30-06 Or 308 ?
 

Wich one do you prefer ?

And Why ?

I want one but can't decide.

I am leaning towards the 308

Thank You

RE: 30-06 Or 308 ?
 

Jr, if you plan to hunt anything larger than deer, go with the 30-06,
if not go the .308.
I have taken Moose with 6.5mm, white tail deer, mule deer and elk
with .270.
I have taken black bear with .30-30
The .308 will do fine if youstick to NC.

RE: 30-06 Or 308 ?
 

I just love the 308. Its my favorite round. Reason is, if I go for moose or elk, I have other rounds that I feel are better suited that can push a 180gr bullet greater than 3000fps. But for deer and prong, the 308 can't be beat. They are so much easier to find a good load for IMO. Short actions just seem to have much lower velocity spreads.

RE: 30-06 Or 308 ?
 

Personally,I prefer the .308win.If I want more velocity with a .308" bullet,I will step up to the 300wsm or 300winmag.

RE: 30-06 Or 308 ?
 

id take the 06. A 30-06 can do everything a 308 can do and a little more. To each his own!

RE: 30-06 Or 308 ?
 

the way i look at it, owning both a 30-06 and 308, not much difference in performance I dont really think an elk at 200 yards knows or even cares what the difference of velocity between the two is........... according to some ballistics software I have it shows that a 30-06 with a 180 grain projectile at 200 yards to have only 75 fps more velocity over a 308 win pushing the same 180 grain projectile also at 200 yards. IMO the 308 being slighlty slower could actually prove to have better penetration because of the possibilty of bullet deformation from the slightly higher velocity of the 30-06. But with two cartridges with velocity so close like that with the same projectile you really cant say one is better then the other the margin just isnt big enough between them. 75 fps... I have had handloads with both my 308 and 30-06 to have an extreme velocity spread greater then 75 fps...... Jrbsr just ask yourself this question, what do you like better a short action or a long action? IMHO that is what it boils down to lol:)

RE: 30-06 Or 308 ?
 

Both are great rounds but if I was only going to have one it would be the 06. The only advantage the 308 has over the 06 is the short action. Everything the 308 will do the 06 will do a little better.

RE: 30-06 Or 308 ?
 

In the heavy for caliber bullets the 06 wins hands down. From 180 and down it's not worth arguing about. Like was said if you plan on hunting anything larger than deer get the 06.

RE: 30-06 Or 308 ?
 

i would definately have to go with the 06. you can hunt just about anything in the world with them since you have such a range of bullets weights. it's a very versatile round. that's why i got one.

RE: 30-06 Or 308 ?
 

I always found the .308's lack of popularity for western big game hunting to be interesting. I shot an elk last year with one just to say I did - worked great. The 165 Swift Scirocco is the bullet if you want to engage something larger than deer at longer distances.

RE: 30-06 Or 308 ?
 

Since the 308win and 30-06 use the same bullets,you can say the same about the 308win.It is just as versatile.

RE: 30-06 Or 308 ?
 

the 06 handles bullets heavier than 180grain better.

RE: 30-06 Or 308 ?
 

In this day and age of Nosler Partitions, Swift A-frames, and Barnes X bullets; I'm not sure there is any need to go heavier than 180 grains. I would take a 165 grain Swift A-Frame over any 220 gr. soft nose.

RE: 30-06 Or 308 ?
 

I couldn't agree more.If you can't do it with 180gr youshouldmove up to the .338"s

RE: 30-06 Or 308 ?
 

If you are planning on shooting it alot, the .308 might be a better choice with surplus ammo being more available and cheap.
If you are a relaoder, the 30-06 has a lot more to offer.

RE: 30-06 Or 308 ?
 

Thank You for your awsners.

I think I do like the shorter action of the 308

And I probbly will always hunt in NC for deer - yotes - hogs - unless
I win the Lottery ( Not Likely ) LoL

RE: 30-06 Or 308 ?
 

I use a 30-06, but it's just my preference. My stepfather and brother in law use 308s and kill deer just as dead as I do. It's bullet placement that counts.

RE: 30-06 Or 308 ?
 

well in my opinion the 06 would be good for deer and larger game at medium ranges, but the 308 would be good for deer and smaller game at longer ranges, lots of my family own 308 and 30-06's and shhot them ion match compettions and the 308 is shoot out to 600 yds,but they stop the 06 at 200 yds so the 308 is a hands down longerrange cartridge. also if ur stil open to suggestions id look inot the 7mm-08 its a 7mm(.284 caliber) in a necked down 308 casing the bullet is smaller and would have better velocity and good nock down power.but ill always keep my 7mm rem mag as my deer gun.

RE: 30-06 Or 308 ?
 

we arn't talking match competitions here we are talking hunting situations. If you check your charts you will see a 30-06 and a 308 both compared with 150gr and 180grbullets that a 30-06 is actualy the flatter caliber. a 308 has always been the choice in competitions because it is naturaly a accurate caliber although ive seen quite a few 06's shoot right with a 308. in my opinion 06 has less drop more velocity more energy so it is the better caliber. On deer size game you wont notice a difference though!

