Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game 7mm-08 vs .308

If they'd have been quick out of the blocks with the .260 or 7-08, the .243 would be just another forgotten cartridge.

Curb your tongue!!!




Ingwe

I really didnt mean to stir the pot as wanted to get info from those that have used or have seen both the in field or on the range VS pouring over balistics tables and published information.

inland...a year or so ago there was a 7mm-08 vs. .308 thread that went 350 pages IIRC....

lotsa pizzing matches, hijacks and entertainment!

Nothing resolved.....just the title of the OP is enough to get us off and running!!!

Ingwe

FWIW, those supposedly "stock" Savages come out of the Savage custom shop. They ain't the same thing they hand you acrost the counter at Walmart.

Kinda like the NASCAR types saying "hee hee, me'n Dale drive the same car".

Exactly... And then Larry the UberTroll came back a few more times. That didn't help either.



I've yet to see a 7-08 with a 22" tube launch a 162 AMAX much over 2680 FPS. Even then, their advertised .625 BC is a friggin JOKE. At 7-08 speeds, when you do the math backwards its more like .520ish.

Even if it did break into the 2800's, according to JB, and other REAL ballisticians, if you applied the same amount of pressure to a 308, it'd still go faster...

So in the end, there still isn't a [bleep] animal on the planet that'd know the difference.



The FACT is, you CAN run a 165 grain bullet out of a 308 (with a BC in the .5's) at 2750ish FPS, WITHOUT gimmicks, excessive pressure, or excessive drama.

Well, that does make it simpler.

I like the .308 best, but it's a private thing!

were it a gunfight, i'd take this 308

http://www.highreadytactical.com/catalog/product.asp?pid=66985&ret_id=943830

- Caliber: 308 Win./7.26x51mm
- Magazine Capacity: 20
- Barrel Length: 20"
- Overall Length: 41 1/2"
- Length of Pull: 14 1/8"
- Weight: 10 lbs.
- Rate of Twist: 1 turn in 12 "
- Operating Principle: Gas-operated autoloader
- Magazine Type: Detachable Box Magazine
- Stock Finish: Matte Black
- Stock / Grip: Ergonomic adjustable synthetic stock
- Additional Description: Fluted Barrel, Multiple MIL-STD 1913 rails


and they can have a bolt action 7mm-08

Maybe not but you will soon be renamed "Mr. Maytag" for your agitating ways!!!

Were it a Gunfight.

I'd want the other guy toting a 308...............

Damara stole my thunder.

There are many, many , many, people who thought a .308 was nothing to fear. Right up to the point that they took a 175 grain "smoke check" round at @ 1000 yards in their chest.

Both are exceptional game rounds capable of very good accuracy and kill well beyond their size. But do not confuse the issue. The 7mm/08 man does not want to take lightly a competant combatant with a good .308. You will loose.

As far as game rounds go it is simple,

Like smaller lighter bullets and less recoil, choose the 7mm/08.

Like to be able to push a larger caliber heavier bullet
choose the .308.

I like both but chose the .308 early on and do not regret my decision. It has kept the freezer full and the bloodtrails short.

When it came time to pick a 7mm rifle I skipped the 7mm/08 as I already had a very good .308.

Now if you want to pick nits...I picked the 7x57. A round that obviously is much better, much more powerful, much prettier, much more efficient, much sexier, and just plain classier than the lowly orphaned bastard child of my beloved .308.

Time to break out the popcorn.

I might try this in a fight . . . . .

You got me chuckling, thanks! So I might as well add too where this thread is headed:

If American riflemen and gunwriters hadn't been so hard at work overstuffing their egos, like some do cartridge cases, and Remington's think tank and marketing dept. had a better approach, we might have the 6mm instead of that other bastard child, the .243 Win.

Douche Adair,

I always get a kick out of your contrived nonsense and your F&S "findings". One couldn't begin to fathom the incredible things you've never seen,done and couldn't understand,which only reliably adds to the comedy.

The Do-nothing Gang is always eager to expound upon how little they know,as extrapolated by how little they shoot and that never ain't not a riot. It'd be difficult to write comedy on that level. How to make it even more hilarious? Ask The Gang to flaunt some of their collective "results",frosted by their "knowledge" and "experience". That'd be funny in both Theory and Application,which do define sublime.

