Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Competitive Shooting The 308 and long range competition shooting ?

I was wondering what makes the 308 cal. such a popular choice? I have considered getting into this area of shooting to have something to do while hunting seasdon is out along with fishing, golf, more fishing and more golf.

The primary reason today is the Palma match that requires it along with a 155 gr bullet. The loads are very hot and the barrels are long to keep the bullets velocity over the speed of sound thru 1000 yds.

.308 dia. 155 gr. HPBT Palma MatchKing .308 155 .233 .450 @ 2600 fps and above
.443 between 2600 and 1800

Firstly because it is a Military chambering. Secondly,it is amazingly well supported in componetry,because of the above. Thirdly,it offers a nice combo of performance down range,relative damage to the pocketbook for fodder and relative barrel life. Fourthly,recoil is essentially dick.

I'm no great fan of the 308,as it pretty much makes me yawn,but it's melding of attributes make it tough to overlook for high volume Precision and dat's why I have a few.

A sound 308,will squarely get you into the game,with minimal fuss..................

As an aside,I don't think the 308's popularity is due to the Palma discipline.........................

The 308 and long range competition shooting ?

Except where the 308 is required it's no longer that popular for long range target shooting. It's problem at 1000 yds is the marginal velocity and at 600 yds the recoil.

It's not a mistake however at all. In fact the common sense of it all is to get a 308 and be able to compete in Palma, other longe range target and even F class. So it's the first one to get because of the Palma rule.

We have a long range team here at the club. Guys who compete at 1000 yds and can take the recoil favor the 300 WSM now while others shoot the 6.5-284. Some shoot the 6m m BR at 600 yds but even a QT .223 will compete there.

A member is building a 260 Rem now for these prone events, sans Palma, with a 1-8 Hart on a 40Xb. He bought a VX3 Leu Target for that rifle. Recoil really matters to target shooters.

Check in at Long Range Target Shooting

"There is a lot of confusion over what the USA Palma rules are. Many poeople ar confusing USA Palma with International Palma. They are not the same.

USA Palma can be fired with any .308 Win. rifle or Service Rifle in .308 or .223. No weight limit in trigger, rifle, or bullet.
International Palma is .308 only with minimum 1.5kg trigger, maximum 6.5kg rifle with sights and hand stop, and less than 156gr bullet.
The rifle does NOT have to be a single shot rifle in either case.

USA Palma is unlimited practice and 15 shots for record at 800yd, 2 sighters and 15 shots for record at 900yd, and 2 sighters and 15 shots for record at 1000yd.
International Palma is 2 converible sighters and 15 shots for record at each range 800yd, 900yd, and 1000yd."

If I might add,

There's tons of data available for reloading accurate ammo, plus confirmed data for drop and wind charts. A good "beginners" round.

Point is/was,that the Palma discipline is not in my opinion,the supreme catalyst for the 308's popularity.

That the Palma Rules mandate a less than optimal projectile,within the required chambering,strikes me as archaeic at best.

The 308 has been well represented since inception,within the accuracy disciplines.

My first 308 wasn't due to Palma influences and I've little doubt I had(have) the monoply,on that train of thought..........................

It's a chambering that will allow the shooter to fire upwards of 5,000 rounds before needing rechambering for competitive matches at 800 to 1000 yards and many more than that for MOA accuracy at shorter ranges (600 yards or so).

There's no end to the supply of loaded ammo or components easily picked up for free (cases) or at reasonable prices.

It's easy to load for and there's always store bought match ammo that's adequate for most shooters.

F T/R class has quite a following and these shooters are mostly 308 Win with some 223 shooters.

It has NO problem getting to 1000 yards with a bullet of decent characteristics (BC .496 or so and about 2600 fps at the muzzle) and has minimal recoil in a match type rifle (fun to shoot).

It's great to learn on, there are tons of shooters familiar with it and you really can't go wrong buying one for beginning competition. (If you shoot F T/R you can shoot the same rifle you hunt with, scope and all!)

Thanks everyone for the info! I looked at a remington 700 vs in the 308 a few days ago and I'm considering buying it. It has a fluted 26" barrrel and I like the way it feels but I know it will need some work.

I am also in the camp that refutes the belief that the Palma match is the main reason for the popularity of the 308 as a long range round, but moreso due to its other atributes , plus the fact that it is a widly used military round.
The vast majority ( actually all except for three!)of the shooters look at my rig at the range and can't believe it when I tell them it's a Palma match rifle and the Palma match is shot out to 900 meters or 1,000 yards.
Cat

I shoot a 308 at long range quite a lot because I just like it. While it won't match the 7mm's for bullet BC, if one is familiar with it's capabilities, he can still shoot good scores. I have always figured, if I can't read the wind, I'll miss with anything. GD

For what it's worth, the 2019 NRA Long Range Sling National Championship was won by a shooter using a Palma rifle, iron sights and a 155 gr .308 bullet, beating all of the any/any rifles.

My daughter 1000yd rifle is a 308 she shoots 185 juggernauts. She set a goal and wants to be a master/high master in LR.

I enjoy shooting long range in the summer, and have fired thousands of rounds of 308 down range, with just about every bullet and powder i could find, that said the 308 is a real clunker, when there are so many other chamberings that are more effective with no more or less recoil, that are no more expensive to load and shoot, their may not be the wide selection of bullets for some but there are plenty in most cases, most people start with a 308, but it doesn't take long to crave a better long range round.

YMMV Rio7

The reason certain long range classes of shooting require a .308 ( or .223 ) is exactly because they are marginal ballistic performers at that distance. It places the burden of success on the shooter and their ability to wind read vs. the latest technology. In my experience, that successfully levels the playing field and mostly eliminates the equipment race / gamesmanship component. They are very accurate, just lots of wind drift.

As other posters have said it is also FUN. Especially with iron sights and a sling.

Between the two which is the better long range cartridge, the 308 or a properly twisted and throated 223/5.56?

That's an interesting question. I have been squadded with a couple of top level shooters who were using .223s. I had a detailed discussion with one of them when we shot in a 1000 yard team match a year ago. He was using a custom reamer he designed, 6.5 twist barrels if I recall correctly and crazy high H4895 powder charges resulting in a one and done case life for the Lapua brass. While his shooting was outstanding, I was left with no burning desire to pursue a long range .223 of my own.

FWIU, the 308. The 5.56 apparently has problems holding vertical at long ranges compared to the 308.

If I wasn't constrained by rules, I'd pick some other cartridge besides those 2.

Your Game your rules, my game my rules I'll play my game my rules, still need to know how to read the wind. Rio7

All good here... Have fun.
Do like the looks of your range.