In this day and age of Ultra Mags & Short and Fat Mags, it's almost embarrasing to admitt that your still using a .308win in the field. It's amazing that the little cartridge can get those .30cal bullets out the end of the barrel, never the less deliver a fatal blow a few football feilds away.
But after 20+ years of hunting, and using the whole spectrum of cartridges including: .243, .260, .270win, 280rem, 7mm rem mag, 30-30win, .308win, .300win, .338win., .357mag, & .44 rem mag.

I have come to the conclusion that there isn't much I couldn't have acomplished with the little .308win with the right bullet for the job! Admittedly I am not a long range specialist when it comes to my hunting. Don't get me wrong, I love to punch paper way, way out with the best of them, but in the field a need has rarely presented itself, that the little .30 would have been pressed to make.
With the availability of todays Super premium bullets like the 180gr NP & TBBC, and 168gr TSX, & 150gr siracco, it's almost exciting to take the little .308 on any non-dangerous game hunt.
I guess I'm just saying that while it isn't the sexyist cartridge on the block, there will alway be a place for the .308win in my heart, and in my gun cabinet!
If limited to just one, I wouldn't feel short changed with my favorite.

Is this where I come to seek absolution for my .308 Winchester style sins against nature? I must agree that this "little" cartridge has been so under rated by the media and the muscle bound clans for way to long. I've been using it in various forms for 35 years and while I also have tried the bigger brothers and the little sisters I still return to the .308. From diminutive whitetails of Texas to Northern Moose and bears, caribou, boar and whatever the right bullet and never a problem. There now I feel better already.

I guess I'm just saying that while it isn't the sexyist cartridge on the block, there will alway be a place for the .308win in my heart, and in my gun cabinet
Amen to that!!

R-WEST

Mark, your story and feeling about the .308 mirror almost exactly my own. We have traveled the same road and reached the same conclusions.

Last year I gave my .308 to my son. I love them both so I figured they should be together and I know the .308 will take care of him.

The only thing .308 shooters should feel sad about is that more people don't realize what a sweetheart this cartridge really is.

The game doesn't go to the gun that makes the loudest boom or drinks the most powder. If they gave a prize for efficiency, the .308 would probably stand head and shoulders above everything else.

Good post.

As a person who has the 270s, 30-06, RUMs, I always reach for my 308win. I totally agree. One of the most perfect calibers there is. The rest are fun for working up loads when I am bored.

I live and hunt in the great state of Alaska where most will critisize you for not hunting with a huge shoulder chrusher. My weapon of choice for even the biggest of moose is a 308 winchester. I have taken sheep, moose, caribou and bears with the trust worthy case from 25 yards to 763 yards.

I have never lost an animal to the 308.

I LOVE the 308 and have had six rifles so chambered and am currently plotting a seventh! Pair one with a 223 and you may just run out of reason's to own more rifles!

I agree... it's a vastly underrated cartridge...

MarkG.... 7.62 steps Classic.
I too am a 308 Lover. I have hunted with it in several different rifles. My longest big game kill is with a 308. My newest rifle is a 308 single shot. If I could only get a 308 double rifle.
Over the years I have used many different bullets in the 308, it has never let me down.

When I am around a handfull of guys at work, or where ever and they are talking about "I shoot ultra mag this and wizbang mag that", they ask me what I shoot... I calmly say "a .308...knocks em dead as dead." and then they say "a .308 "... Its funny to see their reaction. Especially when I will thrown in the comment of shooting a hundred rounds a day if I wanted to. Some times you can see it in their eyes that they are wondering if they wasted their money or not. I still have a '06 and .300Win and shoot them often, but having that wonderfull 308 is a great affair. I also got one for my wife and son. One thing Ive wondered....what would it be like to shoot a .308 with a muzzle brake?.....I know its not required, but what if? would it be like shooting a .22LR? wouldnt that be cool....

