Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting 308 verses the 300 win mag

I have killed 10 or so head with each of these cartridges, and I’ll be damned if I can tell any differences whatsoever in the effectiveness between the two in putting elk on the ground. I still own a number of magnum chambered rifles, but using them to elk hunt has been in my rear view mirror for well over 15 years. CP.

The .30-06 loads I've used were only a few fps faster than top .308 Win loads. Not enough difference to worry about. So while I've never shot an elk with a .308 Win, I have put .308" bullets into them at both .308 Win and .300WM velocities. I didn't see much difference except that the .300WM shots were at much further ranges and, unlike the .308 velocity shots, no bullets were recovered when using the .300WM. All were broadside shots. That's enough difference to for me to choose the .300WM for the longer shots.

My assumption when reading the OP's post was that he was curious what the differences are. The ballistic tables show, if nothing else, the differences in potential, which may or may not be noticed given a few shots at various ranges under different circumstances.

So far I haven't seen the OP complain about my answer. But you do - over and over and over....


Rent.
Free.
In.
Your (tiny).
Brain.

Dont flatter yourself. As the Campfire resident moron you certainly haven't got in anyone's head.

Could be I'm a moron but I'm not too dumb to understand a .300WM has a lot more potential for destruction than a .308 Win, that the difference would be hard to see at close ranges or that they become more visible a longer ranges. Or that trying to define those ranges with any specificity, without knowing the bullet used, target density, angle and impact velocities, is a fool's game.

When you talk about morons you should take a good look in a mirror.

LOL, I'm pretty sure CH doesn't wear boots. He's more of a hushpuppies/sansabelt kind of guy.

Wow, what a retort! Hint, given your proclivity to wounding elk, you're the last one that should be commenting on a thread like this. Especially given you havent even owned a 308.
Expecting a 200 word response that's complete BS..

Haven't even owned a .308 Win? That's news to me as I've had four total and still have two. The two that are gone include a H&R single shot and a Remington M700. The current ones are an AR10 and a Ruger Scout.

I also do load development and reload for Daughter #1's Ruger Hawkeye .308 Win, so I'm pretty familiar with the .308 Win cartridge.

Oh that's right, but you have never shot an elk with one.

I have shot them with a 308 and a 300 savage.

Biggggggg difference here!

Really? I just posted this on another thread....




Addition: I'll take your word for it. However, that .300Savage is a 130gr TTSX pushing 3000.

76 feet per second.........HUGE!

Displacement wins again!!!!😀

Funny, my assumption when reading the OP's post was, he's smart enough to find ballistics tables himself and I don't need to explain them to him. Obviously we differ on that. And my other assumption was, he's interested in the opinions of people who've actually shot elk with the cartridges he asked about. Oh wait, that wasn't an assumption, that was what he said.

And take a hint from BWalker, don't flatter yourself. Your opinions on ballistic gack mean nothing to me. More BS has been written about elk cartridges in "outdoor magazines" and on the internet than almost any other subject you can name. And the common thread is, the purveyors of this BS all liberally quote ballistics tables, and talk about foot-lbs of energy. Any time the subject comes up here, you continue that tradition. You're the only guy here who thinks ballistics tables are the answer to the OP's question, that's the niche you occupy, and that's why I commented on your posts. I'd hate to see any new elk hunters here buy your line of BS and think their .308 is inadequate for elk. Because it just ain't so.

Now smoke pole u picking on a 300 savage?

Well said.

I bet you never thought you'd read that!

Not picking on the 300 Savage, just battue. That MF-er lives rent free, in my head, I just can't help myself.

Which would kill this thread faster, a .308 Win or a .300 Win Mag?

I have gotten to know several African PH’s very well. They all tell the same story. Remember typically their clients shoot their rifles at least daily and sometimes multiple times a day.

Not one has ever seen a client shoot well with a 338 or larger day after day. All say that about a third of 300 Magnum users begin shooting well but that the 300 fellows’ shooting gets worse as the hunt progresses. The other 2/3 never shoot well with their 300’s.

The best shooting generally is done with a 270 or 30/06. One of the best performances was turned in by a 12 YO boy shooting a 260 which his father had down-loaded so the little guy could handle it.

Check the ballistics tables. All answers are found there.

On second thought, you'd have to ask someone who's killed threads with both the .308 and the .300 magnum. Check with coyotehunter.

You have had a serious reading comprehension problem in the past and that continues to today. I’ve never said a ”.308 is inadequate for elk”. Never even suggested it. The three elk I’ve killed with moderate .30-06 loads that equaled or barely exceeded .308 Win velocities would agree with me that .308 Win velocities ARE adequate for elk.

My point has always been that each cartridge has its limitations. Those limitations, especially when comparing very similar or identical bullets at different velocities, can be easily compared. Using identical bullets, the destructive potential of a .300WM and .308 Win are identical once the .300WM bullet has slowed down to a given .308 Win velocity. Ballistics tables simply provide an provide an unbiased description of where that occurs and show that for any given .308 Win velocity the .300WM provides the same velocity 200 or more yards downrange.

Why is it important? At some point, every expanding bullet fired from a .308 Win will fall below the velocity at which it expands reliably, if at all, providing a limit to the effective range of the .308 Win and that load. A .300WM with the same bullet won’t hit that limit for another 200+ yards. Bullet manufacturers often provide the minimum and maximum velocities at which their bullets are intended to function as designed. Ballistic tables allow hunters to compare the downrange velocities of their loads to the operating velocities provided by the manufacturers or other criteria they may select. Ballistic tables can’t tell you exactly what a bullet will do on impact but they do provide a guide as to their destructive potential.

I’ve hunted elk with a .44 Magnum, .257 Roberts, .30-30, and .375 Winchester and never considered any of them inadequate. At the same time I knew from shooting at the range and at animals they all had different capabilities, with the .257 Roberts being the best for longer range work. Those differences in capability show up pretty clearly in ballistic tables, too.

It isn’t a tough concept but one you apparently have a problem comprehending.

Thanks for your concern, but I think I can comprehend your posts, convoluted as they may be. And I will concede your point. Not the one you rolled out above saying each cartridge has its limitations, the one you made a few pages back::



In fact I'll go one further and say, you WILL notice a difference between the .308 and .300 Win. even before you shoot an elk with them.

If you use factory ammo, you WILL notice that the .300 Win ammo costs more.

If you reload, you WILL notice that it takes more powder to fill the .300 Win. case.

When you take a cartridge out of the box, you WILL notice that the .300 Win case is bigger.

And when you pull the trigger, you WILL notice that the .300 WIn. has more recoil.


But as far as answering the OP's question, I can't do it because I haven't used both to shoot elk with. How about you?