RE: 30-06 vs 308
 

Do you seriously consider that you will go to Alaska, If you can afford $10,000 or more for a bear hunt than a special rifle should be considered. Either a 308 or 30-06 are fine rifles and get the one you choose but do it for what you are going to hunt most. Remember it can take different optic's for dangerous game.
Redclub

RE: 30-06 vs 308
 

I have to agree...have both, but prefer the .06.

RE: 30-06 vs 308
 

With a little luck, I may end up living there one day. That's the only way I will be able to afford a brown bear hunt. $10,000 is only the low end for a guide. They can go twice that amount or more, plus you have to buy a $500 tag, airfair, etc... I wish I had a close relative up there. That would be another way to afford it.

RE: 30-06 vs 308
 

That is a very good plan to live up there, I have friends who did that.
I went up there on a caribou hunt and the cost wasn't too bad. No guide,just a plane dropped us off. One morning a huge brown bear was right outside the tent. He kinda liked caribou meat already cleaned:D
Redclub

RE: 30-06 vs 308
 

My choice would be the .308, I like the short action caliber! The '06 can handle heavier bullets and with reloading, it can also be loaded a little hotter than the .308 Win. But, the .308 can reasonably take anything that the '06 can! Why? Because I wouldn't trust my life on dangerous game with either the .308 or the '06! Thats where the magnums come in!

RE: 30-06 vs 308
 

If I was to own only 1 rifle, and shoot factory loads, it would be a 300 RUM. The new "Power Level" loads they have developed are pretty cool. Gives you alot of diversity. The power levels are 3 different stages

Power Level 1 = 30.06 ballistics (Deer,Elk)
Power Level 2 = 300 Win Mag (Elk, Moose)
Power Leve 3 = 300 Rem Ultra Mag (Stuff that wants to eat you! ie Big Bad Bears)

RE: 30-06 vs 308
 

both guns are nice ones but my pick would be the 308

RE: 30-06 vs 308
 

There is a reason that the .308 is one of the most popular deer calibers in the world...in fact, last year, I believe Outdoor Life listed it as the most popular. I have a .308 and it is a great deer caliber. I would buy it any day over the 06 because of the little less recoil and shorter casing to eject. That being said, I only hunt deer and black bear with that caliber. If I was hunting Alaska bears...no way would you catch me hunting them with either of these two. While they could kill the bear it may take extra shots, may be slow on a charging bear to drop it. I have seen and read about those with lighter calibers getting hurt b/c they didn't have enough gun to stop the bear before it attacked. Good luck with your choice....and after all, the wife will only be mad for the first week or so. =) Get a few more!

RE: 30-06 vs 308
 

Ditto on the .308 :D

The .308 is legendary for its accuracy - heck military snipers use it day in and day out. The .308 will drop any animal on north america. I wouldn't take it on an African Safari and try to take a Cape Buffalo or a Rhino. You'd need something (obviously) with a little more oomph.

RE: 30-06 vs 308
 

Actually, I believe it was the 270! As far as the best deer gun.

RE: 30-06 vs 308
 

bmumford: The ole 06 is a fine and dandy cartridge that has done it all and im sure that if blew a 180 or 200gr nosler thru both lungs it would kill a griz just as fast as a 338 or 375. But what it does have is thebone smashing power to cease hostilies from a mad grizzly bent on having you for breakfast. I love the ole 06 I have two of them, but for dangerous game I would go a bit heavier cartridge.

RE: 30-06 vs 308
 

I have killed deer with both, but I have a 30-06. I don't think there is that much of a difference.

RE: 30-06 vs 308
 

I have a mossberg 4x4 rifle in 30 06 and another in 25 06 both have a lot of knockdown power and are perfect for ANY kind of deer hunting situation.

RE: 30-06 vs 308
 

30 06 is best

RE: 30-06 vs 308
 

I like either but my personal preference is the 7mm MAG or ultra Mag.

Maybe this ballistic chart will help you make your decision.:

http://www.shootingtimes.com/ballist...listic-tables/

RE: 30-06 vs 308
 

In the end, the deer won't notice the difference.

