Would anyone else care to give praise to the .308 ?

My most accurate hunting rifle is a .308 and can kill anything I can get a tag for.

That said, if cartridges were countries:

30-06 - UK. A classic that ruled the world for years but has lost some luster

.308 Win - Canada. A more modern, useful and more gentle UK

300 Winmag - USA. A proven killer with plenty of power, but loud, inefficient and kicks more than needed.
 
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I don't know if I posted here or not. I'm a fan of the 308, used a mod 660 Rem as my go to hunting rifle for a long time. Have shot and killed a lot of animals with other cartridges also. 243, 25-06, 6.5x55, 6.5x06, 7x57, 280 Rem, 7mm rem Mag, 30-30, 30-06 and 338 Win Mag. That that got them all I think. Much as I like the 308 I have to say there's a lot of other cartridges that will do the same job just as well. I think the thing about my mod 660 that might have sold me on it was more the rifle than the cartridge! There's not really a lot of difference between a 260 Rem and 308 or anything in between. The real value of the cartridge is in our head. I have a cousin that has been hunting with the same 30-06 mod 760 Rem all his life. It would be hard to tell him there might be a better choice. And how about the guy that gets his elk every year with his 243, how do you tell him it won't work?
 
My 308 got me a nice little whitetail buck last season, pretty accurate in a Ruger American with a Magpul Hunter stock. Have one in 7-08 now as well.
 
I used my great grandfather’s Model 88 Winchester exclusively for about 15 years, great gun, .308, fun to carry and shoot.

He purchased it brand new in ‘55 and used it to fill the root cellar with canned meat until he died in the late 60’s

Never got to meet him, but I still feel like I get to hunt with him occasionally.
 
Don Fischer said:
I don't know if I posted here or not. I'm a fan of the 308, used a mod 660 Rem as my go to hunting rifle for a long time. Have shot and killed a lot of animals with other cartridges also. 243, 25-06, 6.5x55, 6.5x06, 7x57, 280 Rem, 7mm rem Mag, 30-30, 30-06 and 338 Win Mag. That that got them all I think. Much as I like the 308 I have to say there's a lot of other cartridges that will do the same job just as well. I think the thing about my mod 660 that might have sold me on it was more the rifle than the cartridge! There's not really a lot of difference between a 260 Rem and 308 or anything in between. The real value of the cartridge is in our head. I have a cousin that has been hunting with the same 30-06 mod 760 Rem all his life. It would be hard to tell him there might be a better choice. And how about the guy that gets his elk every year with his 243, how do you tell him it won't work?
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Even in a thread with a title that invites praise and celebration you have to grumble. Why does every one of your posts turn negative? Why does it typically end up concluding everybody is wasting their time on the topic at hand? We get it - nothing new is worth considering, everything done after 1980 is pointless, and spending any time tweaking stuff is a waste of time because it worked fine before you tweaked it. Noted, maybe we can just get a big disclaimer to this effect pinned to the top of every thread and we can save you some typing.

Heck, the .308 is "old" and you still have to conclude that the OP question is somehow futile or pointless. He got a new gun - something we should celebrate, something he can have fun with, it doesn't matter what "uncle Bob" killed 50 deer with in the 1960s.
 
VikingsGuy said:
Even in a thread with a title that invites praise and celebration you have to grumble. Why does every one of your posts turn negative? Why does it typically end up concluding everybody is wasting their time on the topic at hand? We get it - nothing new is worth considering, everything done after 1980 is pointless, and spending any time tweaking stuff is a waste of time because it worked fine before you tweaked it. Noted, maybe we can just get a big disclaimer to this effect pinned to the top of every thread and we can save you some typing.

Heck, the .308 is "old" and you still have to conclude that the OP question is somehow futile or pointless. He got a new gun - something we should celebrate, something he can have fun with, it doesn't matter what "uncle Bob" killed 50 deer with in the 1960s.
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Don’t forget, nice glass is also a waste of money. You can kill everything just fine with a bush bell or a tasco…
 
As hunters, we are defined by our experince in the field.

Some years ago I was hunting tons of wild boar, many big black bristily ones with plenty of genes in them from thier Russian/Eurasian tough guy ancestors. Some were just piebald porkers farm escapees.

Many were weighed on the ranch scale and were approaching 400 pounds, lean wild they all were and with age the big black ones developed this pie plate size 1" thick cartilaginous shield around thier shouldder. Thier skin was loaded with a thick fiber that seemed "gritty" and dulled skinning knives so quickly.

The orignal range of the Russian Eurasian boar matched the range of the tiger. They were a match for each other.

I shot a good sized boar coming in at an angle and put my crosshiars of my .270 with 130 grain bulets on his shoulder. Bang he went down and stayed down till I got up and then he got up and ran away.

Later at the ranch another hunter shot him and when dressing him out we could see the fresh scar on the shoulder plate, left side and that was were I hit him a few days earlier.

From that day on I went to heavier bullets in all calibers.

