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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 Howdy, Schooly. I have had the opportunity to hunt a fair bit with the .308 Win including a couple of African hunts and IIRC four Sask whitetail hunts from tree stands and box blinds. I used different .308s, but most game was shot with my Steyr Scout and 180 gr loads. I like the Win FailSafe, Norma Oryx, and the Barnes TSX versions. I have shot to 400 yards on square ranges with the .308/180 gr loads, and performance at range depends more on scope capability to get a good hit. The .308 can kill them as far as you can hit them. Most of my game hits are between 75 yards and 175 yards though. I like the Leupold 2.5-8X VX3 scope for hunting. I have used barrel lengths from 18" to 21.75", and you are right about ease of use with these compact rifles --or should I say carbines. 
LCDR Jim Dodd, USN (Ret.)
"If you're too busy to hunt, you're too busy."
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Joined: Jul 2007
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Campfire Tracker
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After I got a chronograph, I compared my .308 & .30-06 rifles, each loaded with the 165 gr bullet.
Each rifle shot roughly 2750 fps...
About the only real advantage I see with the .30-06 is that it handles the heavy bullets better. With the 165's at least, my rifles offer identical ballistics. On deer, mule deer & whitetail, the bullets typically penetrate right on through, leaving a very dead deer behind. Normally I use the 165 Ballistic Tips anymore, though I've used several different 165's over the years.
How far? Dang... Quite a ways I suppose!
Either cartridge is good for anything I hunt.
Regards, Guy
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Joined: Jul 2007
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Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
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![[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]](https://i.imgur.com/X0n16mr.png) WWP53D
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Joined: Oct 2000
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Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Oct 2000
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The 308 is one of my favorite rounds. Super easy to load for.
I've killed killed coyotes, antelope, whitetail, mule deer, and elk with it. Farthest kill was an antelope at just over 400 yards and a bull elk at just over 300.
I load up a good 165/168 for everything.
“Perfection is Achieved Not When There Is Nothing More to Add, But When There Is Nothing Left to Take Away” Antoine de Saint-Exupery
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Joined: Dec 2004
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Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
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A .308 with a 125gr at 2350 fps equals a 7.62x39 ballistics. My daughter has killed everything she's pointed at with that load. My son was shooting a 150gr Hornady at 2650fps, again, everything dropped quickly. My .308 sluts around with every bullet on the shelf and critters keep falling over. It just plain works. Both of my kids are shooting full power now, I've offered different guns if they wanted to swap. They both turned down the offer, they seem to think there's magic in that bullet... I didn't tell them any different.
Thank God for Mississippi!
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Joined: Aug 2010
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Campfire Regular
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Several years ago my hunting partner and I both killed bucks on the same day in New Hampshire. My friend checked his in first. One of the questions asked by the clerk was what caliber rifle did you use. My friend said .308. I checked in mine and when asked the caliber I said .308. The clerk looks up and says "what's with you guys and .308s? When I asked why, he said "I've checked in 10 deer this morning and 7 of them were killed with .308s". I told him you've answered your own question, THEY WORK.
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Joined: Jan 2006
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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 It'll work to way out there. Hope (wife) shot a decent 5x5 bull in NM in 2009 using a 7-08ai (slightly more than a std 7-08) at 318 yards. We've shot 7-08 (and ai), 308 win and 284 win almost exclusively to take over a couple dozen deer at varying ranges in the past several years. Longest shot on deer was 260 yds using the 308 win in 2011 on the only day I got to hunt that season. It'll kill 'em out to further than I can shoot 'em.
"Blessed is the man whose wife is his best friend - especially if she likes to HUNT!"
"Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these."
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