What is there to like about the .308 Win family of cartridges?

I know that this sounds like crazy question and maybe it is but I can not warm up to these of cartridges.

I currently have two .308 Wins and have had others. I have shot them alot and I have hunted with them a good bit. They shoot very well and they have killed very thing I have shot at. I’ve shot a .308 since 1971 and a 30-06 since 1968.

I currently have five rifles chambered for the .30-06 family of cartridges and I like them a lot. But have never owned a .280 Rem.

In the last few years I have I moved to the Mauser family of cartridges. It stated with a .257 Roberts in a Ruger No.1A, then a sporterized Mauser in an 8x57. I just got a 9.3x62 CZ 550 FS. I’m also having a 7x57 built.

I can not see anything that the .308 Win family of cartridges can do that the .30-06 family of cartridges can not do better.

I also do not see anything that the .308 Win family of cartridges can do that the Mauser family of cartridges can not just as well.

Let the flames begain

quote:

Originally posted by ColeK:
What is there to like about the .308 Win family of cartridges?

I know that this sounds like crazy question and maybe it is but I can not warm up to these of cartridges.

I currently have two .308 Wins and have had others. I have shot them alot and I have hunted with them a good bit. They shoot very well and they have killed very thing I have shot at. I’ve shot a .308 since 1971 and a 30-06 since 1968.

I currently have five rifles chambered for the .30-06 family of cartridges and I like them a lot. But have never owned a .280 Rem.

In the last few years I have I moved to the Mauser family of cartridges. It stated with a .257 Roberts in a Ruger No.1A, then a sporterized Mauser in an 8x57. I just got a 9.3x62 CZ 550 FS. I’m also having a 7x57 built.

I can not see anything that the .308 Win family of cartridges can do that the .30-06 family of cartridges can not do better.

I also do not see anything that the .308 Win family of cartridges can do that the Mauser family of cartridges can not just as well.

Let the flames begain

No offense intended but this seems to be a post about nothing.

At it's inception, the .308 simply mirrors the velocity and power of the .30-06 in a shorter action...therefore a lighter weight firearm with lighter ammo - which would make a soldier more effective.

So, do you want a short action, or a long action?

That's all there is to it. Sometimes less is more...

BTW, there's NOTHING a .30-06 can do that a .35 Whelen can't do better. Or, a .350 Rem Mag. Or a .350 Norma.

I can load a 110 gr. pistol bullet in my .350 and get MOA accuracy at 100 yards. I can load a 250 gr. bullet and generate significantly more power than a .30-06 can.

Does it matter that the '06 can do everything the Mauser rounds can do...only "better"?

Does it matter? Nope.

Shoot what you want. The rest is mindless banter.

quote:

Originally posted by ColeK:
What is there to like about the .308 Win family of cartridges?


I currently have two .308 Wins and have had others. I have shot them alot and I have hunted with them a good bit. They shoot very well and they have killed very thing I have shot at.

You answered your own question.

At my age I prefer to carry a light handy carbine to a full sized rifle all day. Reloading is cheap and the brass lasts a long time. I use a 7mm-08 with 140 gr. bullets, at 2800 fps it will do anything I need to do.

Times move on, powders available improve and develop. The 308 makes advantage of that to do in 1950 what you needed a 30-06 size cartridge to do in 1900.

What it does by achieving this is save weight. Losing an "unnecessary" half inch of the cartridge case and an "unnecessary" half-inch of the receive and other associated parts.

In a military arm that weight saving - especially on the ammunition - is of great advantage. More rounds delivered for the same weight transported.

Is it important on a purely "sporting" or "hunting" rifle? Probably not. Indeed in an extremely hot climate the longer 30-06 length cartridge WITH MODERN POWDERS may hold an advantage over the 308 length cartridge.

In the meantime I agree 100% with your dislike of the 308 and urge you to buy up as many as you can and ship them to me. Other Forum Members may also be willing to assist in this.

efficiency

quote:

What is there to like about the .308 Win family of cartridges?

Not a whole lot !
roger

quote:

I use a 7mm-08 with 140 gr. bullets, at 2800 fps it will do anything I need to do.

Amen...

its all preference....

I don't like the 308, but I love the 7/08, 260 and 243..as I think they are better balanced cartridges... when it comes to the 308, the good old 06 does a little more..

