.308 or 30-06
 

i know both are very good calibers i have heard people say .308 and 30-06 just wondering:fighting0007:

Both are VERY GOOD calibers !

Both are great! I just prefer the .308 Winchester.

On whitetail deer, there is no real difference as far as I am concerned. However if you hunt larger animals like elk or bear, and use 180 grain or larger bullets, the 30-06 starts to have a bit of an advantage. In the .308, I think that the long 180 grain bullets start impeding on case capacity so you start giving up velocity due to reduced powder charge. I myself choose the .308 since I live in the southeast and don't hunt elk or bear. The 30-06 produces about 100 to 200 fps more than the .308 in most loads. The .300 Winchester magnum produces about 100 to 200 fps more than the 30-06 to put that in reference.

Maybe an tiny edge to the 30-06 due to the large range of different loads available for it.

The best one is the one in your hand when the you see a deer.

Only difference is long or short action.

Recooil is another factor to consider, depending on the amount of shooting you do.

There are many "good" Cal. out there:s201:, but good for what? as in what are you planing on doing with it?:s9:
FYI Both are related, closely. The .308 was the product of a Gov. contract to develop a more efficient version of the 30-06. It shoots the same bullets at the same velocities. It is a more efficient use of resources than the .30-06. It needs less brass and less powder to do the same job. That was enough for the Mil. to jump in with both feet but it's apparently not been enough for the sporting world.
In the hunting world the .308 holds no real advancement over the .30-06. Reason being that the same reasons why the Mil. wanted it just don't transfer over to the sporting world.
It is worse because of 2 major reasons.
#1 its new and so its more expensive.
#2 It is less popular than other rounds which get the job done just fine right now. Which makes it more expensive.

P.S. Seeing as .30-06 is the cheapest deer cal. out there I decided to get a gun in that for killin them deer. It just makes sense.

I have shot both and hunted with both. They are really quite similar, with the overall edge for "all game" probably tipping in the 06 favor. However, I like the .308 in recoil, shortness of cartridge (especially in a bolt), and accuracy. I have a .308 and have rid myself of the 06 though it is a good caliber.

Where do you hunt??? How well do you shoot??? What is your experience level??? Do you only hunt deer???

Frankly for deer only I'd prefer a 7mm-08...Or a .270...

#1 The .308 was introduced in 1952, not exactly "new!"
#2 The .308 has been a top ten round since it's intro and with all the milsurp ammo out there it is definitely not more expensive!

I'm not bashing the '06 but, make mine an '08 every time!

both do the job well on a deer, but like stated already a 270 and 7mm-08 are awsome deer guns and more than enough to take down the biggest deer on earth lol

Try using the Winchester Ballistics Calculator in the 1st link below.

Enter the 2 different calibers you want to compare, the bullet type and weight. Press the "Shoot" button and the comparison is detailed. Try to use the same bullet types and weights for best comparison.

I compared the .30-06 and .308 using the Ballistic Silvertip in a 168 grain bullet. The ballistics for the two are nearly identical. The Axial View shows the point of impact on the target.

This ballistics calculator is cool because you can change the variables such as the distance, crosswind speed, temperature, etc.

http://ballisticscalculator.winchester.com/

http://www.winchester.com/LEARNING-C...alculator.aspx

i would be hunting black bear, elk, deer. my experince level is high amauter(im 12). no rifle experince but shoot a shotgun fairly well. and would be huntig in brush to 100yard fields

I like both, but....
 

I like both cartridges and shoot deer and elk with both. I have not noticed any difference in killing power between them. Likewise, I have seen many deer shot with 7mm/08 and .270. Same story, shoot the deer with a good cartridge in the heart/lung area and you have venison on the table.

For my sons when they were 12 or so I had them use a .308 and purchased the Remington reduced recoil loads. The recoil was about like a .223 and it helped increase their confidence and therefore their accuracy improved. They were able to shoot a lot more rounds to get familiar with the rifle. The reduced loads are also available in the 30/06 and should have similar tendencies. I was not able to see any reduction in killing power for the deer taken with the low recoil loads as compared to full power loads. None of the deer taken were over 150 yards away.

