I shot a bison with a .308

I thought I'd throw this out to the internet.

Rifle: Ruger M77 Mark II All-Weather, Stainless
Caliber: .308
Powder: 41.1 grains IMR 4064
Primer: Winchester Rifle
Brass: PMU
Bullet: Barnes 168 grain TTSX

I sure have shot a lot of critters with this gun, had it 20 years. I got invited to go on a bison hunt a few months ago. I wanted to pick up a .300 win mag, just didn't come to fruition. I'm pretty happy how things turned out. I shot a 2 year old bull (oldest animal I could harvest). Probably weighed 800 lbs or so, got 300lbs of meat.

I took a 270 yard shot from a prone position. The bullet hit the front quarter, broke the humerus in half, hit a rib, went through both lungs, broke another rib, and was lodged in the far front quarter. No bone contact in the far front quarter. I need to shoot through a chronograph, however with an educated guess of 2700 fps at the muzzle, the bullet should have traveled around 2100 fps upon impact.

After I got home I weighed the bullet, 166.7 grains. I think Barnes bullets are pretty great.

.308 is my favorite deer caliber...glad to see it worked so well and you certainly got your money's worth out of that bullet - thanks for the pics!

Very cool, Congratulations.

When I was looking for a elk rifle I did a lot of research and I noticed the 308 got a lot of respect I mean a lot over other bullets I was surprised.

This is what barnes bullets are for. The bullets are designed well. Surprised that it did not pass through but glad I got to see it. I know what I will be using for my next big game hunt. They are accurate and hit like the hammer of Thor! I have shot them but was a little unsure on how they would expand at 300 yards. I now know what to expect.

My wife killed her cow elk this year with her .308 . She used 150 grain corlots and it took 5 steps and tipped over. All my kids shot it when they started hunting and i pack that rifle quite often myself.

Looks like some good eating ahead!!

This is why I like Barnes bullets, great choice.
Probably wouldn't have had nearly the same results with a typical soft point.

Congrats! The TSX & TTSX are TOUGH bullets meany for penetration!

.308 is probably one of the best rifle calibers.

Congrats on your buffalo......how much meat did you get from it?

When you get access to a chronograph let us know what the velocity reads. I think 2700fps might be a little high estimate, but it doesn't make any difference in real life, terminal performance is what counts. I had a load years ago for my brothers 7mm-08. Chronographed at 2625, 145gr Speer flat base spritzer. He shot a good size mule deer buck running away at approximately 100-125 yds. Entered right rear quarter. We found it under the hide on the front left shoulder.

Buddy of mine from Main says that his whole family uses the .308 for their moose hunting up there.

That particular Ruger is probably the most beautiful non-tactical gun ever created by human beings! We have one chambered in a .243. I would drop everything to get one in a .308. Nothing beats a .308 IMO.

Sweet experience! That sounds like a blast!

I have the 77 in .243 also.Its a tack driver.I too would like it in .308.

Congratulations on getting a buffalo. Just remember when cooking it med rare is plenty much beyond that and they can be tough and chewy.

thrstyunderwater - What kind of scope are you using on that Ruger?

Congrats. That's one animal I want to hunt and is my favorite meat. I love .308's. I've had mine almost 30 years now and it still performs excellent. Lots of deer and elk taken with it.

X2 Allan

The 3.08 has been a favorite for the military in the M-14 (M21 now), because of its cost and ability to reach out.

That's what a lot of us qualified on at Fort Knox in 1966. Up to 400 yards was the distance. Starting at 100 yds., 200yds., 300 yds. and 400.

Mind you with a rear peep sight!!

Congrats! You need a Body shot of the Animal!

thanks for sharing-that bullet weight retention is incredible

WOW! Hammered him!

Chris

Never been on a buffalo hunt. Are they found in the wild? If so is it legal to take a wild buffalo?

Any pictures of the trophy, hero shots?

Right on. More evidence you don’t need a cannon to get the job done. Good job.

I first used the 308 in 1965 in the Army. We shot up to 400 yards and I was impressed enough so I said when I got home I was going to have one. Bought one used in 69 and have used it every year since. Took a moose with it at 200 yards , ywo steps and was down. I would have no trouble using it on anything in North America.

About 300 lbs. That includes rib bones and liver/heart.



I had a Leupold Vari-X II 3x9x40 for years while I grew up in Missouri. Plenty for Missouri whitetail, Alaska black bear, and Hawaii pigs. Then I got to Utah and realized Kentucky windage only gets you so far. I but a Burris E1 4.5x14 with a long range MOA reticle on it. I like it a lot

https://www.burrisoptics.com/scopes...ries/fullfield-e1-riflescope-4.5-14x42mm



Depends on your definition of wild. Utah, Montana, Wyoming, and Arizona offer some hunts. This was on a ranch.

thanks for the share of your hunt under. enjoyed it. t-man rocks again.

