Why is it that the 308 is such an accurate caliber? It seems that almost all the 308 bolt guns I have had are ragged hole guns if I do my part off the bench. This is mostly with remmy's but also a couple of HB winchesters.
I have also found barrel length to really not be a factor as some of the guns were the Rem LTR with the 20" barrels and others were 26" and everything in between.
Just curious if anyone else has had the same luck with this caliber

Inherent accuracy of a particular round involves ballistic coefficient of the bullets, powder capacity of the cases, practical velocities that the bullets can be safely driven to, etc, etc, etc.

Certain rounds combine the best of all of these ballistic factors, and several of the .30 calibers, and some in the .25 caliber range, are among those that have just about everything (ballistically) on their side.

I've found that the 30-06 and the 300 Win. Mag. are, for practical purposes, just as inherently accurate as the 308 Win. if you own a good rifle in those chamberings.

The 308 Win. holds an edge if you're hunting some sort of target shooting trophy, statistics or pocket gophers, but for big game purposes, the accuracy difference no big deal.

I have found that I greatly dislike the 308 Win. in that the ones I've owned have been tempermental about powders and pressures, and they haven't provided the level of performance, agreeability, and flexibility that the 30-06 does.........

AD

The 06 is arguably the most versatile, all around cartridge ever made, and about the only advantage the .308 might have is its shorter length which allows a slightly smaller, lighter rifle to be used.

All of the .30 caliber family have the added advantage of one of the largest spans of bullet weights/types of just about any other caliber out there.

My experience with the .308 has been opposite that of Allen's. I used to love to hate the .308. I preferred instead the venerable .30-06. After all, on paper it is so much better. These days, with the advent of the high energy factory loads, the .308 is able to easily match or better the standard .30-06 loads. At least in the loads they offer.

I'm currently working to finish my .30-06 which is to be my main hunting rifle. But, in the last couple of years I've relied on my custom Mauser in .308 Win. It was meant to be a back up rifle or my loaner to friends or family. As such, it took a lot less time to complete than my .30-06. It has been pulling duty as my primary rifle now for a couple of years. It hasn't failed me and I've enjoyed it so much that I managed to build 3 more .308's along the way. I've found it to be a relatively easy cartridge to load for. Then again, the .30-06 was never very hard either.

I suppose that if I never completed my .30-06 I'd never really notice as I could always use my .308 instead.

I still like the .30-06 better and believe that with heavier bullets it is to be preferred over the .308 but I wouldn't hesitate to take my .308 in place of my -06 especially if it meant not going on a hunt.

I think 90% of the hunters out there wouldn't notice a difference between the two. Yet, 90% would likely cling firmly to one over the other.

I'm by no means an expert, but I have owned (at last count) seven 308's. I've found it to be the easiest cartridge to load for I've ever used and all the rifles (except one POS Rem M7) produced wonderful accuracy. One Savage 99 EG with a Leupold 2.5x Alaskan consistantly shot 3/4" groups with the first handload I tried. Another M70 wouldn't shoot over an inch with any load I put through it from 150's to 180's and would even shoot the original Barnes X's (which never shot in anything I tried) into .8's.

RL15 is all you need to know about the 308...

I’m not a handloader, and have absolutely no desire to become one, so all my firearms have a diet of nothing but factory loads.

I’m also one of those dinosaurs that believes that there are only three calibers for rifled weapons: .22LR, .30 and .45.

The .308 will certainly do anything that I need a rifle to do, and the only reason I use 06 ammo is because I own several 1903’s and 1917 Enfields and don’t want to rechamber them to the shorter .308 round.

I know several bench rest shooters here in town who are very knowledgeable riflemen and good hunters. They all shoot a .308 as a hunting rifle for some of the same reasons mentioned. They say they are easy to load for, very accurate and will do the job needed. Hard to argue with success.

Hey Dinosaur, you missed the .25, the .27 and the .28 and the .338. What is a .45?

quote:

Originally posted by Customstox:
Hey Dinosaur, you missed the .25, the .27 and the .28 and the .338. What is a .45?

Chic,

If you re-read my post you will see that I said “rifled weaponsâ€...not rifles. I was including hand guns in my personal preferences, hence the .45.

All of my centerfire rifles are .30 caliber... all my centerfire hand guns are .45 caliber...and all my shotguns are 12 gauge. I also have several .22 cal rifles and hand guns.

Those calibers will do anything that I expect or need a weapon to do.

Allen Day is right when it comes to hunting accuracy just because hunting doesn't really require that much accuracy.
When it comes down to producing the best possible accuracy though, there is little doubt that the 308 is indeed a fine cartridge. Iused to tell people that it was the only factory big game cartridge which was also capable of benchrest accuracy and I think this still holds true.
The accuracy level achieved by top hunter class shooters is impressive by anyone's standards and some still use 308s. The best of these come awfully close to shooting a consistent .25moa. For a ten pound rifle and a 6x power scope, that's pretty good.
So, for a hunting rifle it might not make any difference but I think a 308 is a pretty nice round to work with. Not a bad hunting cartridge either. Regards, Bill.

I have always liked the .308 and it leaves a better blood trail than any of the smaller calibers in the same size rifle...It just fits my idea of a good all around rifle..accurate, as good as a 30-06 and thats high praise...how can you go wrong.....

Presently my only .308 is my Savage 99F and it will shoot an inch all day long, fit in my saddle scabbard and kill whatever I shoot with it.

quote:

Originally posted by jimmyd223:
Why is it that the 308 is such an accurate caliber? ...

Hey Jimmy, I'd say it is because there is a virtual wealth of Powders that perform about as perfect as possible in the 308Win case. Also interesting is that it does so well with a wide range of bullet weights.

If you go back and look at the Powders with Burn Rates well suited for it, you can find 9-15 on your local GunShop shelves.

WW-748 and Hodgdon's BL-C1 and BL-C2 were "designed" just for the 308Wins Military application. And the other Powders which work well in it attain optimum Pressure Levels either at, or just below a full case level.

As you study cartridges, the ones thought of as having "Inherent Accuracy" all have that same relationship with a specific group of Powders and their Burn Rates. But, I don't believe there are as many Powders available in other Burn Rates as close together for those other Inherently Accurate cartridges as the ones that work so well in the 308Win.

Great cartridge design that works well.