Where does .308 Winchester excel?

[Rich M]

It is personal preference. 308 is in the lower end of the recoil scale and a proven 1,000 yard round. Same as the 6.5 cm.

If yer gonna own only 1 gun for everything, you would do okay with a 308. Not dure id shoot a buffalo or grizzly w 6.5 but 308 can handle thae heavier bullets and get it done.

Aside from that, get what makes you happy.

 

[Mike D Texas]

The .308 is the best utility cartridge available. It doesn’t excel at much if anything. But it does everything pretty well.

I think everyone should have a .308 in their stable.


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[kevin11mee]

It has excellent barrel life and good ammo availability if you don't reload. I personally wouldn't buy a .308, but it can certainly be effective if you already have one. To me, the 6.5's and 7mm's are much better for deer-sized game, and .30-06, .300wm, .300PRC, etc. are better .30 cals.

 

[Leatherneck]

I'm no expert, but isn't it an ideal HUNTING cartridge when you know you want to use 150-165 grain pills and shooting no more than 300-400 yards? Also, it seems the Barnes 130 grain is getting increasingly popular with .308 users and mirrors the 130 grain .270 TTSX on their own Ballistic charts.

 

[Laramie]

Most of you guys are ignoring the OPs question. Sure there are many reasons to own a .308 but it absolutely, positively does not EXCEL at anything. That doesn't mean a person shouldn't own one. They are enjoyable to shoot, plenty capable, and typically have good ammo availability. I have one in an AR that I love.

 

[Deywalker]

I'm no expert, but isn't it an ideal HUNTING cartridge when you know you want to use 150-165 grain pills and shooting no more than 300-400 yards? Also, it seems the Barnes 130 grain is getting increasingly popular with .308 users and mirrors the 130 grain .270 TTSX on their own Ballistic charts.

The thing is, why would I limit myself to that extremely specific criteria when hunting. Is there anything that a 150-165gr .308 does better than a 130-140 6.5, Or a 150-165gr 7mm terminally? Even good .223 bullets can create disgusting wounds inside 400. That said, I did pick up the CTR SS in .308, and I've got 400 rounds of Hornady black 168gr AMAX coming that I hope my gun shoots well. The same amount of ammo in 6.5 140 ELD-Ms would have cost me ~$270 more, and a reasonable chunk of my rifles barrel life to practice with.

 

[CanyonHunter]

For a handloader it’s a amazing cartridge, realistic bullet weights from 130-180 grain with velocity from 2600 to 3100 FPS. I don’t know what’s not to like. Coyotes and elk out to 500 yards no problem.

 

[Deywalker]

I got a chance to shoot it a bit recently. Once I got used to the increased movement of the gun it actually felt more comfortable to shoot than my .223 solely because it feels like the stock Tikka buttpad is digging into my collarbone when I'm in the prone. I'm sure there's an easy fix to that though. The increased weight also helps hide my poor fundamentals. I'm sure the gun and ammo (Hornady Black 168gr AMAX) are capable of better, but I suck and I could barely see the target with how dark it was getting.

 

[FLATHEAD]

Eastern woodland Whitetail. Absolute perfection.

 

[long hunter]

Out to 400 yards, deer,antelope, black bear, caribou. My 2019 antelope was about 250 yards (did not range him) rifle Remington XCR zeroed at 200 yards, one shot .308-165hr Hornady SST = dead goat. Know your range, load and shot placement you will do fine.

 

[49ereric]

Recently I've thought about buying a Tikka CTR in .308 as I no longer have a rifle in that caliber after selling my model 10 and already have a 6.5 Creed in a bravo. But it's got me thinking, with all the cartridges that are out now, does it really make sense to buy one new? The ballistics are worse than It's smaller caliber derivatives, it has more recoil, and any animal I would feel comfortable shooting with .308 I'd also shoot with a 6/6.5/7mm and .223 given a good projectile in it's effective range. The biggest points in it's favor that I can think of are
1. Ammo cost relative to the 6/6.5/7mms although those seem to be coming down a bit
2. Ammo ubiquity compared to 6/6.5/7mms
3. Potentially a good trainer as it drifts more in the wind, but I feel like the same thing could be done with .223

What am I missing? The point of this thread isn't to try and shit on .308, I just can't think of a reason I should get one even though I'm likely going to eventually.

