Opinions on a 308 for an all around rifle?

I did a .308 Win build based on a Remington 7600 pump with a synthetic stock.

It's a generalist rifle in this gun confiscating country. It's for paper plate sized targets from 3 to 250m with 150 gr ammo.

I had the 22" barrel shortened to 18.6", threaded 1/2" x 28 tpi for a bored out Vortex flash hider. The front sight was re installed 1/2" back from the muzzle to make taping the muzzle easier. Irons are zeroed at 25 yards.

Scoped it with a PA SFP 1x8 LPVO in low QD rings. Zeroed at 100 yards and it has PA BDC reticle out to 600 yards.

I went with a barrel band front sling swivel. Sling is a simple Browning Xcellerator 2 point.

Bubba'd a light mount by screwing a shimmed Pic rail on the left side of the forend.

Have 4 four round mags and one legal 7600 marked 10 round magazine.

So it's a fast shooting, non Restricted, non tactical looking carbine. With a trigger lock, inside a case it is legal to go ANYWHERE.
 
bdb.hunting said:
Best part about Tikka is you can make them all look identical in a factory stock. Hard part is having a gun safe that fits them all but looks like it holds one rifle….

B
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or just get the 308 and you only need the one? ;)

or instead of having 4 tikka's why not just get one sako 90 peak in 308 and live your best life? haha

308 fever hit me finally also and I just added a couple to the house and likely gonna run it for awhile, maybe the rest of my days here actually, first time I shot one was some 38-39 years ago, and had a brief stint with savage 99's where I had and shot another, for some reason I always steered away from them...too vanilla, now vanilla is my middle name, all about versatility, general purpose, find it anywhere, do everything I want at this point etc....it took decades but now it's cool af to me lol
 
blakeyboy said:
or just get the 308 and you only need the one? ;)

or instead of having 4 tikka's why not just get one sako 90 peak in 308 and live your best life? haha

308 fever hit me finally also and I just added a couple to the house and likely gonna run it for awhile, maybe the rest of my days here actually, first time I shot one was some 38-39 years ago, and had a brief stint with savage 99's where I had and shot another, for some reason I always steered away from them...too vanilla, now vanilla is my middle name, all about versatility, general purpose, find it anywhere, do everything I want at this point etc....it took decades but now it's cool af to me lol
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Funny enough my .308 is the only Non-Tikka Center-fire that I own haha.

I see the Peak 90 does come in a lefty so its a maybe. That said I like the Tikka action being one length vs the whole Short and Long action market.

I agree tho! a .308 will get everything done and the hand loaders can use SRP brass which makes it more affordable to shoot custom loads.

B
 
bdb.hunting said:
Funny enough my .308 is the only Non-Tikka Center-fire that I own haha.

I see the Peak 90 does come in a lefty so its a maybe. That said I like the Tikka action being one length vs the whole Short and Long action market.

I agree tho! a .308 will get everything done and the hand loaders can use SRP brass which makes it more affordable to shoot custom loads.

B
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I built a new tikka 308 right beside the sako 90 peak, blue collar/white collar versions, primary/back up lol. They are both awesome and you cannot argue how they shoot and the Tikka I only tested with the one ammo that I picked for the sako and it might be a smidge tighter? Not enough time to tell but yet but would not surprise me but both sub moa with it so only on the best range days would I see a difference anyway. I knocked the tikka down to 20", added the 5 round mag, high desert aluminium bottom metal and then I'm fussy with eye alignment without adding things to the stock so talley x-low in 1" is perfect for me so I was able to shave a 419 rail down and use weaver detach top mount lows to mirror that and improve robustness in the mounting and mirror that level of low but lots of fack around and find out to get there, no one making low enough 'clamp style' rings for me and the tikka (so smith for barrel chop and shave that 419 rail to 0 moa (I didn't get it threaded but could have to mimic the sako), it's one of the lowest rails but 20 moa points eye piece tail high).....the sako you just order a set of rings and you're literally done, no trips to the smith for anything, and being integral picatinny you get super robust ring options (I went arm m-10 low) and could not imagine more bombproof

