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Why do I struggle liking the noble, humble, efficient .308 Win????

I have one.
I have shot it.
I borrowed one in Austia and shot a bunch of stuff.
Worked and killed great...
I do not have a single complaint.
I have shot .30-06, .300 WM, .300 HH.

I like these but see the .308 Win almost like a trannie selling Bud Light beer....

Help me understand my completely unfounded bias against a noble cartridge.....
 
Posts: 10409 | Location: Texas... time to secede!! | Registered: 12 February 2004Reply With Quote
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I find most people fall for the bigger is better ideology (myself included) but if you are a decent shot smaller calibers kill just as good without the big bang and recoil.
 
Posts: 145 | Registered: 14 March 2005Reply With Quote
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there's one, ugly, stainless steel rifle, "hidden" in my cabin, a savage apex ii or axis (i forget, it has the trick trigger) with nikon glass on it .. it shoots more or less moa with remington greenbox 308 .. i wouldn't cry if it got stolen, but it always works, and i never have to worry about "enough gun" in Texas ---

it's neither my favorite caliber or my favorite rifle, and has zero nostalgia value --

but it does the job i ask of it, zero being finnicky, zero hassle..

it only serves Lone Star


opinions vary band of bubbas and STC hunting Club

Information on Ammoguide about
the416AR, 458AR, 470AR, 500AR
What is an AR round? Case Drawings 416-458-470AR and 500AR.
476AR,
http://www.weaponsmith.com
 
Posts: 39919 | Location: Conroe, TX | Registered: 01 June 2002Reply With Quote
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I had 5 30-06's before my first 308's.

Now I have three 308's

Why because I can.

My favorite woods rifle is a 99 300sav. less then either.

My out west rifle is a 300WM.

I have many others.

Because I can.
 
Posts: 19673 | Location: wis | Registered: 21 April 2001Reply With Quote
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Lots of folks call it the three oh great
 
Posts: 590 | Location: Georgia pine country | Registered: 21 October 2003Reply With Quote
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Its a gun nut problem. When you have a plethora of rifles chambered in really great cartridges, something is bound to end up collecting dust. It is inevitable. I spoil myself in my old age. I was probably a better shot when I was a one gun hunter, and had more appreciation for what I had. It can become a conundrum.



AK-47
The only Communist Idea that Liberals don't like.
 
Posts: 10187 | Location: Tooele, Ut | Registered: 27 September 2001Reply With Quote
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Like most here. I have an assortment of centerfire rifles from 6.5X54 to .338 WM. I picked up a Steyr Scout in .308 about 4 years ago since then it has seen more use than anything else here in Texas. Zeroed 2" high ar 100 yards. I have never touched the scope adjustments again, reliably 1"+- at 100 yards. If I'm not using a combination gun it seems to always be in camp. I use it myself and as a loaner. No need for anything else in Texas. I would not feel under gunned on an elk hunt, but have always used my 338.


"Suppose you were an idiot and suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself."
Mark Twain
 
Posts: 667 | Location: Texas | Registered: 04 January 2007Reply With Quote
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Why shoot a 243 if you can use a 25/06. Why use a 223 if you can shoot a 22/250 or 220 Swift?

A 308 is smaller, but still 30 caliber. It's gonna hit like a 30 cal and terminally perform like a 30 cal. Why not use the extra oompf of an -06 case? Or even the extra oomph of a 32 or 35 caliber? It doesn't have to be fast and it certainly doesn't have to shoot to flat or to long, just a little more oomph.

I have a 308 and I don't get it.
 
Posts: 9594 | Location: Dillingham Alaska | Registered: 10 April 2006Reply With Quote
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realistically, no difference between the two in the field. As a matter of fact, my 26 inch 308 shoots generally higher velocity than my 20 inch 1895 carbine in 30-06 with the same bullet weight to 180 grains.
 
Posts: 5719 | Location: Ohio | Registered: 02 April 2003Reply With Quote
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I have the same bias, finding the .308 completely uninteresting. If I am going to have a .30, let it be the '06 or a .300 holland & Holland.


There is hope, even when your brain tells you there isn’t.
– John Green, author
 
Posts: 16662 | Location: Las Cruces, NM | Registered: 03 June 2000Reply With Quote
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I think a lot of shooters/hunters get wrapped up in all the media hype about the latest, greatest, ultra fastest cartridge. The “old” standards continue to get the job done with quiet efficiency.


