Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting A very basic, common, .308 rifle setup

My main "whatever, wherever" rifle is an SS M77 in .308 with a 3-9 Leupold wearing the long range duplex reticle. It tracks the 150NAB or NBT out to 400yds. Simple and effective.

.308 has been my go to MI deer killer for decades. I have 3. An older Browning A Bolt SS, A Ruger tang safety varmint barrel, and a Winchester Extreme Weather. All 3 are very accurate with cheap Federal blue box 150s.

I've seen some of that Georgia arms in gun shops down in Alabama.

https://i.postimg.cc/rFvskgd5/20170314-155413.jpg

Love the 308 win!

Fake news - it's well reported that Rugers shoot like shotguns....


(Self confessed Ruger slut back in the day here)

I kind of backed into my 308. I was looking for a 7-08 for my east deer hunting needs and came across a good deal on a Kimber 84m in 308. After using it for that purpose, took it elk hunting. It worked as advertised. It has now become my favorite rifle - even though it could be considered a bit anemic. I found it works well in a lightweight package at a level of recoil that is comfortable. And with a 150 mono, shoots much flatter than it might seem at first blush.

I rolled the dice on this one and it turned out okay. That rifle has gone up about 35% in cost over the last 3 years or so, which is a bummer. But so have a lot of others.

That rifle and that zero make a lot of sense for a lot of things in a lot of places.


Okie John

Xs-7 Conn Marlin 308 with M8 4x leupold, M77 boat paddle ss 308 with nikon 3x9 bdc, m88 win 308 with 3x9 sightron, and a 760 rem std model 308. They all shoot fine..mb

It's great stuff.... Expensive as hell (in today's economy) and is viewed as more of a high end, Federal, Remington, Fiocchi, etc... type of round.

Somewhere, maybe on an old Thumb Drive somewhere, I can't remember... But I have a photo/scan of one of those Dirty Bird targets from a number of years ago, shooting my Savage .308 rifle @ 100 yards. I vividly remember the day - I'm not going to lie.

1" high @ 100 yards at the local outdoor range.
Okay, okay, so I cheated... I used a solid benchrest! so what?
Now, I swear to you all. On my mother's soul... I swear...
I just remember freaking out, because 3 rounds were touching each other, like the "3 of Clubs" playing card, as all 3 were 1" high above the bullseye!

And that was with using Georgia Arms 150gr FMJ target ammo!

Good for you!

Proves yet again that a guy who can hunt doesn't need cutting edge gear to be successful.

My favorite rifles chambered in 308 WIN are a couple of Winchester 100s, a cut-down rifle and an actual carbine. Despite the unfavorable reputation that the Winchester 100s have in some circles, mine have never let me down.

That's not far from my story. I wanted a 7mm-08 in the Kimber Mountain Ascent BUT I wanted the moss green stock, not the camo "duratouch" which I'd handled in a couple stores and was not fond of at the time. I went for .308 since it was pretty close and came in the stock I wanted. It also helped that I still had .308 dies and brass and a couple pounds of RL-15 left over from a Kimber Montana .308 and Rem Seven XCR that had both failed to deliver accuracy for me. I still wish it was a 7mm-08 but after 15 years of mostly failed rifle accuracy, this SOB shoots pretty well and I'm not going to risk making any changes, just shoot it and smile.

Tom

Very nice, and reminds me of how well inexpensive Hornady American Whitetail with 150gr Interlock shot in my 308.
I need to load up some 150gr flat base Interlocks and see if I can duplicate.....

My simplest 308 set up is a wally world R700 SS ADL with a leupold 1.5-5x20 with barrel cut down to 20". I think I would go just about anywhere with it and have not a worry.

I have been using a T/C Compass in 308 Win topped with a 4x Nikon. Last season I fired 4 shots at game and killed a black bear, a whitetail doe, a wild hog and a big bobcat all taken with a handload consisting of a Barnes 130 gr TTSX and Varget powder.

The 130 TTSX is the bullet I want to try out in my Model 7. I probably have no need for it in Alabama or Louisiana, but it seems like a fine load.

Have some history with 308 Winchester hunting rifles and have three that remain.

> Sako L579 Forester Deluxe that belonged to my dad and wears a Leupold 6x36mm scope. (Really need to replace the original recoil pad, it's seen better days.)

> Sako AII Hunter (oil finish) purchased with one of my first oil patch paychecks in 1987 and it now wears a Vortex HD LH Razor 1.5-8x32mm scope.

> Howa 1500 HS Precision with a Meopta Meostar R1 3-10x50mm that I hope to blood this fall in the Blue Ridge of NC or VA.

The 308 Winchester has proven itself accurate, capable and easy to load for; I'll hunt these rifles till I hang it up and then they'll go to family.

Nothing wrong with the 308 Winchester.

StarchedCover

Ruger M77 RL Ultralight always puts the first cold bore 130 TTXS to POA. It wears a Leupold VXll 2-7X33. Basic, handy and hunter accurate.

My rifle really likes it.

My only 308. A M600 that came to me in a black painted hardwood stock. I ran across a much abused M660 stock that I sanded down a bunch to remove the impressed 'checkering', the booboos, and excess wood. Then about 5-6 inches of the fore end was chopped and a barrel band swivel stud installed. I ended up with a slim, light, short walkabout rifle. It works very well. On the bottom: