What do you use for deer hunting? I have a late 90's model Savage 110, but yet chambered in .308 with a Bushnell Trophy 3-9x40 scope on top. I love this rifle and keep it simple, for heavy woods here in Virginia - especially in the mountains in the National Forest. Dead on zeroed at 150 yards, that's all. Ain't nothing too fancy for what I need...

For anyone in Virginia (I think there's a Virginia Mountain thread somewhere below)... Remember the area near Sherando Lake, called Coal Rd in the Big Levels area? This was me last year heading back out for an afternoon hunt, from one of the pullover/parking areas along Coal Rd.

Wait till Big Stick sees that rifle/scope combo.

Better buckle up for that blast.

-Jake

Hard to do better than the .308 Winchester for the ranges at which most of us shoot game. If the rifle shoots well and the scope holds zero.....what more do you need to tip over a deer?

My little 700 pictured here would be one of the last rifles I'd ever part with.

I currently use a Kimber Montana in 7-08. Lovely little rifle. Michigan deer in woods and over ag fields. Last 4-5 deer, cumulative run distance after being shot is probably less than 10 yards.

My .308 Win isn't even drilled and tapped for scope bases... nuclear blast? 🤔

Jake? Wow, you're over on this site too? I bumped into Champlain Islander on here too! Very cool!

308 is boring as fu ck, but I have one set up as simple as I could think of:

I like it and the cartridge so much, it might go on the chopping block.. Put a new stock on it and it's almost as clean as a new rifle... While not as simple as the OP's rifle, it's about as simple as I like to go..

Love my model 7 308

My more vintage 308 it’s a savage

Got a Ruger American compact 308 with a vortex 2-8 HD on it , it’s light and accurate as you could ask of such a rifle .
It’s became my favorite.
Got a Savage10 that I hope to put blood on this year as well as a rebarreled 700 LSS in 243
But it’s going to be tough for them to compete with the Ruger number 1 spot .
Kenneth

My do all rifle----Remington 700 LH 30/06 with a Leupold Var-X III 2.5x8. Everything from hogs in TX, elk in CO & grizzly bear in AK.

Sako AII with Leupold VariX-II 2-7. It has got it done from Maine to Oregon.

I remember a few decades ago when Ruger first started making lefty bolts - I ordered one in 7mm Mag and put a big 50mm objective lens scope on it. I was tip-toeing through the thicks in CO and came across another hunter with the same Ruger MkII, but his was right-handed and chambered in .308. I remember looking at my set-up and thinking, who would ever pick that over this!? Oh...to be so young and enthusiastic! Nothing wrong with a 7mm mag and big scopes, but mine is long gone and I've been waiting for the "right" .308 to come along...

I used a 30-06 almost exclusively until about 15 years ago when I made the switch to 308. Does the same thing with the bullet weights I use with a little less recoil and rifle weight. Uses about 10-12 gr less powder every time I pull the trigger too and that does add up.

Since 2008 my go-to rifle has been a Winchester EW. I found a used McMillan Edge stock for it here in the classifieds a year later. I also have a Tikka virtually identical to bsa's rifle. I have Cabela's Instinct 3-9X40's on both. Same scope as the Zeiss Conquest with Cabelas badges on it.

I short stroked a 30-06 one time and it hit me I needed the short action version

I like .308. I got my Kimber Mountain Ascent to fill the niche of a bolt action .30-30 since my old Savage 340 was long gone. It does right respectable in that role meeting all expectations.

Tom

I like a 308 ....... Plain jane they are, but they do get the job done and offer some versatility for those wanting to use heavier bullets.

I currently use this Sportsman 78 (cheapo M700 version) 308 in a Brown Precision.

1959 Savage 99 EG, .308. Nice, classic rifle.

My favorite round for my Savage .308 (believe it or not) actually comes from Georgia Arms (those ammo reloaders always at the Gun Shows in town). Now, now, now, now... These guys are straight up legit! Georgia Arms is actually a FACTORY with automated machines and serious Quality Control! These guys make ammo that rivals Hornady, Winchester, Federal, etc.. etc..

https://www.georgia-arms.com/308-winchester-165gr-ballistic-tip/

$50 for a box of 20! ...... Time to take up reloading.