Shoot Safe,
Mike

NRA Endowment Member

 
Posts: 980 | Location: Middle Georgia | Registered: 06 February 2011Reply With Quote
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Ross, nothing wrong with the 308...a great do-everything cartridge. It tends to be accurate, plenty of terminal power and great ammunition availability. Think of it as the "real man's" Creedmore :-)
 
Posts: 20170 | Location: Very NW NJ up in the Mountains | Registered: 14 June 2009Reply With Quote
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Everyone has their personal peccadillos.

The .308 is an excellent performer. I’ve got a bunch of military style guns in .308, and shoot it a lot.

But I’ve yet to use it hunting.

The modern common hunting round I have the least interest in is the .270. Nothing wrong with a .270, and they work well… but I just am more interested in the 6.8 SPC than a .270 Win… and hunt more with the .30-06 than any standard round. (The most game I’ve shot is with a 12 ga, but rifle wise, it’s the .375 H&H…)
 
Posts: 11126 | Location: Minnesota USA | Registered: 15 June 2007Reply With Quote
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The 308 is the 6.5 Creedmoor without the man-bun :-)
 
Posts: 20170 | Location: Very NW NJ up in the Mountains | Registered: 14 June 2009Reply With Quote
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Biebs,
That was hilarious


Steve
 
Posts: 182 | Location: On the Yentna River, Ak. | Registered: 23 April 2003Reply With Quote
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quote:
Originally posted by crbutler:
The modern common hunting round I have the least interest in is the .270. Nothing wrong with a .270, and they work well… but


I have ONE 270 - it was $169 at Academy, i didn't, and wouldn't, care what caliber a name brand rifle (savage/stevens) is chambered in, for $169 bucks, it comes home with me - again, it shoots greenbox ammo well with a cheap nikon on it, and is there for when someone needs to borrow a rifle..

It's a GREATly BORING caliber - i find it more boring than a 308, as at least the m14/m1a was chambered in 308. I don't care for how much the 270 makes bloodshot meat on shoulder shots - but all my inlaws only hunt with that or 243

Then again, I've killed nearly everything in Texas with a ho-hum 45 colt, slight hotter than cowboy loads. Hunting with it, or finishers, it makes big holes. My 45 might have put more holes in stuff than any of my rifles.


opinions vary band of bubbas and STC hunting Club

Information on Ammoguide about
the416AR, 458AR, 470AR, 500AR
What is an AR round? Case Drawings 416-458-470AR and 500AR.
476AR,
http://www.weaponsmith.com
 
Posts: 39919 | Location: Conroe, TX | Registered: 01 June 2002Reply With Quote
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quote:
Originally posted by Biebs:
The 308 is the 6.5 Creedmoor without the man-bun :-)


now THAT'S funny


opinions vary band of bubbas and STC hunting Club

Information on Ammoguide about
the416AR, 458AR, 470AR, 500AR
What is an AR round? Case Drawings 416-458-470AR and 500AR.
476AR,
http://www.weaponsmith.com
 
Posts: 39919 | Location: Conroe, TX | Registered: 01 June 2002Reply With Quote
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I guess the only 308 I ever owned was a mint Savage 99F and I couldn't stand to put a scratch on it so I sold it to a collector. It actually seemed to recoils pretty sharply off the bench with 180 gr loads. wish I had it back for nostalgia's sake but I have four 30-06 rifles and two 270s that I much prefer.
 
Posts: 99 | Registered: 17 April 2023Reply With Quote
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I have several rifles chambered in .308 or 7.62x51 NATO.

My favorite is a Leupold 2.5-8 scoped Savage 99A. It is the bad ass of lever actions, IMHO.

I also have a couple of bolt actions and semi-autos in .308.

My favorites are a Blaser R93 and an H&K SR9T.

They all just work, all the way out to 1,000 yards, in some cases.

I doubt that I will ever part with any of them.


Mike

Wilderness is my cathedral, and hunting is my prayer.
 
Posts: 13722 | Location: New England | Registered: 06 June 2003Reply With Quote
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I have 3 of them. I love them. It is my mouse to moose rifle. Handloads with CFE223 I get right at 2800 fps.

