Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters A 308 Carbine

I’ve had a half dozen 660’s and 600 Mohawks in 308 since the late 60’s. Friends have talked me out of them. At Tulsa this year I found a 600 Mohawk at about $300 or more below most. It has an after market trigger. I don’t think it has been used that much. A previous owner gouged out four 1/4” squares in the stock on the left side of the receiver, not sure why.
Finally, I have a 308 600 Mohawk again. It’s not a collector piece! I’ve filled in the gouges and stained the fill ins. It’ll either be in my kids hands or my estate sale some day.
I have a M8-4x and a M8-2 1/2x that may fit on it. Right now it has the 4x. I imagine it will get more hunting in than my 26” bull barreled 700 308 or my Tikka 308.

I wouldn’t sweat ballistics. Most powders will push a 150-grain bullet 2,700 fps in a short 308, and any bullet will work at the speeds that Barnes shows for the 308 in 18” and 20” barrels at https://www.barnesbullets.com/load-data/

I’d focus on optimizing this rifle for offhand shots. For that, I’d look at balance, not barrel length. The rifle should balance as close to the front action screw as you can manage.

Most of the Ruger Scout’s weight is too far back. A conventional scope makes that worse, plus you lose that nifty little peep. A Scout scope moves balance farther forward, but the rifle still weighs as much as a classic 22” 30-06. An 18” Remington M-7 also balances too far back, with wood stocks being worse than synthetics in this respect. A few more inches of barrel is not a bad thing when it comes to balance.

Then there’s stock fit. My favorite stock for offhand shooting is the Pacific Research, which has been out of print for a decade or more. 90s vintage Remington synthetics stocks fit me well, they’re cheap and common, and they balance well.

Once up on a time, Remington made a 700 ADL Youth model in 308. It had iron sights and a 20” barrel. This one is a 243, but you get the idea. https://www.gunbroker.com/item/974853883 That would be my first choice for something like this. They also made 22” rifles with iron sights in 30-06 and 270, which handle almost as well. https://www.gunbroker.com/item/967878614

The 7mm-08 is an interesting cartridge. I’d use one in a heartbeat if I didn’t have to rely on factory ammo.


Okie John

One of the most obnoxious loud/hard kicking rifles i ever owned was a first run rugger 77 Ultralight in .308. Factory 150 Corlokt were accurate off the bench ( if i really held my mouth right! Ouch!) I managed to kill a whitetail doe around 15rds with it, but could not hit a 2 Liter coke bottle at 200 from hunting positions! Just too much of a good thing for me. Fast in the woods? Oh yeah, and thats where it excelled, 75yds and under. For me that is. Not a fan. Again, the Mod 700 Mountain rifle and the Mod 70 Fwt Classic with 22" fit the best for me, plus I can hit with them further out alot easier...unless I'm out in the "short grass" prairies...then the wind blows me/rifle/everything around to much!ha

I've made 2,700 pretty easily with 150's and Varget or 748 in an 18.5" Remington 600 Mohawk .308Win and the same velocity with 140's in an 18.5" Remington 788 7mm-08 carbine when using H4350. Both are more snorty than I like, but they are handy and effective. I do prefer my 16" single shot 7mm-08 with suppressor, as it's nearly the same OAL as those bolt action carbines but is much more pleasant to shoot.

Lobbing 145 grainers 400yds downrange with 2620-ish MV.

20” is about as short as I care to have a barrel that is chambered for any kind of high intensity rifle cartridge. Yes, I use ear protection even when hunting, but I have found myself all set up in a stand and the ear pro back in the truck.

I shoot a lot of clay target sports and I think that might make me a bit more aware of balance/handling dynamics with my rifles as well…maybe more so than the guy who shoots his rifle off the bench a lot but comes hunting season seldom if ever hunts in a manner that requires quick close range shooting in the woods. I’ve shot the larger portion of my deer with both feet in the ground and no rest. I’ve done it with some short-barreled rifles as well as a number of rifles with 24 - 26 inch barrels. (Not to mention shotgun slugs out of 28” tubes.) My preferred barrel length starts about 22”. Not to say I don’t go shorter, but I like them longer.

I don’t put much credence in the idea that really short barrels are a lot handier in “the brush.” To hear some guys talk they hunt where you need a couple of natives with machetes chopping the way through the woods for you. Believe me, having done more than a few decades of this stuff, if you can make your way through the woods walking (without a couple of natives with machetes) three or four inches of barrel length doesn’t make a bit of difference.