The way I look at it is whiz bang magnums are like Ferrari's. Statements by men who wish they had a large penis. Cartridges like the .308 (06, 7x57...) are for men who know they do and don't need to brag on it

Jeff

The .308 win was what i got started on. I have to be honest here i did not like it b/c i wanted it to say MAG and crush my shoulder. I didnt think i could kill a deer w/ it. Well let me tell you the first deer i ever shot with that gun crumpled in its tracks. I mean just hit the dirt. Since then i have LOVED this cartridge. I can shoot MOA and under all day. The rifle is light, points like a shotgun, and knocks stuff flat! A .358 win might be next for the brushy stuff ooorrrr maybe another .308. Im an addict

Hey, I believe it came about as the new and improved 30-06. How could you want more, plus its a short action cartridge, a stronger action if you will, cartridge. I like um alot.

whiplash
I am a fan of the Remington Model 7's in 308. A friend of mine sold me his Mod 7 with a KDF brake on it. Shooting it side by side with a regular Mod 7 there is less recoil for sure, but it is loud. I do not notice much difference off hand but prone on a harris bipod you can tell the difference. It is a good idea to put some kind of pad on the ground under the muzzlebreak as it kicks up quit a bit of debris. I have had several different rifles with muzzle breaks on them....This is the only one I have left.
They reduce recoil. My light weight 300 WBY with Factory 180's kicked LESS with the KDF brake than a Mod 7 in 308 without brake in a side by side test. They are just too loud for a hunting rifle for me. I do not like to wear ear protection while big game hunting.

NE 450, I totally agree with you on the brakes being loud. I have been looking at the Brockman brake(for my 300Win) that you can switch on and off. For target shooting I always have double ears(USAF flightline speak for double hearing protection) on anyway, and being able to turn it off for hunting would be nice. This dang idea of using a brake for my 308 has really been turning my gears. I was just having fun with the idea earlier, but now Iam actually thinking about doing it.

Fantastic, a group of guys not hung up on the new whizbangs.
I have been a fan of the .308 and derived cartridges for many years. Love my .260, also. I just can't get over the new Magnum powder guzzlers floating around. All for a few hundred (maybe) feet per second. Sheesh!! And pay for it on the recoil end!! Dern.

I have 8 308 rifles, but don't hunt much with them. There are just so many superior calibers, it makes it hard to pick a .308!

Count me in this "focus group", as I'm a .308 addict also. I shoot a Ruger Ultra Light .308, and have no plans on changing any time soon. That little rifle is the most fun, and most effective rifle I own, I hope I'm never cured.

Some calibers are destined for greatness and well balanced rounds like the 7x57 and .308 are among the very top of that catagory...

I have always owned at least one .308 and it is as good as the 30-06 with up to 200 gr. bullets under field conditions, and that ain't no light praise, it puts the .308 in some great company, where it earned the right to be there......

With a longer neck and throat it would have been the greatest.We could have called it the 7.62x57. roger

Gentlemen

I have never hunted with a 308. The only rifle I have onwed was a semi automatic rifle from FN with 20rd clips Why have a 308 when there are soo many other fantastic calibers, 6mm, 6,5. 6,8, 7mm, 8mm, 8,5 or 9,3.

Cheers
/ JOHAN

I agree with the positive things being said about the .308. It speaks volumes about the people that know it and love it.

That said, the .300 Savage is really grabbing my interest lately. I see it as even more overlooked than the .308.

As for the current crop of pretenders to the throne: I no longer count sheep when having trouble falling asleep. I simply alternate nights thinking about Short Magnums, Ultra-Mags, Short Magnums, Ultra-Mags, Short Magnums.......ZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

RSY

One of the biggest reasons for it's success over the years is it flings bullets at speeds that they perform their best at. When was the last post you read where "my damn bullet blew up and I was shooting a .308"???? I've got a .308 in a lightning BLR with a 1-3 weaver atop. Nothing better for Wisconsin Whitetail.