I plan on going down to about 7 rifles in the near future - 3 will be 308s.


Mike

Legistine actu? Quid scripsi?

Never under estimate the internet community's ability to reply to your post with their personal rant about their tangentially related, single occurrence issue.




What I have learned on AR, since 2001:
1. The proper answer to: Where is the best place in town to get a steak dinner? is…You should go to Mel's Diner and get the fried chicken.
2. Big game animals can tell the difference between .015 of an inch in diameter, 15 grains of bullet weight, and 150 fps.
3. There is a difference in the performance of two identical projectiles launched at the same velocity if they came from different cartridges.
4. While a double rifle is the perfect DGR, every 375HH bolt gun needs to be modified to carry at least 5 down.
5. While a floor plate and detachable box magazine both use a mechanical latch, only the floor plate latch is reliable. Disregard the fact that every modern military rifle uses a detachable box magazine.
6. The Remington 700 is unreliable regardless of the fact it is the basis of the USMC M40 sniper rifle for 40+ years with no changes to the receiver or extractor and is the choice of more military and law enforcement sniper units than any other rifle.
7. PF actions are not suitable for a DGR and it is irrelevant that the M1, M14, M16, & AK47 which were designed for hunting men that can shoot back are all PF actions.
8. 95 deg F in Africa is different than 95 deg F in TX or CA and that is why you must worry about ammunition temperature in Africa (even though most safaris take place in winter) but not in TX or in CA.
9. The size of a ding in a gun's finish doesn't matter, what matters is whether it’s a safe ding or not.
10. 1 in a row is a trend, 2 in a row is statistically significant, and 3 in a row is an irrefutable fact.
11. Never buy a WSM or RCM cartridge for a safari rifle or your go to rifle in the USA because if they lose your ammo you can't find replacement ammo but don't worry 280 Rem, 338-06, 35 Whelen, and all Weatherby cartridges abound in Africa and back country stores.
12. A well hit animal can run 75 yds. in the open and suddenly drop with no initial blood trail, but the one I shot from 200 yds. away that ran 10 yds. and disappeared into a thicket and was not found was lost because the bullet penciled thru. I am 100% certain of this even though I have no physical evidence.
13. A 300 Win Mag is a 500 yard elk cartridge but a 308 Win is not a 300 yard elk cartridge even though the same bullet is travelling at the same velocity at those respective distances.
 
Posts: 10159 | Location: Loving retirement in Boise, ID | Registered: 16 December 2003Reply With Quote
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Excluding Africa, if I bought a 30-06 at 18 and used into my '80's in North and South America it would have been more than I would ever have needed. But than again, we're not talking about need here; are we?


NRA Benefactor Member
US Navy Veteran
 
Posts: 1123 | Location: Brownstown, Michigan | Registered: 19 April 2015Reply With Quote
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quote:
Originally posted by dogcat:
Why do I struggle liking the noble, humble, efficient .308 Win????

I have one.
I have shot it.
I borrowed one in Austia and shot a bunch of stuff.
Worked and killed great...
I do not have a single complaint.
I have shot .30-06, .300 WM, .300 HH.

I like these but see the .308 Win almost like a trannie selling Bud Light beer....

Help me understand my completely unfounded bias against a noble cartridge.....



So the calibres you list are the 308 Win in performance... Just further from the muzzle. I use those you listed. Still like a 308 too.
 
Posts: 690 | Location: JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA | Registered: 17 January 2013Reply With Quote
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I bought a left handed Remington 788 chambered in 308 Win in 1975. It's killed elk, bear, muleys, whitetail, coyotes, small game and varmints and it's still going strong.


Frank



"I don't know what there is about buffalo that frightens me so.....He looks like he hates you personally. He looks like you owe him money."
- Robert Ruark, Horn of the Hunter, 1953

NRA Life, SAF Life, CRPA Life, DRSS lite

 
Posts: 12736 | Location: Kentucky, USA | Registered: 30 December 2002Reply With Quote
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Published comparisons have made it very clear that the CM kills game deader than the 308.
 
Posts: 1319 | Location: MN and ND | Registered: 11 June 2008Reply With Quote
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quote:
Originally posted by JonP:
Published comparisons have made it very clear that the CM kills game deader than the 308.


