7mm vs .308 cals

[Coyote_Hunter]

Have killed a lot of elk with 7mm and .308" bullets using 7mm RM, .30-06 and .300WM. Bullet selection is more important than caliber choice between these two options.

The 7mm RM and 160g bullets worked just fine for me for 20+ years. Then I got a .300WM because I was curious what I was missing. The .300WM killed elk too, but no faster.

 

[Zymurgist]

The 7mm-08 shoots flatter, has 20% less free recoil and will kill deer and elk just as dead as a WIN 308.

 

[dfanonymous]

Barrel life in a .308 is hard to beat

 

[Ranger1994]

I really enjoy these discussions with my son as well, cherish them. But I'm in the camp of 7mm for the conditions you're describing, ie, some long rang hits on deer, elk size game. My 7-Rem seems to reach out there a bit truer than my ought 6, in my experience. Course that could be difference in guns too. But as others have stated that 7mm does fly flat. However, I grew up around 30-30 and the 30.06 woods guns and and had it drilled into my head nothing could beat the versatility of a 30 caliber gun and the 06 was the only gun I needed. So there you go,,,, I have them both,,,, I just agree that both are great calibers.

 

[Raudy707]

I'm an original big game hunter with 25-06 and killed piles of deer, pigs and a couple bulls with .257 cal bullet. I also trailed a few. I also lost two deer to marginal hits at dark. Lessons learned. After I melted the barrel down on the 25-06, I went up slightly to 270 WSM. Wow was it a killer on deer. Better blood trails and no lost animals. I also bought a lever gun as I am a lefty in 308 Marlin Express. Shoots a 160 grain bullet at a methodical 2600 fps. I noticed bigger blood trails and animals being dead even with less than ideal hits. So I had my kids and friends shoot it. As kids often get excited they jerk the trigger and bullets hit animals in all kinds of wild locations. Despite liver shots, shots in the hams, spine hits or lower brisket, the animals all died. Blood loss being the cause of death. So as much as I love my super fast 25-06 and that little .257 cal bullet I can honestly say that if you hit a game animal in a less than desirable position I feel the larger caliber has a better chance of eventually killing that animal. I've witnessed over 300 game animals killed over my 30 years of hunting and the bigger diameter bullets come in contact with more tissue, more blood vessels, make bigger holes and stuff just dies. I still shoot that 270 wsm today and a 280 AI. But if I'm after elk I take my 300 wm with 200 grain bullets. Stuff doesn't always go to plan and I just like having that insurance plan of the big slug. Every day I hear shot placement blah blah blah yeah well what happens when we're off by 3 inches, or misjudge the wind, your range finder dies and you have to estimate distance. You hunt long enough and kill enough animals and you're gonna have bad hits. It's just hunting and nobody is perfect. I take the largest gun I can shoot well. 30 years, 9 states, 2 continents and over 200 big game animals killed personally, that is just my opinion and field data observations. The only animals I've ever lost were inexperienced hunters that made bad hits with 243, 257 and 6.5 calibers. To me I feel 243 and 257 and 6.5 are seasoned hunters rifles. They know how to control buck fever and have good shooting skills. For a kid, or beginning hunter I always have them shoot a 7mm-08 or 308. I love Jack O'Conner but Elmer Keith was definitely on to something.

 

[Orange Dust]

I'm an original big game hunter with 25-06 and killed piles of deer, pigs and a couple bulls with .257 cal bullet. I also trailed a few. I also lost two deer to marginal hits at dark. Lessons learned. After I melted the barrel down on the 25-06, I went up slightly to 270 WSM. Wow was it a killer on deer. Better blood trails and no lost animals. I also bought a lever gun as I am a lefty in 308 Marlin Express. Shoots a 160 grain bullet at a methodical 2600 fps. I noticed bigger blood trails and animals being dead even with less than ideal hits. So I had my kids and friends shoot it. As kids often get excited they jerk the trigger and bullets hit animals in all kinds of wild locations. Despite liver shots, shots in the hams, spine hits or lower brisket, the animals all died. Blood loss being the cause of death. So as much as I love my super fast 25-06 and that little .257 cal bullet I can honestly say that if you hit a game animal in a less than desirable position I feel the larger caliber has a better chance of eventually killing that animal. I've witnessed over 300 game animals killed over my 30 years of hunting and the bigger diameter bullets come in contact with more tissue, more blood vessels, make bigger holes and stuff just dies. I still shoot that 270 wsm today and a 280 AI. But if I'm after elk I take my 300 wm with 200 grain bullets. Stuff doesn't always go to plan and I just like having that insurance plan of the big slug. Every day I hear shot placement blah blah blah yeah well what happens when we're off by 3 inches, or misjudge the wind, your range finder dies and you have to estimate distance. You hunt long enough and kill enough animals and you're gonna have bad hits. It's just hunting and nobody is perfect. I take the largest gun I can shoot well. 30 years, 9 states, 2 continents and over 200 big game animals killed personally, that is just my opinion and field data observations. The only animals I've ever lost were inexperienced hunters that made bad hits with 243, 257 and 6.5 calibers. To me I feel 243 and 257 and 6.5 are seasoned hunters rifles. They know how to control buck fever and have good shooting skills. For a kid, or beginning hunter I always have them shoot a 7mm-08 or 308. I love Jack O'Conner but Elmer Keith was definitely on to something.

Yes he was. So were Ackley, Mashburn, Hagel, and Page. Anyone who has not read their stuff should do so. Not only interesting, still very, very relevant today.

 

[tdot]

I think the improvements in available bullets, powder selection and even the factory loaded ammo has done alot to equalize the different calibers, over the years.

Also the availability of information, has allowed alot of people to see the success of other calibers and make it easier to try something different.

I'm still a fan of leaving a bigger hole in critters.

But in this case, with deer as the main prey, I would think 7mm would do everything you could want.

 

[noluck]

Love the 7mm-08 think it is about the pretty whitetail gun for me

 

[FEENIX]

It boils down to personal preference and intended purpose by the "NUT" behind the trigger. My preference is the .308 cal and my go-to chambering remains the .300 WM for antelope to elk size game up to 1K yards. Load it with 215 Berger and you're golden.

 

[Pioneer500]

ok, first and foremost, I understand that shot placement and bullet construction choice is key here, so let's take that out of the discussion unless there is an SD deal due to the cal and range of bullet selection.
White tail deer mostly and the occasional elk hunt will be the biggest usage of said caliber. Typical shots between 0-500 yds and max shots out to 700-800 with right conditions.

My father and I was discussing this so I decided to bring it here to see y'all opinion on this topic. My father is a huge 7mm fan and I have always been a huge 30cal guy. I understand that this is going to probably be more of ones preference then anything but I was curious of y'alls opinions and why's!

I prefer the larger 30 cal specifically using the larger bullets. 212 grn to 230 grn. The ballistic coefficients are excellent and the heavier bullets carry more energy at those farther ranges.