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Gotta love the .308 cartridge!!

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Gotta love the .308 cartridge!!

Old 11-03-2019, 05:45 AM
  #11  
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I've heard things about it, but no solid proof of heavy duty bench rests harming scopes. My bench rest has a strap that goes over the buttstock and cinched tight, that's all.
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Old 11-03-2019, 10:12 AM
  #12  
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Butch,

I bought my first centerfire rifle ( Win. Model 88 in .308 Win.)at age 14, and almost immediately started handloading (Lee Loader). By age 18 or 19 was shooting cast bullets in it. Several deer, lots of squirrels/rabbits/armadillos/raccoons/turtles with cast Bullets, and my first Pronghorn were taken with that rifle. I retired it in 1982 ( though I did use it in 1986 for that Pronghorn), for a cartridge to hunt across the world.

The .308 Win. is a great, versatile little cartridge! memtb



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Old 11-03-2019, 02:55 PM
  #13  
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Originally Posted by bronko22000
Your old Savage is still a decent shooter. But today's are a bunch more accurate then that. And as for the .308 we all have our opinions and I particularly don't care for it. I've used it for several years on deer and it didn't really impress me. I have much better success with the off shoots of the parent .308 case. The .243 and 7mm-08 are IMO dispatch deer quicker than the .308. Now if all I had was a .308 and it shot as well as yours I wouldn't hesitate to use it for deer and black bear size critters. Heck even elk in a pinch.
Why do you suppose that is? I'm sure the .243 and 7mm-08 are good for deer, but I don't understand why they'd be better than the .308. I went .308 originally because I'm primarily a bear hunter. The sales people kept pushing other calibers, like .270 on me. They would say "This is an awesome deer rifle that can also take bears", so I would have to correct them and say "I want a bear rifle that can also take deer". The wider bore appealed to me, part of why I now use my .338 mostly for bear.
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Old 11-03-2019, 05:18 PM
  #14  
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I LOVE The Mighty Little .308 Winchester, all the Rifle i need, From Mice to Moose my .308 will Git R Done!

This is mine at 750 Yards over the Hood of my Truck
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Old 11-03-2019, 05:33 PM
  #15  
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Looks like a real shooter Butch. Both the rifle and the rifleman.
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Old 11-03-2019, 05:49 PM
  #16  
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@Idaholewis

That is incredible shooting!! I am just awestruck at a .308 rifle ringing a gong at 750 yards!

@Calhunter

Thanks... My Savage .308 did all the work. I had it secured in a bench rest, and I just simply peered through the scope, reached up, and squeezed the trigger! LOL!!!
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Old 11-03-2019, 06:27 PM
  #17  
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Originally Posted by Cub Slayer
I went .308 originally because I'm primarily a bear hunter. The sales people kept pushing other calibers, like .270 on me. They would say "This is an awesome deer rifle that can also take bears", so I would have to correct them and say "I want a bear rifle that can also take deer". The wider bore appealed to me, part of why I now use my .338 mostly for bear.
There's very few animals in North America that won't easily succumb to a plain old 180-grain soft point from a .308. Haven't used it on bear, myself, but I love it on deer (slower bullet seems to bring better permanent wound channel for some reason; my 1:10" twist barrel likes them more than 150's) and have heard it's almost impossible to beat on black bear (unless you go up in caliber).
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Old 11-04-2019, 03:03 AM
  #18  
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Originally Posted by younggun308
There's very few animals in North America that won't easily succumb to a plain old 180-grain soft point from a .308. Haven't used it on bear, myself, but I love it on deer (slower bullet seems to bring better permanent wound channel for some reason; my 1:10" twist barrel likes them more than 150's) and have heard it's almost impossible to beat on black bear (unless you go up in caliber).
Agreed. I went to the .338 Federal because of the wound channel, not the killing. In 2017 I shot a bear in Maine with my .308. No blood trail. Did I miss?

Nope. When we found the bear, I actually blew the top of its heart off. Much blood inside the bear, but not enough wound channel to not plug up. So I use the .338 for the bigger channel, not because the .308 won't kill.

Also, when I bought a new scope, I didn't want to put it on the .308 because it was "so perfect" that I didn't want to mess with it, so I put it on my "experimental" .338 Federal instead (which came with a cheaper scope too). Wanted a lighted reticle. If you've ever shot black bear with a black reticle, you'll understand why.
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Old 11-04-2019, 04:15 AM
  #19  
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Originally Posted by Cub Slayer
Wanted a lighted reticle. If you've ever shot black bear with a black reticle, you'll understand why.
I've wondered about that in the past but had never talked to anyone about it specifically.

I'd imagine under certain low light conditions that black reticle would just about disappear on a bear.

-Jake
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Old 11-04-2019, 05:56 AM
  #20  
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Originally Posted by EShoreMD
Butch you mentioned "locked into a secure bench rest". I have a nice Lead sled but have recently been using Caldwell bags. Ive read things about the sled not being good for the scope. Any opinion on this?
Originally Posted by ButchA
I've heard things about it, but no solid proof of heavy duty bench rests harming scopes. My bench rest has a strap that goes over the buttstock and cinched tight, that's all.
Guys the problems with the Lead Sled arises from people using too much weight to hold it down. Its simply physics. For every action there's an equal and opposite reaction. When you put too much weight on the sled the recoil energy is less than the energy needed to move the sled and the rifle's stock has to absorb all of it. Depending on the stock's design, material and the amount of recoil generated this has resulted in cracked and even broken stocks. My advice, if your rifle packs a punch a isn't pleasant to shoot during sight in is to buy a slip on recoil pad for that purpose. Once the rifle is dialed in, take it off and confirm your point of impact.
I'm not recoil shy and I like my .45-70s with full house loads for hunting and I shoot them regularly. What I do hate doing is pattering a shotgun with 12 ga 3" or 3 1/2" shells. That is brutal on the shoulder and I've punched myself in the nose with my thumb more than once forgetting to roll it out of the way!
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