I dont own a .308 Winchester. One day however, I will. I do own a member of the 308 Family though.

Just today I recommended it to someone. He asked me to look at a used gun for him, a 300 Win Mag. I told him, as a new shooter, he should look for a .308 Winchester and then gave him the list of reasons why its a great cartridge

Why have a 308 when there are soooo many others to choose from??

I just cant help myself. Theyre EXTREEMLY accurate for one and for 2 they kill things dead. I have never lost game to the 308 and my current 308 regularly groups 2" at 800 yards.

With deadly accuracy like that, who need raw power?? Why waste all that powder, burn up barrels and crush shoulders. I ask why every body doesnt hunt with em.

Unless of course youre hunting african lions or elephants.

Wow Michael... 2" at 800 yards... that's some pretty fancy shootin'!

My absolute favorite whitetail rifle is my M70 classic featherweight, stainless, walnut in .308. It was built for me by a well known M70 smith, and it is a joy to shoot. (and carry) Some rifles just inspire confidence, and I always seem to bring home the venison with that little .308. ...ol blue

Although I "only" own one 308W, I have never fired it in anger. Regardless, I am happy to read these posts from guys who don't need coke bottle size cartridges with yardstick length barrels to be successful! And dang proud of it to boot!

Casey

Hello, my name is Madgoat, I too am addicted to the .308.
It all started so innocently...I saw one at the store, just a little guy. He was on sale so how could I say no?? Next thing you know, I'm knee deep in empty brass and can't reload fast enough to keep up with my shooting. I know I need help, so I figure my first step is to realize I have an addiction......

For those who believe that you need a cannon to kill large game, just remember. It's not what you shoot them with, but where you hit them that counts.

MG

Michael that's some nice shooting!

A hunting partner tried to convince me that I had missed the "other" 2 shots in the 1 hole group. The group was fired at 100 yards at a 16x16" box with a 8x11 sheet of paper with that drawn bulls eye laying prone off the bi-pod (soft dirt surface.)

I took the same rifle and load to 300 yards a couple weeks later and shot the .341" 3 shot 300 yard group, which happens to be (by far) my personal best. Need less to say, he shut up!

Now if I could do that every time!!

I remember the day well. 21 August of 1991. I had been saving money in a shoe box for over a year. With a beautiful wife and two young girls, and me being the only provider for my family; this was sacrificing. I poured over all the caliber choices. I wanted to hunt Deer and Elk. I went down to the store and saw a Guns & Ammo magazine on the rack. I took it home and read it cover to cover.It was a special edition called � All Around Rifles.� There was an article by H. Lea Lawrence titled, The 308 Workhorse. This was it! I wanted a short action with a punch. I went to the shoe box and took out 400.00 dollars. Went to a friend who had a FFL License. I ordered a Ruger 77 Ulta Lite in you guessed it, 308 Winchester. It has never failed me and I have never looked back.

Johan,Do you think these guys are going to try to get the .308 Canonized? roger

count me in as another fan

Its not fancy enough for most people but it certainly gets the job done!

With close to 30 guns in the safes if I could only save one from a fire it would be my BLR in 308. Pre-81, ugly and well used it has done the job on moose to rockchucks and that second shot is quick if needed. I have had bullet failure when a 6 pt elk jumped up in front of me in my Whitetail area. I shot him with a 150 gr Hornady and penetrated the shoulder blade and both lungs but did not exit the second lung. It was about 80 yds and the bullet left the bbl at 2750 fps. The clip was swapped for a second shot with 165 gr Barnes X and the only second shot needed was in the ear at 15 ft so if the bullet failed I can live with those results. Gianni.

Wow, I could not have imagined the kind of response this thread has gotten. Just wanted to thank everyone for chiming in, and sharing your story / experience's with the .308win. Hope this thread might be a confidence booster to someone comptimplating one of the big ULTRALOUNDNBOOMER Mags, lol Stick with your .308 or '06, it's enough!