Swift Scirocco II 308 Win 150gr – Great All Around Ammo

Description

If you had to pick one rifle cartridge to cover North American hunting without leaving the short action, the 308 Winchester would be a defensible choice. The Swift Scirocco II 308 Win 150gr is the version of that cartridge with nothing left on the table. A bonded 150 grain Scirocco II at 2856 feet per second is mild to shoot, easy to hit with, and far tougher on impact than the plain soft points most 308 hunters grew up on.

• The case for 150 grains in a 308
• Full specifications
• Deer, hogs and black bear
• Honest notes before you buy
• Why the 308 remains easy to live with
• The bottom line

The case for 150 grains in a 308

The 308 Winchester runs 150, 165 and 180 grain bullets well, and hunters argue about which is best every season. The honest answer is that 150 grains gives you the flattest trajectory and the least recoil, which for deer sized game is usually the right trade. The Swift Scirocco II 308 Win 150gr pushes that weight fast enough to matter while staying comfortable from field positions.

Where the 150 grain weight historically fell short was penetration on bigger animals, because light bullets at 308 velocities often expanded too fast and stopped short. Bonding changes that calculation. The Swift Scirocco II 308 Win 150gr typically retains the great majority of its weight, so a 150 grain bullet now penetrates like a heavier one used to.

Full specifications

• Caliber: 308 Winchester
• Bullet weight: 150 grain
• Bullet: Scirocco II bonded polymer tip boat tail
• Muzzle velocity: 2856 fps
• Muzzle energy: 2717 ft-lbs
• Ballistic coefficient (G1): 0.430
• Case: reloadable boxer primed brass
• Quantity: 20 rounds per box
• Part number: SB10048

A 0.430 ballistic coefficient is respectable for a 150 grain 30 caliber bullet and it is the reason the Swift Scirocco II 308 Win 150gr does not fall apart in wind the way a flat base soft point of the same weight would. It will not compete with a heavy match bullet past 600 yards, but inside normal hunting distance it holds its own comfortably.

Deer, hogs and black bear

This load covers an enormous amount of North American hunting. Whitetails and mule deer are squarely in the middle of what it does best, hogs are well handled by the bonded core when a shoulder shield is involved, and black bear inside 250 yards is entirely reasonable. The Swift Scirocco II 308 Win 150gr is the sort of ammunition you buy once and use for years across several kinds of hunts.

Zero two inches high at 100 yards and the Swift Scirocco II 308 Win 150gr stays within a few inches of point of aim out past 250. That is a simple, forgiving setup for a woods or field rifle, and it means you can take a shot without doing arithmetic first. Most 308 hunting happens well inside that window anyway.

Honest notes before you buy

Premium ammunition costs premium money and this is no exception. Buy a case of inexpensive 150 grain ball for practice, confirm your zero with a few rounds of the Swift Scirocco II 308 Win 150gr before the season, and hunt with the rest of the box. Almost nobody needs twenty rounds of bonded ammunition in a single season.

Be realistic about elk. A 308 with a 150 grain bullet will kill an elk with a good broadside shot inside 200 yards, but it is at the bottom end of what most hunters consider adequate, and the heavier 165 or 180 grain options make more sense there. Use the Swift Scirocco II 308 Win 150gr for what it is genuinely excellent at rather than stretching it.

Why the 308 remains easy to live with

Recoil is the quiet reason the 308 Winchester has outlasted flashier cartridges. It kicks about half as hard as a 300 magnum, which means you can shoot a full box of the Swift Scirocco II 308 Win 150gr in an afternoon without developing bad habits. Shooters who enjoy practicing shoot better when it counts, and that is worth more than a hundred feet per second.

Barrels last a long time too. A 308 throat will stay accurate through thousands of rounds, so you can practice with cheap surplus and hunt with the Swift Scirocco II 308 Win 150gr without worrying about burning out the rifle. Short actions are also lighter and stiffer than magnum length ones, which is part of why 308 rifles so often shoot well right out of the box.

The bottom line

For a hunter who wants one box of ammunition that handles almost everything short of the biggest game, the Swift Scirocco II 308 Win 150gr is about as sensible as it gets. You can read more about the bullet design at swiftbullets.com, or browse the rest of our stock on the MAG5 Firearms ammunition page.

MAG5 Firearms keeps the Swift Scirocco II 308 Win 150gr in stock and moving, and we are glad to talk through bullet choice before you order. If you are working up a load for a new rifle, a single box of the Swift Scirocco II 308 Win 150gr is a sensible place to start.