First Rifle, Caliber Selection. Thoughts/advice please.

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a_n_o_n

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Hi All.

I've zoned in on my first rifle being a .30 caliber type rifle. I saw a .30'06 that fits me well, and a .308 win for about 150 - 200 dollars more.

Now, I'm familiar with the differences in terminal ballistics between them as it pertains to hunting, but there is another issue that I've started looking at. Cost to shoot, and more specifically, cost to practice.

I can't seem to find .30'06 for less than at least 1$ per round, and frequently more.

I can find lots of .308 / 7.62 at much much cheaper prices (40 cents a round ish).

This seems to suggest to me that the best course might to get the slightly more expensive rifle in .308 in order to make practice cheaper. Ideally I'd like to hundreds of rounds downrange, get a feel for the weapon and the caliber and then step over to a proper hunting bullet this fall.

Does this seem reasonable? Am I missing something? Is there a source of less expensive .30-06 that I missed?

Thanks.
 
It depends....
What do you plan on using the rifle for? Hunting? If so, what? challenging plinking? Competitive target shooting?

If you consider the total cost of ownership (to borrow a computer technology term), you could divide the difference in cost per round, and figure out how many shots you can take before the more expensive rifle with the cheaper ammo equals the total of the cheaper rifle with the expensive ammo.

If you plan on reloading, the differences in cost between .308 and 30-06 are minimal.....
 
The .30-06 uses the same dia bullet as the .308 Win but uses more powder to get the same velocities, and need a longer action. The .30-06 starts to shine when you get up to 200 +gr bullets for hunting. That being said, there isn't a deer or moose sized animal in North America that won't fall to a well placed .308Win bullet.
 
I am aware of the differences of the .30-06 vs the .308 win for hunting.

Yes, I plan to use the rifle for hunting.

I also plan to practice as much as possible. My question was if there was a source of cheap(er) .30-06 ammo that I had missed. I can find .308/7.62 surplus fairly easily @ 40 cents around, but haven't found anything nearly comparable in .30-06.
 
You can use either the .308 or 30-06 for hunting. With the .308 you may have to be more selective on shot placement. Some can not shoot the 30-06 very well due to recoil, for those I suggest the .308. I suggest you try both if you can, everyone has a 30-06.
 
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Buy the 308.

It is found everywhere and heavily documented for reloading. A 308 will do everything a 30-06 will do, but with smaller, lighter, cartridges and less recoil.
 
I would look into reloading. I shoot my 30-06 regularly now whereas I never did before due to ammo being $1.50 a round. If I remember right its around $0.65 a round now
 
Yukon1911 said:
You can use either the .308 or 30-06 for hunting. With the .308 you may have to be more selective on shot placement. Some can not shoot the 30-06 very well due to recoil, for those I suggest the .308. I suggest you try both if you can, everyone has a 30-06.
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????????

If you won't take the shot with a .308 you better not be taking it with a 30-06.
 
This is getting off topic.

My query was in regards to costs of shooting a rifle in .308 Win vs .30-06, if one includes the non-corrosive 7.62 that is available by the case.

Thanks hometownhero. I do want to get into reloading, but I just don't have the funds + knowledge at this point. Between a new rifle, optics, storage for firearms, the shotgun I bought, binoculars, etc... I've got a bit of money to put towards all this, but there's lots of directions it wants to go lol.
 
Kelly Timoffee said:
????????

If you won't take the shot with a .308 you better not be taking it with a 30-06.
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I can think of several situations where I would not take a .308, Hunting Wood Bison in the Yukon, Minimum is a .30 cal rifle with a 180 grain bullet and 2800 ft/lbs of energy at the muzzle....that is the 30.06 and the very minimum you can hunt with legally for that animal. Don't even get me started on the bears around here :)
 
a_n_o_n said:
I am aware of the differences of the .30-06 vs the .308 win for hunting.

Yes, I plan to use the rifle for hunting.

I also plan to practice as much as possible. My question was if there was a source of cheap(er) .30-06 ammo that I had missed. I can find .308/7.62 surplus fairly easily @ 40 cents around, but haven't found anything nearly comparable in .30-06.
Click to expand...

Here is some more info from Chuck Hawks websites which might help guide you to the right decision. I hope it helps.

SelectingRifleCartridge_zpseefe278e.jpg
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a_n_o_n said:
Thanks hometownhero. I do want to get into reloading, but I just don't have the funds + knowledge at this point. Between a new rifle, optics, storage for firearms, the shotgun I bought, binoculars, etc... I've got a bit of money to put towards all this, but there's lots of directions it wants to go lol.
Click to expand...

A lee reloading set up can be had for $160 all you need is dies, powder, brass, primers and bullets. Can make better ammo then factory stuff as well. Get lots more practice in for the same $ as buying factory ammo as well. I used to shoot a box or two in a year now just this year I have shot a few hundred.
 
sorry to hijack the thread but 30 cal is ok but there is better
so a 264 wm
or a 6.5 x 55
any thing from a 264 to a 284 will out preform a 308 and a 3006 is the slug of the wild slow and drops .
sorry way better choices the sectional density of a 264 is better than a 308, hence more penetration from a 264 than a 3006 or a 308
 
One thing about the 06 is there is ammo available everywhere. The cornerstore in the middle of nowhere has a few boxes of .30-06 on the shelf. 308 is pretty common too, But I seem to notice that .30-06 is more common in the small town hardware stores and such. That comes in handy.
 
30-06 is more common and you can get 125 grain bullets to 220 grains. Wider selection of rounds and easier to find. I personally have never seen a price difference between .308 rounds and 30-06. I shoot winchester super x power points a lot, and its generally 16 bucks a box. Also another point is if you are hunting for big game you might even want a performance round which will be anywhere from 30 to 50 bucks a box. You are gonna be paying that much for .308 as well. I went with 30-06 for availability of rounds and more options.
 
With a 308 you can take advantage of cheap fmj bulk ammo for plinking purposes. Quality hunting ammo will be similarly priced with 30-06 if my local gunshop is any indication. If you have a buddy with each, shoot both and see what you'd prefer.

Also, are these two rifles you're looking at the same type? If one rifle is of better quality, or it just fits you better, that could be a more important factor than caliber selection.
 
Practice with what you will actually be using for hunting. If you use cheap ammo for practice you will have to re zero your rifle and get used to how your hunting round shoots.

Can't go wrong choosing either caliber, grab the gun that feels the best.

There is very little if non surplus of either cartridge.
Cheap stuff is either new Chinese or new eastern block...true surplus can get expensive.
 
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