If your beef is with .308 factory loads, then we're actually in agreement about that. Most factory .308 is download WAY below SAAMI and/or with overly fast powders to avoid bending crappy cast M1A op rods.
Of course if your constrain .30-06 to only factory ammo that will run in a Garand, it doesn't look so hot either.
I don’t have a beef with factory .308 Win loads – they are what they are and I rarely shoot them. That said, non-handloaders are pretty much stuck with them.
Nor do I have a clue why people would constrain their .30-06 loads to something that would run in a Garand when most shooters and hunters don’t own one.
I just finished review the factory loads for Winchester, Remington and Federal. In many cases there isn’t a lot of difference between the .308 and .30-06 but the .30-06 almost always has a higher velocity (or maybe always, I didn’t check every load).
There is a dearth of 180g and higher weight loads for the .308 Win, but here is one comparison:
2620fps = Federal P308TT1, .308 Win/180g, Trophy Bonded Tip 2880fps = Federal P308TT4, .308 Win/165g, Trophy Bonded Tip (Note this is a 165g load)
2700fps = Federal P3006TT1, .30-06/180g, Trophy Bonded Tip 2880fps = Federal P3006TT4, .30-06/180g, Trophy Bonded Tip
Say what you will, at 300 yards the 30-06/180g2880fps load provides a 100 yard advantage over the similar .308 Win/180g load in terms of retained energy and about 150 yards in velocity.
I’d hunt elk with either but where the .308 falls below 1500fpe a bit past 400 yards, the .30-06 retains that energy out to about 550 yards. And where the .308 falls below 2000fps at about 375 yards, the .30-06 load maintains it past 500 yards.
Coyote Hunter - NRA Patriot Life, NRA Whittington Center Life, GOA, DAD - and I VOTE!
No, I'm not a Ruger bigot - just an unabashed fan of their revolvers, M77's and #1's.