Yeah... I know... That's the going rate of their premium deer hunting ammo. I still have my box from a few years ago and only use them for deer hunting and not waste any shots.

I know Coal Rd and Big Levels. I've hunted it several times, and may again this year. Season is really short there, though. I get a Nat'l Forest permit every year thinking I'll make it there again. Getting there during the two week season isn't always easy since its a 3 hour drive for me. I usually stay overnight in Waynesboro. Mills Creek Reservoir has some nice Brookies in it.

I was actually thinking of Big Levels when I got this. A nice handy rifle for that area. Winchester Model 70 Featherweight .308.

308 is by far the easiest to reload for ill offer a hands on lesson and free time on my elite range even though your not a true Virginian

I have been enjoying a Model 7 308 stainless in a B&C stock wearing a VX-2 3-9x40. It’s simple. It’s light. It’s boringly accurate with Hornady 150’s.

Seriously? I'm being dead-on serious... I have never reloaded, have absolutely no clue how it's done. I will send you a PM (if I could find it within this new forum). If I ever got into reloading, all I would do is .308 rifle and .45 ACP handgun, and that's it.

Thanks... --Butch--

If you have a .308Winchester that won't shoot a 150 Hornady......something ain't right.

There's others. Another posted on this thread already. Although hasn't been around the other site in a long time and might use a different name over there I don't remember.

-Jake

My second centerfire was a 308 Ruger and is long gone. I picked up this Mauser M12 308 a couple of years ago cheap. A sudden opportunity came up so I found a couple of boxes of 150 gr Federal blue box. It worked.

IMO the .308 Win and 300 Sav fit in the same niche - and I have two of each
.308 Kimber Montana with 2-7X33 Vari-X II (great rifle, but more of a practical tool than the others. Gets a lot of use and I don't worry about wear and tear)
.308 Savage 99F with 1.5-5 Vari-X III (kind of finicky, less use these days)
300 Sav Remington 700 Classic with 2-7X33 VX2 (most accurate, real sweet since cutting barrel back to 22" and putting in Timney trigger)
300 Savage 99F with Williams receiver sight (new to me, goes into rotation this fall as a walking and too-sloppy-for-scope-weather rifle)

None of them are safe queens. Throw in my 30/30 99F and I think I have just enough deer rifles

That's the real deal right there. All you need.

.308s....

I only have 3 of them.....

I have two, too. Well, other than a Colt AR in 7.62. Only two .308 hunting rifles. Other than the Winchester M70 in my previous picture, I have a Browing BLR '81 Lightweight with a Leupold FXII 2.5X in Talley bases and rings. Tips the scales at a tad over 7 lbs empty. Shoots great and carries easy.

I have a Mark X 308. Wood stock wears a 3-9x40 Bushnell 4200 Elite. Pretty basic set up. I have never hunted with the rifle. It was Dads deer rifle. I sighted it in for him. Shoots 1.5 inch groups. Sort of a heavy barrel. It came to me with a cheap tasco scope and weaver bases and rings. I swapped out for the Elite and some Talley LW rings. I may hunt with it someday. For now its a good piece I remember my Dad by.

I hunted deer last year with a MRC X2 in 7mm08. Wears a Swaro AV 3-10x42. When I bought it I had the factory chop the barrel from 24 to 22. I hunt in AL out of a climber stand and it worked great. One thing I didn't like about it was it a lb and a half heavier than I was happy with.
But this proved to be beneficial in keeping it steady in the stand. I will use this setup again this year.

I also have 700 XCR 2 in 270 win , McMillan edge stock with a Timney trigger. It wears a VX3 3.5-10x40 in Talley LWs. This is my favorite rifle over all.

My old Ruger Tanger in 30-06 with a VX 3 3.5-10x40 sits in the closet. It was my first bolt gun and I hunted everything except birds with it for two decades exclusively. Its had a few scopes on it before the VX3. It had a Bushnell trophy on it for years. Which was a hevk of an upgrade from the cheap tasco it had when I acquired the whole setup for $100.
Still shoots green box Corelok 165s first two touching and the third shot an inch high and to the right.

Last year I bought a Winchester XPR in 350 legend for a hunt in Ohio I go to every year. Wears a XV3i 2.5-8x36 in Talley LWs. This is a very basic setup except it has a detachable mag instead of a trap door.

