Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Interesting comment from Charlie Sisk

In this months RIFLE magazine the featured caliber was 308 winchester and Mr. Sisk said out to 300 yards, the difference on big game between the 308 and 300 weatherby isnt very noticeable or something to that effect. i dont remember it verbatim. He basically said it might tee off all the magnum lovers but that was his view

What say yall

HERE IS THE QUOTE:
Sisk also thinks the .308 Winchester
is a great big game
hunting cartridge. �Maybe the
magnum boys will want to hang
me for this,� he says, �but I think
there isn�t any difference in performance
between the .308 and
the .300 Weatherby Magnum on
big game out to 300 yards.�

Drill the shoulders with a good bullet and critter dies.

I can't say this with much experence to back it up,
But if the quarry is deer , I would agree. But if you up the size of the animal, to ELK or moose, I think a 200 grain bullet from a 300 mag make significant difference.
I love the .308 But To take and elk at 300 yards, I want a little horse power.
A .308 would do, but the extra 350 to 450 FT per second with the same bullet would have to make a difference.
At leas in my mind it would...tj3006

Point blank range with a .300 Wby and 180 grain bullets is 300 yards. With a .308, it ain't.

What most people overlook is that the .300 Wby can hit with a heavier bullet. You can drive a 200 faster than a .308 can drive a 150. Not to mention 1500 extra foot pounds of energy.

I'm amazed Sisk does not understand the value of that. This kind of statement makes me wonder why the author thinks a .308 is any better than a 30-30.

Speaking of Charlie, why doesn't he post here anymore?

Right now he is probably too busy getting his shop running again after the hurricane. Damage wasn't much but electricity was out for a while, so he was spending some time catching up.

In the long run he is probably tired of answering questions from people about his statements, which are based on some experience.

My own experience is that the .308 with a good 150 at 2900 or so does indeed shoot flat enough for point-blank aiming out to 300 on bigger game, and kills it pretty neatly as well. I have found the same thing with many similar cartridges. Shoot them in the right place with a good 140-160 grain bullet and they die, whether they are whitetails or moose.

couple of strong endorsements for the 308 winchester!

As a fan and owner, its good to hear

i think modern bullet construction has equalized the differences to a degree

+1

I took my first four bull moose with my .308 and 165 gr. Nosler Partitions. I didn't know any better and apparently the moose didn't either.

1flier

I can't see the killing difference between a 300 Magnum (Winchester and Weatherby - my first two cartridges) and a 30-06.

In addition, I can also spot no difference between my 7mm STW and my 7mm-08 - in regards to how quick it takes animals to drop.

The high-speed ones do make noticeably more bubbley jellied black and maroon coloured meat though - if you are big into "visuals".

I know there are a lot of doubters out there - but I suspect few of those doubters have shoot a lot of game with 308's, 30-06's or 7mm-08's - before they formed their opinions.

High speed magnums are over-rated when it comes to killing things quicker.

I agree wholeheartedly with Charlie and JB. The greatest asset of the 308 is its lesser recoil. Most magnum totin hunters I observe at our clubs' public sight in every year shoot patterns at 100 and are typically lucky to hit the backstop at 200. Especially the big guys. The guys shooting 270s, 308s, and 300-06s don't appear to be afraid of their arms and shoot much better.

The only difference I've determined between elk shot with 308/30-06 and magnum class rounds was the amount of bloodshot meat. That's why my 338WM lives in the back of the safe during the seasons, even though I love it and shoot it better than some others.

Standing by for flames, once again.

you mean you shoot elk regularly with standard calibers?

And from your article:

"...the big virtues of the .300 Weatherby are a flat trajectory, even with the heaviest spitzers, and long-range power...Aside from shooting flat, this load is also quite wind-resistant, a trait often overlooked when choosing a Western hunting load."

What are you saying? That the .300 Wby's virtues don't mean much when hunting or that they only come into play at ranges past 300 yards?

My buddy and his wife manage to take elk with '06 and 7-08 rifles and (gasp) standard Hornady spirepoints. Seems like Elk and his family do all right with the smaller cased rounds, too.

I'm with Charlie on this. I would much rather shoot something that I enjoy shooting; shoot it enough to be familiar with how it behaves at responsible yardages, and make the shot from that platform rather than a manglumboomer that I have to psyche myself to fire.

Indy,

In general, yeah, at under 300 yards the .300 Weatherby's advantages over the .308 (if any) are much less than at over 300. Part of the deal is better bullets.

These days we have 150-grain bullets that will penetrate pretty big game, yet also shoot pretty flat at .308 muzzle velocities. Twenty-five years ago that wasn't the case; a .300 magnum was needed to reach 2900+ at the muzzle with deep-penetrating bullets. These days not nearly as much bullet weight is required.

Now, if there's a distinct possibility of shooting at over 300 yards, I'd rather be using a .300 magnum--or maybe a .270 or 7mm magnum--just so I can use a bullet of higher BC that won't drift as much in the wind.

But out to 300 yards it has been my experience that a good shot with a medium-power cartridge like the .308, 7x57 or .270 will do very well on big game, and that a .300 magnum at those ranges isn't nearly as big an advantage as many hunters think it is.

I haven't found Mr. Sisk to be anything but pretty damned dead-on when he opines on topics such as this.

Charlie's no dummy!

rb

Oh how I wish Allen Day were still here posting (grins).

I believe AussieGunWriter has said the same in differences, or lack thereof, in 308 ctg's and killing effect.

I don't use either one regularly myself, but with others I've been with, I've seen more DRTs with a .300 than a .308. But what's a few yards, give or take.

I have an Uncle-in-law that is a logger. He has a huge advantage over many other hunters in the fact that he scouts ALL YEAR. His daughter is now 20. She's shot an Elk every year since she was old enough to hunt, with a 243... Never had one get away either.

A lot of it is our society... We're Americans dammit (except all the Hosers on the 'Fire) From birth we're programmed to think "If some's good, then more is better, and too much is JUST RIGHT" There might be one guy in 50 that actually NEEDS a 3/4 ton diesel pick-up that makes 600 Ft/Lbs of torque, but 49 just want one. We buy cars that can top out at 160 MPH, but the highest posted speed limit in the land is 85. We buy redundant oober psycho mags (30-378 comes to mind) when a 308 will stack them up just fine. Had it not been for our attitudes, we never would've became a world power in 232 years.

But what makes this country great... I can still drive my beat to crap 1976 Chevy 1/2 ton 4x4, with my Montana on the dash, and a mag full of 308 ammo, and you guys can feel free to flame me all you want. Penis envy is for Libtards

Besides, Oobermags have done a great job at keeping the deer heards in the US safe. My Gramma always used to say "Guys that can't hunt, buy a bigger rifle."

Thanks for the endorsement for the .308. I just got a .308 barrel screwed onto an action. I had taken it off, but I realized I had an overabundance of 30 caliber bullets. It was a bit of a waste to have a Hart barrel sitting on the shelf and not being used.

I have been using either a 6mm or 7mm lately.

I thought back over the years about using a reduced load in an 06 and how effective it killed with not a lot of meat damage. A reduced loan killed like a hammer in my .284 as well. I like to eat what I harvest and do not like all the jelly and bruised meat to clean up or let go to waste.

I have magnum rifles that shoot as well or better than the standard calibers. I will not part with them as they shoot so well, but they do not get used much for hunting.

Funny thing, a couple of the guns I do hunt with have 24" barrels so I so not save that by using them to hunt.

Keep the good information exchange!