Originally Posted by
Mr. Deer Hunter
The .308 Winchester was a military round which was designed to replace the 30-06 govt, due to the fact that the 30-06 govt required the gun to have a longer action to accommodate the round and it kept the shooter from carrying as many rounds because the 30-06 round was longer and weighed more - because the shell held more powder.
I would like to say this. The 30-06 was not replaced because it weighs more than .308 and certanly not because it had more powder. It was replaced because its over 100 years old and powder technology has advanced leaps and bounds since then. The Ammunition Manufacturers were ready to shut down production of the old powder formulated for 30-06 gov. 30-06 was originally just a update to smokless black powder from the 30 40 kraig and its true black powder charge.
Originally Posted by
Mr. Deer Hunter
The .308 uses a faster burn powder - but not as much to do the same job. Both has the same ballistics for a 150 gr bullet. The kicker comes in when you try to use a 180 gr bullet in the .308
Because the shell is shorter in the .308 and because when you use a bigger bullet, it displaces room inside of the shell, you can't put as much powder inside of a .308 and so it fails miserably when you move up to a 180 gr bullet. Also the 30-06 has a couple more feet of reach downrange then does the .308, which means if you want a good all around gun, you would buy the 30-06 and not the .308
This is not to say that manufacturers has not improved bullet construction over the past 30 years or that you couldn't use a 150 gr bullet to kill a elk or a bear, just that I wouldn't want to use it in my opinion. I had a model 88 - .308 Winchester rifle and it was a very sweet shooting rifle.
This is essentially correct. The .308 can use 150 grain and 165 grain bullets. With the bonded bullets we have now it should not matter at all. 30-06 does not have more reach than .308 though. 30-06 does have a draw back. It has to much unused cartridge capacity. At 300 yards you will see this in your groups. They will be bigger than .308 and just wont shrink, this happens when you back down to about 90% capacity which is where the "oght 6" is at. That is why the Mil. dropped it, actually modified it. They solved the problem by reducing capacity by shortening the cartridge. you are essentially correct on the bullet consideration aspect. For now .308 is low on bullet selection. That will change as powders continue to improve and the manufacturers have already stated there is LOADS of room for improvement. You might notice the 30-06 loads that dissapear the quickest are the 180 grain and up loads. That is because that bigger bullet can be used to take up that extra space that is giving us fits with our 300 yard groups.
Originally Posted by
Mr. Deer Hunter
Probably the best choice for a all around rifle for doing everything would be a 7 MM Remington magnum or a .300 Winchester magnum.
I have had both and I can attest to the fact that I have made shots with both rifles that amazed even me. With the optics on my Browning pump rifle - 300 Winchester, I can hit a pie plate at 800 yards with no problems. It is not unheard of - to hear of people who have used the 300 Winchester Magnum to shoot as far as a mile away. The US Army used that round at one time as a sniper round with much success and their shooting teams had special purpose built 300 Winchester rifles that they used for competition.
The goal should be to have a round that does not knock you into next week when you pull the trigger and that is accurate enough that you can hit everything that you aim at and that is economical to shoot as possible and a round that you can walk into most any Walmart at 3 AM in the morning, the night before hunting season and buy a box of shells.
This pretty much excludes rounds such as the .270 WSM and the 300 WSM and the Weatherby rounds that are out there.
The last thing I will touch on is the "Light Magnum" 30-06 loads. Some times folks like hornady filled up the 30-06 case and capped it with 150 grain bullets. Then stated to only use it in new rifles rated to handle the load. The Pressure exceeds the old 30-06 pressure so its not some trickery with a new powder, its just more. In europe they still use the 7mm mauser. But it does loads more speed than what it used to do. The reason is they load cartridges to capacity and go shooting. When new powders come out they buy new rifles in the same caliber. The thing is they rate their rifles by PRESSURE as well as caliber. In America we don't do this because some dumb arse would put light mag loads in a old rifle that probably shouldn't even shoot reg. loads then they will sue and ruin it for all of us. I haven't seen any "light mag" 30-06 even on the internet ammo places lately so that might have died a quick death.