Very Nice. That one's a keeper. If they don't shoot like that, there not fun to shoot.

I started with a 06 went though a magnum period but when I retired bought my first .308 a Seekins Havak Element topped with a Z5 2.4-12x50, should fill my needs until the end of my hunting days.

I have a Savage Hog Hunter I bought for suppressor use. I was amazed how accurate it is. The SOB is fun to shoot. Wifey shoots it a lot with sun sonic loads for fun.

130 Hornady out of the ‘06 or .308 is a WT and hog killer. I like the way it blows thru a WT chest at 3K fps, quick kills. My guns shoot this bullet well.

Some say the 7-08 is the .308 with the “suck” squeezed out. I have both, don’t believe that.

DF

My only .308 is a Ruger 1B with a VXiii 1 1/2-5. It works.

I found these two photos from 10 years ago, up my older sister & B-I-L's farm in Upstate New York. They called me up saying there was an "annoying little 6 pointer" in the upper pasture all the time. 2 of my sisters prized horses would get pissed and run him off all the time, and he would come right back later that evening. (They own a 125 acre farm with 9 horses).

Anyway, I drove 10 hours from VA to Upstate NY to the farm... Free place to stay... Free use of an ATV... and 125 acres all to myself. I was in Heaven! My B-I-L called him a basic "farm deer", that was used to people, ATV's, etc... and wanted him gone. I parked the ATV out beside the upper barn about 100 yards, 125 yards from the treelined hilltop. I patiently waited, waited, it was around 4:30pm in November and dusk was approaching. I blew a single grunt from my grunt tube, and again waited and waited. Suddenly, I see the small 6 pointer coming down the treeline, looking around "Hey, who's here on my turf?" He sniffed the ground and I put my .308 rifle and Bushnell scope on him, right behind his left shoulder. To my surprise, he quartered towards me in that last microsecond, as I squeezed the trigger.

BANG! The small 6 pointer took one step and flopped over DOA right there! My B-I-L heard the shot and came up to the upper pasture, driving a backhoe! LOL... We chained the buck up to the backhoe, raised him up in the air and field dressed him right then and there. I couldn't believe it... That 165gr Ballistic Tip round blew the Aorta off the buck, passed through the other lung, and out the other side, making a huge exit hole (seen in the photo). We hung him up for the night in the lower barn, and then we drove to a processing center the next day (seen in the bottom photo).

I drove back to Virginia with two coolers full of steaks, roasts, sausage, stew, etc... Hard to believe that was 10 years ago in Upstate New York. Sadly, you can't do that now from out of state. New York State is no longer the same place I grew up in, as a kid in the 60's & 70's.

My main "whatever, wherever" rifle is an SS M77 in .308 with a 3-9 Leupold wearing the long range duplex reticle. It tracks the 150NAB or NBT out to 400yds. Simple and effective.

.308 has been my go to MI deer killer for decades. I have 3. An older Browning A Bolt SS, A Ruger tang safety varmint barrel, and a Winchester Extreme Weather. All 3 are very accurate with cheap Federal blue box 150s.

I've seen some of that Georgia arms in gun shops down in Alabama.

https://i.postimg.cc/rFvskgd5/20170314-155413.jpg

Love the 308 win!

Fake news - it's well reported that Rugers shoot like shotguns....


(Self confessed Ruger slut back in the day here)

I kind of backed into my 308. I was looking for a 7-08 for my east deer hunting needs and came across a good deal on a Kimber 84m in 308. After using it for that purpose, took it elk hunting. It worked as advertised. It has now become my favorite rifle - even though it could be considered a bit anemic. I found it works well in a lightweight package at a level of recoil that is comfortable. And with a 150 mono, shoots much flatter than it might seem at first blush.

I rolled the dice on this one and it turned out okay. That rifle has gone up about 35% in cost over the last 3 years or so, which is a bummer. But so have a lot of others.

That rifle and that zero make a lot of sense for a lot of things in a lot of places.


Okie John

Xs-7 Conn Marlin 308 with M8 4x leupold, M77 boat paddle ss 308 with nikon 3x9 bdc, m88 win 308 with 3x9 sightron, and a 760 rem std model 308. They all shoot fine..mb

It's great stuff.... Expensive as hell (in today's economy) and is viewed as more of a high end, Federal, Remington, Fiocchi, etc... type of round.