from there now I've got 2 identical 20" Finnish 308's, both feel and shoot awesome, I'll try to point out some of the intangibles between them now, the big one was no fack around and find out to set up the sako, it's the fastest from box to filling tags as you can get imo, I can't imagine a more robust optic mounting set up, you can top feed the magazine like a champ on the sako, nice opening size and it literally top loads like any good hinged bottom rifle that I bet I hardly every take the magazine out of it, just for when in truck etc., on the range you just top load it, then the 5 position trigger for pull weights sure make it easy to pick range setting, hunt setting and winter hunt setting, I will leave it at 2.5 lb mid setting but you can adjust the trigger blade forward or back to meet your finger also but I never did, felt perfect to me as is, stainless, aluminum or carbon only on sako (no plastic anywhere), including stainless sling studs, threaded already, fluted already, came with a nice radial muzzle brake (no poi shift on or off) and knurled thread cap, the both feed like greased snot, and then the flush 5 round mag of the sako is second to none, best mag in the business, the tikka mag hangs down and you don't top it up without taking it out, and I may be missing a couple things but I also really like the tikka...they both feel awesome in hand and shoulder similar, I may actually like how the Tupperware stock and it's grip area checkering feels over the carbon, it may be a slight win here lol but unless you had both side by side and went back and forth you'd have a hard time not being impressed with either...I added the vertical grip to the tikka as well btw, as the sako actually has a fairly vertical grip, the sako stock has a higher comb also with negative....pretty modern design when you compare them so well played sako...should appeal to the vertical grip guys no prob but its no modular tuners package like the tikka is....the sako you just slap a scope on it and you're done

the sako itch had to be scratched, it wasn't until the 90 came along that it finally was perfect so I scratched and finally found relief lol

I wanna do a Hawkeye hunter to make a 20" trio of 308's in the house, they already come 20" threaded in 308 which is well played by ruger there, the other cartridges are the usual 22"/24", have 2 boys, that's my excuse to build up 3 of these 308's ;)
 
For some unknown reason the 308 was maligned as obsolete for years whenever a new cartridge was trotted out, but it remains a stellar big game and target cartridge
It is one of the match cartridges I use, but I hunt with a cartridge very close to it, right in the same velocity perameters actually for a 150 grain bullet.
Cat
 
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No one has said remington 700 yet eh? I think quality is making a come back, but would love to hear more of that from new owners.

I've looked at the stainless options a little harder to find.

If i needed a new gun it would be .308
 
I'd say pick the rifle you like best, then pick the cartridge. Just as an example, in a Remchester Model XYZ with wood stock the 6.5 is going to feel different in hand than the 308. And different cartridges often have different barrel lengths from the same manufacturer. A rifle offered with a 24" barrel may feel better to you than the same model with a 22" barrel (or vice versa obviously).
 
Smokey82 said:
Looking to get back out hunting now that I have more time. What’s everyone’s opinion on a 308 for an all around hunting rifle. I mainly be hunting deer but there’s lots of moose and bears around so I’m looking for something that would be a good fit for everything. I got a couple different ones I’ve been looking at for a while but still can’t settle on the caliber so I’d like some input.
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It is what I chose, works well.
 
Smokey82 said:
Looking to get back out hunting now that I have more time. What’s everyone’s opinion on a 308 for an all around hunting rifle. I mainly be hunting deer but there’s lots of moose and bears around so I’m looking for something that would be a good fit for everything. I got a couple different ones I’ve been looking at for a while but still can’t settle on the caliber so I’d like some input.
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For the average hunter, a 308 or 30-06 is the perfect all around rifle - that's why there are so many of them out there. In most situations, one is as good as the other (though the 30-06 does give you a few more options for bullet weight). I'd say get the rifle you like best because the deer or moose or bear won't care whether it's a 308 or something else.

That said, if it were me, I'd go 30-06. For bullets 180gr and higher, it'll give you many more options off the shelf and better performance at longer ranges. For bears at close range, you can bullet up to 200gr (or more) as well.

For deer, most are using 150gr-165gr, and either will be an excellent choice
 
Personally, I'm a huge fan of the .308. You can load down with 110 gr. bullets for varmints and small game and load up to 200 gr. thumpers for big game like Moose or Grizzly bear. You can load match grade for competition or a whole range of good quality hunting bullets. I have a Ruger American and with the right load, I'm shooting sub MOA (see pic). This will be the first year for that particular rifle coming out hunting with me. I cut my teeth on the venerable .303 when I starting hunting and shooting (near 55 yrs. ago) but I think the .308 will take anything you want in North America.
 

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Paul_T said:
Meh - I have a 6.5x55 Swede. No need for the Creedmor lol
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Me too. 6.5 x 55 works well with 65 - 160 gr. Varmints - moose and bear. If you don't reload, finding factory ammo can be a bit difficult; particularly with lighter varmint loads.
 
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