Where does .308 Winchester excel?

[dmass]

I got rid of mine too. It's boring.

That being said it excels at having near infinite barrel life, being a jack of all trades (and master of none) for hunting, having ammo available wherever ammo is found (unless in a shortage), and most of all being easy as all heck to tune an accurate load for. It's the opposite of finicky. In my experience you'd have to put some effort in to find a load most .308 rifles WOULDNT shoot well, or at least well enough, compared to most any other cartridge.

It's efficient in how much powder is burned for how much performance you get. It does well with shorter barrels.


So it's boring .

I See

 

[moonie]

1. At times you can buy decent quality hunting rounds for 700$ a thousand. When dumping 20 mags in sounders of swine from a high rack, I want that ammo.

2. It's a 30 cal.

Where do you find that deal at in not fmj?

 

[moonie]

Where can you find that deal at in something other then fmj?

 

[jessej]

Hafta watch for it. Over the years I've gotten herters or SnB from cabelas, but not lately. The most recent (couple months ago) was from Norma ammo from psa and straight from Norma.

 

[Calvin45]

Hafta watch for it. Over the years I've gotten herters or SnB from cabelas, but not lately. The most recent (couple months ago) was from Norma ammo from psa and straight from Norma

Good you clarify that this has in fact happened in recent years. I was being a smarta$$ and thinking to myself "yeah and my dad has a 3 boxes of .30-30 ammo with "3.99" stickers on them…from the 1970s!

 

[jessej]

Actually, someone on LRH posted the sale add for the Norma ammo a few months ago, That's how I found out about it. Bought a few k, haven't tested them yet.

 

[Calvin45]

Actually, someone on LRH posted the sale add for the Norma ammo a few months ago, That's how I found out about it. Bought a few k, haven't tested them yet.

Well heck that's not bad even for Norma brass let alone ammo!

 

[jessej]

This was what was on sale. Looking at the price today, I'm thinking I should've upped my order. https://normashooting.com/shop/caliber/rifle/308-win/308-win-150gr-soft-point-norma-hunting-qty-20/

 

[Teri Anne]

Recently I've thought about buying a Tikka CTR in .308 as I no longer have a rifle in that caliber after selling my model 10 and already have a 6.5 Creed in a bravo. But it's got me thinking, with all the cartridges that are out now, does it really make sense to buy one new? The ballistics are worse than It's smaller caliber derivatives, it has more recoil, and any animal I would feel comfortable shooting with .308 I'd also shoot with a 6/6.5/7mm and .223 given a good projectile in it's effective range. The biggest points in it's favor that I can think of are
1. Ammo cost relative to the 6/6.5/7mms although those seem to be coming down a bit
2. Ammo ubiquity compared to 6/6.5/7mms
3. Potentially a good trainer as it drifts more in the wind, but I feel like the same thing could be done with .223
What am I missing? The point of this thread isn't to try and **** on .308, I just can't think of a reason I should get one even though I'm likely going to eventually.

There are many reasons to have a .308. They are highly accurate and when paired with the right ammunition are very accurate, but the same thing could be said for many other cartridges. I started shooting the 308 in it's military clothing as a 7.62 x 51 in an M14, which was still the Army standard when I enlisted back in 1965. It was the first rifle issued when I arrived in the Republic of Viet Nam. The M14 was hard hitting with a 600 yard plus range. Later in my career I was on several Army rifle teams and we were all shooting M14 National Match versions. The M14's were beating out bolt rifle shooters on a regular basis. Right now I have two .308's, both are Winchester Model 70's both are post 64 and have wooden stocks with floated barrels. Both of them will shoot 0.3 MOA, sometimes less when shooting 165 and 168 gr bullets. Factory work well but handloads using Nosler 165 gr partitions or 168 gr match are capable of one hole 3 shot groups at 100 yards. During our recent pandemic one of the first rounds that became available was the .308 and 7.62 x 51. When I worked at Cabelas the shelves were full of these cartridges while others were still non existent. The .308 is available in just about any model rifle you care to buy. The recoil is easily manageable for most as well as bad medicine for elk or smaller game. One shot and drop in place are the norm for me using 165 gr Nosler Partitions loaded as a clone to the 7.62 Lake City Match ammunition. While I have rifles in 22 LR, 270, 30-06 and 300WM the .308 is still my go to rifle for deer hunting. As Lones Wigger used to say, "One shot, one kill."

