All day, every day, case capacity wins the day.
Not really. ACCURACY wins the day.
In terms of power and trajectory At 500 yards 150FPS difference means NOTHING with the
exact same bullet..
100 Ft lbs difference at that distance, tops.
Ask the USMC how they feel about the .308 vs the 30-06.
(Hint- they don't give a rat's azz about the extra 150 FPS..)
As a hunter, primarily,I don't ever confuse my activities and objectives,with the good guys at the USMC,although there is minor overlap. After all, we are both aiming at things.....
A gun store pal is a Marine armorer;he never says anything bad about the 30/06
And I don't recall ever saying accuracy(the ability to "hit",which is slightly different)is unimportant....that would be silly.
About as silly as the talk I hear,mostly on here,that "velocity does not matter"....
In a hunting rifle,of course it matters! Within certain parameters,of course,and not to excess,because other factors start to play in. But it is important...if it were not,we would have stopped at the 45/70,30-30 and 30/40 Krag and let it go at that...
Added velocity from a larger case(and 150 fps)flattens trajectory,increases rotational velocity,and facilitates bullet expansion at distance, important considerations for a hunter who deals with animate targets that change positions quickly,are likely on the move,and with little time to deploy the equipment required to call distance precisely.
Point blank range is increased, if even only a bit....under some circumstances,this can be "enough"....especially to the hunter, alone,who has no one with him to read conditions,determine distance,click up,and call shots.
In hunting, there are no second chances;and no group shooting....only first shots, and terminal hits.....everything else is a disaster,the wheels have fallen off and conditions are not getting better.
There are solid reasons that high velocity cartridges are frequently seen in the hands of open country hunters.....even those who can shoot.
Greater velocity also expands tough hunting bullets "better",which work well on game animals,while Marines generally only care about putting a bullet on target....they shoot mostly paper,people,and "things"....none of which require much in the way of the terminal performance we expect on game animals.
And the 308 displays the same characteristic that many smaller cases do....that is,to come close to the next cartridge up in velocity with light to medium weight bullets,mostly at pretty high pressures to get there.....but gets left firmly in the dust when bullet weight increases(an important consideration for larger game;and maybe even for dealing with "conditions", the heavier, higher BC bullets at higher velocity aiding "hitting" where wind is a factor); which is ,again slightly different from pure mechanical accuracy.....for a really good answer, I suspect we can ask Shane(Montana Marine) about all this.He knows better because he spends a lot of time,with both,at distance and from accurate rifles to boot.
And the 30/06's proven ability to nicely manage everything from 150's to 220 gr bullets at
meaningful velocities (there's that case capacity thing again),makes it suitable,if not perfect,for everything from antelope to elephant...
The 308 is a fine round....but if you cannot hit with a 30/06,from a hunting rifle,you need more practice...not a 308.
To the OP, if the 4350 load in your 30/06 is troubling from a blast/recoil perspective, load it with 4064 or RL15 instead....it will then recoil just like your 308,go as fast or faster still,and do the same things,especially in hunting weight rigs.