I personally prefer the .308, possibly because every rifle I have shot or owned in that caliber has been a tack driver, including a Savage 99, Browning FN, Remington 600, Remington 700, M1A, Winchester 88. Just wish I had kept them all.

Have fun shopping for your rifle.

Well, I'm partial to 308 cause those damn 30-06 won't fit in my M14 no matter how hard I try to cram 'em in there. :) 308's a fun caliber to shoot.

which one?
 

:fighting0007: there is nothing wrong with either one. i use the 26cals. the 140 gr sst buy hornady are wicket in my 264 win mag an my 6.5 = 284 just a old man thinking Happiness is a direct hit at a long distance

I have a 30-06, always have. My Daughter chose a 308 because there's less recoil. I haven't shot it, so I don't know. Shoot both & see what you like best.

Although, for what you want to use it on, there is virtually no difference in killing power, I cast my vote for the 30-06.

I would recommend starting with something like the reduced recoil 125 gr bullets so the recoil doesn't start you down the path of flinching. This load is plenty for whitetail sized game. Later, you can move up to the 150 to 165 gr bullets as you move on to bigger game.

As stated many times above, the 308 and 30-06 are both good deer guns. Whichever one you get will do a fine job. Pick out a gun you like that feels good, and don't look back. The 308 will have less recoil, but and good recoil pad will tame a 30-06 as well. I have both and hunt with both. Deer shot with either usually go straight down if I do my part. Get the one you like the best.

never been anywhere thats sells ammo that didnt have 30-06 rounds in stock. Can't say the same for the 308

For deer hunting at close to moderate ranges (<400 yards)? Just flip a coin. With bullets up to the 165 grain range the ballistic differences are too close to matter. If you want to go after the big stuff, or hunt deer at longer ranges, the 30-06 has a slight edge, but if I intended to hunt anything bigger than elk or much farther than 400 yards, I'd be looking toward at least a 300 Win Mag for such work.

Mike

Nothing wrong with either of those calibers. I do prefer the less recoil of the .308 over the .06

I have a 7mm/08 and love it for lower recoil. But if I had to chose between the .308/.06 I'd go with .308

well its debateable, but i shoot an old savage 308 lever action. i believe some 30-06s are made cheaper but thats just me.

308 for me cause when I bought my AR-10 the only two choices were 308 or 243 and I have no experience with 243. But I can tell you that I replaced a semi auto 06 when I bought the 308 and can tell no difference in normal range shooting. The recoil, especially with an AR-10 is way less. 308 fine for any North American Game and can be found fairly easily about anywhere. Military surplus rounds are common and cheap for practice shooting too, but many NATO rounds are for practice only and are not allowed for hunting. Hunting rounds are easily found in any big store.

.308 by far-If its good enough for the swat and sniper teams of the Armed forces, its good enough for hunting. Far superior in accuracy than an 06.

There is nothing about the 308 Winchester that makes it any more accurate than the .30-06 given equal quality rifles. The 308 is "good enough" for military snipers because of logistics, not performance. Just about every NATO medium machine gun and many NATO service rifles are chambered for the NATO standard 7.62x51mm NATO cartridge. It only makes sense for the military to choose the same cartridge for its general purpose sniper cartridge. For true long range shooting there are better cartridges available (like, say, the 338 Lapua), but you won't find them in every friendly hootch, humvee, tank and fighting hole in the battle area. If the shipment of 338 Lapua ammo doesn't get to the snipers in the field, they're SOL. But if their rifles take 7.62x51mm NATO, in a pinch they need to look no further than the nearest M-60A3 or M240 gunner. Civilian police snipers followed suit simply because they could easily draw on military ballistics and range data, use military 7.62x51mm Match Ball ammo, and there is plenty of real world experience with the cartridge. Every professional sniper in the western world can recite the 308 Win drop table from memory and be real world accurate to within a few inches out to 1000 yards, regardless of ammo variations. Since civilian police SWAT and SRT teams generally hire from these ranks, it saves them tons of time and money to chamber their sniper rifles the same as the military.

It's also important to note that American Marine and army snipers used the .30-06 for 50 years before the 308 Win was adopted to replace it for both service rifles and medium MG's. Again, for logistical reasons.

Mike