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OP
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Having never ventured out of my comfort zone (long action standards/magnums), my interest in the .308 Win. has recently been peaked.
I've just never owned/hunted with ANY short action cartridges. With a new piece of property to hunt this year (pastures/gas pipe lines/heavy timber/box stands) I'm beginning to see the merits if a compact rifle that can still reach out. It's amazing how much more maneuverable a 22" barrel is than a 24" barrel in a box stand.
I've long since though a .308 caliber/165gr BT (or similar) would be pure lightning on whitetail and hogs....and it has been from several .30-06's I've used.
I simply have ZERO "on game" experience with the .308 Win., but I'm WANTING to love it.
Would like to know your experiences with it and what you feel is its maximum effective range on deer and such.
I have a feeling the .308's MER will considerably farther than MY maximum effective range.
Schooly
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Schooly, Just got my .308s last year and haven't gotten to bag any (big) game with them yet, but seeing as this the Internet I won't let that stop me from voicing an opinion!  Simply put....308 Winnys kick ass. Bullets are so good nowadays and it's so hard to get a .308 NOT to shoot great, just pick one and go. Many on here have killed much game with the 'lowly' 7.62 up to and including elk, moose, and bear. Check out this thread about what is not even generally considered a 'hunting' bullet. Pat (Scenarshooter) lays down the knowledge... https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthread.../1/Expansion_characteristics_of_t#UNREAD
It ain't what you don't know that makes you an idiot...it's what you know for certain, that just ain't so...
Most people don't want to believe the truth~they want the truth to be what they believe.
Stupidity has no average...
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Joined: Jan 2010
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Pretend it's 30-06, you will never be able to tell the difference.
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Joined: Feb 2004
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I've killed four whitetails and three dogs with the 308. Put a good bullet in the right place and it does the job just fine. I'd say it's range limits are more shooter's limit's than the round's. What I'm trying to say is the 308 Winchester is good on game way further out than most, myself included, are capable of shooting.
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Joined: Oct 2004
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Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 50,170 Likes: 2 |
Having never ventured out of my comfort zone (long action standards/magnums), my interest in the .308 Win. has recently been peaked.
I've just never owned/hunted with ANY short action cartridges. With a new piece of property to hunt this year (pastures/gas pipe lines/heavy timber/box stands) I'm beginning to see the merits if a compact rifle that can still reach out. It's amazing how much more maneuverable a 22" barrel is than a 24" barrel in a box stand.
I've long since though a .308 caliber/165gr BT (or similar) would be pure lightning on whitetail and hogs....and it has been from several .30-06's I've used.
I simply have ZERO "on game" experience with the .308 Win., but I'm WANTING to love it.
Would like to know your experiences with it and what you feel is its maximum effective range on deer and such.
I have a feeling the .308's MER will considerably farther than MY maximum effective range.
Schooly The .308 165 grn Nosler Ballitic Tip, at 2700-2850fps is, IMO, the best whitetail bullet out there. .308...30-06...whatever.
The only thing worse than a liberal is a liberal that thinks they're a conservative.
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Joined: Oct 2009
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Campfire Ranger
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Joined: Oct 2009
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I've long since though a .308 caliber/165gr BT (or similar) would be pure lightning on whitetail and hogs....and it has been from several .30-06's I've used.
Same, same, you -- more importantly the game -- won't know the difference. I'd not shy away from most cup and core bullets of 150,or 165-grain from the oh-eight. They do just fine (Hornady Interlocks in particular).
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Joined: Nov 2007
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I used the 30-30 for about 15 years before I started to play with other chamberings. I Got a .308 tikka and it was a wand of death. As long as I hit where I aimed it was over and quite quickly. I have loaded my .308 with 150 hornadies and great sucess on deer. I have also used the 165 barnes xlc with great success. I haven't notice much difference between it and the 3-06 so I would say have at it.
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Joined: Dec 2004
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Campfire Tracker
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I bought a Ruger RL77 in 308 to "back up" my 270 and for humping the mountains or crawling thru stuff as it handles about like a 22. With 150s it is a real deer killer and with 180s an elk killer.
Longest- a mulie at 350 yds with it and a cow elk at 300 yds.
When going hunting, it is always along as a back up or as the primary weapon of choice. I have used quite a few other calibers also, but it is as good an all around as there is -up to dangerous game IMO.
Tim
"The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them."
Albert Einstein
At Khe Sanh a sign read "For those who fight for it, life has a flavor the protected never knew".
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Joined: Jun 2004
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Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Jun 2004
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My hunting camp partner and I have killed a few deer and hogs with the 308. On the larger side were a couple of 200 pound bucks, big for our area, and a hog that pretty near pegged the 300 pound scale.
Bullets used include the 165 Hornady SST, 165 Sierra BTHP, old 165 grain Ballistic Tips from when they came in hundred count boxes, late model 150 Bal Tips, 150 Interlocks, 150 Speer boat tails, 150 Core Lokts, 168 Berger VLDs, maybe a couple of others.