 

[VLD Pilot]

Recently I've thought about buying a Tikka CTR in .308 as I no longer have a rifle in that caliber after selling my model 10 and already have a 6.5 Creed in a bravo. But it's got me thinking, with all the cartridges that are out now, does it really make sense to buy one new? The ballistics are worse than It's smaller caliber derivatives, it has more recoil, and any animal I would feel comfortable shooting with .308 I'd also shoot with a 6/6.5/7mm and .223 given a good projectile in it's effective range. The biggest points in it's favor that I can think of are
1. Ammo cost relative to the 6/6.5/7mms although those seem to be coming down a bit
2. Ammo ubiquity compared to 6/6.5/7mms
3. Potentially a good trainer as it drifts more in the wind, but I feel like the same thing could be done with .223
What am I missing? The point of this thread isn't to try and **** on .308, I just can't think of a reason I should get one even though I'm likely going to eventually.

It's hard to believe but there are a lot of hunters that still use the .308 as their main hunting rifle. Maybe there are other offspring of the 308 that kill animals as dead but remember, the 308 still kills them just as dead. My buddy uses one in Wyoming on everything he hunts. He just changes bullet weight for the target animal in some cases. He's killed antelope at half a mile and Elk at half that with the same rifle with zero issues or regrets. I'm like most on this site and prefer to try different cartridge bullet combination always looking for a little better over all result. In the end there really isn't one. They pretty much all get it done and it's just us that isn't satisfied with the current rifles we own. If we were, we wouldn't be building new ones all the time. To me, that's just fine because I enjoy doing it.

 

[rellison312]

Recently I've thought about buying a Tikka CTR in .308 as I no longer have a rifle in that caliber after selling my model 10 and already have a 6.5 Creed in a bravo. But it's got me thinking, with all the cartridges that are out now, does it really make sense to buy one new? The ballistics are worse than It's smaller caliber derivatives, it has more recoil, and any animal I would feel comfortable shooting with .308 I'd also shoot with a 6/6.5/7mm and .223 given a good projectile in it's effective range. The biggest points in it's favor that I can think of are
1. Ammo cost relative to the 6/6.5/7mms although those seem to be coming down a bit
2. Ammo ubiquity compared to 6/6.5/7mms
3. Potentially a good trainer as it drifts more in the wind, but I feel like the same thing could be done with .223
What am I missing? The point of this thread isn't to try and **** on .308, I just can't think of a reason I should get one even though I'm likely going to eventually.

It's a fine all around jack of all trades round, but I think the cartridge is better suited with a lighter 7MM bullet. The 7MM-08 doesn't get the attention it should.

 

[VLD Pilot]

It's a fine all around jack of all trades round, but I think the cartridge is better suited with a lighter 7MM bullet. The 7MM-08 doesn't get the attention it should.

I have the 260, 7-08, and the 308. I personally prefer the 260 over the other two. That said the 308 does what the other two will do with just a little more recoil.

 

[Frank in the Laurels]

...in placing .308 diameter holes in chest walls.. just hit the target velocity difference will never be known.

 

[Swamplord]

Having grown up hunting with a 30-06, 8mm Mauser, 7,65 Argentine & 6.5x55 Swede, wanting or needing a 308 Win was Verboten ! at least in my immediate family, as a result I never owned one until well into my 30's ... but have relatives & friends that used 308's forever and still do to this day for moose hunting, usually late season calling/raking in for 200 yards & in shots, considerably more effective & better killing power over the 6.5 & 7mm counterparts , but 30 cals alway kill better than their skinnier cousins, erebody knows that , some just won't admit it !