.308 win.. The forgotten hunting calibre??

The group Ive hunted with in Eastern Ontario were all fervent .308 followers and swore by it. This past year one of my partners was using one and took his white tail with it. Ive also got one and Im getting it fitted for my wife for her eventual first hunt.
 
i've hunted game with 30-06, 300win mag , 270 win , 300wsm, had success with all of them from short to long range-50 yds to 500 yds,but my favorite is a mod 700 rem in 308 win with 165 sst hornady 46 gr of varget 2870 fps what more do i want or need
 
I was influenced by my old man who favored the Savage 99 in .308. Now I have three of them and only one other caliber of "high powered" rifle. .308 has yet to let me down in any regard. The recoil is reasonably light. Accuracy is hard to beat. Take down ability on most every North American animal is either great or acceptable. Price of ammo is definitely competitive.

I have yet to have a whitetail run further than 10 feet when shot with a .308. You never know. One of these days I might buy a .22-250 for extreme accuracy or a .223 for plinking. I just don't see why I would when I have my .308's.
 
It's the KING of the 30cals!

It's versatile with quite a range of bullets, easy to shoot with reasonable recoil, accurate to long range with practice, tons of factory ammo and reloading supplies, comes in a WIDE range of guns (brands & action types).

What's not to like?

.
 
Here's mine ...

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I don't own one for the first time in 5 years, if you count the other cases that are 308 based, I have had one for most of the last decade.

It is a great cartridge, kills really well, accurate, very mild recoil wihic I think is a big part of the accuracy thing, fits in a little rifle well.

Great all round cartidge.
 
Heavy loads = youthful visions

I have been noticing a mass exodus to the Magnum corral.
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I don't think it's so much an exodus of existing owners of the smaller,older calibers, but more along the lines of newer shooters/hunters simply responding to advertising hype.

When I was around 20, it would have been very hard to convince me about the virtues of a Dodge Duster with a 318 cid when a Roadrunner with a 440 magnum was in the same showroom.

As we get older and settle down, most of us start to realize that it is shot-placement that brings home the steak. ;) When that happens, rifles chambered in 6.5 x 55 Swede; 270 Winchester; 7mm-08, and .308 start to make a whole lot of sense.

I smile every time I hear the add on WILD-TV when one manufacturer advertizes the "brush-bustin'" characteristics of one of its heavy offerings.:) I'm not interested in bustin' brush...I want to pick a hole and shoot through it with confidence.
 
I just bought a 308 in a rem model seven. I plan on using it for whitetail and moose. It sure is a sweet handling firearm. It will replace my, you guessed it 308 rem 7600.
 
Eagleye said:
Sheesh!! The reason so many have moved over to the "dark side" [Magnums] is because game animals have evolved into armor plated, mutants that simply will not die if shot with anything less than a 338 sooper magnum. Reading much literature aimed at the hunter seems to reinforce this thinking, and I cannot imagine why. I have hunted for over 50 years, and while I do own a couple of magnums, they have actually travelled very few miles in comparison to regular chamberings. The 6mm Remington, 6.5x55, 270 Winchester 7x57, 300 Savage, 308 Winchester, 30-06, 303 British and 8x57 have all worked just fine at ranges that varied from practically point blank out to 500+ yards.
I cannot imagine hunting thin-skinned NA game and feeling undergunned with a 308 Winchester. Regards, Eagleye.
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That's because some gun writer from down South showed up to hunt whitetails with a 30-378 or the like. After blasting a deer at 40 yards from a ground blind and seeing the 150 grain ballistic tip barely got through the hide before disintegrating, he decided he needed "more speed" to get through the tough beast. The same bullet in a 308 would have done the job a lot better.
 
i've run a savage 99 in 308/180 for going on 40 years- the animals were bigger back then- by almost a third- it's just a way to sell a new gun, dies,brass etc- and you must have uncle toms white lightning special scope 1.5 to 13s variable 50mm scope mounted on special unobtainuim rings- and i'll bet your animals are"deader" than mine too
 
stefK said:
I have been noticing a mass exodus to the Magnum corral. Doe anyone still use the .308 win for hunting anymore? It seems as of late that the only time the .308 comes up it is strictly for target long range, tactical, enforcement, etc.. I can remember my Grandfather's Savage Model 99 .308 hanging up on his gunrack in the house. Its the only calibre he swore by. Harvested everything from whitetail to Moose. Anyone else with thoughts on the .308?
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.308'are like as$#les. Everybody has one. Let the hysterical laughter begin................... now! ! ! ! !:dancingbanana::dancingbanana::dancingbanana::dancingbanana::dancingbanana:
 
A custom rem 700 in 308, with a 150 Nosler partition, one load for everything, has never failed me for the last 15 years. Same caliber never failed my uncles for God knows how long. Others come and go, more for the sake of having playtoys, but if it boils down to one gun, it's a 308.
 
I currently have two 30-06's, but only because the gun I wanted wasn't yet available in 308... My next purchase will be a 308 for sure. I will more than likely never own a gun chambered in any "magnum" caliber.
 
An old Rem 760 in .308 thats taken more dear than I can count out to 300M. A Browning BLR in .308 that my nephew has used the last 2 years, and never needed more than one shot per animal. And finally a Norinco M-14S that I have used the last two years. No bolts yet, but for the hunting I do I don't necessarily need the accuracy of a bolt. And if I'm going more than 300 then I would probably go to the 7mm or the .300, not that the .308 won't reach that far, but both of them are scoped up and bolt action.
 
I've got my .308 BLR that I use for everything, Dad uses a 30.06 but he loves my BLR and would use it if i wasnt there.
 
I've been shooting a winchester Model 88 in .308 for years, but have finally decided to replace it...

With another .308! A Rem 750 carbine.

.308 is a round that i "stumbled into" as a kid, and I'll never be tallked out of it's versatillity.:rockOn:
 
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