Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles If you were buying a 308 today.

I have three more shipping on Monday. Really a nice piece for twice the price.

I like the Tikka T3x but not chambered in a short action cartridge, a .308 Win in a long action sort of defeats the purpose of the short handy .308 Win bolt action rifles I love...My first choice would be a Kimber Montana or Adirondack model with My second choice a Model 70 EW but they are a little heavier than my ideal as i am a "weight Nazi" when it comes to rifles....If I was to chose a push feed rifle I would look hard at a Bergara Premier Mountain 2.0, these use Remington 700 base with 8-40 screws which is a nice touch that gives you many mounting options....Good luck....Hb

a Browning BLR, and any 150-165 grain bullet that shoots well.

mine shoots 165 SGKs into less than an inch

Don't forget about TC,'s. The Venture comes with a Houge stock, nice trigger, safety next to the 60 degree throw bolt and shoots inside 3/4". Threaded barrel is standard, with the weather shield metal around $5 hun.
The cheaper one is the Compass but also had just a plain hollow plastic stock, but both these rifles really shoot well.

Not sure there’s a bad choice for this, but each of those uses requires a different kind of rifle so I’d look at which of those you’ll do the most.

For still-hunting, I’d avoid flyweights as they tend to be hard to shoot well offhand. I’d get something that balances well and isn’t too heavy like a Remington 700 ADL Package rifle. Upgrade the optics to a fixed 4x or a good compact low-powered variable.

The box-blind rifle should be shorter than the still-hunting rifle and could be heavier. Any compact rifle would be fine, as would rifles sold as youth models. I’d suppress this one, so I’d look for a 18-20” carbine with a threaded barrel. A low-powered scope would handle most of your shots, but this rifle will be used a lot at dawn and dusk--if not at night under moonlight--and those scopes have small objectives which means a smaller exit pupil, so I’d get a 3-9 with an objective lens bigger than 40mm and keep it on 3x.

The steel-banging rifle depends on how far you want to go. Any decent sporter should get you to 500 yards. To go farther, add weight, length, and money. See the long-range forum for how much of each. The little bit of steel shooting that I’ve done has been addictive so don’t be surprised if you end up focused on this. Sky’s the limit on glass, but get ready to spend some serious cash for the precision and repeatability you’ll need to play this game well. Also get ready to invest heavily in loading components and time spent at the loading bench.

Any good cup-and-core from 150 to 180 grains would be fine for deer and hogs, but I’d favor the 165 Partition. Use whatever your rifle shoots best for the steel rifle.

For one rifle to do all three chores, any economy-grade rifle would probably be fine: Mauser 18, TC Compass, Winchester XPR, Remington 770, Ruger American, etc. Twice the money gets you a different mix of esthetics, features, materials, and technology, not necessarily more precision. In that price range, I’d consider Tikkas, Model 70s, Model 700s, a Barret Fieldcraft if you can find one, Kimber Montanas, and the Bergaras.

If you just want one scope, then I'd get a 3-9 with repeatable tracking and a mil-dot reticle.

If money is no object, then go full custom and get one rifle/optic for each use. The 308 will do all three chores with ease so how well you do that is up to you.


Okie John

I’m happy with my Marlin X7 in .308. If was to buy a new .308 today, I’d lean towards a Tikka T3x or maybe a Mauser M12 or M18. My issue with the Mauser, I’d like to get my hands on one and try it out before I bought one. I have no desire to have another .308 at this time and my Marlin barely gets used the past two years. Maybe I’ll take it out caribou hunting in August, but I doubt it.

If I am stand hunting with short distances to walk in, I would buy a Kimber Open Country, Ruger Scout, Browning X-Bolt, or Tikka in that order. Three mag-fed options to match magazines already in the safe and one blind. I think all of these rifles have a good weight and balance, are proven precision platforms, and require no fussing out of the box, but enough do-dads and aftermarket triggers exist to satisfy a garage gunsmith's desires.

For bullet selection, I have been very satisfied with Hornady's GMX bullets. Last year's hunting season resulted in a dead Sitka blacktail, whitetail, a medium black bear, and a few coyotes. All shots were inside of 250m and nothing moved from where it was shot. (Bullet impacts: Sitka=lungs/liver; whitetail=high shoulder/neck; black bear=top of neck/base of skull; coyotes=from tip to tail) I have also used the GMX bullets in a 7mm-08 and had similar results on rocky mountain elk spikes, cow elk, mule deer, and of course, coyotes. I have not recovered a bullet yet, but I have two freezers in the garage.

I have to say, though, I really dig the Mausers with the compartment in the stock. I'd like to see if I could stuff some Black Ovis game bags in there with a Havalon Piranta and a hunting license.

Kimber 84 (what I have), but wouldn’t be opposed to a 70 Featherweight or Ruger Hawkeye.

Nothing wrong with the other offerings out there, those are just the 3 I’ve gravitated to and enjoy.

M 70 Featherweight with a 3x9 scope.

Another nod for a Tikka.


Mine wear a 3-10 Nightforce SHV.
Load is Varget and 150 Accubonds at 2915.
I have a safe full of rifles and this one has become the first one I reach for.

My Bergara B14 Hunter is sure a nice piece! Conservative styling and shoots as well as the shooter can hold it.

I really like that one - I'd say it's about perfect. I'd been contemplating a 308 for quite a while and yours is about what I was envisioning. Then a 'fire' member posted this for sale (his pic, not mine) - I couldn't resist and am pretty happy with it.

My favorite is my Kimber longmaster followed by the Montana . Gotta throw in the Springfield M1A Scout for shyts and grins.

IMO this would do nicely.

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbt...450/1/repost-ruger-hawkeye-308-with-pics

308 Winchester’s:
I have a Winchester FWT M70, three or four Remington 700’s, two TC Encores & my current heart-throb, a Sako 85 Finnlight II. All of them are more accurate than me & are a lot of fun to shoot.

A 308 will do all the Whitetail & hog duty you can throw at it. Chose a 308 for my first rifle as a kid & been hunting with it ever since. Never felt like I needed more. I have more but don’t need it, just wanted it.

It’s a half inch. *shrug*

Good advice.

My all around .308 Win rifle for hunting, steel and fun is a Kimber 84M in an AG Composites stock, 22" and 24" Proof barrels (shown with 24"), EGW 30 moa rail, CDI Precision bottom metal with MAGPUL 5 and 10-round magazines, TriggerTech Field trigger, Titanium bolt handle, adjustable cheek riser, and a Vortex Viper PST 4-16x50mm FFP in Nightforce Ti rings. I have a PT&G t-latch arriving tomorrow. The 84M is the top one in this photo and as shown with the SilencerCo Harvester suppressor it's under 9lb.

wood win 70 supergrade plastic montana