RE: 30-06 Or 308 ?
 

How could ya go wrong with either? Sorta like splitting hairs here.

RE: 30-06 Or 308 ?
 

yea but it is sooooooooooooo marginal, at the same distances you are talking a tenth of an inch difference in drop and velocity at the most is 90 fps faster even energy is very marginal where the 30-06 might have 100 ft lbs more depending on the load...........

The only upside i can see clearly to choosing a 30-06 over a 308 is if you had the desire to shoot bullets heavier then 200 grains.

Like doe dumper said " sorta like splitting hairs here" I absolutely could not agree more with that statement. ;)

RE: 30-06 Or 308 ?
 

I personaly like the .308 it dose not arch much when u shoot, un-like the -06, and its a bit cheaper to buy ammuntion. Ive been able to get pretty good groups out of my dads at 250 yds

RE: 30-06 Or 308 ?
 

Last year I was at my Hunting camp and ran out of shellsI asked the guys if anyone had any 30-06's you guessed it practically everyone.It is the most popular cartridge for a reasone and shells are found everywhere.

RE: 30-06 Or 308 ?
 

So did you check the zero with the borrowed loads before hunting with them?

RE: 30-06 Or 308 ?
 

I would pick the 30-06 over the 308 'cause it's got a little more power and has a bit better trajectory.

RE: 30-06 Or 308 ?
 

I like the .308 for woods hunting in a short bolt rifle or even in my M-99 but the .30-06 is king when it comes to heading west to the mountains. I even leave the .300 Magnums home in favor of the .30-06 now.

If I had to have only one the .30-06 wins hands down every time.

RE: 30-06 Or 308 ?
 

30-06. The 06 has several advantages, while the 308 has one.

RE: 30-06 Or 308 ?
 

And they are????

RE: 30-06 Or 308 ?
 

What were you doing? Duck hunting? Brush busting? Ain't much excuse for running out of bullets in a deer camp!:D
The '06 is a great cartridge, no doubt, but I prefer the .308 Win.
Anything that the .308 can't do, you'd probably need one of the .300's for!

RE: 30-06 Or 308 ?
 

It seems to fit me better than the 30-06 thats one.

RE: 30-06 Or 308 ?
 

Well said.It sounds like a case of very poor planning.

RE: 30-06 Or 308 ?
 

he must have grabbed a box of 308 instead, then when he got to the deer camp he realized he grabbed the wrong rifle........... LOL :D:D:D

RE: 30-06 Or 308 ?
 

[/quote]
he must have grabbed a box of 308 instead, then when he got to the deer camp he realized he grabbed the wrong rifle........... LOL :D:D:D
[/quote]

Wrong rifle, right bullets, eh? :D:D:D

RE: 30-06 Or 308 ?
 

The 06 has flatter, faster trajectories than 308 when compareing apples to apples. On smaller bullets the advantage is small but there just the same. With heavier bullets the 06 is very much superior.As a reloader the 06 has more upside potential than the 308. The one advantage that the 308 has is short action, like the 06's velocity advantage w/ smaller bullets this to is a very small advantage. As to the comment that the 308 fits him better...give me a break....thats the rifle ,NOT the 308.

RE: 30-06 Or 308 ?
 

I was referring to the shorter action of the 308.
Where I hunt theres only whitetail as far as deer.
I kinda dought I will ever go any where else but NC to hunt deer.
So the 308 will be just fine for whitetail.
If I get rich enaugh to hunt some where else I probbly will get a 30-06

RE: 30-06 Or 308 ?
 

I prefer the '06 'cause I own one, but the .308 is nearly identical in performance, IMHO.

RE: 30-06 Or 308 ?
 

You really don'thave any ideawhat you're talking about, do you?

I personally, would go with the .30-06. Don't ask me why, but I just like the cartridge better. Nothing wrong with the .308Win, though. The performance it close enough to be irrelevant with normal weight bullets. If I need to launch anything bigger than a 180gr .30cal bullet, I'm going to start lookingat either the .300 Win Mag, or step up to the .338Win Mag.

Mike

RE: 30-06 Or 308 ?
 

Not sure why the short action .308 came about, I would choose the long action .30-06 if I had to choose between the two.

RE: 30-06 Or 308 ?
 

It was developed as a military cartridge (7.62x51mm NATO) to replace the .30-06 for use in belt fed machineguns with disintigrating link type belts. The shorter cartridge meant a shorter bolt travel, higher rates of fire, more compact, lighter weight ammo and easier to handle belts that aren't as prone to twisting and jamming. The military wanted a short action .308cal cartridge that would closely match the performance of the standard 150gr ball .30-06 loads, and the 7.62x51 NATO does that nicely. The .308 Winchester is the "domesticated" version of the military cartridge.

Mike

RE: 30-06 Or 308 ?
 

Interesting info. Thanks Mike.