308 win still worth having

[Justice1327]

I just had one built, but for 'modern' bullets. Rem700, trued, 24" Bartlein, 1:8.5T, 1300-1500 should be easy to reach at supersonic .

 

[SFMongo]

For now it's a NATO Standard round. So it is readily available in the US and in the world in general. At the Apex of the shortage you could still get .308 / 7.62x51. The price went up but it was still available. Like 30.06 it will be around for a long, long time and outlast the in fashion rounds. For a SHTF / GTH round it is way up there.
If price is important to you then definitely keep it. Plus with 30 caliber bullets you can't go wrong reloading since you can do 30/30, 308, X39 and a few others with the same bullets..

 

[bigpapa]

Hello good people, Thanks for this comment about our beloved 308, heck there for a minute I thought it was going to turn in to one of these new things like they do this so called country music. No way good country is like a good 308 it is here to stay, may not be at the top of the news but I'll bet it's at the top of a lot of awesome shots ever. Thanks shoot well

 

[436]

Hello all like the title says is the 308 win still worth having for long range hunting I my self do not hear anyone using one any more.i have two as of right now one with 20 inch barrel and one with 24 inch barrel.ive been kicking the idea a round of rebarreling one to 6.5x47 but just can't seem to talk my self into it yet.but anyways with all the calibers out now adays and all the different bullets with high bc and all there's not alot of talk about 308 anymore.but for some reason I just keep on loving that old caliber for some reason I guess mostly to it being the first caliber I reloaded for and the first rifle I ever bought new was chamber in it as well and I've hunted and taken alot of deer with it as well..if any of yall are still a firm believer in the 308 and still hunt long range with it.what are some of yalls rifle set ups and what is your longest shots harvesting an animal? And maybe what your load was...I'm really thanking about building a semi custom out of my remington 700 with a 22 or 26 inch barrel but I'm not sure what the optimal barrel length is on 308 for bullets from 152s to 185s so any info on that would be appreciated as well.thanks in advance

I've always owned at least a couple of .308 in different models all my hunting life, over 50 years now. I look at it like this; when it comes to power and it limitations I judge it like so... what can a .44 Mag do at the muzzle...; .44 Mag JHP 240 846 ft.lb at 1260 fp/sec. .308 Win with a 175gr bullet gives you 828 fp.lb at 1489 fp/sec. at about 750 yards for Deer size game, and smaller things; 550 fp.lb at 1214 fp/sec. works out to 1000 yards. Big stuff like Elk 1264 fp.lb at 1841 fp/sec. at 500 or so yards is about where I'd limit that load.
My thought is.... seemd to have worked 50 plus years, I'm still very happy with my .308 Win/7.62x51mm Nato rifles. Cheers!

 

[JAYgs8163]

Anyone following me for any time will know I talk up our old Savage 99 in 308. If we'd a put a notch in the stock for every deer it has killed, we'd have no stock left. I wouldn't try an 800 yard shot with it, but anything under 300 yards is going to be dead. With proper optics and some good loads, the 308 is very good out to the long ranges also. We have 3 of them now in the family.

I have a vast collection of 99's and I think it's a engineering masterpiece for the time it was introduced. It took the lever action from a BLUNT unfriendly ballistic tubular rifle to a Ballistic friendly lever action rifle. One of the best old time rifles made and if they still made them I'd be a buyer!!! Anyone that takes a serious look at it will eventually figure how advanced it was for its time.

 

[JAYgs8163]

Happy Friday night. Many chiming in!!!

 

[BamaMike63]

My take on calibers was set decades ago. I have rifles from .22 Short to 50BMG. I dropped .243, .270, etc. I wanted military cartridges. I have of course 7.63x39. That being said, we hunt with .308 Win. Kills out to 400+, however it isn't very far to many of you. However in Alabama with terrain considerations it is. Snipers Hide had an article addressing the introduction of the .308 Win. into 1,000 yard competition. The bullseye was reduced 50% because of the greater accuracy of the round compared to the .30-06. As an example, the 6.5 Creedmore doesn't outperform the .308 until you pass 700 yards. All that being said, it's like your defensive handgun shoot what have are comfortable with most of you hit your target with. The bullet that misses does no good at all. IMO new cartridges give better specifications than the tried and cartridges although in real the world not much change in results. It all depends on what you are comfortable with shooting, ammo and whether or not you to spend more money.

