308
 

I'm thinking about getting a new gun.I was thinking about a 308 but don't know much about the caliber. Anyone have any info on it- how many yards is it good for and how does it compare to a 270?

RE: 308
 

the 7.62x51mm is a good deer gun.most of the ammo you can buy is good out to 300yd but is you were to compare a .308 to a 270 i would most deffently go with the 270.buy a shooters bible and or look up the mv or muzzel energy

RE: 308
 

7.62x51mm and 308 are not the same. Interchangeable, but not the same.

Guns cause crime, like flies cause garbage.

RE: 308
 

I don't know what or where your gonna hunt but I'd go with the .308, it's chambered in a wide variety of rifle types.

It's inherently more accurate than the .270, but there are many other factors involved in that regard.

If you reload there is a wider range of bullets available, and even if you don't there is a load of surplus ammo out there for practice and plinking.

And, skill with your rifle will matter more for hitting game at any distances than any extra velocity or muzzle energy.

"Lord, make me fast and accurate."

RE: 308
 

i have two guns chambered in the 308win. great round like said above out to 300yds. i perfer the 150gr. bullets to shoot great in those two rifles.
i think it is a good round for deer and bear ( blackies ) and ammo is available in almost every store you buy ammo at. but if you own a 270win already i would look into maybe a something a bit bigger.

RE: 308
 

As far as distance, that would depend upon the shooter and the rifle. On whitetails, I feel as comfortable at long distance with my .308 as I do one of my 7mm or 300 mags. As far as real world effectivness, you could throw the .308, 30-06, .270, etc. all in the same group. The .308 is an exceptionally accurate cartridge plus you have the advantage of very cheap surplus practice ammo.

RE: 308
 

I've used a 308 since 1988 and it is my caliber of choice for Maine. I'll go out on a limb, get blasted, but I think the 308 is the best choice for all northern New England hunting. Short action, every mom and pop store sells ammo, good bullet selection, less recoil than the 06, and it will kill anything that walks here in NE without a lot of fuzz. I hunt woods but if you hunt in clearcuts or fields it will also get the job done. Nearly every one I've shot has been accurate. Like Quilly I use either 150s or 165s in mine with nearly equal results.

I've killed everything from fox to moose with mine and don't have any complaints. If you need something bigger than go to a 300 or larger.

[Deleted]
 

[Deleted by Admins]

RE: 308
 

I'd have to agree with otis, Quilly and Portage. The .308 is one of the best all-around cartridges we have, and it is good for just about all kinds of game short of brown bears. The ballistics are so close to the .30-06 that I will take the improved accuracy of the .308 every time.

I can't think of a better woods caliber, and it will reach out and touch 'em beyond 300 yards if you do your part. I've shot whitetail, mule deer, pronghorn and elk with one (a Ruger M77 RSI, except the pronghorn, which was taken with a custom rig) and I use mostly 165gr bullets. All animals were killed cleanly, and I couldn't have asked for better performance.

This was my dad's favorite round and as such, I recommend it wholeheartedly.

Good Dogwork and Good Hunting

RE: 308
 

I shoot both the 270 and 308 and have taken deer with both. The 270, 280, 7mm08, 308, 30-06 will all do the job. They have similar ballistics, with relatively minor differences. My favorite is the 308 for the short action and the fact that you can use some heavier bullets if you need to. Plus I find it a little easier to shoot off the bench. If you already have a gun in any of these calibers that you are comfortable with there is no real gain in switching. The short fat case of the 308 has proven more accurate, but most hunters aren't shooting in 600 yd matches where it really makes a difference. I use 150 grain psp's for eastern whitetails. For long range shooting on mule deer I would use a 165gr Swift Scirrocco if accurate in your gun. For Elk or Moose a 180 gr. premium partition.

I would use the 308 on anything in North America except the grizzly. I would use a 338 winmag for them.

Good luck and happy hunting!

RE: 308
 

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!!!

RE: 308
 

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.

RE: 308
 

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote<font size=1 face='Verdana, Arial, Helvetica' id=quote>quote:<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></font id=quote><font face='Verdana, Arial, Helvetica' size=2 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
&quot;They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.&quot; -Ben Franklin

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

RE: 308
 

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.

RE: 308
 

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

RE: 308
 

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote<font size=1 face='Verdana, Arial, Helvetica' id=quote>quote:<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></font id=quote><font face='Verdana, Arial, Helvetica' size=2 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
&quot;They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.&quot; -Ben Franklin

RE: 308
 

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.