.308 best hunting cartridge?

Of all the calibres I've used over the years, there are only three (excluding 12 gauge and .22 LR) that I keep coming back to: 30-06, 308, and 7x57.
My rifles chambered in other boutique calibres usually collected dust and eventually I sold them all.
 
The ballistics we get from the .308 have been around a very long time, well over a century. The advantage the .308 has is that it produces those ballistics from a compact package. The key is more the rifle than the cartridge even though the cartridge dictates, to a degree, the parameters that the rifle can be used within. If a modern compact rifle, is fitted with the appropriate optics, and chambered for a hard hitting, flat shooting, and sufficiently accurate cartridge, that's loaded with a suitable bullet, it will be a combination that's hard not to like.

As for the argument concerning exit wounds, a significant blood trail is an advantage if you have to track your animal. As a rule entrance wounds close up quickly and release blood grudgingly, but an exit wound leaves no doubt as the seriousness of the wound or the direction of travel. While there are too many folks who have had conspicuous success with bullets that do not exit to be dismissive of the type, I dislike the use of “fragile” bullets on big game. But just because a bullet doesn't exit doesn't mean its fragile, consider the Nosler Partition. While a Partition cannot be considered fragile, neither is it likely to exit, yet its one of the best big game bullets on the market. All the same, I'll opt for an exit wound; the bullet doesn't destroy the tissue it doesn't reach. If we consider what it is that kills the animal, once we understand that energy dump plays no role in that process, we then know that bullet has done all it could do, once it exits.
 
cam1936 said:
.308 Win, .30-06, .270 Win, .25-06, .280 Rem, 7mm RM, .300 WM, .338 WM, .260 Rem, 7x57, 6.5x55 ect. - they are all excellent cartridges for north american game and no one would be handicaped by using any of these cartridges. Some have minor advantages over others for a given situation, but in reality there is no "best". They are all fine choices. A bullet from any of these cals through the boiler room = dead animal.
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Whoo-hooo!....There's a man with wisdom beyond his years! He is absolutely correct. They are ALL great cartridges. After that, it comes down to personal favorites. I like my 30-06 a little more than my 308's due to it's performance with the 165 gr bullet. MY preference is to feed my 308's with 150 gr pills because they perform so well. Just the same as my 243 performs superbly with a 70 gr pill...and on and on and on.

They really are all good.
 
kimmer82 said:
308 would do any game in canada except those 1000lb+ grizz or bigfoot.
i always carry light cal for open field hunt or big caliber for bush hike for my self.
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308 is just fine for 1000lb grizz and or bigfoot. Just needs the right medium like below. ;)

http://4.bp.########.com/_gQX9oj3-OEE/TPVtPY_znDI/AAAAAAAAARM/YdwWm9pnXzY/s400/predator_002.jpg
 
Whats the .308 best at? Trajectory? Nope. Velocity? Not even close. Killing power? Not is the running. Long range shooting? Put it this way, if there weren't rules protecting or requireing it there wouldn't be any .308 target rifles. Versatility? Sorry. Light recoil? There's plenty with less. Accuracy? Thats more a function of the rifle than cartridge.

The .308 is a very, very ordinary, quite useful cartridge like a hundred others.
 
When i go on my first African hunt, i am taking my 416 Rigby and my Scout Steyr 308 with the regular configuration scope, with the superb Nosler 165 gr Accubond ( possibly the best commercial round on the market ) pushing 2800+ it will be fine... JP.
 
I love it when people declare a caliber "the best" or "great" or "perfect" because I get to watch all these folks getting their knickers in a twist and start fighting over it. I wonder if the original canon makers and users had the same scraps over their mead, or if swordmakers debated endlessly over which claymore innovations were good and which were ridiculous....and yet I spent the afternoon reading this thread!!!

Besides....300 Ruger Compact Magnum is the best hunting round.
 
vikingocazar said:
I love it when people declare a caliber "the best" or "great" or "perfect" because I get to watch all these folks getting their knickers in a twist and start fighting over it. I wonder if the original canon makers and users had the same scraps over their mead, or if swordmakers debated endlessly over which claymore innovations were good and which were ridiculous....and yet I spent the afternoon reading this thread!!!
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Like 90% of the threads. It sarts off with a legitimate question and after a couple pages of civil discussion the bottom feeders come out of the mud and start beating you about the face with their opinions on issues that are only remotely related to the original question. The reason these people are on the forums is because in real life everyone simply walks away when they come near.

It's funny how people act more civilized in person when they are within punching distance!

G
 
Or maybe lack of something,oh can not say that.Iam sure if he rereads his post he will be shocked.Some people believe what they read.Or hit his head on the sink.
 
g-manz35 said:
Like 90% of the threads. It sarts off with a legitimate question and after a couple pages of civil discussion the bottom feeders come out of the mud and start beating you about the face with their opinions on issues that are only remotely related to the original question. The reason these people are on the forums is because in real life everyone simply walks away when they come near.

It's funny how people act more civilized in person when they are within punching distance!

G
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I think its called small man syndrome.
 
9.3mauser said:
So when's somebody going to start a bigfoot defence thread?
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no defence is required against Bigfoot! Those that have met them, like them a lot! Where did you get the idea that they are bad and may harm you? Name one, just one time, that you know of where a Bigfoot has harmed a single hair on a human's head! Kelly, the combine pilot will back me on this, he lives right in the heart of Sasksquatch country in Sask. I bet he has even met more of them than I have here in Mb. No shoot'n Bigfoots! You have been marked and are being watched!
 
caramel said:
Bigfoot ..must be a bartender.. or else... JP.
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they are fun I must say, especially while sitting around the camp fire in the wee hrs, especially the hairy ladies! I seem to be attracted to them, and they me, for some reason. ;). And the big bonas is, no fear of wolves even coming close to the camp!
P.S. never thought of that, good idea, I will try one of the gals on fetching beer from the cooler, next time!
 
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