Somewhere, maybe on an old Thumb Drive somewhere, I can't remember... But I have a photo/scan of one of those Dirty Bird targets from a number of years ago, shooting my Savage .308 rifle @ 100 yards. I vividly remember the day - I'm not going to lie.

1" high @ 100 yards at the local outdoor range.
Okay, okay, so I cheated... I used a solid benchrest! so what?
Now, I swear to you all. On my mother's soul... I swear...
I just remember freaking out, because 3 rounds were touching each other, like the "3 of Clubs" playing card, as all 3 were 1" high above the bullseye!

And that was with using Georgia Arms 150gr FMJ target ammo!

Good for you!

Proves yet again that a guy who can hunt doesn't need cutting edge gear to be successful.

My favorite rifles chambered in 308 WIN are a couple of Winchester 100s, a cut-down rifle and an actual carbine. Despite the unfavorable reputation that the Winchester 100s have in some circles, mine have never let me down.

That's not far from my story. I wanted a 7mm-08 in the Kimber Mountain Ascent BUT I wanted the moss green stock, not the camo "duratouch" which I'd handled in a couple stores and was not fond of at the time. I went for .308 since it was pretty close and came in the stock I wanted. It also helped that I still had .308 dies and brass and a couple pounds of RL-15 left over from a Kimber Montana .308 and Rem Seven XCR that had both failed to deliver accuracy for me. I still wish it was a 7mm-08 but after 15 years of mostly failed rifle accuracy, this SOB shoots pretty well and I'm not going to risk making any changes, just shoot it and smile.

Tom

Very nice, and reminds me of how well inexpensive Hornady American Whitetail with 150gr Interlock shot in my 308.
I need to load up some 150gr flat base Interlocks and see if I can duplicate.....

My simplest 308 set up is a wally world R700 SS ADL with a leupold 1.5-5x20 with barrel cut down to 20". I think I would go just about anywhere with it and have not a worry.

I have been using a T/C Compass in 308 Win topped with a 4x Nikon. Last season I fired 4 shots at game and killed a black bear, a whitetail doe, a wild hog and a big bobcat all taken with a handload consisting of a Barnes 130 gr TTSX and Varget powder.

The 130 TTSX is the bullet I want to try out in my Model 7. I probably have no need for it in Alabama or Louisiana, but it seems like a fine load.

Have some history with 308 Winchester hunting rifles and have three that remain.

> Sako L579 Forester Deluxe that belonged to my dad and wears a Leupold 6x36mm scope. (Really need to replace the original recoil pad, it's seen better days.)

> Sako AII Hunter (oil finish) purchased with one of my first oil patch paychecks in 1987 and it now wears a Vortex HD LH Razor 1.5-8x32mm scope.

> Howa 1500 HS Precision with a Meopta Meostar R1 3-10x50mm that I hope to blood this fall in the Blue Ridge of NC or VA.

The 308 Winchester has proven itself accurate, capable and easy to load for; I'll hunt these rifles till I hang it up and then they'll go to family.

Nothing wrong with the 308 Winchester.

StarchedCover

Ruger M77 RL Ultralight always puts the first cold bore 130 TTXS to POA. It wears a Leupold VXll 2-7X33. Basic, handy and hunter accurate.

My rifle really likes it.

My only 308. A M600 that came to me in a black painted hardwood stock. I ran across a much abused M660 stock that I sanded down a bunch to remove the impressed 'checkering', the booboos, and excess wood. Then about 5-6 inches of the fore end was chopped and a barrel band swivel stud installed. I ended up with a slim, light, short walkabout rifle. It works very well. On the bottom:

Not much wrong with a .308 Winchester for hunting. Especially in the timber. I started with one, and still occasionally use it. My back-up rifle is my Ruger I’ve had for 30 years. It’s bedded, has a trigger job, recoil pad upgrade, and a Leupold 3.5-10x40 VX-III. It’s a sub-MOA rifle with handloads.

Here's a link to the .308 135 gr. ER Cutting Edge Raptor. Check out the 01/04/2019 review, the bottom one. I wrote it.

I'm also impressed with Hammer bullets. They're expensive, like CEB's, but how many do we actually shoot at game. Practice with cheaper stuff.

https://cuttingedgebullets.com/308-135gr-er-extended-range-raptor

Rifle is a Kimber Classic with a Broughton 5C stainless barrel that replaced the OEM tube that didn't perform so well.

