308 vs 7-08 for all round hunting...

harv3589 said:
Its going to be my girlfriends rifle...hence the reason I am selling the 25-06 she wants a wood/blued rifle.
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You changed the plan here harv.........
Do you own a 308 or can you borrow one for the day to take the
gal out shooting?
For hunting, she should be okay with the 308win as Remington offers
reduced load cartridges.
I know my daughter mentions recoil at the range, but hunting and a shot
or two shouldn't bother her.
I usually take a lighter recoiling rifle to the range to get her going and in
the swing so to speak.
I get her to shoot her 308 just to make sure point of impact hasn't changed
for her and to build up her trust in her rifle.
With the heavier laminate on it and a decelerator 1" recoil pad seemed to
soften the recoil greatly for her.
I would of bought her the 7mm-08 but I pack the 308 so no point in adding
a new round to the pile.
Cheers.
 
west250 said:
7-08 140 grain (BC .36) @ 300 yards: Velocity=2087yds, energy=1353lbs

308 150 grain (BC .294) @ 300 yards: Velocity=1960yds, energy=1278lbs
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Wow! Cherry picked statistics for sure. So what does the 7mm-08 do with 180 grain bullets at 300 yds ....... Oh wait. I just remembered. Nothing.

That comparison is very misleading. The .308 will get more energy out of any specific bullet weight than the 7mm. At extremely long range, and with a very few specific bullets, the 7mm will have slightly more energy remaining than the .308. But then at "normal ranges" where 95% of game is shot, the .308 can do things the 7mm can't even attempt.

Let's keep it in perspective, and fair.
 
rral22 said:
Wow! Cherry picked statistics for sure. So what does the 7mm-08 do with 180 grain bullets at 300 yds ....... Oh wait. I just remembered. Nothing.

That comparison is very misleading. The .308 will get more energy out of any specific bullet weight than the 7mm. At extremely long range, and with a very few specific bullets, the 7mm will have slightly more energy remaining than the .308. But then at "normal ranges" where 95% of game is shot, the .308 can do things the 7mm can't even attempt.

Let's keep it in perspective, and fair.
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Looks like I hit a 'sensitive 308 shooter' spot...
I'm certainly no expert on ballistics and can't profess that a 7-08 is a better set up over a 308. Nor do I want to toss ballistics back and forth because it really means little to me - I just pulled those numbers off the cool little web page that Winchester has to show the competency of the 7-08. If I could have compared 150's to 150's I would have posted that data instead (or 140's for that matter). It's interesting to be able to use it to play with trajectories over sight in ranges etc.
What I can say is that the 7-08 caliber proved itself to me last season by dropping my moose nicely (and a nice buck on another trip) - with less grains and recoil than the 308. So, my opinion is that it's a more efficient cartridge than the 308... Bullets are a little harder to find, but I don't buy premium pills from Cambodian Tire and I don't buy one box at a time.
I can also say that when the 30 cal spot in my gun case was filled, it was not with a 308.
If anything I am guilty of it's reading too much in the 'non hunting season'! :D
 
Fenix.NZ said:
the old "There's no replacement for displacement" saying applies i guess
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I'm pretty sure that saying was coined for internal combustion engines and a 1/4 mile track, by this creedo we all need 460 Wby's or the critters are all just going to run away wounded.

OP - 7-08, there is no appreciable difference in the capability of these 2 cartridges, but the 308 is just so low class common, every TD&H in the world has one, be different, be radical, step away from the crowds, dance to the beat of a different drummer, buy the 7-08 and you will be a happy man and she will be a happy gal, and the game won't be any safer.

C'mon guys it's not like we're comparing a 308 to a 300 RUM, for all intents and purposes they are the same cartridge. It's the old "anything you can do, I can do better" song.
 
c-fbmi said:
I'm pretty sure that saying was coined for internal combustion engines and a 1/4 mile track, by this creedo we all need 460 Wby's or the critters are all just going to run away wounded.

OP - 7-08, there is no appreciable difference in the capability of these 2 cartridges, but the 308 is just so low class common, every TD&H in the world has one, be different, be radical, step away from the crowds, dance to the beat of a different drummer, buy the 7-08 and you will be a happy man and she will be a happy gal, and the game won't be any safer.

C'mon guys it's not like we're comparing a 308 to a 300 RUM, for all intents and purposes they are the same cartridge. It's the old "anything you can do, I can do better" song.
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Yes, but we're all bored - and winning a debate with the lady in the house isn't going to happen...
 
