Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles how many .308 users?

all depends on what you're comparing it to, and the weight of the rifle you're shooting it out of, and your tolerance for recoil, etc etc. its generally a little less than a .30-06, noticeably more than a .243. comparing it to my .270 at the bench, the main thing I notice is that it doesn't have as much blast, mainly because it's burning around 10-15 grains less powder, give or take, depending on loads.

out of my 10 lb 700P, there isn't anything to shooting the .308. out of a 7 lb hunting rifle, it's a little more snappy, but still nothing that would be considered painful assuming you have a decent recoil pad. and for some perspective, it seems like somewhat of a pipsqueak when I'm shooting it next to the .300 mag at the bench.

I love mine a Remington 700 vtr.

Bought my first one this year, a Model 70 SA New Haven Classic Stainless. Mounted a Leupold M8 6X that was looking for a home in extra low Talley's. Re read Handloader #239 article "The .308 is Great" by Mule Deer.

I've been playing around with Varget and 150 NPT's and have little reason to try other powder/bullet combo's.

I'm a believer. When a friend decided to get into hunting and asked me for a recommendation, I said "308" without hesitation.

He bought a Savage package rifle with the Nikon scope. The Accutrigger is right at 3#, and the rifle shot great right out of the box. All I did was to make sure that the the rings and bases weren't loose and square the reticle.

Winchester Power Point 150s clock at 2840, Remington 150 Core Lokts go 2770 and Barnes 168 Vortex TTSXs hit 2680. All will put three under an inch and the Rem and Barnes go into the same group. The Power Points strike higher and right in line vertically. His first three shot group was a nice triangle well under an inch wide. He's very happy.

My own 308 is a NULA that will drill 150 BTs and PTs with Varget. I'm getting 2800 fps out of the 22" #1 contour barrel, no where near max. What's not to like?

mathman,

Thanks for that load recommendation and the chamber advice, I appreciate your sharing them with me. Accuracy is the primary consideration in this build and I will definitely be investigating that chambering option. I just don't want any interference with function, should I elect to just run some ammo straight off of the shelf and out of the box.

Have three

Grandfathers Winchester 100 that's taken a lot of deer in it's life. More accurate than most bolt guns, trigger SUCKS though.

XP-100 More accurate than I am

Varmint Barreled Rem 700 in a McMillian A3 that I've been playing with a bit this summer.

I have two:
Tikka T3 Lite Stainless and a SA M1A, both are very accurate, there is something about knowing your rifle will shoot where you out the sights.

I've read some of your other posts, specifically about the M852 chamber and I'm really liking what I see. I'll definitely be talking to my gunsmith about this chamber.

Traded guns for many years but never had a 308 until a few years ago. I like it a lot. Will I say it will do anything that can't be done by half a dozen other cartridges no but likewise it will cover about all of your N American hunting needs very well.

Count me in; my first exposure to the 308 was in the early 1970's and I only have three left in the safe now.
They are all Sakos, an L579 Forester, an L579 Forester Deluxe and AII Hunter.

Over the years I've used the 308 in numerous rifles and they've all done the job from varmits, deer, pigs, caribou, black bear, elk, moose and Nilgai; great for paper punching, ringing steel, shooting rocks at the local gravel pit, service rifle competition and just about anything else you can think of.

As for rifles you have so many choices.

Some that were memorable, my NM M-14 that had been massaged by the PWS magicians @ Quantico when I shot divisional matches, a 40 XB that shot remarkable small groups when I did my part, my neighbor's T-3 that thinks it's a benchrest gun, a full stock L579 that I sold and a pre-64 featherweight that was stolen.

The 308 is easy to load for, so many good powders and bullet combinations.

Yes, I like the 308.

Between myself, daughter and son in law I'm loading for five .308s. My brother is buying one soon so that will be another one for me to feed. So yea we like them.

I don't find the .308 to be a problem concerning recoil. That however is an individual issue. The .308 in a very light gun can be snappy for some people. My daughter is small framed and finds my full tilt .308 loads to be to much. The ammo I load for her have been reduced down to .300 Savage level. She shoots it well and kills deer just as well with her load as I do with mine.

The 308 offers a wonderful balance of the following characteristics:

shootability (light recoil)
versatility
accuracy
lethality

I don't think there's another round that can match it in all four properties, although some come pretty close (the 7-08/7x57 and the 270/280 come immediately to mind).

Sold my two .308Ws and got a 5.56 NATO and .300 Blackout.

Still have the .300 Blackout, a .30-30, 4x .30-06 and a .300WM, so more .308 than anything else..

Ruger Hawkeye AllWeather. Reasonably accurate and absolutely dependable.

If I "had" to pare down to one cartridge it would be a .308. At this point I have:
TC Encore barrel 20"
TC Encore barrel 24"
SAKO TRG 20"
Remington 700 Tactical 26"
Ruger Frontier 16.5"
Ruger GSR stainless 18.5"
Remington 700 youth/synthetic
Remington Model SEVEN stainless/synthetic
Remington 600 18.5"

Accuracy with all of them is under MOA. I just bought the SEVEN three weeks ago and on day one it shot two sub-MOA groups at 100 yards with nothing fancy factory ammo.



Federal 150 ball...




SAKO TRG



1 7/8" at 800...




..and since it is a world wide military cartridge one should be able to beg, borrow, barter or steal ammo anywhere in the world...

Bob

A Montana in 308 is on the procurement list.

I'm on my third, but have only had one at a time. Would like to maybe add a heavy barrel to play with sometime. It certainly does the job very efficiently. Here is the current .308 of the stable and my main hunting rifle.

308 user here too. Love it and its become my favorite. Started with a 30.06 and then went to 7mm08 but ended up with a 308 as my choice. I honestly think its has far less recoil than my 06. On par with my 7mmo8. Very accurate. I have a savage weather warrior in 308 topped with a Burris fulfillield II and for me it's the perfect gun for hunting and doesn't kill my shoulder.

I played with a .308-chambered Savage 99 for a few months, but it didn't grab hold of me. It had more noise & kick than I felt was necessary for what it did, so I sent it down the road.

Though I never would have expected it, I've since fallen in love with the .300 Savage. To me, it's far more mild-mannered than the .308Win, and it impresses me with it's capabilities when slinging 130 TSX's close to 3,000 fps.

Maybe I'm just a pressure [female genitalia], but my favorite cartridges seem to hover at the 46,000 CUP level: 7x57, .300 Savage. Pleasant to shoot, and still all kinds of deadly.

FC

I'm certainly not going to bag on your choice, I love the little 300 in my 700 Classic.

That said, the 308 can perform exceptionally well with the throttle backed down too. I've shot thousands of 168 grain bullets at 2500-2600 fps or so out of mine, and I've been loading a mild shot of 4895 under 168 grain Bergers for a friend. That easy going load kills big hogs, quick like.