Is the popularity of the 308 cartridge going down??

The Kurgan

The Kurgan

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Super GunNutz
Rating - 100%
110   0   0
Location
Steel Town
There are a lot of "in vogue" cartridges that will likely diminish in popularity as the "next best thing" comes along, but I am surprized that there are less rifles chambered for this round on gun store shelves than in previous years? Has its time in the sun come and gone?
 
Personally for me, it's up and coming! Had an M14, but just used it for blasting. Now I also have an RFB, and plan on using it for hunting deer this fall.

Always used to use a .300WM, but I'm realizing that I don't hunt Moose or Elk and don't take 600 yard+ shots anyway, so the added recoil, noise, and weight of the rifle aren't worth it. .308 should do just fine in 95% of the hunting situations I'm in.
 
canucklehead said:
Personally for me, it's up and coming! Had an M14, but just used it for blasting. Now I also have an RFB, and plan on using it for hunting deer this fall.

Always used to use a .300WM, but I'm realizing that I don't hunt Moose or Elk and don't take 600 yard+ shots anyway, so the added recoil, noise, and weight of the rifle aren't worth it. .308 should do just fine in 95% of the hunting situations I'm in.
Click to expand...

X2 except on the dont hunt moose and elk part, I just bought 4, an mws, 700 tactical, m1, and in the process of building a bench rest off a pierce action and shilen barrel, that brings the grand total to 7, add a couple good old 99's and a G3. I am really starting to love this cartridge, and the range you can get out of a short tube. :cheers:
 
Well lets see what we have to choose from. Deer and Moose most are hunting. so we have 270, 280,7 08, 308, 30 06 hell some people would included 260. 243, It seems to me thr 7 08 is the up and comer. It will be my next purchase "for my wife" the only reason I chose the 7 08 is I use a 7m Rem Mag and can use some of the same bullets when reloading.
 
Not everything is Internet based! I came back from a large gun store
dealer where the owner himself has personally seen a decline in the number of hunting rifle models chambered in 308 and in some cases he's seen a decline in the quantity of 308 chambered models. This post is not meant to inflame, but merely to ask the question. It goes without saying that the 308 is here to stay.
 
The Kurgan said:
Not everything is Internet based! I came back from a large gun store
dealer where the owner himself has personally seen a decline in the number of hunting rifle models chambered in 308 and in some cases he's seen a decline in the quantity of 308 chambered models. This post is not meant to inflame, but merely to ask the question. It goes without saying that the 308 is here to stay.
Click to expand...

No one is ticked off at your question... but you're probably right in that there seems to be less demand for .308 rifles, hence fewer 'new' rifles chambered in .308. However, just because there are fewer new rifles in .308 means little/nothing on the thought that its popularity is declining. I've owned many rifles over the years, and only one or two were bought new from the store. There are still many floating around! :)
 
i think you're seeing a MARKETING GIMMICK more than anything else- all the NEW GUYS HAVE TO HAVE the latest chambering , in rum wsm, wssm or whatever- never mind the chambering COULD go the way of the 307 winchester- it SHOULD have replaced the 30-30, as it was HEAD AND SHOULDERS SUPERIOR IN THE SAME GUN- but people WOULDN'T CHANGE and now it is in it's death throws- if i could get dies and brass, i'd still get one over a 30-30
 
thats like asking the same question of the 303-is it not true that most cartridges that stood the test of time were originally military?theres got to be a reason for that-like maybe they WORK,and of course availability guns and ammunition in the hands of the ordinary hunter
 
The Kurgan said:
There are a lot of "in vogue" cartridges that will likely diminish in popularity as the "next best thing" comes along, but I am surprized that there are less rifles chambered for this round on gun store shelves than in previous years? Has its time in the sun come and gone?
Click to expand...

Surely you jest? :eek:
Have two of those calibers here.
Well actually three including the big brother.
It will be here forever with the 22 rimfire.....
 
How long does a rifle last? At the current cost of .308 I suspect few people will wear out a rifle. Likely the market is being filled nicely, plus people will try out other calibres yet hang onto the .308 rifle as well. the real test will be to see how much loaded and component ammo is being sold.
 
With so many options out there, it's inevitable the demand for a given cartridge will go down. Still a great cartridge. Very efficient from a reloader's standpoint.
 
It all depends what circle of friends you travel in. In long range precision shooting, more than half of the 40 competitors were shooting 308!!
Years ago Lee said the top selling die set was 30/30 and second was 308.
 
The true measure of a cartridge's popularity is probably better determined by the amount of factory ammo and new brass being bought for it, rather than by the volume of new rifle sales which could at any particular time reflect nothing more than a passing fad. Some cartridges are more popular in specific geographical areas than others; you would expect for example, a scoped .270 bolt gun to be more popular south of Medicine Hat than a .30/30 lever action. By contrast, the .308 seems to have a strong following by hunters in rural Manitoba and Northern Ontario, although I expect hunters as a group consume far less ammo than other groups involved in recreational shooting.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom