Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 308 Hunting rifles - your top pick and why

Like to hear your pick of rifle, ammo/load, and accuracy/speed/field results.

The first center fire rifle I bought was a Win. Model 88 in .308. I always shot 165's or 180's in it and killed deer, pronghorn and elk.
It's still in the safe, but I'm sure it isn't on the top of any one's list.

I have many .308's. My favorie is a Savage 99F. It will shoot 150 Gr Nosler Failsafes over RL15 into a cloverleaf at 100 yds.

My first was custom Mauser 98 in a schnable stock and short 21" barrel. I use 180 gr BT's in it. Within 6 months of acquiring that 98 I had half a dozen more .308's.

Pick your favorite light rifle, order it in .308, and have fun.

ive spent an awful lot of time totin around a Salvage 10 PC in .308. i think it's cause I like my barrels like I like my women: short and thick. i caint honestly recommend it to anyone, im a little embarrassed to be seen with it. its sort of my guilty pleasure. anyway, it kills deer like a .308 does, and I'm usually shooting a sierra 165 or 168.

Except mine.....

Puff the Magic Dragon. Need I explain why?

I've had a couple of .308s now, similarly configured, and I have loved them both. 700 or Stiller Action, #5 barrel, McMillan stock, shooting VLDs. Easy to develop a load for, knocks the snot out of stuff, fun to shoot and great barrel life. Recently, for the first time, tried 155gr Scenars. Very first group put ten shots in a hair over .7MOA. Hopefully, they'll work as well on critters for me as the VLDs have.

John

Because you're a pothead?

Very happy with my Ruger M77 Mk II stainless/boat paddle stocked 308 with a Leupold 6x36 for my hunting.

I have a couple of .308's, and like both a lot even though they're at opposite ends of the spectrum. One is a Merkel K1 break-action single-shot with very nice walnut, engraved game scenes on the action, and typical of German rifles, a very fine trigger. It takes down in two minutes to fit into a case or backpack, and goes back together in two minutes to shoot the same small groups at exactly the same place. With a 3-9x Bausch & Lomb scope it weighs an ounce under seven pounds.

The other is a Ruger American Rifle that shoots even better, and weighs 7-1/4 with a 3-9x Burris Fullfield II. The trigger isn't quite as good as on the Merkel, but it ain't bad!

I'd trade both of them in an instant, however, for the Savage 99 EG .308 my father bought me after I killed my first deer with his Marlin .30-30. Like a typical young dumb-ass I sold that 99 years ago to buy a fancier bolt rifle.

Nope , prolly just another Grunt!!!

Forgot to mention The Load: 46-47 grains of Varget and 150-155 grain bullets. Shoots like crazy in most .308's, doesn't vary in velocity at different temperatures, and kills from deer to elk-sized neatly. Even killed the only wolverine I'm likely to ever get a crack at, without putting too much of a hole in the hide.

With those bullets I've found good nodes at 45.5 and 47.3 grains of Varget in Lapua brass.

My pre 64 model 70 FWT with a Burris signature 1.5-6x is my favorite. My first deer trifle bought from a family friend for way too little money 30 years ago, and responsible for most of the deer I've killed. The three most common loads are: Sierra 165 gr.gameking over BLC 2, the 150 gr. ballistic tip over 748, and the 165 partition over RL-15. That's the current favorite. Then I also have a Ruger flat bolt I bought when I got home a few weeks ago. So far it seems to like the 150 hornady over RL15.

" Like a typical young dumb-ass I sold that 99 years ago to buy a fancier bolt rifle."

Don't feel alone John. I still shake my head in distain at myself for doing just such a thing.
I recently bought a real nice 760 BDL in .308 that I'll be posting up in a couple weeks. Never has been shot according to the previous owner.(and from examining it,the old guy is telling the truth) Just want to have the cash stashed back for the 308 I really want, if one ever becomes available to me. And that would be a stainless Model 70,preferably a New Haven.

Kimber Montana.

I just picked up my first, a 700 in .308. It's my first 30 caliber in over 25 yrs. I'd like to hear some pet deer loads. Also where is the imaginary line drawn in the sand for bullet weight with a 10 twist?

I have 3 308 rifles and they go from $300 to $1500

My Marlin XS-7 carbine has shot the smallest group I've even shot with a deer rifle with a hunting load. .101" for 3 shots. 7.25ponds loaded and field ready it shoots far better than it's price says it should.

My Remington 750 carbine is 100% reliable and will consistently shoot right at 1.25" with 150gr SST bullets over 3031. Nearly 800rds later and it's still going strong. I had the trigger worked on and it is now slick as snot and breaks like ice at 3.5pounds.

My most expensive 308 is also the most fun. My Rock River Arms LAR-8 will shoot just about any deer load under 1" and it's preferred load will group at .5" all day every day. 150gr SST over win 748. The best group ever shot with it was a three shot group of .163" and was done by a 170gr Speer Flat Nose over 45grs of REL-15. Got to love an AR type gun that will feed and shoot flat point bullets.

Still have my Savage 99 in 308. It isn't going anywhere.

But my favorite 308 is the Kimber Montana. Waves like a wand, easy to carry, fun to admire.

I have a friend who has shot a ton of deer with a Winny 100 in 308 that is topped off with an old Realist scope. He only shoots 150g factory loads. I feel sorry for the deer in front of his one and only rifle.

Dale