RE: 30-06 vs 308
 

I had both a .308 and .30-06. Feeling slighly under gunned for Elk, I sold the .30-06 and bought a .300 WSM.

If I could only have ONE rifle and only hunted the lower 48, it would be the .30-06 in a light mountain rifle. Add Alaska and it would be the .300 WSM.

RE: 30-06 vs 308
 

The .30-06 is the greatest rifle round of all time. Mainly because it was the primary caliber for the greatest piece of military equipment ever designed: the M1 garand.

Either round is excellent. I'd prefer a .30-06 if I were hunting Alaska, other than that its a coin toss. The greater accuracy of the .308 is literally negligible unless it is a competition-style rifle in the hands of someone much better than 99% of all hunters.

RE: 30-06 vs 308
 

I've always shot Rem 30'06 (I also shoot a Rem .270).I've heard lots of great things about the .308.It's a fine cartridge.I also know for a fact,first hand,that an '06 with a 150 grain bullet is pure hell on a white tailed deer.I've never had one take even a step after getting busted with the 150 grain.

Hey bmumford,

I am also in the market for a new all-around-good rifle and I have been pondering this same question.

http://www.snipercountry.com/Articles/AccuracyFacts.asp

This is a link to an article that I have read over a few times and, if you've plugged ".308 vs 30-06" into google before, it's usually at the top of the page. From what I can tell the .308 and .30-06 are virtually identical before 400-600 yards, after which the .308 tends to have an edge. My problem is that I'm in Kansas (for deer hunting it's really not a handicap :D) and the land I hunt is an open corn and wheat field so it is not unlikely that I would have to take a shot at that point. I'm mostly leaning toward the .308, but that's mostly because I don't plan to start hand-loading ammunition--and I have been told that hand-loaded .30-06's can produce phenomenal results. If you're like me and want a consistent factory load I would go with the .308, but if you want to personally tailor your rounds to fit the job, I would go with the .30-06.

Flip a coin and pick one. You win either way.

While in fact this is an older thread, this question comes up quite often so just for kicks I quickly tallied the posts and the answers relavent to the original question appeared to be roughly:

prefer 30.06- 23 votes

prefer .308- 7 votes

very similar/both would do fine- 16 votes

cool
 

Thanks for doing that. It makes me feel better that I went with a .30-06.

me the 08. I reload and get the same velocities out of my 08 (150 & 165 gr bullets) with about 1/5th less powder. But the last few years I've been on a bigger is better kick (308 parent case) namely the 338 fed and 358 win but those were not your question, of the 2 I would go with the 308

The .308 is by far more accurate, Just ask the military snipers and law enforcement snipers. This is just my experience!!!

Have both, like both.
 

I have both, like both a lot, and don't really see what there is to argue about. Both cartridges are very versatile and deadly. My 2 guns are very different though. The 308 is an 18" barrel, short action, good choice for pushing brush but very accurate for longer shots. My '06 is something else. A Husqvarna with a 24" barrel with a 1 in 12 twist that takes hot loads in stride. I can get about 200 fps more with 165s in the '06 than the 308 will do with 150s. It may not be a sniper rifle, but it can shoot 1" groups pretty consistently. My 15 yr. old can't wait til that gun gets passed down to him.:cool2:

I say go for the 308. The 308 has less recoil and can take down anything in North America. I might opt for something else on a grizzly hunt, but how many people get that opportunity anyways?

To me, the 308 has available and affordable ammo. Plus, you can load it down to hunt varmints, then up to hunt deer or even load it to 180 grains to hunt elk, moose etc.. Just a perfect hunting cartridge if you ask me. The 30-06 is a nice cartridge too. I just prefer the 308.

the 30/06 handles the bigger pills better than the .308

TO be honest, there's not a beans worth of difference between the two when the bullet hit the target..do you really think 100-175 fps will be that different to lung tissue and heart walls.. I think not! Both for the most part will kill anything you can hit accurately.. one is said to be more accurate, can't prove that by me, the other handles heavier bullet's, put an X bullet in her and tell me there's that much difference.. boy we've wasted alot of space and time we could have spend on something better to argue about..I wouldn't want to get hit with either..