IMHO a short ultra light rifle in any caliber is kin to a shot barreled light whippy shotgun. Easy to carry not that easy to shoot accurately. I love my single shots and lets be realistic your most likely going to get one shot at a deer so it must come up fast but must balance well also. The weight should be betwen the hands

With this being a primarily thinking exercise, here are two charts for you. The first is from the May 2016 issue of Shooting Times, an 18” barrel AR.
The good thing about this chart is there a good amount of factory ammunition to help you establish goals for the 18” barrel.
The next chart, for a 16” barrel AR, is from the August 2014 issue of Shooting Times.
If you enjoy playing with expansion ratio or Ken Howell’s efficiency formula the two charts give more information than you might think.
308 Win 18” data

308 Win 16” data

Everyone has an opinion. W.D.M Bell wrote in 1952 that if he were going back to Africa today He would be happy with the .308 Winchester and FMJ bullets. EK on the 308

Ruger Scouts

Elmer was either clueless or trolling.

Maybe Elmer got target paid?


Been there


I got a 1920 it real glossy so later 20s is 99F in 300 savage…..

Sawed that barrel off

Crowned it…

Jim Brockman did it………

He kept telling me……

Buy Marlin ……please…

I had 100 rounds of reloads that my regular 300 savages would get sticky extractions.

So I marked em to pull the bullets…..

I sold this 99 and I was lucky enough to buy her back…..hadnt shot it 4 quite a while…..

Scoped her up bore sighted her in…

She puts them “ hot loads “ down the tube sahweet!……..

Tight.

Wondering if shorter barrels give less pressure on the action/ shooters shoulder.

About the OPS choice in firearms……

I find an extended mag limits my ability to hunt with the firearm.

It’s challenging in the scabbard…….and finding a field rest……and packing it on me shoulder

The latter, a master...

My 20" .308 is the first rifle I grab more often than not.

It simply performs without any drama. Kills everything from coyotes to elk.
Being a lightweight little rifle, you have to really pay attention to your fundamentals to get the most out of it, but it is capable of great accuracy. Typical for a Tikka.

Mackay;
Good evening to you my cyber friend, I trust you and your family are well tonight.

Thanks for sharing the photo of your little Tikka, it looks "about right" to me for sure.

While I settled on a 21" barrel for my walking around rifle, more than 40 years back my wife picked this one out of a few rifles she handled at a purveyor of such goods.

She liked the handy length and the removeable magazine. About 10 years after she bought it, one of my first stocking jobs was this rifle and now it's got a Timney trigger as well.



It shoots amazingly and consistently well. A couple seasons back when I asked if she'd mind if I borrowed it to attempt to find one of the few whitetail bucks left in the area we hunt up above the house and she said "by all means" it was again easy to find a powder that put 3 of the 130gr TTSX into an inch without any fuss.

Yes there's a fair bit of blast with a shorter barrel and no, we've never noticed it shooting at game.

All the best to you all as we head into spring.

Dwayne

Here are my 20" barrel 308s:

FWIW - I have never been a big fan of the .308 (have owned more than a few), however I have a 16" .308 with a can that shoots a 150gr at 2700+ fps. It is one of my favorite rifles that I have ever owned and would be 100% fine if that was my only big game centerfire rifle. The short barrel and can make for a very handy rifle.

My favorite for eastern hunting, a 722 chambered for the 300 Savage. The rifle will turn 70 next year, though has seen a few modifications over the years. With walnut stock and somewhat stiff barrel contour it's certainly not a light weight, but the balance and handling feel just about right with the barrel shortened to 20 inches. Favorite load is the 150 gr Pro Hunter at a velocity of 2650fps using RL-15. It can be pushed a bit faster, though with slightly degraded accuracy.

I could like that rifle a lot.

Heck yeah. That 722 is cool.

What's the charge weight?

I ordered a suppressor that will work up to .375. A 35 Whelen and my 375 Whelen AI are at a gun smith getting the barrels cut back to 20.5” and threaded. I don’t suppose they will be “carbines” but I’m anxious to give them a whirl.

45.0 gr. in Hornady cases.

Seating to a COAL of 2.680. That places the heel at the base of the short neck for grip, and still about .070 off the lands. It's a generous throat.