7mm-08 vs 308: Which Is Better for Long-Range Shooting?
 

7mm-08 vs .308 is an interesting cartridge comparison for long range shooters. If you are looking for a great cartridge for your next hunting rifle, then you need not look further than the 308 Winchester and the 7mm-08 Remington. One was forged for battle, and the other was designed with long range shooting in mind.

Is one cartridge superior to the other? When it comes to this caliber comparison, we are essentially splitting hairs between these two rifle cartridges.

However, the 7mm-08 Remington and the 308 Winchester are both potent hunting and long-range shooting cartridges and we will take a look at the history, ballistics, and defining characteristics of both.

Remington loves their wildcat cartridges and the 7mm-08 does not disappoint. Although superior to the 308 in terms of ballistics, is it really enough? Does a 7mm bullet with its added penetration really facilitate the need to ditch the tried and true 308 for a new rifle.

Many hunters swear by the 7mm-08 and will not hear a word about any other cartridge. Though this feels a bit like confirmation bias to me as the 308 has been a force to be reckoned with in the hunting community since its release.

In our Ammo Guides Podcast, Chris and Dave take a deep dive on the 7mm-08 vs 308 debate and give you their thoughts on these two excellent hunting cartridges.

Always a great start to open a podcast with commentators with no experience with the subject matter…

This will probably go over like a lead balloon but based on my limited experience with both on deer I would 100% give the nod to the 7-08 as the better round. When i say limited I shot 3 deer each with both chamberings and in regard to DRT or distance after the shot the 7 is the outright winner.
OK 308 fans have at it.

I’m in that camp as well. 7-08 is the obvious performer.

The only objective argument for 308win over 7-08 is largely non-sequitur. 308win has broadly available, low cost and surplus type ammo, not available for the 7-08… so if a guy is just blasting, 308 can be cheaper to feed. So if you actually care about performance, you wouldn’t be using that cheap ammo anyway, at which point, the 7-08 leaves the 308win behind. But 308win DOES offer cheaper ammo options not available for 7-08… Not terribly consistent ammo, but objectively and demonstrably cheaper.

But within the context of long range shooting, as proposed by the podcast, neither are terribly favorable, but 7-08 spanks the 308win with ease.