.308Winchester, a.k.a. 762NATO: Defender of the free World. Slayer of Big game, winner of bench rest and silhouette competition's for decades. Round of choice for military sniping, etc etc etc. Ammo availibilty like no other. Looks ###y too!;)



7mm/08, a.k.a 7mm/.308 wildcat: Steel chicken shooter,..........steel pig shooter, etc etc.:evil:


Seriously now,........I was going to start with ammo availibilty blah, blah, blah, but both are great hunting cartridges, I prefer the .308, but the 7mm/08 will do the same thing. Their differences are subtle, and can only be discerned on paper. Game would never know what was hidden inside that steel cylinder.


So I ask,..........What's in your Chamber??:dancingbanana:
 
As I have been reading the thread I have come to the conclusion that the 7-08 for most people just won't kill anything. Too weak to light, whatever it may be, for some reason it has some magical voo-doo curse and it will not dispatch game animals effectively in the hands of some shooters.Also it seems that the .308 has a similar curse for other shooters being it may be too old and over used.

The best thing to do in this case is try one of each, shoot a game animal at say 200 yards with each and see which animal doesn't die, THEN you will know which one you should be using.In the odd case that they both kill the animal , well then you are special indeed.;)
 
Since the gun is for a woman, she will likely be more comfortable shooting the 7mm-08, since it has lighter recoil. If she does not fear the recoil, she will be more inclined to use the gun and less inclined to object to your shooting and hunting. Your couple will fare better.

With all the money that you will save from not having to go through a separation or divorce (not to mention gifts of jewelry because you upset her), you will be able to buy more guns, hunt and shoot more.

There,you have it: recoil is a major reason for relationship failure. No wonder that the divorce rate is in direct relation to the increase in the availability of magnum calibers.
 
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Thems are words to get cut off by!!!!:p

pacobillie said:
Since the gun is for a woman, she will likely be more comfortable shooting the 7mm-08, since it has lighter recoil. If she does not fear the recoil, she will be more inclined to use the gun and less inclined to object to your shooting and hunting. Your couple will fare better.

With all the money that you will save from not having to go through a separation or divorce (not to mention gifts of jewelry because you upset her), you will be able to buy more guns, hunt and shoot more.

There,you have it: recoil is a major reason for relationship failure. No wonder that the divorce rate is in direct relation to the increase in the availability of magnum calibers.
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west250 said:
Looks like I hit a 'sensitive 308 shooter' spot...
:D
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Actually, I have never owned one, and won't bother for reasons of my own, but misleading uses of cherry picked stats ARE a sensitive spot with me. I made no comment until, after 40 some comments, a really unfair "proof" of the superiority of one over the other was ignored by almost everyone. Hence the sarcastic post, and my comment to keep a perspective and be fair.

The facts are that with lighter bullets the better B.C. of the 7mm will make it look good at longer ranges with the same bullet weight. The .308 will launch any given bullet weight faster than the 7mm. The .308 is has more energy at shorter ranges with the heavier bullets. The 7mm will have slightly less recoil given identical rifles. The .308 can use heavier bullets. ALL the differences are tiny to the point of being irrelevant.

All those things are true of any comparison of a "parent cartridge" and a cartridge formed from the same necked down case. Why not start the old .30-06 vs .270. It's exactly the same situation, and just as silly.
 
While I don't own a 7mm-08, all that I have read indicate it to be an excellent flat shooting cartridge with very manageable recoil. I hear its a real tack driver cartridge with the silhoette shooting crowd. I might just re-barrel my 308 Savage 10BA in 7mm-08 just to piss off the purists and have some fun at the range.
 
rral22 said:
Actually, I have never owned one, and won't bother for reasons of my own, but misleading uses of cherry picked stats ARE a sensitive spot with me. I made no comment until, after 40 some comments, a really unfair "proof" of the superiority of one over the other was ignored by almost everyone. Hence the sarcastic post, and my comment to keep a perspective and be fair.

The facts are that with lighter bullets the better B.C. of the 7mm will make it look good at longer ranges with the same bullet weight. The .308 will launch any given bullet weight faster than the 7mm. The .308 is has more energy at shorter ranges with the heavier bullets. The 7mm will have slightly less recoil given identical rifles. The .308 can use heavier bullets. ALL the differences are tiny to the point of being irrelevant.

All those things are true of any comparison of a "parent cartridge" and a cartridge formed from the same necked down case. Why not start the old .30-06 vs .270. It's exactly the same situation, and just as silly.
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:agree:

& since the OP asked which is better (kind of a broad question:rolleyes:)
Then the 308 hits harder, ammunition is more common,, guns are more common, & since it's to be used as a hunting rifle the 308 handles heavier bullets better, then it's the clear winner & IMHO by a wider margin than those 7-08 lovers would like to hear :D
 
All true.
But I see 7mm-08 everywhere, plenty of hunting rifles are chambered in it, and for longer range shooting, 7mm-08 will always have a flatter trajectory, at a given recoil.
 
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