Looking to buy a rifle in one of these calibers for my daughter as a BD present and one she can use as a all-around rifle (unless as she gets older she buys more on her own). She is not a wimp when it comes to shooting and she has shot several of my rifles over the years from .22 up to the .30-06. Mostly be used in the USA for deer sized game, but she is considering and invitation to go with me on my next African hunt for plains game in a couple years, so time for practice is there and I think the .30-06 would best fit, but am willing to listen to other opinions. I reload my own ammo so can tailor loads in numerous bullet weight and styles to suit whatever she would be hunting with it
Willi.

Flip a coin.

Apples and oranges....

Both are great rounds, both work equally on the same animals, and in the hunting fields you cannot tell the difference..On paper all kinds of arguments crop up, but they are just good conversations over a few beers, nothing more....

30.06...something about the extra powder makes me warm and fuzzy all over.

Which ever one you can find the cheepest in a good quality rifle. 308. 30.06 pretty much same same. Dead is dead, and game doesn't care if it was a 308 or a 30.06 that got the bullet there.
MM

Go for the 30-06 and never look back. The 1:10 twist will better serve you heavy bullet needs,and with a 102 year track record, what more proof do you need. The only real reason one should pick the 308 over the 30-06 is if they want a short action featherweight rifle.

If recoil is not an issue, I'd recommend the 30-06. It will do everything the 308 will only better. Kudude

I'd get her the 308. It will do everything on plains game that the 30-06 will. Last year I took a 30-06 and my brother took a .308 to Namibia and the performance was the practically the same on game from Wildebest to Zebra to Gemsbock.

With the 308, she'll have a rifle that can do everything required on plains game. The ammo is very common....even in Africa. And the rifle will be slightly shorter and more handy for a smaller frame person.

quote:

Originally posted by Moorepower:
Flip a coin.

+1. No critter you take with it will ever be able to tell the difference.
JMHO.

quote:

Originally posted by bisonhunter1:
Looking to buy a rifle in one of these calibers for my daughter as a BD present and one she can use as a all-around rifle (unless as she gets older she buys more on her own). She is not a wimp when it comes to shooting and she has shot several of my rifles over the years from .22 up to the .30-06. Mostly be used in the USA for deer sized game, but she is considering and invitation to go with me on my next African hunt for plains game in a couple years, so time for practice is there and I think the .30-06 would best fit, but am willing to listen to other opinions. I reload my own ammo so can tailor loads in numerous bullet weight and styles to suit whatever she would be hunting with it
Willi.

With bullets up to 200 grains, there is little difference. But if she will go for elephant with a 220-grain solid, I would think the .30/'06 would have a slight edge (although after the .308 came out, W.D.M. Bell thought it might be the IDEAL elephant round using a 220-grain solid at around 2300 FPS because the short round could be used in a short-stroke action. I used 220-grain softpoints in my Model 70 .308 (1/12" twist) with 48 grains of MRP for 2300 FPS. A good load!)

Eleanor O'Connor used the '06 on elephant with good results..... Either would be fine for plains game and leopard!

.30-06 ammo can be purchased anywhere ammo is sold.....and few other cartridges can say that.

I have rifles in both cartridges but more often than not I will take the .308 and leave the .30-06 at home. My .308s are shorter and lighter and very quick-pointing in thick brush and can be just as lethal as the ought-six.

For Africa, I still take the .308 for light game. If it's heavier game I'm after then I take the .338 or .375.

Namibiahunter

I'd go for the 30/06. It can shoot all kinds of bullets.

????????

Larry Sellers
SCI Life Member

quote:

Originally posted by jro45:
I'd go for the 30/06. It can shoot all kinds of bullets.

quote:

Originally posted by Larry Sellers:
????????

Larry Sellers
SCI Life Member

quote:

Originally posted by jro45:
I'd go for the 30/06. It can shoot all kinds of bullets.

Hey the ability to shoot 'all kinds of bullets" is a very neat feature in a rifle...

Potato...potahto. You can load the '06 down to .308 levels. If it were for me, I'd get the 308...but I've started hunting with much slower loads than I did 30 years ago! Each can be had in a relatively trim, light package.

Get her one of each...buying rifles for kiddo's is great fun!

I personally favor the 30-06, but I'd consider what she has to say. Which will she have the most confidence with? In the guns you've looked at, which feel the best to her? Fit and confidence are really important when it comes time to make the shot.

Flip a coin, either will server her well for a life time of hunting. My all time favorite rifle is the great 30-06 is has put loads of meat on the table for my family over the years..
To quote a great man "it just plain works"

Craven

Speer nailed it for me. They state that it's down to the individuals choice in rifles.