Barnes triple shock bullets are good bullets, just aren't as good BC as many others on the market, I have 2 .308 caliber 168 grain bullets recovered out of my wife's bull bison, 1 was full weight as loaded, the other broke some major bone and broke off the 4 points, her bull was over 2000 pounds live weight, 968 pounds hanging weight, and right at 600 pounds meat.

308 is also good that it is in the power range where professionals get about 1000 rounds out of a barrel before it loses its accuracy. More powerfull loads dramatically reduce barrel life down to about 400 rounds.

LOVE BARNES

What .308 cal bullets do you prefer? I know you're an avid long distance hunter. What bullets did your wife use?

Beautiful bison. I don't know about anyone else, but I am jealous of that dry ground. Have you sampled the meat?

Pat, If I remember correctly Cattrax wife was shooting his 300 Win Mag. He likes the Barnes as he and I have discussed the performance and penetration you get shot after shot with them. Tom has been shooting the 26 Nosler with the Berger VLD Hunting Bullets on elk with some incredible shots and quick dispatch.

I have smoked some darn huge boar hogs with the Barnes 53 grain and 62 grain pills out of my 22-250 and .223. The longest shot was with the 250 at just over 500 yards. He dropped like a ton of bricks. I did get an exit too.

I enjoyed our reloading conversations all summer and early fall. Darn happy for you and the critters you harvested this year with your current setups. Job well done my friend.

and cartridges...………....caliber is bullet diameter, I'm thinking.

I knew a family of 5 when I lived in Idaho and each shot a 308 Win and each took elk and muley and antelope every year...…......Great Cartridge!

that info is in the back of a Hornady book, or at least it used to be

Pat she used the tipped triple shock 168 grain Barnes, out of her 30-06, it was a touch over 100 yards I believe, we found 2 of them when processing him. I like the Berger bullets for long range stuff, tried some others that were supposed to be long range, they flew well, but they didn't open up at long range like the Bergers do, a couple only pin holes critters, every Berger I used expanded great, the Barnes just don't have the BC to carry like the Bergers, but I like how well the Barnes bullets work though at closer ranges.

It's absolutely remarkable.



Thanks a bunch David, I really appreciate your advice!




Traprjohn, you have great advice too! I don't own a Hornady book, I generated those numbers from ballisticapp.

I bought my first center fire rifle when I was 13 (ok, I gave my money to my dad who handed it to his friend). It was a .30-06 in a Win 670. Bit of kick for a 145-150 lb kid. Shot my first deer with it when I was a senior in hs (deer tags in my part of SD were a lot harder to get then). My bro finishe dup his first stint in the Army in 1979 and came home with a pile of spent military .308 and a basic reloading die. I bought my first .308 when I was 19 and have shot one ever since.

At the time, a .308 was fairly uncommon as a deer/antelope rifle in SD. That scene was dominated by .30-06, .270, and .243. The .30-06 crowd always used to say, "well, my cartirdge can shoot 300 fps faster than ours so it must be better." Bro and me went to a lighter bullet to get more speed and started off with a 110 grain hollow point (don't judge me, just telling the history of nearly 35+ years ago). The 110 was extremely accurate and killed deer and antelope but it was also messy and I got tired of cutting away more blood shot meat than I probably needed to so I went to a 125 grain load (first Speer, and now Nosler). That load and speed (I figure about 2900 fps with my powder load but never actually tested) has been plenty big for any deer and antelope in this state. I've never shot anything big, such as you did, but I think with patience for the right placement and the right load (such as your Barnes 168), that round can bring down big stuff.

Nice action!! Enjoy the good eats!!!

Great bison ,should keep you eating well for awhile! Just to echo you don’t need a cannon to anchor these critters. My daughter took a large cow Bison with a marlin1894p 44 mag with 250 cast handloads. Shot through the ribs ,spun, another almost touching shot a half dozen steps and down for the count.

Very nice picture, well done!

Cool deal. Thanks for the write up and specifics on your setup. 300 pounds of meat should give you plenty of fodder for trying new recipes.

For general purpose hunting inside 500-600 yards I love the .308 TTSX. I launch 180s from my Ruger All-Weather .300 at 2975 mv and have zero complaints on performance the last several years I have been using them. I just try to keep impact velocity over 2000 fps (which for my rifle is almost 600 yards) and have never had a problem with terminal performance with game harvested from 75-465 yards. I did recover one out of bull elk I killed in 2017. Picture perfect mushroom and with a little blood and hair it was right at 180 grains, essentially 100% weight retention minus the pretty blue tip. It was under the hide on the offside from a broadside shot through the ribs and the impact would have been around 300 yards and close to 2450 fps. Pretty shocked it didn't exit.

