I'm working on my christmas list and need some bullets to reload. I've always liked sierra matchkings but have never tried their gamekings. For a 15" pro hunter in 308 I was looking at either the 150 or 165 grain gamekings. What do you all think? What bullets and weights do you all like? I'm looking for a good bullet for deer.

Hornady 150 SST, Nolser BT in 150 & the good ole Hornady 150 gr SP flat base. I like the 150's in the 308

Check out Sierra's bullet descriptions. 30 cal Game Kings have pretty sturdy jackets, designed to expand well and remain intact at velocities produced by big 30 long guns. I've used them in my XP and can't confirm that they didn't expand since I've never recovered one. Maybe I never recovered one because they didn't expand and just zipped through.

I've used Sierra 150 gr Pro Hunters for years now and love them. The jackets are thinner than Game Kings and so far have worked perfectly at 2700 fps. I've recovered a few from deer and hogs. All expanded around 2x and none of the cores separated. One weighs 137 gr. They're flat based so they're a little shorter than their boat tail counterparts. In my experience with them, shorter equals more stability/accuracy. I'm of the opinion boat tails are wasted on 16" handguns. I doubt many of us will ever do any sniping at 800 yards with one.

I have to stop thinking with a rifle brain. Since the velocities are down from a rifle would a ballistic tip nosler or something explosive like that work better?

A chronograph is valuable, especially when loading rifle cartridges for handguns. Most times the actual velocity is not what the manual says it should be. My favorite 308 Win load is a 150 with 47 gr's of RL15. I get 2700 fps out of a 16.5" barrel.

As for bullet weight, after hours and hours of shooting and calculating with ballistic software, I'm convinced 150's have the advantage by a good margin in trajectory and energy when fired in short guns.

I'm also a big fan of 150's in .30 caliber handguns. My fave...the Hornady 150gr Interlock (flat base, lead tip). They do SUPER on deer.

I tried the 165-grain Sierra Boat-tails in my 309 JDJ @ 2400fps. They shot fine but at that velocity they didn’t perform as well as the 165-grain Nosler Ballistic Tip. I took a doe with the Sierra and it punched right through her. However the exit wound was not as big as the ones I get with the Ballistic tip. Your 308 should produce about the same velocities.

What would you all say about all the major ammo companies basic ammo like winchester power point and federal soft point? I was just looking and they are half the price per box, and I remember hearing the companies didn't make much money off these loads. They make their money on their higher end stuff. I noticed their BC's are lower and lose more velocity at distance, so I thought that would probably show up more in a pistol starting with slower velocity. I guess it's better to use the higher end.

Is the Hornady Interlock in the same class as the power point and federal soft point which I'm guessing is a speer bullet? Can you buy the Interlock preloaded?

Hornady use to make a 130gr. .308 bullet made for single shot pistols. I used it in a 308Win. Encore. It was very accurate and worked very well. They have discontinued this bullet, but Sierra makes a 125gr. pro-hunter bullet that has gotten great reviews. I understand people not wanting to use light for caliber bullets in rifles or magnum velocity rounds, but a .308 in a pistol has a little less velocity, so a heavy duty bullet is not really needed. Of course this is just my opinion, everyone has their own, that's why we have so many choices.

I don't have the correct answers to any of your questions...sorry.

As for the premium factory loads you mentioned in an earlier post...my suggestion...try them but shoot what works best in your gun. I tried a box of Federal Premium loads from a Striker .243 several years ago and the bullets keyholed at 100yds.

At half the price per box...and if the only accuracy diff is .5" at 100yds...I can tell you that I'd be shooting the cheaper stuff. Half the price means twice the amount of shooting you can do.

rigger...I also shot a LOT of 130gr bullets from my .30 cal handguns...32-20, 30 Herrett, 30-30 and 30-30AI. Once they get above the .308 level of performance though I jump to the .150gr offerings.

I have used 150 Nosler ballistic tips in my 300 Savage 14" TC. I'll have to try the Sierra prohunters next time