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

i've killed three elk using .308" bullets launched at .308 Win muzzle velocities. The elk don't know or care if a .308 Win fired it or not and it makes no difference to the validity of the results - If the same bullet is launched at the same velocity by two different cartridges (.308 Win or .30-06 in this case), the downrange ballistics are the same.

>> naw i am not into male - male bonding sex as i think you may be ?

Yet a few I can think of around here claim otherwise.

I'm wondering why I started this thread!!!!!

Because you are trying to convince your self you need a 300 savage!

The manly wapiti medicine!

My avatar is ample proof......Anus 95 packing out a raghorn harvested with a 🤡 U guessed it.

300 savage.

They'll do that to you around here.

So the advent of rangefinders & dialing hunting scopes has made “flat shooting” less essential- the ability to point & shoot out to 350+ yards is still a huge advantage in open county hunting where your opportunity may be brief. The confidence that a “on hair” hold works saves very critical time. If you have all day dialing to the exact yardage is great but all day isn’t always available,

Spec

You noticed that too ? huh

NO ONE ‘usually’ mentions the time involved in twisting turrets.
Gotta range first, read chart second, twist third, THEN aim/shoot!!!


Justsayin

Jerry

If you pay attention, the real long range shooters are not all that into rushing. Making the shot is what gives them the juice. The aim on hair group mostly don’t qualify as long range shooters.

Justsayen

I won't address 300 vs 308 on elk, but will address trajectory. Out to 300 yards every bolt gun I've ever owned shoots flat enough to hit any big game animal with no more than a 1-2" hold over. At 400 or more none of them have shot flat enough to make the shot unless I knew the exact range and compensated for it. There is a big enough difference between 400 and 450 to make for a complete miss if I guess wrong. I'd still need a range finder along with either dots or dials even with a 300 WM. In reality there is only a 25 yard window around 300-350 yards where the flatter trajectory of the 300 is an advantage over 308. Twisting dials is more precise, but I agree too slow for most hunting. But a scope with multiple aiming points is precise enough and a lot faster.

And being honest about your skills is the key. Sure a 300 WM is more effective at longer range than a 308. But when I came to the realization that around 300 to MAYBE 400 yards was the limits of my skill level I sold my 300 magnum rifles and have hunted with 308 for the last 10-12 years.

First, thank you JMR, you took the words right out of my mouth. It's a common misconception that magnums extend your maximum point blank range by a wide margin but they don't. This is getting way off topic but since jwall brought it up, here's an article by Ron Spomer on this very subject and he pegs the difference in MPBR between the .308 and .300 Win. on a 10-inch target as 320 vs 350 yards.

https://www.outdoorlife.com/elk-cartridge-showdown-308-win-vs-300-win-mag-vs-338-win-mag/

Second jwall, if you two noticed the same thing then you both saw something that wasn't there because you're talking apples and oranges here. Your first quote (the one I commented on) talked about "long shots." Most people who shoot at distances that allow them to take "long shots" with confidence don't consider anything within their MPBR a long shot. I was talking about long range, you guys are talking about MPBR and they're not one and the same.

Third, with respect to using the range finder and the time it takes, if you guys are taking "350+ yard shots" and "holding on hair" in open country without using a rangefinder to confirm the range then you're both knuckleheads.

Some scope reticles can be used as a relatively quick and accurate rangefinder out to most MPBR ranges, if one closely knows the size of the target. However, they are still a rangefinder and not a guess.

However, they are obviously more of a guess than an accurate RF. And again, the LR group does their best to eliminate all guessing.

True on the RF reticles but that takes a lot of practice with the specific animal you're hunting. It's still not very precise, and we're talking elk here. I'm betting that a guy from Arkansas who rarely hunts elk is not up to the task.

No doubt, and a RF has become something I don't want to leave home without. Very seldom need it for our woods hunting, but we usually are watching fields during the last hours. Some of which stretch to 400 plus a little. At distance, most that know what they are doing usually get a decent rest, they are shooting at stationary animals and ranging, dialing, etc are part of doing it right.

Addition: I'm no LR shooter, however watching those that are makes it obvious they make the time to get it as correct as possible. If they can't do it, they pass....

It's a common <misconception >that magnums extend your maximum point blank range by a wide margin but they don't.

This is getting way off topic but since ONE >jwall brought it up, here's an article by Ron Spomer on this very subject and he pegs the difference in MPBR between the .308 and .300 Win. TWO > on a 10-inch target as 320 vs 350 yards.

https://www.outdoorlife.com/elk-cartridge-showdown-308-win-vs-300-win-mag-vs-338-win-mag/


Second jwall, if you two noticed the same thing then you both saw something that wasn't there because you're talking apples and oranges here. Your first quote (the one I commented on) talked about "long shots." Most people who shoot at distances that allow them to take "long shots" with confidence don't consider anything within their MPBR a long shot. I was talking about long range, you guys are talking about MPBR and they're not one and the same.

Third, with respect to using the range finder and the time it takes, if you guys are taking "350+ yard shots" and "holding on hair" in open country THREE > without using a rangefinder to confirm the range then you're both knuckleheads.
-----------------------------------------

I am NOT debating you. Just pointing out where YOU are WRONG.

1.Twas NOT I who brought it up. RE READ, comprehension.

2. Neither of us stated 10" target --> DeerS & ELKs are DEEPER than 10"
...b. MY MPBR is 400 yds > just so you know (something !)
EVEN at 500 yds with a 270 W or BETTER -- I KNOW the drop in trajectory.

3. I did NOT say I did NOT use a rangefinder !! I USE one while scanning the OPEN area BEFORE game is seen.


I am OUT ! I want you to have some accurate facts.


Jerry

LOL, too funny. And chickensh** to boot.

Just sayin,

They either have or make the time or pass. And that is what you don't want to acknowledge....If they run out of time, they accept it as part of the game they play....,

VII. Thou shalt learn to shoot as swiftly as the hawk flieth, and thou shalt not fiddle-f*** with thy gear, nor adjust thy scope, nor set up thy bipod, for thou hast not time. - 7th commandment from David Petzal’s 10 Commandments of Elk Hunting.

This is why my .300 Weatherby is zeroed at 250 yards with a quality scope with no turret twisting option. All the elk I have shot at seemed to fall down quickly to avoid being shot again. I have also killed elk with my .308 usually at shorter ranges in timber. Do you need a .300 Magnum? No.... not about need for me. Happy Trails

MY MAN ! !


Jerry