÂ’s a BIG “IF”!!!

In reality, the .308 Win. is an excellent 250-300 yard deer rifle… and, frankly, I feel that few hunters should attempt shots beyond 250 to 300 yards because I believe that most hunters and MOST hunting rifles are NOT capable of hitting the “kill zone” on a deer beyond those ranges.

I wonÂ’t attempt a shot over 250 yards with my Savage Model 99 in .300 Savage which is, incidentally, the cartridge from which the .308 Winchester was developed.  This fine lever action rifle regularly shoots 3-shot groups of about 3/4th of an inch @ 100 yards.

“Point-blank-range” is the range from the rifle’s muzzle out to a range at which the bullet is never more than 3-inches ABOVE or BELOW the line-of-sight from the rifle’s muzzle to the target.

The .308 WinchesterÂ’s “point-blank-range” using a 150 grain bullet fired at a muzzle velocity of 2800 fps is approximately 275 yards where it is 2.99 inches low.  It is 3.0 inches high at 130 yards.  

Total bullet drop at 500 yards would be 73.93 inches (that's over 6 feet) with a remaining bullet velocity of only 1829 fps and a bullet energy of only 1115 ft/lbs… barely qualifying as having the “minimum bullet energy” needed (1,000 ft/lbs.) to cleanly kill a deer.

Something to think about the next time you “line up” a deer.


Strength & HonorÂ…

Ron T.

[Lawdog]

.308owner,

First, let me welcome you to the forum.     Hope you come back often and add your thoughts to the rest of ours.  Now to your question, as stated by "Ron T." sure it will take deer at that range but are you capable of doing so regularly?  Also make sure you use a good bullet/load combination as even a good hit with a wrong bullet would mean a wounded deer.  Remember the main word for this type of shooting is PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE.  Lawdog