DF

I was impressed by the 150 gr Federal basic cup and core Blue Box bullet. A pretty good size buck at ~160 yards ran ~50 yards then crashed. A pass through.

I guess my 308 WIN experience is perverse compared to the rest of y'all. Don't take me wrong. I don't want it to seem like I'm throwing shade on the chambering. As with so much of my life, 308 WIN has come out with results "other than expected."

First off, my early exposure to 308 WIN was a bit crossed. I grew up going to a barber shop in Cincinnati. Ohio was a shotgun-only state. Therefore most of the opinions I heard about any centerfire rifle were from wannabes. In those days, the mid-Sixties, everyone seemed to have an opinion on things, and 30-06 was usually at the center: 270 vs. 30-06, 308 vs 30-06, etc. The shop I visited was filled with a bunch of 30-06 snobs. Later, well after college, I started shooting and hunting. The bunch of old guys that took me under their wing were all die-hard 30-06 guys. One was a WWII vet. Another was a Marine armorer. Another was a gun editor. I had to learn the catechism that 30-06 was IT.

If you go and look back in this august forum in early 2003, you will find the shaman being sold on the concept of a Savage 99. Honestly, I don't remember much of anything about the Savage 99 until I came here. However, it did not take much convincing. I acquired a Savage 99 that summer. I asked my buddy, Bob, the gun editor which chambering to get. He reluctantly pointed me at 308 WIN. His reasoning was that he was sure 300 Savage was going to be orphaned before too long.

Side note: If you see a pattern of the shaman seeming to get a lot of well-meaning bum steers in his life, you're not the only one.

My one and only 308 WIN rifle is that Savage 99. It was itself, a perverse beast. Try as I might, I could not get it to shoot 150-grain bullets accurately. Somebody had said cheap mil-surp brass would be a good idea. That did not pan out either. What I ended up with was a somewhat downloaded load of H4895 topped off with a 165 grain Hornady Interlock in Federal brass. A full-house load was a bit sharp for my tastes, but loading the rifle to 300 Savage levels made it ideal. This has been my Opening Day go-to rifle ever since. I use it to hunt the Opener and then rotate it with other choices until my buck tag is filled, and then I put away for next year. As such, it has only shot bucks, and it has twice taken camp records. It has also taken several #2 and #3 bucks. I had it out last year and it did not disappoint:



For all my early indoctrination in the cult of 30-06, I have to agree 308 WIN was and is a great choice. I say that as quietly as possible; there are a half-dozen old friends that I don't want rolling in their graves. Will I ever buy another 308 WIN? I'm now 64, and I have a whole side of the rack just for all the 30-06s. My last acquisition was a 7mm-08. 308 WIN may be the road not taken.

I was a 3006 user for a long time, dabbled with a bunch of other cartridges along the way. Some larger, some smaller. Just in the last 2-3 years or so have I really come to realize that for what I need out of a cartridge ; the .308 checks all the boxes. So do a bunch of other cartridges, but I'm a .30 cal kind of guy and couple that with modest recoil and with easy to source reloading components and factory ammo, when it came time to re-barrel; the 308 was a no brainer.

Here's more proof that the .308 really sucks. No fancy bullets, the only bullet this rifle sees is a 150g Hornady Interlock moving along at 2800fps.....some stuff just works. Never saw a reason to spend $$$ on premium bullets.



multiple image

Great pics right there.....

Nice thread with lots of great pictures. It's funny how sane and balanced 308 threads are compared to most other cartridge threads... I suspect it says something about the type of folks that use it

Yep, it works;



So well;



That, sometimes, it knocks the antlers right off !

I could easily hunt the rest of my life with this .308.

SLM- I like that.
Could a guy get some rifle details?

Good stuff, gents.

Who here has put the 165 Gamechangers into (and out of) deer?

The more I hunt with the 308 the less I care about all the other calibers. From coyotes to elk it just works! Was a die hard 168NBT fan but changing to the 155 gr Scenar this year.

The only 308 I have is a ruger American that I won from the local Fire departmemt. It's ok but are fond of the 7mm08 better. The ruger is a good bad weather rifle for me.