I myself like the Mauser sized cases... for anything from 8mm on down it is all the sized case you really need... I have always believed that was why they were made that sized back when they were developed... anything bigger didn't show any gains in velocity.. but shorter did...

ya should be happy we have all of these options available for everyone... I don't see the need for magnum cases, short or large.. because I don't overly need a magnum.. but I am glad they are available for those that do prefer to use them...

but is there a real academic argument in the rationale of what case sizes do hunters really need and which ones they don't? not really.. even if we do argue about it all the time...

quote:

I use a 7mm-08 with 140 gr. bullets, at 2800 fps it will do anything I need to do.

So will the 7x57 and more and it beat it by 100 years. roger

There's too many other choices to worry about what's not to like about the .308 Win. I've taken too many game animals to count with that cartridge, more than with my .375 H&H but less than with my .22s.

Personally, I like them all.

Namibiahunter

What's there to like? Not a whole lot....

The .308 case and its offspring make great guns for young petite girls getting started in the deer hunting sport.

This is just as ridiculous as the 45-70 for DG debates.

.308 family works marvelously in short carbines that are handy up close, but can stretch if needed.

I like the .308 cartridge and the 06, don't see enough difference to make me worry..I think the 308 cartridges are great for the Sav. 99, Win. 88 etc...

The rounds you prefer such as the 8x57, 9.3x62 and 7x57 are pretty hard to beat, but the truth is the line of .308 cartridges is probably just as good with the exception of the 9.3 which is a much more potent round and out of this class , so I don't see much to your post except idle conversation that is nice to discuss but pointless.

The 308 is as good at killing large game as the 3006 - in a smaller higher pressure round. As for the entire family they all seem to have the right mix of length versus girth to give accuracy a boost in the right direction. They also are not as picky about the powders you pack them full of. They will shoot any 30 caliber bullet that the '06 will up to the 180 -190 grain the difference in game effectiveness and range is so slight as to not exist.

There are many effective and accurate cartridges that will compete favorably with the 308 family of cartridges. As always it just comes down to what you prefer. I don't own a 308 but I do own two 3006's. I do own a 358 win. that is in the 308 family and it is superb. I also have a 257 Roberts that is in the Mauser family that is excellent at what I use it for. Each has a certain amount of overlap but that is what you get with any modern cartridge in a modern firearm. The overlap just demonstrates that they are flexible in there applications. If i could only have one I would pick the most versatile; the 30-06 in my opinion. I have accurate loads for it with bullet weights from 110 up to 180 gtrains that are good enough for any kind of game or skillet fare that walks on the ground in the lower 48. Itis also the gun I have had the longest and am most comfortable with. I am sure that there are nearly as many opinions as there are people here.

I've never had a use for the .308 except as a GI match cartridge ever since 1967 when I fired my first 7.62mm NATO Garand. In the sporting field the .308 remains outclassed at once and forever more by the .30-06. I do have uses for the .308 offspring, like the 7mm-08 and the delightful .260 Remington as deer rifles, but, when it comes to serious hunting, meaning Safari in Africa, I will always switch over to something on the order of the 9.3x62mm, .30-06, 7x64mm, or a 6.5mm with 160 grain bullets. The .308 is just a short action attempt at equaling the .30-06, the same as the old Savage .300 cartridges. Where the .308 shines in my humble opinion, is in battle rifles such as the M-1A, H&K, FAL, and assorted machineguns.

LLS

I generally don't go for short action rifles simply because if 1" or so in length matters at all, I can just step 1" backwards! Unless I'm looking at an M-14 style rifle I'll almost always go for a long action round. WSM makes short actions a little more interesting if they can address to feeding difficulties but nothing on the .308 case really gets me going except the .243 as a varmint/predator round, at which it excels.

quote:

I also do not see anything that the .308 Win family of cartridges can do that the Mauser family of cartridges can not just as well.

Its really not a matter of what the Mauser family of cartridges can do better. The question should be whether or not the Mauser family of cartridges can make a deer somehow a little more dead than an efficient cartridge that burns a little less powder with equal ballistics in a Remington short action.

quote:

Originally posted by 45otto:
The .308 case and its offspring make great guns for young petite girls getting started in the deer hunting sport.

