Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters So Why the 308?

When NY opened my area up to use rifles I bought a Savage 99 in 308. I just added another buck to its tally this year. No longer my favorite but still a trusted partner. I do love the 99's, bought my son his first deer rifle a 99 in 300 savage built in 1935. He is the second owner and killed his first deer with it in pa when he was 14, that was 21 years ago and he still has it. 300 savage the daddy of the 308. I know your pain took me 2 years before I got another black lab. She is laying on my feet as I write this. Good hunting.

I like to shoot, remember when you could get those 200 round battle packs of Australian or South African ammo dirt cheap? I bought a short ton of it and used it in M1a, FAL and hunting rifles. My go to and travelling hunting rifle is a 308 and it still works for most everything. There are better long range choices but for a GP rifle it is hard to beat. I guess I am kind of a general purpose shooter.


mike r

In my late middle age I find much less fun in figuring out accuracy issues. I bought a Tikka T3X Lite in 6.5 CM and liked the mild manners and dependable accuracy of rifle / ammo combo so much I followed it up with a T3X SuperLite Stainless in .308 and it will probably be the last rifle I sell even with as much as I like my 6.5. The .308 is an accurate, dependable cartridge for which you can buy relatively cheap, accurate ammo of just about any type. You can drive light, high tech bullets relatively fast or old school bullets at sedate speeds and they all work. I’m a fan.

I’ve had lots of both...still have 3-308s.

They shoot the same ballet at the same velocity. Hard to imagine but they work about the same on game.


The advantages to a 308 are that it is a far more accurate cartridge and is easier to load for in my experience. I also believe it’s more popular abroad if that matters.

I’ve never understood people saying it doesn’t handle bullets above 165gr well either. 308s are just fine with 180 and 200gr projectiles. As in every bullet weight it’s about 75-100 FPS slower...no difference with heavier or lighter bullets. Frankly I see more variance barrel to barrel than I have between the two cases.

I prefer a 308 because my grandfather hunted with one...i don’t think for a second either is any different in the field. Having used both I know better.

I should note that quality 308 brass is much cheaper thanks to our friends at NATO

I was wanting a little lighter and handier rifle and always liked the Win M70 Fwt. When they went on sale at a LGS, I stopped by and they had one in .308. I already had a M77 in .280 and wanted this rifle to be in a caliber that I could readily find across the country. The short action .308 fit that bill. I reach for that rifle more than any other of my deer rifles (including this year). It shoots well and I really like the rifle. There's no downside to it in the NE woods and I know in 10 years time, if there is any ammo still on the shelves, the .308 will be one of them. Can't say that for some of the more modern flavor of the month calibers. My Dad gave me his 760 in 30-06 years ago, so I had one of those. I shot a 6 pt with it last year after my Dad passed. Nothing wrong with that either.

Amen Cooper. Nothing finer than a hunt with a piece handed down

I shot my first big game animal with a 308 Winchester forty years ago when I was 12. It was a winter caribou from the Nelchina herd on the Tok Cutoff. I was using those old Winchester 165grain silvertip bullets. I shot it at about 40 yards and it went down right there. I have had many over the years but have not hunted one extensively since then. I do have several including tackleberry and 99 deluxe versions. The caliber works very well in a kimber boilerplate rifle and it really provides all that one would need. My father started hunting with a 308 Winchester in a Mossberg 810 that didn't even have a scope and shot a mule deer with it before he came to Alaska. He shifted over to a 300 Win once he got here in 1977.

My cousin by marriage has filled a huge shop and his house with a 308. It is a Browning A-bolt with a very old leupold 3X9 variable scope. It might be his only rifle. He has two supercubs and a 36ft long ocean cruiser with big Volvo Twins so he does have toys. He has shot several 9+ Brown Bears on Hitchenbrook Island and shot an extremely large 9ft Grizzly (still considered a BB because less than 100 miles to Coast) near Tonsina Lake. He has never entered a single one of his dall sheep but he has at least 10 that would book. The last big one was 177 at 44 inches by 14.75 inch bases about 10 years ago. He works for Uncle Al on the SERV boats and has plenty of time to hunt and has stuff to locate big critters. He also has at least 10 big Sitka Blacktails out of the 30 or 40 that he has taken that would probably go book. However, he isn't interested in putting his name in any book. It just goes to show you that a 308 can be one and done rifle.

