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The .308 can do everything the .270 can do as far as hunting goes. Plus, it's a short action, so your cycle rate is faster, it's going to kick less (in most loads). The .308 will give you more reliable results on larger game such as elk and moose as well.

I'd say limit your shots with the .308 to under or at 300 yrds, which I'd say about any high powered rifle with stank (.30-06, .270, .300 win mag, etc.)

Screw the 10 ring, keep them in the zero!!!

Nomercy, no, a 308 Win will not usually recoil less than a 270 Win. In equal wieght rifles they are about the same, but, as you pointed out the 308 Win can be had in short action rifles which are lighter than long action rifles. Less weight= more recoil.

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quotequote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote> 7.62x51mm and 308 are not the same. Interchangeable, but not the same.<hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote>

What's the difference? I was under the impression that when Winchester developed the round it did so with the idea to have a short-action standard cartridge for NATO that matched the ballistics of the .30-06 as closely as possible. The round was given the metric designation (7.62x51mm NATO) because that is the system most used by our allies (just like what we call the .223 Remington is called the 5.56mm NATO and the .50BMG is the 12.7x99mm). To market it to civilian buyers in the U.S., of whom very few at the time would have any idea what a 7.62mm bore was, they renamed it .308 Winchester to match the U.S. naming conventions used at the time. To my knowledge the ONLY differences between the 7.62x51 NATO and the .308Win are that the military brass has somewhat thicker and crimped primer pockets typical of military ammunition. I've never seen any mention of any differences in any reloading manual either, other than it's prudent to reduce the powder charges so compensate for the slightly smaller internal volume if reloading military brass. They are otherwise identical.

Mike

Gun control means putting the second bullet through the same hole as the first- Ted Nugent
NRA Member
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." -Ben Franklin

Edited by - driftrider on 12/12/2002 20:18:42

The NATO round is loaded to lower pressure levels than commercial .308 ammo. In theory some of the older Mauser that have been rechambered to 7.62x51 could be unsafe at the higher pressure levels that a commercial .308 ammo produces.

driftrider, they are the exact same cartridge. The only difference is military brass is thicker, therefore has less case volume. Less case volume can create higher chamber pressure so that is why the load books say reduce powder charges in military brass.

BTW, if you go to a European country that sells ammo and ask for a box of 308 Win you might get funny looks. Its 7.62X51mm.

Edited by - frizzellr on 12/12/2002 20:37:10

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quotequote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote> BTW, if you go to a European country that sells ammo and ask for a box of 308 Win you might get funny looks. Its 7.62X51mm.

<hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote>

And 40 years ago the opposite was true in the U.S. Heck, I'd bet that if you walked up to the ammo counter in most stores today and asked for 5.56mm NATO you'd get a dumbfounded look in return. But ask for .223 Remington and they'll likely know exactly what you're taking about.

diyj98,

I think that's why they include the warning on ammo boxes about only using that ammo in modern rifles in good condition originally chambered for it, or some such. Some warnings are meant to be heeded and aren't just there for lawyerproofing. I also always thought that the military ball ammo was loaded on the hotter end to make it more reliably cycle fully automatic gas-operated weapons. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Mike

Gun control means putting the second bullet through the same hole as the first- Ted Nugent
NRA Member
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." -Ben Franklin

Mike,

Gas operated guns, as so many military weapons are, have more restrictive pressure requirements. There is some confusion in comparing pressures because Pressures for .308 are as taken by current SAAMI procedures and are actual pounds per square inch as measured with a piezo-electric transducer Pressures for 7.62 are still taken in a copper crusher barrel and are recorded as psi because the DoD has not adopted the SAAMI designation of CUPs (Copper Units of Pressure).

That being said, commercial .308 loads can and often do produce higher pressure than many 7.62x51 designed weapons can safely handle.
A major issue it the fact that many military weapons have bigger chambers than commercial .308 guns, this can lead to excessive pressures with .308 ammo. Some sources state this problem is even more pronounced when firing commercial .223 ammo in a 5.56 Nato chambered weapon.