Had you even ever SEEN a 162 and set it along a 165/8,you'd then have an inkling to the humor associated. Much to your chagrin,I enjoy the luxury of not being forced to guess and admittedly...it ain't a bad way to roll. Though it is something you'll never know or even experience,due to a series of incredibly humorous factoids...starting with your IQ.

For the Krunchenticker Krowd,I'd greedily take a 7-08 MBR over a 308 version of same. Twist it 9",chrome line the tube and get outta the way.

You may now return to your Fantasies,replete with the realities associated with their "results".

So laffin'...................

Why is it the less difference between cartridge/scopes/running shoes the more debate there is about them? I'll bet slick Madison Avenue marketing types have a term for this.

Yeah, I am perpetually amazed that our ancestors were able to win 2 World Wars and kill so much big game around the world with the lowly .30-06 and several lesser rounds.

.................There are a few differences that can be nit-picked and debated, but either one is excellent for deer and even larger game. The 7/08 is not a 7 Rem mag nor a 7 RUM, just like the 308 isn`t a 300 Win or RUM. Not to say that the 7/08 and 308 aren`t capable, but if you see yourself shooting deer "consistently" say beyond 400-500 yards on average (highly unlikely), then imo, you might want to consider more speed with flatter trajectories.

Terminal performances on game between these two, might well rest more so with the bullet choice rather than just the caliber by itself. To really better compare these two in terms of downrange velocities, energy retentions and trajectories, a real good and fun idea, is to find an on-line external ballistics table like the one on the Hornady site assuming it is still operating there.

For both rounds, type in the various bullet weight, the bullet BCs, your est MVs, approx temps, etc and view all the #s. Then whichever #s best suit your hunting needs, situations, terrain, etc the majority of the time, pick that cartridge.

Doing that will get you down to the nut and bolt comparisons between the two.

300 RUM..................end of story!!! LOL!!!

For deer there's no practical difference. If you're in a situation where either cartridge has a perceived advantage over the other, they're both wrong choices. If .308 is too big, you need a varmint cartridge, not a 7mm-08. If 7mm-08 is too small, you need a dedicated heavy game cartridge, not a .308. If the trajectory of the 7mm-08 seems advantageous, you should be shooting a .264 or 7mm mag. For what either does WELL, the other does WELL.

I guess I might lean towards the 7mm-08 for deer only. For general use, I might go towards the .308 .. it's got a little bit of [bleep]-around potential because of some .30 cal bullet options the 7mm does not have an equivalent for. Kinda silly, but I like the speer 110 grain flat nosed JHP and resized .312 (to .308) hollowpoint pistol bullets for whackin' rabbits 'n' so on. Kind of a funny thing to make your deer cartridge choice on.

Tom

I shoot with an open mind and am never not looking for the better way and ballistic performance is always give & take.

That being said,nothing comes closer to the proverbial "Free Lunch"(all take and no give) than the 7-08 and good projectile selection. For conversation,a 22" 7-08 will easily make 2700fps with 162's and alotta folks push them quite a bit harder than that.

That being a given and factoring some Real World scenarios,there really isn't much to wish for,though I of course have on hand far greater capacity chamberings and in a selection of bore diameters. Such things make extrapolations easy and side by each R&D never isn't telling.

That combo will make over 1000 ft lbs of "energy" at sea level in a standard atmosphere,at the 800yd line...for those who concern themselves with such things. It's supersonic to the 1400yd line,for them that savvy. 1K is a sub 29.5MOA ele erector correction and sub 7MOA of 10mph full value wind....with a 1460fps+ arrival speed.

I get it that Douche Adair has never seen or shot the bullet and I never don't not look forward to her reiterating same. Frosts her azz too,that she runs [bleep] riggin' and has gotta guess about all things downrange,whether they comeups or terminal connections.

Funny to let a naysayer settle crosshairs,dope the erector and blow their own minds via sound tackle. My 22" #6 Lilja 7-08,is a great conversion piece,for them folks especially. I prefer my lighter/handier builds so chambered,but increasing mass allows a boob a better chance of breaking a good poke...thus it's impetus in the equation.



My 23" MTU contoured Mike Rock 11.25" 5R M852 chambered 308,is a solid build(gross understatement) and is also a machine far more capable than anything Douche has seen. Ballistics wise,she cain't hang.



I've some Garand familiarity and will happily touch base there too,for them brazen enough.



My kids love it.



Much looking forward to the next installment by The Do-nothing Gang...................

"Which is better 7mm-08 vs .308?"

I don't know. Guess that is why I own both.