Published by a bunch of "pot heads"? Ridiculous!
 
Posts: 212 | Location: Minnesota | Registered: 24 November 2008Reply With Quote
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Icould get by with one big game caliber if I had to, as long as it was handy, light, short and fit in a saddle scabbard. If im horseback I use a SAvage 99F (1950ish) with a 3X scope in .308, Ive shot many deer and elk with it and it surved me well enough in Africa. I would hunt bufffalo with a proper bullet with a 308 after observing elephant culls with the 308, Most 308s are extremely accurate, All in all its a grand caliber, equal in the field to the 30-06 unless you belive that extra 100 FPs of the o6 is magic! horse

NOt saying, there are many calibers that fill the same bill..


Ray Atkinson
Atkinson Hunting Adventures
10 Ward Lane,
Filer, Idaho, 83328
208-731-4120

rayatkinsonhunting@gmail.com
 
Posts: 42194 | Location: Twin Falls, Idaho | Registered: 04 June 2000Reply With Quote
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The .308, in my NM M1A, propelled me to a Distinguished Rifleman medal around 40 years ago. It kills everything I have shot with it. I find those credentials difficuot to beat.
 
Posts: 1748 | Registered: 27 March 2007Reply With Quote
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Glad to see xausa still posting, a wealth of information and experience.
 
Posts: 1188 | Location: Wyoming | Registered: 04 April 2009Reply With Quote
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quote:
Originally posted by JonP:
Published comparisons have made it very clear that the CM kills game deader than the 308.


deer can't tell the difference in 100 fps or 1.x mm


opinions vary band of bubbas and STC hunting Club

Information on Ammoguide about
the416AR, 458AR, 470AR, 500AR
What is an AR round? Case Drawings 416-458-470AR and 500AR.
476AR,
http://www.weaponsmith.com
 
Posts: 39919 | Location: Conroe, TX | Registered: 01 June 2002Reply With Quote
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quote:
Originally posted by Scott King:
Why shoot a 243 if you can use a 25/06. Why use a 223 if you can shoot a 22/250 or 220 Swift?

A 308 is smaller, but still 30 caliber. It's gonna hit like a 30 cal and terminally perform like a 30 cal. Why not use the extra oompf of an -06 case? Or even the extra oomph of a 32 or 35 caliber? It doesn't have to be fast and it certainly doesn't have to shoot to flat or to long, just a little more oomph.

I have a 308 and I don't get it.




Why haul your family groceries in your SUV, even when it gets the job done, but you could use an 18 wheeler.?


If you need bigger than .308 or 30-06 you need a bigger caliber--not a faster .30. The .308 gets it done right there with a 30-06. (no knock on 30-06)
 
Posts: 3811 | Location: san angelo tx | Registered: 18 November 2009Reply With Quote
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I've never owned a 308 and probably will never get one. It is very efficient and accurate, though, and ideal for short actions and when factory ammo is sought in our outback, as one of the two most-popular cartridges in the country.
 
Posts: 5153 | Location: Melbourne, Australia | Registered: 31 March 2009Reply With Quote
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Once you become a fairly knowledgeable shooter I think you will fall into one of two camps.
Camp one you'll buy one or two guns and become the 'fear the man with one rifle' guy.
Or camp two, I can't have what every other guy is shooting. If your mate buys a 25-06 and you like it you'll buy or more likely build a 25-06 A.I just to be different.
Some guys will happily follow the crowd and jump on the bandwagon. Think The Creedmore Cult and others just can't abide the mental concept of running with the flock of sheep when you can be a lone wolf.
The 7x56 or 7mm Rem Mag would serve all my needs but I just had to have a 7x64 because it is a little more niche here in the UK. It makes no sense, brass is harder to find but it just helps make me a little different to all the guys I shoot with.
Calibers are like guns themselves. For most shooters a C.Z/Brno would do the business and camp one guys love them but we still covet the 10x more expensive custom build if you fall into camp two. There's no rhyme or reason just a sense of wanting to be different.
And don't get camp two guys even started on bullet choice. Camp one guys will find a bullet that goes Bang Flop and use it forever. Camp two guys will have 50 boxes with ten bullets missing sat on their reloading bench. Why the reloading bench??? Well you can't shoot off the shelf rounds like the sheep do can you!
 