I'd have to stick with my little 308, but I am pretty sure I would make one ugly girl and at 260 I do not know if I would be considered petite.......

Good, but boring family of cartridges.

I've just gone through cleaning out the cupboard and now have only two deer rifles. One is a Kimber Montana (plastic fantastic)in 260 Rem. with a Loopy 1.75-6x, which is as good a deer rifle cartridge combination as any for use in this part of the world.

The 308 is a good round, fine for the 90% of all hunting in the America's. Same for the 7x57 mauser. Brass is easy to come by, it's easy to load for. For the majority fo hunting no magnum will do a better job than the 308. However comparing it to the 30-06, the round it was born to emulate in the old days is just too obvious your trolling.

Gentlemen, I am not saying that the .243 Win, .260 Rem, 7mm Rem, or .308 Win are bad cartridges because they are not bad cartridges.
It’s just that I have not found anything that they can better than a .257 Roberts, 6.5x54, 7x57, and 8x57 or a .25-06 Rem, .270 Win, .280 Rem, and .30-06.

quote:

Originally posted by ColeK:
Gentlemen, I am not saying that the .243 Win, .260 Rem, 7mm Rem, or .308 Win are bad cartridges because they are not bad cartridges.
It’s just that I have not found anything that they can better than a ,244(6mm) .257 Roberts, 6.5x54, 7x57, and 8x57 or a .25-06 Rem, .270 Win, .280 Rem, and .30-06.

Right on the money!! roger

The whole group does nothing better than the 7x57 by itself IMO.

quote:

What is there to like about the .308 family of cartridges?

They run through my FAL like crap through a goose.

Yeaaaa!!!!!!!!! ColeK

LLS

Nothing better but making smaller groups on paper. Anyone say it aint so show me all the match results, cause there not there. I have them both and unless you are shooting grizz and need a bigger bullet, the 308 will kill them all just as dead!

quote:

Originally posted by Moorepower:
the 308 will kill them all just as dead!

So will the 7x57 and 8x57 Loooong before the .308---- so who needed it ? The only rational justification is that there happens to be a lot of brass as exemplified by the swat team's leavings at the range today.

It arrived and there really wasn't a need for it in the sporting world and possibly not in the military world either. Totally driven by military imaturity and compromise. roger

The roots of this discussion are called "consumerism" which was invented by the Truman administration at the end of WWII. They wanted a system to forestall the failure of the war-time manufacturing capacity. So they decided to promote the purchase of "ever-improving" consumer goods. It worked. Thank goodness or we would all still be driving '49 Plymouths. That is NOT a happy thought!

Turning money over as fast as practical is the fuel for capitalism and for money to turn over, people need something new to buy.

Naturally, it has to be within a particular sphere of interest so we have this absolute plethora of manufacturing capability to satisfy every consumer's desire of the day. And we have marketing and sales to define a message (marketing) and deliver it to the target consumer (sales). Ad infinitum...

It could be worse; you could be standing in line each 2nd Tuesday of every 3rd month for your ration of corrosive primers and 19th century surplus powder, assuming you're in the front third of that period's queue...

And spears and rocks have been around longer than mausers! What's your point?

quote:

Originally posted by Moorepower:
And spears and rocks have been around longer than mausers! What's your point?

Great question --- Because just last week my cousin killed a charging range steer with a speer and gutted it with a sharp rock. roger

quote:

Originally posted by bartsche:

quote:

Originally posted by Moorepower:
And spears and rocks have been around longer than mausers! What's your point?

Great question --- Because just last week my cousin killed a charging range steer with a speer and gutted it with a sharp rock. roger

I thought it was killed with a round rock and gutted with a dull spear

If the 308 line of cartridges were not vastly superior to the x57 line, we'd see the old Mauser cartridge showing up in accurcy match results all over the world, instead of vice versa!

My 550 Gibbs kicks all their butts on DG.
Rich
DRSS
Knowledge not shared is knowledge lost...

Cartridges in the 308 family will give you performance approaching, or in some cases almost equalling that of its 06 length sibling and it fits into a shorter action. I really like the 243, 260, 7-08 and 358 for handy, lightweight rifles. To my mind the 358 is just a magical round. Lou

Was it a spear with a rock point, because even though they are newer I know they are more accurate than a pointed stick.

The .308 is a lousy knock off of the 7.65 Mauser.