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

Why? A .308 is better for short 20" barrels. Less unburned powder than a 30-06.

It just works. In shorter, lighter, handier rifles than a lot of other cartridges that just work. I actually think the 7mm-08 is probably a better cartridge, especially at extended range. Having said that, I just bought another .308. Been using it since the early '80s and keep coming back to it.

I once bought a lightly used Sako 75 stainless synthetic off the rack at Scheels for a good price. Right next to it was a lightly used Sako 75 stainless synthetic in 30-06. My wife was with me at the time. She knows jack schitt about rifles. I handed her the '06, had her shoulder it, feel the balance, etc. Then I handed her the .308. She grinned and said, "I like this one better."

Me too.

Curious to know how you measure that?

My liking for one cartridge or another seems based more on the platform than the cartridge. For example, I am no fan of a Garand but love the M1A/M-14.

The main reason I bought another .308 is a buddy bought my last Gunsite Scout off me. "Had to have it". I replaced it with a Ruger SS Gunsite Scout, the 18.3" barrel version. I put an XS systems rail and a Ruger synthetic stock on it with a Burris 2-7x32 Scout scope. It works OK.

I really don't like the .308 as much as an '06. I used the .308 exclusively for about ten years and while it shot and killed well, I thought an '06 might be better for elk. I'm not positive it is but I like the results I have gotten with the '06.

Cartridge-volume-to-bore-volume ratio.

I'm not sure I can agree with everything you say, at least regarding factory ammo. With properly worked up handloads I would tend to agree with you. However a test I did a few years back running some 180 gr. Winchester Powerpoint ammo in .308 Win. and 30-6 showed velocity in 22" barreled rifle gave the 30-06 about 10 FPS advantage over the .308. IIRC, velocity from the .308 was 2610 FPS and 2620 FPS from the 30-06. I also shot some 30-06 from rifles with 24" and 26" barrels and the only time it got close to the advertised 2700 FPS was from the 26" Ruger #1B.

Rifles used in the test were Winchester M70 Youth Ranger .308 Win. restocked to fit me 22" barrel. For the 30-06, 22" J.C. Higgins M50, 24" FN custom Mauser and 26" Ruger #1B.

I'm sure results from the 30-06 came be improved quite a bit through judicious handloading as I have definitely gotten close to 2800 FPS in a 22" Remington M700 running H4350 and the 180 gr. Hornady SP.
Paul B.

I've used one 308 or another as my primary rifle since my father gave me a Rem. 600 in 308 in 1964. Ive taken a few deer, elk, moose, and hogs with a 308 since, as have my two sons. Currently, my 308's are a Win 70 FWT Stainless and a pre-64 Win 88.

There's no magic in it. It's just very practical: accurate, user-friendly, versatile,and lethal. My favorite bullets are the 150 NBT, 165 Hornady SPBT, and the 180 NPT, backed by Varget or 4064. If I had to use just one load, it would be the Hornady/Varget combo.

As an aside, Brad used to have a clever little saying about the 308 that he used as a signature line on his posts. Anyone remember what it was?

Reason 1 + 308 likes 4064
Reason 2 ++ 308 likes Browning BLR
Reason 3 +++ Aww Heck what was that other reason
Signed lwr 308

Louder blast noise and bigger fireball.

Why? Because my .308 carbine is so darn purty!

Straydog,

And how do louder blast and a bigger fireball mean unburned powder?

I've heard the "unburned powder" in shorter barrels argument for some years, but it occurred to me that if there was any of this unburned powder spewing forth, there would eventually be mounds of the stuff piling up just past the shooting benches at rifle ranges across the land.

Unfortunately my plan to recycle all that free powder just doesn't pencil out in the ROI column.

^ ^ ^ this ^ ^ ^

My neighbor (that passed a while back) told me about
" unburned powder " a good while back. He was a
long time reloader, and we were discussing some
technique of loading, when I mentioned I used XXXX
so-and-so powder. Well first thing was " that leaves
unburned powder- I won't use it. . . "
I asked him if it was accurate in his guns or not and
he says " well. . . .yes. . . it is "

Isn't that why most of us reload? Better accuracy?
I have many cleaning patches myself

I'll go out on a limb here and say I like them both. Have owned both and enjoyed both. But sold the .308 - If I only hunted deer then the 308 may have kept it's place in the safe but in the rifle I had (M70 Featheweight) the 308 kicked every bit as hard as my 30-06 (Pre64 M70 Std.)
I now have a 6.5CM that has taken the place of the .308 and does what the 308 did works better with lighter higher bc bullets.

Paul, I believe that the 30-06 power points you tested were only 10 fps faster then the 308 power points you tested. The reference I was making was a general one regarding factory ballistics. I don't doubt that at times there are 30-06 factory loads that don't meet published but that is the case with every cartridge including the 308. If you ran the test with lets say Hornady Whitetail ammo or Federal Premium ammo in both cartridges you might see that both cartridges meet published factory specifications. You could have instances where the 30-06 meets advertised ballistics and the 308 doesn't. I believe Muledeer calls these instances samples of one. I stated that the weight and length difference between the same rifle for both cartridges was miniscule. In a Remington SPS the difference was 1/2" and 2.4 ounces. In a Winchester Model 70 Featherweight the difference is 1/2" and 4 ounces. In my opinion the difference in length and weight between the 2 cartridges in the same rifles is just as meaningless as a 100 fps difference in velocities for the same weight bullets between the two cartridges.

OK give me another shot, I probably should have said in a short barrel the wasted combustion of powder gas occurring outside a 20" barrel seems less with .308 than 30-06.

Only time I’ve ever experienced unburnt powder was with a rifle cartridge in a 14” MagnaPorted barrel. Hated it. Never again.

I'm sure they enjoy having that "least accurate 100 fps" tacked on.

I sold my last two 308’s in the last year or two - AR-10 & 783. Though the neighbor that ‘bought’ the 783 skipped out without paying.
Being a military cartridge with buckets of brass available at so much a lb, the cartridge was bound to be a success. (A guy once gave me a good size bucket of military 7.62x51 brass. )
The military spends a few $’s on R&D. They don’t often screw up when they choose a cartridge (to say nothing about the 9mm, ha ha). If the 7.62x51 is a good cartridge for a man size target it aught to be good for white tail.
My favorite 308’s were Remington 660’s and the cheap 600’s without the ribs. I re-barreled a 1962 vintage 700 carbine from 308 to 358, just because, but I kept the 308 barrel, maybe it’ll be a 308 again.
When a rifle comes along and it is chambered in a 308, there isn’t a deterrent based on the cartridge. The 308 isn’t a cartridge that, at least some of us, dream about someday being able to get.
To me the 308 is a very good carbine cartridge that will do ok in a full size rifle too.