It's quite effective.
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Joined: Oct 2009
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The SST has been a great performer for me as well. Highly accurate out of several .30 calibers I've loaded for it.
Notably, one of the largest racked whitetails killed in TX, in 2010 was taken by a friend of mine who put a SST into the deer's boiler room at 'bout 175-yards. My claim to fame is that I'd worked up his load, but he reminds me -- at every opportunity -- that he turned me onto the SST's.
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Joined: Dec 2004
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Campfire Ranger
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Pretend it's 30-06, you will never be able to tell the difference. Yep. I lump them both together when talking deer and hogs. There is just something about a good 165gr bullet at 2,650-2,850 that gives reliable performance, lots of damage to vitals, and generally good (and short) blood trails. It is a "sweet spot" regarding killing mojo on animals of that size, although it could likely be considered by some to be excessive to some extent.
Now with even more aplomb
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Joined: Jan 2009
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Have to agree with digger 44`s above comment which about sums it up pretty well.
Think of the 308 as just a shorter versioned 30-06, which ballistically in velocity terms is about 95% of the 30-06.
The game you`re talking about won`t know the difference upon impact.
Don`t own a 308 myself but know a few that do. They all love theirs.
A more compact rifle chambered in a 308 will be a very sweet and handy rifle.
28 Nosler,,,,300WSM,,,,338-378 Wby,,,,375 Ruger
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You'll love the .308. I'm amazed that you're even asking questions about on-game performance. Search for "scenarshooter" and see what he does with a .308 Win and 155 gr. Scenar bullets. He also uses a .260 Rem - the high B.C. version of the .308 win. It won't disappoint, I guarantee it.
Selmer "Daddy, can you sometime maybe please go shoot a water buffalo so we can have that for supper? Please? And can I come along? Does it taste like deer?" - my 3-year old daughter 
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I'm pretty sure the .308 is a passing fad, though the fIve score of deer, groundhogs, coyote and other fauna laced with it by my kith and kin over the past 40 years have found it quite terminal.
�When in doubt, I whip it out.� Uncle Ted ![[Linked Image]](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v704/elrata/imagejpg1_zps585f4bbf.jpg)
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First deer rifle I had was a 788 Remington in 308 win 18 inch barrel it killed like a lighting bolt. I shot 180 Hornady rn in that time frame moved to 165 Nosler bt and haven't looked back. I have tried bigger I have tried smaller always came back to the 308 win. Today I deer hunt with a Stevens 200 in 308 win. It still kills like lightening. I have killed an elk with the 165 bt dropped like a rock. It will kill anything in north America. So go for it.
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Just think of it as the .30-06 lite.
1st Special Operations Wing 1975-1983
919th Special Operations Wing 1983-1985 1993-1994
"Manus haec inimica tyrannis / Ense petit placidam sub libertate quietem" ~Algernon Sidney~
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My grandpa and my younger brother both shoot .308s, they kill deer just as dead as the bigger .30s with a little less recoil. I really want to try out my 99e .308, but I keep loaning it to a buddy that can't swing a rifle right now.
Mauser Rescue Society
Founder, President, and Chairman
I don't always shoot Mausers, but when I do...I prefer VZ-24s.
jdi do píči
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Having never ventured out of my comfort zone (long action standards/magnums), my interest in the .308 Win. has recently been peaked.
I've just never owned/hunted with ANY short action cartridges. With a new piece of property to hunt this year (pastures/gas pipe lines/heavy timber/box stands) I'm beginning to see the merits if a compact rifle that can still reach out. It's amazing how much more maneuverable a 22" barrel is than a 24" barrel in a box stand.
I've long since though a .308 caliber/165gr BT (or similar) would be pure lightning on whitetail and hogs....and it has been from several .30-06's I've used.
I simply have ZERO "on game" experience with the .308 Win., but I'm WANTING to love it.
Would like to know your experiences with it and what you feel is its maximum effective range on deer and such.
I have a feeling the .308's MER will considerably farther than MY maximum effective range.
Schooly I ain't shot anything larger than Rocky Mountain mule deer with my Featherweight .308 Win. They didn't have good feelings for it. In fact, they stopped feelin' anything. Buy a .308 Win. It's a cartridge that will work as advertised.
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I'm pretty sure the .308 is a passing fad, though the fIve score of deer, groundhogs, coyote and other fauna laced with it by my kith and kin over the past 40 years have found it quite terminal. ColdCase1984, Yep, I gotta agree. The .308 Win ain't nothin' more that a fadin' fad. Why with it's impeccable record of success, its availability in every rifle configuration available, its incredible accuracy, its ability to surpass advertised velocities, I just can't imagine a reason to own one, and I sure as hell can't figure out why I didn't buy one long before I did. Except for big Alaskan brown bear, there ain't I thing I wouldn't hunt with mine. Dead is dead, and the .308 Win will reduce all North American big game to freezer meat.
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