Posts: 56 | Registered: 26 November 2013Reply With Quote
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quote:
Originally posted by sambarman338:
I've never owned a 308 and probably will never get one. It is very efficient and accurate, though, and ideal for short actions and when factory ammo is sought in our outback, as one of the two most-popular cartridges in the country.


(Let expand the echo just a little more…)
That use to some up my attitude toward the 308, and I had similar feelings about the ‘06. Then I ran across a 40 year old Rem 700 ADL that a local pawn shop couldn’t even give away. I gave almost nothing for it. It shot under one MOA with just about any factory ammo, and under half with my handload. Now, I will never be without a 308. I grew up with an accurate sporterized 1917 Enfield ‘06. Once I really started shooting the firearms heroin, I started turning my nose up at the “ORDINARY” 30-06, like a teenager who thinks he knows everything. Like a teenager, I grew out it, thankfully!


Matt
FISH!!

Heed the words of Winston Smith in Orwell's 1984:

"Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right."
 
Posts: 3296 | Location: Northern Colorado | Registered: 22 November 2005Reply With Quote
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Well, the 308 isn’t sexy, but it essentially duplicates loads that historically were so effective in North America and Africa in the 30-06. And it does so more efficiently than the larger cartridge. WDM Bell said, if I remember right, he would choose the 308 if he were doing it all again. That’s pretty high praise. There aren’t too many cartridges that are readily available almost anywhere at a reasonable price nowadays. The 308 is one of them. Maybe not such a big deal for handloaders like most of us, but still important.
 
Posts: 1033 | Location: Central California Coast | Registered: 05 May 2007Reply With Quote
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I've owned and own way more than my share of rifle and most are chambered in different cartridges.... but only ever one (1) was a 308.

"We" have used it some but it kicked too much for the daughters and wife and just not sexy enough for me.

Did it work? Oh sure but the point is that lots of others will too and I like them much more....for me.

I'll never have another.

Zeke
 
Posts: 2270 | Registered: 27 October 2011Reply With Quote
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308Win is just boring......it always shoots and it always kills....
 
Posts: 42416 | Location: Crosby and Barksdale, Texas | Registered: 18 September 2006Reply With Quote
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quote:
Originally posted by JTEX:
308Win is just boring......it always shoots and it always kills....


That really sums it all up in about the most concise way possible!


Matt
FISH!!

Heed the words of Winston Smith in Orwell's 1984:

"Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right."
 
Posts: 3296 | Location: Northern Colorado | Registered: 22 November 2005Reply With Quote
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I guess when Im hunting on foot 0r a blind I grab my old pre 64 30-06 fwt mod 70 every time, when I'm horseback hunting which I do mostly for mule deer and Coues deer, that flat comfortable under my leg Savage 99f fwt 308 works great on right side of horse butt to the rear and never gets a tree between it and the horse, its very light and short and doesn't pull the saddle to the side and a tad off center as a thick bolt action, and I don't have to jump on the left stirrup every 30 minutes all day long, nor will it punch my horse with the barrel. the 3x Leupold keeps it compact and my chronograph sez 2633 FPS av/ at 100 yds with a 180 gr Nosler out of the 22" tube. My 06 about the same btw..Theres more but no need, its just the best saddle gun ever and a perfect caliber..


Ray Atkinson
Atkinson Hunting Adventures
10 Ward Lane,
Filer, Idaho, 83328
208-731-4120

rayatkinsonhunting@gmail.com
 
Posts: 42194 | Location: Twin Falls, Idaho | Registered: 04 June 2000Reply With Quote
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Wouldn't pass on a nice or nicely stocked gun in a vanilla .308, '06 or .270, .243 Winchester, etc.
I eventually got over the "boring".

.270 Winchester custom built by and hunted by Alvin Lind on an early Model 70 action.



Life itself is a gift. Live it up if you can.
 
Posts: 5271 | Location: Near Hershey PA | Registered: 12 October 2012Reply With Quote
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Custombolt - is that an offer to sell this nice looking .270???
 
Posts: 10409 | Location: Texas... time to secede!! | Registered: 12 February 2004Reply With Quote
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