Why a 308??

O

opper

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Can someone answer this for me - I am not sure why are all the gun manufactures only making heavy barrels guns in 308. Why do all gunsmiths you talk to recommend the good old 308. I apologize if this has been asked - but to me it is a mediocre cartridge. Not high in speed - no super high BC bullets like the 7mm or 6.5mm. But you always see the 308 being the caliber that is recommended to do everything - I have a 243 I was going to rebarrel as a 243 - but I keep getting pushed to the 308.

I must be missing something. Please fill me in.
Thanks,
Jason
 
All depends on what your needs are really.
The .308 is a no brainer to load for, components are plentiful, barrels will last for years, it will kill small to medium game out to the far reaches of 800ish yard/meters.

What are you looking to shoot? Food, paper, clay pigeons, competition?

Why a .243? If you are planning on shooting lots (1000-2000/yr) with the .243 then plan on having a spare barrel on hand and a smith to chamber and install it. I have seen .308 barrels shoot competitively to 8000+ rounds.
 
Who do most people choose a .308? Same reason guys mostly choose girls they meet at work or school. They're predictable, easy to get along with, cheap to feed and less likely to go madly off in all directions when you don't cater to their every whim. And less likely to beat the snot out of you than teh more flashy, whiz-bang models.
 
I believe most folks these days think they need bigger or faster even a combination of both. Now don't get me wrong, I like the .50 BMG as much as the next guy, and if that's what you want to hunt with good on you. When the .30-30 came out it was touted as the best deer slayer of all time. And at the time it was pretty damn good. Now the .30-30 is considered too anemic for even shooting gophers (humor for those who don't know).
To get on subject .308 will kill any north American animal if you know where to aim, are using appropriate bullets and loads, and do not feel the need to shoot at animals that are quite a bit more than 300 meters away. otherwise you will increase the risk of wounding animals just as you would shooting any other cartridge.
Having said that there are better all around chamberings but i firmly believe that everybody should own one of every rifle and loading!
 
308

OK - Barrel life is impressive then - I did not realize it would be that high.
As far as deer hunting - what kind of range would expect good clean kills?
Jason
 
opper said:
OK - Barrel life is impressive then - I did not realize it would be that high.
As far as deer hunting - what kind of range would expect good clean kills?
Jason
Click to expand...


The U.S army did some testing on a M24 SR 24 inch tube, shot 10,000 rounds and was determined that less than .5 MOA was taken out of the barrel, and still qualified. I will try to find it for you.

Found it! and it was 20,000 rounds and still qualified.

http://www.snipercentral.com/m24.htm
 
Why?

1) Ammo is everywhere

2) large selection of ammo/bullets/powder/brass

3) Many well proved loads that work

4) Launches 165 grain bullets at 2700 fps - plenty for anything in North America (Some guys will use bigger on grizzly)

5) Barrel life is REALLY long. Double to triple that of some other cartridges
 
rebarrel to 260.......best of both...hardly any more recoil than 243 and very high BC,high quality match bullets available.

Ask Gunboy about the 243 and the 260 in heavy barrel 700's...he has a couple of each that I built for him....

If I were you I would order up an 8" twist Remington Varmint contour blank from Ted Gaillard and get it chambered in 260.......
 
I was recently looking on the WSS website for a hunting rifle (price shopping, anyways). I settled on a .300WSM (roughly equivalent to a .308, maybe a tad faster) for $549. Gun in question was a left-handed Savage 16-FLSS. Last I was quoted from a sponsoring retailer was around the $800 mark. :eek: So I got a bit excited. I then proceeded to load 10 bags of .308 brass in my shopping cart for my current target rifle - nice, $24.99 a bag, I pay $34.95 locally.

I then proceed to load a couple bags of .300WSM...

HOOLY CRAP! :eek: $46.99 a BAG! :jerkit:

Next, I move on to the Lee Precision Dies. Well for one, they're not available frequently, and even if they were, I'd still have to buy the factory crimper separately (meaning my "three piece" loading die is really a "two piece". :mad:)

Fuhk that. Anything I would have saved on a wicked deal on a rifle, I was going to lose in a hurry on loading supplies. The only thing I would have "saved" is having to buy a different kind of bullet (which is pretty irrelevant, as bullets are consumable supplies).
 
The .308 is one of the most inherently accurate calibers out there, and you can get ammo anywhere, while I don't use anything like this for hunting, I do know how accurate they can be. The .308 is the first rifle i turn to when testing cast bullets for bench type accuracy.
 
Why the .308?

It basically does everything the .30-06 does using bullets of up to 180grs in a smaller, more efficient cartridge with less felt recoil.

It is an inherently accurate and efficient cartridge case design.

Very easy to reload for. Components are everywhere and at very affordable prices, comparatively speaking.

Factory ammo is ubiquitous and premium factory ammo is relatively easy to find.

The .308 is considered a 1000 yard cartridge and I've hit at that distance.

As for hunting, 250-300 yards isn't a problem shooting at big game.

Longest moose kill I ever made was on a young bull a little over 400 yards. I wouldn't ordinarily shoot at that distance, however, the bull had been wounded by other hunters and putting him down was a kindness; and prevented him from escaping into an area where retrieval of the meat would have been next to impossible.

The question you should be asking yourself is why not the .308?
 
The .308 Win is a well known cartridge and it is very popular because it is easy to setup and learn to shoot. As touched on before bbl life is excellent and ammunition readily available it is not the perfect cartridge for any one particular specialty but it covers everything - used to kill two legged animals out to 800-1000m it is accurate and powerful whilst being moderate in both recoil and weight. That is why .308
 
Well it's pretty much all been said. Other than that I have been trying to figure out my next "high power" rifle. And I can't really decide on one that does stuff that my .308's can't. This year I took two whitetails down with my .308. Both were bang flops, and I couldn't be happier.
I think the reason why most heavy barrels are mainly in .308 is because they are the brother of the 7.62x51. A highly touted military round. And heavy barrels are mainly considered military/tactical firearms.
 
opper said:
OK - Barrel life is impressive then - I did not realize it would be that high.
As far as deer hunting - what kind of range would expect good clean kills?
Jason
Click to expand...

For me and my 308 it's 650 yards......under good conditions of course. I would not hesitate for 1 second at that distance. Anything over that and I would pass. Most people with 308's have shot accurately beyond 650 but now you have to start thinking about the lack of retained energy that the little 308 has on deer sized animals at that range. You would need a cartridge with more fuel behind a bullet for anything further....at least in my opinion. However, I'm sure some people have been successful on deer beyond 650 with a 308.
 
I would also like to add that recoil is very manageable with the .308. Especially with a heavier rifle. It's a fairly slow push.

The .308 and .22LR are two of my favourite rounds to shoot.
 
opper said:
Can someone answer this for me - I am not sure why are all the gun manufactures only making heavy barrels guns in 308. Why do all gunsmiths you talk to recommend the good old 308. I apologize if this has been asked - but to me it is a mediocre cartridge. Not high in speed - no super high BC bullets like the 7mm or 6.5mm. But you always see the 308 being the caliber that is recommended to do everything - I have a 243 I was going to rebarrel as a 243 - but I keep getting pushed to the 308.

I must be missing something. Please fill me in.
Thanks,
Jason
Click to expand...

Military influence and high demand as a result.
 
It is essentially the same as the 7.62 NATO and that makes it highly desireable. There are many shooting disciplines that only use NATO calibers, so it still has a huge following. Is it the most accurate? no. Is it the most efficient? no, but it is easy to make work and there are tons of good factory ammo choices out there.
 
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