I have a couple "Basic" .308 set-ups:

700 Mnt Rifle with a Leupold 1.75x6 short tube.



Sako Forrester carbine also with a Leupold 1.75x6 short tube.



The Mnt Rifle will probably get the nod this year if I still have a tag after archery season.

Teeder- if you ever get a desire to move that 308 mountain rifle down the road........shoot me a PM.

That pretty much sums it up. I got on to the 308 around 1990 and never found another cartridge that "speaks" to me like it does.

The 308 is a workman's round, miserly on powder, rich on results.

One of my better bulls, an older sway-back 7x7 that I shot here in the mountains of SW Montana. 308 Kimber MT / 165 Speer Hotcore:

Never get tired of that one, Brad!
I'd like to find some 165 HC's to try in my .308's.

Win. Classic SS action, PacNor 2’Bish barrel, Bridges Edge fill, PT&G bottom metal.


Agreed, that is a neat old bull.

That picture is what made me decide to go ahead and try a fairly light 308.

Amazing photos!! Wow, it looks like the classic .308 rifle has lots and lots of dedicated fans!

A guy could take it way out to 500 yards, clear shot, nothing in the way, etc... and yet another guy could take it into the heavy brush, thickets, hard timber, up in the mountains, at 50 yards, and it would still do the job.

I've had just one successful hunt with my 7mm-08 rifle, but I'm already inclined to agree with you.

The only downside I see to 7mm-08 versus 308 WIN is the 308 WIN ammo is $22 and is available everywhere. 7mm-08 ammo is $42 and nobody has it. I've got a lifetime supply of reloading components, so I'm not too worried.

I'm also not going to divest myself of 308 WIN and replace it with 7mm-08. There is not enough difference for the deer to notice.

In my personal experience I have and seen more deer drop or drop within sight whit the 7mm08 then with the 308. Not saying the 308 is bad but personal like the 7mm08 better in my personal experience. Know many that the 308 is their go to rifle.

Heresy here I’ve never warmed up to a 308. Had a little Mohawk 600 my father thought was a good woods gun, gave it to my nephew before it ever went hunting. As a 7mm RM guy the 308 seems just too slow no matter that lots of friends & relatives use them to fill lots of freezers.

The OP ‘s wood stocked savage looks like a pleasant efficient tool I tend to buy synthetic stocks these days but they just aren’t as appealing as wood.

To stay unpopular I’d never use a cheaper Bushnell scope on anything but a 22. I’ve had & seen a few fail spectacularly. Sightron, Burris, Zeiss & Leupold would make it better to me for a simple point & shoot hunting tool.

9,3 x 62M bobbed barrel Remington 721.

Up until 2 year ago... ammo was even cheaper (I reload), but at $18 a box I also buy.

PERFECT caliber.

What's that got to do with the .308?

Yes, they work as advertised.

.308 came from the .30-06

.30-06 came from the Mauser or Patrone (another debate for another day.

SO... the 9,3m birthed the .308.

Oh, I see!

Did Otto Bock tell you that?

Yes... we were drinking Mojitos at this Cuban dive in Havana 3 weeks ago.

Start a new thread about Bock if you want... Hi-jacks are not cool.

I only mentioned the 9,3m because of the 7-08 commentary... nothing more. I was NOT my intent to derail the OPs thread.

Close build myself...
Win Classic SS Action, Krieger LW SS barrel, NECG sights, McMillan Hunter's edge, PTG bottom metal... Loves 165 nosler ballistic tips on VV 540..

rifle.



Typical groups

my .02, the 30-06 is a great round

Good to know on a 308 thread.

VERY NICE TARGET!!!

I have always heard VV is top notch stuff... never tried it.

We did bulk drums of 4064... another decent powder for .308

Remington 700 factory gun (heavy barrel) with factory trigger/action/stock and a Lane can. Minox glass from Doug.

E-Tip are blems from SPS. Great bullet... no idea at all why they were blems.

And just for giggles... the old 9,3 x 62M I was yacking about before.