220s aren't really a valid argument IMHO now we have premiums.

30-06, no doubt

Get her a .30-06 with a stock that fits her well. And never look back.

You can probably find a nice FN Mauser in 30-06 easier than a .308. I would much prefer the FN M98 in one of its Montgomery Wards or Sears versions to the run of the mill bolt guns.

I had the same trouble a few years back I was going to buy her a 308 but had to settle for a 06. They did not make the rifle I wanted for her in a left hand 308. Now she is the pround owner of a stainless left hand Ruger MKII.

I thought I would save her a few oz of weight other then than not much differant unless one is shooting heavier bullets.

quote:

Originally posted by vapodog:
.30-06 ammo can be purchased anywhere ammo is sold.....and few other cartridges can say that.

So can .308 ammo. It is used by every country outside of the old Soviet bloc, and even by several of those now!!

Disregarding the 30 caliber mind set; why not a .270 or 7X57? roger

The .308 gives you a far better fit with shooter to scope because of the short actions extra adjustment between mounts.
Besides I have many .308's and several 06's
Buy her a 7-08 it is now my favorite.

quote:

Originally posted by ted thorn:
The .308 gives you a far better fit with shooter to scope because of the short actions extra adjustment between mounts.
Besides I have many .308's and several 06's
Buy her a 7-08 it is now my favorite.

Absolutely.

After ten years with the .308 in Navy competition, and sporting use, I dropped the .308 and never looked back. While the .308 is a great round in a semi-automatic, I don't hunt with a semi, and anything a .308, a .30-06 can do better. There is something about all that extra powder! By the way, every animal I've hit with the 06 and 220 grain bullets has been down and out (in Africa, of course). In the home fields of the USA, the .30-06 with 165 grain bullets just seems to be a natural, and why not, you can duplicate .30-06 Match Ball with the 165 grainers, and you know that is good ammo!!

If you want to go light weight rifle, then the 308 has an advantage.
If you want a little more gun, the 30-06 has an advantage.

If you have one or another, I would suggest getting another of whatever you have.

338 federal, same rifle as 308, same weight bullets as 06, more punch and better blood trails
better for game over 400 lbs.

JD

.30/06 because it had a long history as the official U.S. military cartridge and was used in two world wars and Korea. This makes you FEEL better when you shoot it.

For a sporting rifle this is an easy decision. .30-06.

30-06 would def be my pick.

Since you are a reloader, you can make it perform like a 308 Win for less recoil. However, it doesn't work the other way around.

Shall the need for 180s at descent speed for larger animals, ya'll will be set.

She'll be able to hunt darn near anything besides DG with the 06.

There are good reasons why it's the most popular Big Game rifle.......

I started with an 06 as a young boy and will always have one or two in the safe.

Good Luck

Reloader

another vote for the 7MM-08. but i do most of my deer size game hunting with my .260 rem.

if she is going to shoot more than hunt, get the .308.

if she is going to hunt more than shoot, get the .30/06.

if youa re going to consider the 7mm/08, don't forget the 7x57.

Can't go wrong with either. I have a .308, and I love it! But I almost bought a 30-06 at the time and would have loved it also.

Both work, and both will do the same job. Pick what fits her best.

Either one will do but the 30.06 is more versatile for game. I have a 06 but my reloads fire a 165 at 2680 so it isn't at 06 speeds or power but it kills any deer I have shot with it. Esox357

quote:

Originally posted by Moorepower:
Flip a coin.

Best response was the first.

Would only add, IME a factory bbl'd 308 will generally out-shoot a factory bbl'd 30-06 by a good margin.

Food for thought...

Bisonhunter please forgive me for not replying to your original choices of 308 or 30-06.

But I thought about this question a bit and just had a couple of ideas to offer.

Girls love romance, and there is nto a lot of romance in questions of effectiveness between a 308 or an 06. They both will do just about what the other will, with a slight advantage goign to the 06 in effectiveness, and a equally slight advantage going to the 308 in accuracy and shorter action and lighter rifle..

However lets stop for a moment and consider one of the classiest ladies to ever grace the plains of Africa, Eleanor Oconner , the great Jack Oconner's hunting spouse.
It is your Daughters first trip to Africa, if you just focus on the hunting and the facts of what makes the most sense from a mans point of view you will deny her the greatest part of her trip from a womans point of view.

The romance of safari and Africa..

And what could be more romantic to hunt the plains of Africa with than a sleek, trim, Mauser action in the caliber that Eleanor used with such effectiveness.
The 7x57 with those long deadly 175 grain soft points.
And then later if she outgrows the caliber then you can have it rebarreled with no change to its working parts to a 30-06.

Just a thought..

.308 Win

No special reason just what I have grown to like