I have not recovered any others out of deer, bear, or several other elk. One bull had been hit but we weren't sure how well so I took a going away follow up shot that entered above the bulls hip and traveled the length of the animal. When we quartered it (gutless method), there was bloodshot meet clear up near his neck. That is a lot of penetration and the bull went down quick with that shot. I honestly don't know if it exited as it was dark, we had two bulls down and I wasn't interested in a necropsy

My kids have killed a pile of stuff with the little 85 TSX in a couple different .243s. Not a long range bullet at all but plenty adequate for big game inside 250-300 yards depending on your muzzle velocity. My kids shoot stubby little youth rifles and just can't squeak many fps out of them. It has proven to be a very fur friendly bullet as well with solid chest hits.

Again, nice job and thanks for the details on your setup and the hunt!

I'm definitely going to try some new recipes.

I was of the impression as long as the bullet was over 1800 fps a Barnes bullet would open. Do you use 2000 to be on the safe side?

I'm wanting to work up a load for my 22-250 using a 52 grain Barnes TSX. Wanting to use it on Missouri whitetail and coyotes. I imagine for coyotes there will always be two holes, just curious how big that second hole will average.

Great job... what state did you hunt in?

How much of an education I get from Trapperman!

Thanks folks

For all the euphoria for the 308 and other light cartridges on buffalo, the buffalo listed were not adult males and the other was a female. The bullets utilized and loads were specially put together and none of them went through a ball joint. The Barnes is designed for shots that end up in leg bones, but in the dynamics of shooting, a fraction of an inch either side could have deflected this bullet to areas which were non lethal.
These same loads on mature bull buffalo may have resulted in a broken leg, little lung damage and running after a buffalo all day filling it with lead.
I have been on buffalo hunts and studied their effects. While category observations are not the end all, I have seen a 30.06 put down a cow and she was still quivering while a 7 mm mag put down a cow and she did not move. The factors there are bullet placement, bullet and energy transfer. I have witnessed a 300 magnum put down a bull buffalo which then had an idiot blazing away at the dying animal with a Colt 45 to finish it off.
People get blinders on when it comes to reading about bullet loads. They see 308 and they think a Russian or a Remington PSP will suffice, when it will not. I still prefer big heavy wads of lead moving slow. I am planning a future hunt with an 1874 Remington Rolling Block in the 12.7 Swedish cartridge based on the 50 70. I still want to acquire the 9.3 German that Osa Johnson used in her exploits in Africa shooting lions. That is a beautiful hunting cartridge for heavy game with moderate recoil.
I focus on the reality of guns and loads because as a child I believed all the gun articles in how the 243 Winchester was a deer killer. I was using Winchester 100 PSP on a mature 4 point (western count) and I messed up the first shot. The shots that followed, one blew up on the shoulder, and the only shot presented last was the Texas Jugular which failed to penetrate to the spine. I loved that 243 as it was in a 600 Remington Mohawk and it was a tack driver out to 400 yards, but with factory loads of the time it was not a mature northern whitetail load.
I am pleased the gun and load turned out, but for those who read 308 and their next mantra is the 308 is a buffalo killing machine to all of their friends children, remember those were designed loads and not more affordable deer hunting loads on small deer.
And no I am not of the 308 fan club, because I am of the era when the 308 was still NATO, was poorly loaded and had problems even with deer as numbers of hunters discovered. The 308 becoming a versatile light hunting load for large game is recent as is the 9 mm finally having acceptable bullets placed into it.

To say a .308 with a 150 plus grain bullet is a "light load", is a stretch. Yes bullets matter, but the .308 is not a light load. A .243 is a light load, a .223 is a light load, a 110 grain from a 30 06 is a light load.


A .308 is sufficient and then some for most any game animal in North America, excepting maybe the dangerous bears.

I used 2000 to be safe. Probably fine at 1800, especially with a TTSX, but too many stories of monos penciling through so I try to hedge my bet. With the .300 it is never really an issue at the ranges I typically target game. Would be with a .308.

Be sure you have an adequate twist on your .22-250 to stabilize the 52 TSX. Can't speak for exits with that bullet but broadside coyotes shot with an 85 TSX tend to give caliber size entrance and quarter size exits. Usually nice, round and easy to sew up. Not like some of the train wrecks I see with varmint bullets that were "supposed" to stay inside the carcass. Like anything, stay out of the neck, spine and big bones and you will be a lot happier with the result. I have some 45 TSX loaded for my wife's .22-250 but never have tested them on fur yet.

Pat, on the coyotes with the 22-250 and the 53 grain TSX, exit about the size of a dime

Thanks, that's pretty manageable. Sounds like a good whitetail/coyote load. I've never met a deer that did well with dime sized holes in the vitals.

I appreciate the countering opinion. I would counter the bullet very much broke through the bone (humerus) and kept going. Couldn't any bullet of any diameter/make glace off a bone and then not be lethal?

It will liquefy a deer or hogs lungs before it exits. Wicked caliber.