 

[Muskrat Outdoors]

Hello all like the title says is the 308 win still worth having for long range hunting I my self do not hear anyone using one any more.i have two as of right now one with 20 inch barrel and one with 24 inch barrel.ive been kicking the idea a round of rebarreling one to 6.5x47 but just can't seem to talk my self into it yet.but anyways with all the calibers out now adays and all the different bullets with high bc and all there's not alot of talk about 308 anymore.but for some reason I just keep on loving that old caliber for some reason I guess mostly to it being the first caliber I reloaded for and the first rifle I ever bought new was chamber in it as well and I've hunted and taken alot of deer with it as well..if any of yall are still a firm believer in the 308 and still hunt long range with it.what are some of yalls rifle set ups and what is your longest shots harvesting an animal? And maybe what your load was...I'm really thanking about building a semi custom out of my remington 700 with a 22 or 26 inch barrel but I'm not sure what the optimal barrel length is on 308 for bullets from 152s to 185s so any info on that would be appreciated as well.thanks in advance

A friend of mine says "They haven't made any new animals, why do you need new cartridges?"
Really, there is a lot of truth in that. We are always looking for the "Perfect cartridge/gun", when what we have has worked well for a long time. When you blow a shot, or don't get the shot, it's easy to blame your equipment and not yourself.......but deep down we know it's us.
308 winchester is one of the all time great cartridges, but it doesn't get much notice anymore.
Think back to High School.....Betty was exciting until the new girl came along......then she became boring betty.........

 

[JAYgs8163]

A friend of mine says "They haven't made any new animals, why do you need new cartridges?"
Really, there is a lot of truth in that. We are always looking for the "Perfect cartridge/gun", when what we have has worked well for a long time. When you blow a shot, or don't get the shot, it's easy to blame your equipment and not yourself.......but deep down we know it's us.
308 winchester is one of the all time great cartridges, but it doesn't get much notice anymore.
Think back to High School.....Betty was exciting until the new girl came along......then she became boring betty.........

Or she changed her name to "6.9 Needmoor".

 

[jasonprox700]

My first deer was taken with a 308 (almost 30 years ago) and I've taken at least 30 whitetails with it since. Not sure what it is, but between the velocity, bullet diameter, construction, and sub 400 yards, it just plain kills! Good expansion, reliability, accuracy, and minimal meat loss. For short range, the 150's and 165's are my choice.

For long range, there are better cartridges. But for sub 400, it's pretty tough to beat.

 

[Maol]

5 of them in the family battery, 6 if you count my switch barrel. Be happy to have more.

110 grain to 3300-400 fps or a 180 grain at 2600-2700 fps out of a DBM. Some folks use em to shoot 208s past a mile. Seems those stay stable thru transonic.

The UK even has a LR competition based on the 308 that starts at 1000 yards. So all in all a pretty capable round. For hunting with one, my outer limit is 400-600 depending.

My vote is if you want a different/new cartridge buy a new gun. Make it a switch a barrel set up for the next time you get the urge.

You could even get a .308 barrel for it...

 

[Mississippihunting]

I have a Savage in 308, factory that shoots cloverleafs. I just bought another SS for hunting and plan on dedicating this one to mono's, for hunting. Hammer time!

 

[KSB209]

I finally have the money and decided to build my first full custom and I decided on a 308. So many other cartridges and calibers but I couldn't resist.

 

[.gacton]

I was reading this thread and couldn't find a better place to ask my question. I hope i didn't de-rail your thread. A buddy of mine just contacted me yesterday about the best caliber for going on a 3 day mountain shooting class. All the shooting will be done in hunting scenarios. The class is said to bring 250-300 rounds. His only hunting rifle is a 300 Win Mag, Savage with a HS Precision heavy barrel rifle and a blue diamond Huskma scope probably 11 lbs. His question was should he buy a 308 for the his class? The range is from 200-1000 yards. My first comment was why not just give in and buy a 6.5 Creedmore or a 6.5 PRC. I have had 2 very accurate 308. One was a Remington 308 with a 26" barrel and the HS PRECISION stock and the other was a Savage 308 ftr rifle. I used both in ftr the Savage was far superior because it was made for that type of shooting. I know how accurate the round is but with that much shooting and across canyons and the recoil and lack of bc in the 308. It's not like he will have a customer chamber for a 200 hybrid or 215 with a 32" barrel in ftr. He only would spend $1300.00 on a new rifle did I steer him in the right direction. The rifle needs to be a traditional hunting rifle that he can use to hunt deer with. My recommendation was a Bergara or a Savage. For the scope he will just use his Huskma scope on the new rifle.
Thanks for all the advice.
Jason

Bergera for the win. The Remington, unfortunately, won't be as accurate off the shelf. Just my opinion.