The world has come a long way since the 1 rifle 1 shotgun days so much in fact we overthink it all
I think (read) back to when the .300 Savage was all the rage… now a .308 win is regarded as why own one? How the world changes…
Enjoyable reading your post thanks.

 

[Newtosavage]

The reason I bought a 308 was because when there was a 9 month period I saw almost no ammo on the shelves, the one kind that was almost always there was 308.

It’s good enough for a do anything in North America round as far as I’m concerned.

This.

And at ranges that most hunters take game (well inside 300 yards) it is more than adequate.

You have to be a pretty good shot with good conditions and a steady rest for a cartridge to outperform the .308. In other words, shots beyond 300 yards - which probably amount to less than 5-10% of all hunting shots taken.

 

[Newtosavage]

I carried a 30-06 elk hunting for a couple of years. I had mapped out the ballistics to 500 yards and practiced routinely at 300 (max range at my club). Then one day it dawned on me out in the field as I was looking at some elk through my scope at about 500 yards that I just wasn't comfortable taking that shot. So then I wondered why I was lugging around a heavier longer rifle than I wanted when the .308 and 7mm-08 were so close to the '06 in performance, and more than capable at ranges under 300-350 yards where I would be comfortable taking the shot. The answer was simple. I didn't need the '06. So these days I alternate between the 7mm-08 and .308. Some would say there isn't a hill of beans difference between them and they would mostly be right. But I want the option to load 165-168's in the .308 for elk and the option to load 120's in the 7mm-08 for whitetails. Still threading too fine of a needle but I'm always gonna have a backup hunting rifle so why not?

 

[BugleMeTimber]

I’m drawn to the classics that are proven. Own .270 win’s, 7mm-08, .300 win mag, .300 wby and a .300 savage. In the end it comes down to the shooter understanding their cartridge and being proficient with it.

 

[GAHunterJim]

Over the years, I've handloaded for 30+ cartridges, I just spent upwards of $5,000 (all in) on a my first total DIY rifle, Defiance Tenacity/Proof pre-fit, McMillan, and the cartridge I choose was the 308. The 308 is the most popular cartridge in the world and with a good 165 gr bullet you can kill anything in NA with it (it's been done with a similar 30-06). There are lots of specialty cartridges our there that do some things better for sure but the 308 does "most" things very well. I'm not a long range hunter and there are better choices with high BC bullets for 500+ but that's not my interest. Looking at MidwayUSA right now, there are 174 ammo choices available for the 308 (not all in stock). So, I really like the 308 but I'm not opposed to other choices either. My next DIY, parts ordered, will be a 6.5CM (my second) and to follow that a 7mm PRC but I plan to always have at least one 308 ready to go. I'm going to Kansas later this month, I have seven rifles to choose from, the 308 is making the trip!

 

[Rambucsabillbul]

Ammo available.
Less recoil.
Short action.
Holds a ton of shooting accuracy records.
Available to up or down load with such flexibility of bullet selection and options.
Just an amazing all round no pun intended caliber.
I live in BC. Huge variety of big game species.
And I have harvested almost every one with the.308 Win.
Absolutely love it and still recommend it.
Why pigeon hole yourself into a caliber with little selection of bullet choice and availability.

 

[SDHNTR]

Don’t forget that it’s damn near impossible to burn out a .308 barrel. Probably go through 3 or 4 6.5prc tubes in one lifespan of a .308 tube.

 

[Nosferatu]

If it weren't for the .308, how could we have these endless caliber debates?

 

[Hnthrdr]

.308… great all around round. I own several .308’s a FAL, a M1A, BLR, picked up a tikka roughtech, to hunt with suppressed. Have a boat load of ammo, range and hunting for them. I do like the 6.5( own one )6mm and 7mm, but I don’t ever plan on shooting a game animal further than 600 yards. So some of the ultra mags don’t really do it for me. Will be buying a 6mm or 243 for the wife or kiddo to hunt with when she is older, but .308 is versatile, reliable and readily available. Not that I rifle hunt much any more these days, but if stuff were to hit the fan, I’d be rocking a .308 if it did

 

[S-3 ranch]

308 has easy access ammunition and mine is sub MOA
I prefer 300wm & 6.5-284 Norma, but ammunition is a major B with out reloading these days