Thanks for sharing that history.

I think a lot has to do with the rifles chambered in it. I've always like short rifles like the Model Seven for woods deer hunting so a short action cartridge is where it's at for me. It was a 308 until my shoulder replacements but is now a 243.

I just came along for the dog thing. I had to put down a special buddy myself. And I like the 308 and 7MM08 interchangeably. But the logistics are better for 308. YMMV as I have forgotten the reason Finn stated for his preference. All that said Finn was almost a generation older than me. Be Well, RZ.

Make sure he turns in his "rifle looney card" ASAP

My 1953 M70 FWT .308 was my first centerfire rifle and it has been tailored to suit me and has never let me down.

I have some big bore special use rifles, but my .308 is my most used and trusted rifle.

Great post...

The 308 is for those who cannot stand the tremendous recoil of a full size cartridge like the 30-06.

Holy [bleep]...great post!


Just more proof positive that if it can’t be done with a 308 it can’t be done with a rifle

Bugger,

Would love to hear about the animals you've seen shot with the .308 that died slower than when shot with a .30-06. Did the .308 bullets bounce off?

Between me and Eileen we've taken 16 species of big game around the world with the .308, ranging up to around 800 pounds in weight, including some considered pretty hard to kill, whether big elk or similar-sized African plains game. Oh, and have also been standing/sitting beside other companions when they did similar things with the .308 as well.

This list could be augmented and extended by including a few other sub-.30-06 cartridges as well, including the .270 Winchester, 7mm-08/7x57, and others.

Shaman, sorry about your pup. I've lost a couple over the years and it's never easy. Probably won't have another for this very reason. My wife had to make the last trip to our vet as I just couldn't do it.

I guess I have never thought that the .308 was any better or worse for hunting than 7mm-08's, 30-06 or for that matter other caliber close in size. I have a couple of 7-08's and they are among my favorite rifles for hunting. Several weeks ago I responded to a post where I was rightfully questioned by Mule Deer about a comment I made comparing 7mm-08 to the .308. JB just knows his stuff and I've got to be more careful in the future.

Please, I don't mean to this to become a pity party but, just before this Christmas, I lost my brother to Covid and, his (and my) friend 3 days later to another illness. They were both too old to hunt any longer but, the three of us made numerous trips to our local range to shoot. Their caliber of choice was the .308 Win. I'd usually bring whatever rifle/caliber I planned to hunt with the next season. I learned to reload from both these gentlemen and guess they were much more knowledgeable than I about the virtues of this caliber. My brother owned several guns, but loved his three 308's.

The first center fire rifle I ever fired was a 308 belt fed machine gun in 1965 when I was 14 years old, under the power lines in Orting WA.
The guy who had it was a government inspector that brought it home from work. Google search obituary shows he died in 2011.

I think they should call it a .308 Almost. It's almost as good as a 30-06. For most hunting situations I would expect little or no difference, but when there is one, it favors the 30-06.

Any accuracy difference is irrelevant for big game hunting. I used to shoot 600-yard NRA matches with both.

.308 rifles can be a couple of ounces lighter. So what? Most of us are 20 pounds overweight, or more.

If I had either one, I would not change it for the other.

As for those who think a 30-06 recoils too much, either you don't know how to shoot, your rifle doesn't fit, or you're holding it wrong. I doubt if anyone can tell the difference between a .308 and a 30-06 under hunting conditions anyway.

Where a .308 shines is if you really like Savage 99s or Winchester 88s. Also, surplus military brass and ammo may be earser to find but I've got a lifetime of 30-06 stuff from target shooting long ago.