As I mentioned earlier in this thread, my only .308 (the only one I've ever had) is a Ruger 1B. A guy called me up one night, offered it for a great price, I'd always wanted a No. 1 but would have preferred some other cartridge. Anyway, I've played around with it, got it shooting pretty well, killed some deer with it... Several years back Remington was making what they called a Compact Tactical Rife on their Extreme Conditions Rifle version of the 700. It was made in .223 and .308. I got one in .223, B&C stock, aluminum bedding block, fluted 20" heavy 9 twist barrel, etc. I put a VariXIII 1.75 - 6 on it with a green anodized w/black splatter from the Leupold custom shop to match the B&C stock...it's been a great rifle and shoots lights out. I sort of regret that at some point I didn't get a matching one in .308.

If we all followed the same path as the OP, we'd all have a lot more money to go on out-of-state hunting trips.

He's got all he needs (and in all reality, it would cover most all of our NEEDS). There's just not much that the .308 cannot do in the deer woods. Life would be a lot more boring, maybe, but it'll do what most all of us really need without fanfare. Yeah, I know, I've lost my "looney status", but reality is harsh sometimes.

Agree... simple and basic.

But we are men... and that rarely works out.

Thank you... In absolute 100% truth, I only have (1) shotgun, (1) rifle, and (1) handgun. That's all I need to get by. Nothing fancy... Each one has a specific task at hand and gets the job done!

Fantastic rifles gents!

This rifle turned me on to the .308 back around 1990. It’s an early Model 700 Mountain rifle. The original walnut stock was broken at the wrist and the previous owner wrapped it with electrical tape and kept on rock’n.
I’ve had it in a few different stocks and decided it deserved a proper handle. So I ordered a McMillan that showed up yesterday.



This porkster was almost full throttle when the bullet caught up with him. I almost told my son- You’ll never hit him.
But… He rolled him like a boss!

Very very cool!

I love taking shots like that.

Congrats to your son!

So awesome!! Congrats to your son taking on a running boar with a .308 rifle. BOOM! Pulled Pork sandwiches for weeks! LOL!!!!

Rem 660 in a Brown Precision/Decelerator.
Old varix-ii 3x9 in Talley Lightweights

165gr BTs over too much 4895, LC NM brass, CCI 200s.

Used Sierra 165gr HPs over BLC-2 for awhile.
Muzzle blast sucked. Meat damage was epic.
Went back to the beginning.


Been using it since 1989.
Cheated with a 300mag, 30-06, 6.5 Swede, 243.......
700, 760, T3, M-7....

Nothing handles as goodor kills better. (Some not as well.
Of the batch, it is the least or 2nd least accurate.
But, I shoot it the best in the field.
And benchrests don't mean schidt in hunting rifles,
results do.



And yet, I'm still looking for that one, perfect rifle.
What an idiot!

I've had a few 308's over the years but I currently have only one. Tikka T3X wiith a Leupold VX- 3, 3.5-10X40. Like everyone says, boringly accurate. Mine especially likes 150 Nosler Partitions. I just sold my BLR81 308 this week just because I got my asking price but I have my eye on another lightweight 308 right now.
When I think about it, all my rifles are pretty basic & common. All are as they came from the factory, maybe a little trigger work and topped with some sort of Leupold or Burris scope or peep sight. That'll do.

I've owned a few 308s over the years, sold the last one to my son and I'm in the process of building one now. Tenacity action, Proof carbon barrel at 20", McMillan Game Warden stock, Trigger Tech trigger, Hawkins M5 DBM, EVO Harvester Suppressor (if I ever get my paperwork approved, February 2022 and waiting!), Leupold 5HD 3-15x44. The 308 is so good it's boring, that appeals to me more and more these days. Already thinking about my next 308 build.

Everything you just posted is wrong. The 308 came around as a shorter but lighter round than the 30-06 and was based on the 300 Savage round. The 30-06 was based on the 7x57 Mauser, and the 7x57 Mauser was not based on the 9.3x62 Mauser. As a matter of historical fact the 7x57 was created in 1892 and the 9.3x62 was created in 1905 by Otto Bock.

There's nothing fancy about my Rem 700 308.. Scoped with a Leupold VX111 2.5-8x36 in a hydro-dipped Remington SPS plastic stock.

About as basic as it gets. Ruger Hawkeye All weather, 308 Win, Leupold FX ii 6X36, Nosler 150 Accubond. Barrel fluted, Bolt skeletonized, Trigger worked.

308’s provide mucho satisfaction around here! 😃

Mine is a remington 7600 carbine. It's the most accurate rifle I own.