I like the fact that a .308 can use some heafty heavy bullets. I know that they do not meet the needs or whims of those who love shooting long range, but in the right place I just love looking at some heavy bullet with a high SD.

For many years i shot and guided other hunters shooting wild boar, often at night with depredation permits.

Pretty hard placing a shot perfectly at a wild boar standing on it's hind legs eating peachs from a tree under the moon light, or even with no light.

A .308 with a 180 or 200 grain bullet shooting a boar 75 yards away offers a comfort lesser calibers cannot give.

The .308 is a worthy caliber with a broad range of use
 
"game-field utility", LOL. It should get an award just for that phrase! #1 in it's class, in "game-field utility".

I'll have to remember that in case I ever get one.
 
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Mustangs Rule said:
I say "use enough bow" for elk.

I think a .308 is just fine for elk, especially with Barnes bullets. The right sub 30 cal is fine too, .270 has proven itself over and over and has the leeway that makes up for a marginal error in placement. .308 and .270 would be my elk minumums.

Going to the 6.5's they are fine but I think they lack that extra leeway.

A few elk back I shot one in Utah with a .270. Just caught the corner of one lung. Had the power to really open it up still and cause massive bleeding. Elk dropped and never got up.

I think a lesser caliber would not have been that effective. Could my placemnet been better, sure. But I had just a few seconds to get prone get out my short shooting sticks and make my 200 yard shot in the very first few minutes of legal daylight on a foggy morning.

Use enough gun.
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I agree with this. My hunting buddy bought a .300 prc Christensen Arms ridgeline a couple of years ago and yes he has killed a few whitetails with it (hunting primarily in West Virginia) but he has killed more deer with his .308 Winchester Model 70 sporter than any other rifle. He also picked up a .257 Weatherby and dropped a doe at 454 yards last year in one of the bean fields he hunts over. I have 7mm Rem Mag Weatherby that I would take with me anywhere in North America but it's also nice to be able to shoot an animal #1 to not pay a premium for ammo and not near as many selections of bullets (for the 7mm) for reloading which I am just getting into but also #2 to not produce bad habits with flinching especially if the .308 will do fine. My dad who doesn't hunt much anymore has always wanted a .338 lapua and being that we live in WV I ask him what are you going to shoot with that? I guess that's a common thing that people want something to reach out and touch things but you can do things with smaller calibers that don't create bad habits and possibly trips to a orthopedic dr.
 
I really like the 308 Win. It's not some super killer death ray if a cartridge that kills everyone from Elephant to mice with no competition. It's a very good middle of the road cartridge that is good for deer 🦌,Bear and Elk when you use it judiciously..
 
Mountain Mule said:
Is a .308 not enough gun to take these animals within 200 yards? I have never lost an animal due to "not having enough gun". If I'm wrong, enlighten me.

Edit: trust me, I have definitely thought about getting a gun with a little more behind it; unfortunately its not in the budget for a while.
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I have taken elk from 181 and 320 yds with my 308 (165 gr TBT). I have taken mule deer from 205 yds to 370yds (same round). None of them have run very far.
 
Mustangs Rule said:
I felt that way for the longest time too. i loved the older and odder calibers and the rifles they came in. I had a ,257 Roberts, 250-3000 Savage, 35 Whelen (2), 30-40 Krag, 280 Rem, 6.5 Swede, 7x57 (3), now the 280 AI. I still have a 270, had two 338 Win mag and had a 300 Win Mag.

What just keeps happening is my .308 is the "no fuss" rifle/caliber combo. The catridge is just so effiecient, gets almost the velocity/performance of others that are using so much more powder, and it just easily achieves a high level of accuracy. "No fuss"

Over the years I have just gotten so comfortable with it. It sits in the safe off season, does not change POI, and the game animals just drop dead.

What has really been an upgrade us using Barnes and Lapua bullets too. They just kill so well and lose no weight and are so accuarte in my Sako.

Another thing I read about the 308 was it's ability to shoot different bullet weights close to the same point of aim. They sure work great that way for me.

My heavier slower 168 grain Barns TSX shoot about an inch high at 100 yards and my much fatser 150 grain TTSX shoot 2.25 inches high, making a perfect longer range situation for shots 250 to 350 yards which is just fine for my needs.

And as mentioned earlier, using 30-30 150 grain Barnes bullets at the 30-30 velocities offers a real low recoil yet effective round for deer close up.

My 308 just keeps giving and asks very little in return, like with the light cast loads for small game. Add in the short action too with the reduced bolt throw.

Over and over I just keep reaching for it and leave other rifle/calibers in the safe.
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My Kimber loves 165 TBTs. It handles 180-gr partitions nearly as well (right at 1 MOA). I have Leupold CDC dials for both. Conversely, it opens to 2.5-3 MOA with any equivalent Hornady (ELD-X) round. Go figure. Velocities aren't that much different so it must be bullet geometry (?). It also doesn't like anything less than 165-gr. I've tried several 150-gr factory loads and lower with so-so results. I suppose when I get into handloads this may change. Just not at that point in my shooting journey yet.
 
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