Right ammo for 116 LWH .308

[David C.]

Merry Christmas, just bought the new 116 LWH in .308 and I've never been more broke before and I need start saving up for a hunting trip on a neighbor island in march so I'm looking to see if anyone has this model already and knows what kind of ammo this gun likes. I also looked up that the 116 trophy hunter likes remington core lokt 150grain and hornady white tail 150grain. These two rifles in .308 I'm guessing and correct me if I'm wrong, basically have the same barrels on them only difference is 2" so should I go for these first?
If anyone has any advice it would be greatly appreciated!

[jfksc]

No way to really know without shooting some ammo first. One guys rifle may like a certain type and another guy with the same exact rifle may get his to shoot better with another type. That said, Hornady white tail tends to be a good starting point. My rifle and a few other friends rifles love it. If looking for a dedicated hunting round Barnes vor-tx is another option. Good for larger game and can be very accurate. Nothing shoots better out my 110 in 270.

[390fe]

Savage's Light Weight Hunter has a twist rate of 1:10 for the .308 if I'm not mistaken. If that is true, then your barrel should stabilize bullets in the 165-190 weight class well.

I think 180 grain Sierra GameKings are an excellent choice for that twist rate - they shoot very well for me in my 1:10 twist Savage. For tougher game than Iowa whitetail deer, you can also look at Barnes' 180 grain TSX or TTSX bullets, Hornady's 180 grain Interbond, Hornady's new 178 grain ELD-X bullet, the Nosler 180 Accubond, all good choices for the reloader.

If you don't reload and can find any of those bullets in commercially loaded ammo near where you live, those would be my first choices.

My Savage .243 loves Remington Core-Lokt, my .308 did not.

My advise is to try as many different loading as you can find, and afford.

Whatever bullet you pick, when doing your load testing, give your skinny barrel plenty of time to cool or your accuracy potential goes down the drain.

Good luck!

[David C.]

thanks for the info