30-06 VS. 308
Posted 01-06-2009 at 02:01 PM by NightHawk22
30-06 VS. 308??? Which one is the right one? There is a lot of controversy on which one is more accurate. There are plenty of choices on a gun it's self to pick from but it's the calibre that os the problem. If you have any good advice on wich one to buy please let me know.
Total Comments 6
Comments
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I hunt deer with my Winchester feather wt mod 70 in .308, has all the power,range and accuracy of any 30.06 I've used in a smaller lighter cartridge. One of my favorites. Yagger.Posted 01-11-2009 at 11:52 PM by yagger
- 30.06 handels heavy bullets better 180 to 220 gn both are accurate .308 can be put into smaller lighter riflePosted 01-24-2009 at 06:09 PM by waterdog
- NightHawk22, I full agree with Waterdog, 165 gn would be about max for me. Also, overall unless you load hot,expect to lose about 100 fps copmpared to same wt in 30.06. Yagger.Posted 01-25-2009 at 05:02 PM by yagger
- Virtually Identical in most respects, however the 30-06 has a long range edge as it is slightly flatter shooting due to having a longer case neck and ability to use longer projectiles with a greater cross sectional density. From a purely utility stand point I would go with the .308 unless the flatter trajectory of an 06 was a major concern due to availability of surplus / military ammunition, which someday may be a saving grace. MilanPosted 02-01-2009 at 02:47 AM by EtherialOne
- In the event that I need more power, increased bullet wt along with flatter trajectory, I use my .338 Win. Gets the job done! Yagger.Posted 02-02-2009 at 03:10 AM by yagger
- Everyone is different, so the choice is up to you, but I wanted to share my thought process and why I chose the caliber that I did for my new rifle.
I researched both the .308 and the .30-06 for a long time to determine which one I ultimately ended up with. Both are great cartridge choices, so I didn’t stand to lose too much by researching it less, but I’m a geek and decided to read as much as I could about them.
I loved everything I read about the .308 and it has a great reputation; it wouldn’t be so popular with snipers if it wasn’t a solid performer. One of the advantages it has over the .30-06 is less felt recoil. I read about the competitive shooting that was going on during the 1960’s. Up until then, the .30-06 rained supreme; however, shooters started introducing .308s in competition and the result was that they started getting better scores than they did with the .30-06. Technically speaking, I don’t think anyone will argue that a .30-06 has better ballistics than a .308: it shoots flatter, maintains more energy, and goes a considerably further than a .308 (not just marginally so).
Although the ballistic performance of the .30-06 is superior, less felt recoil from the .308 more than made up for it in competitions. The 308’s ballistics, however, are close enough to have given the military a more reliable round for automatic and semiautomatic weapons (because of the shorter case). In addition, smaller cartridges mean less weight which enables troops to carry more ammunition in the field.
I was all geared up to buy a .308 until I started thinking about how long the .30-06 has been around (about 103 years now). I’m a big history buff. Teddy Roosevelt loved the cartridge and harvested an elephant with it. In fact, contrary to popular belief, the Alaskan DNR states that you do not need to hunt grizzlies with anything more than a .30-06 which makes it a better do-it-all rifle than others might think. For example, many hunters swear you need a magnum cartridge to hunt dangerous game; but it just isn’t so. The DNR didn’t recommend a .308, however (not that it wouldn’t suffice with a well placed shot).
I really couldn’t make up my mind until I got to the store to buy my rifle. I ended up going with the .30-06. Like I said, the military loved this cartridge enough to issue it in both world wars. If it wasn’t for automatic weapons, the military would very well be using it today. The gun I purchased is my first center-fire rifle (and it is bolt-action), so I wanted to pay homage to the legendary .30-06; and that’s what I did (earlier today).
Either cartridge is widely available and time tested, so you can’t go wrong; so good luck and I hope this helped.Posted 04-25-2009 at 10:30 PM by liberty1
Updated 04-25-2009 at 10:34 PM by liberty1
