Why .308 a precision caliber?

Winchester 1886

Winchester 1886

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Hi folks,
I am new in this forum...
I am a hunter and want to go to precision shooting...So...
If I am looking on balistics tables,regarding hunting medium to heavy games in Canada,most popular are 30/30,308,30/06,270 in non-magnums cal.
The question is:Why a lot of people choose .308 for precision at long range,
when balistics tell us 270 have better ballistics???
I have a lot to learn...Thanks.
 
Im not an expert on the subject but I do know that the 308 because its a larger round packs a harder pungh when hunting big game.
Just my thoughts
Hank
 
Also a larger round will maintain a velocity a little better than a smaller round. Negative effects of windage will be less with a larger round.

The 270 does fly a little flatter I believe and with some great velocity. The military loves the 308 round and all the information/research has been done ten times over for us thanks to the us military. As always people love to use cartridges used by the army. 30-06 was big for a long time now its 308.

I'm some of the experts around here will enlighted us soon.

D_
 
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308 has been worked on to death by the military of many countries so there is a ton of info about what works and what doesn't.
270s can be decent shooters to be sure, but typically they shoot 150 gr and lower best, the 308s typically shoot 165 to 175 best. The fact that lighter bullets tend to be affected by wind more than heavy bullets do is 1 reason, also heavier bullets maintain supersonic speed longer (further down range)
308 also has light recoil and is a very efficient cartridge as less powder is used. The other real advantage any 30 caliber catridge enjoys is the sheer volume of bullet availability, from 110 gr to 295gr round nose to vld and ulds.
This just is not the case with many other calibers.
Another reason so many use 308 is there are a great number of precision type rifle offered in that caliber as a factory offering.
There is absolutely no reason that a 270 could not be made into a precision rifle, and with some custom bullets I would think 1 could do very well. The US shooting fraternity pretty much dictates what the world shoots, not that long ago 6.5 was a scoffed at caliber, a .264 dia bullet that weighs 140 grains was considered far too light to be useful, until some of the guys shooting 6.5x55 and then 6.5x284 started kicking ass at alot of the 1000 yard shoots in the US, now it is a very hot cartridge to use, but has taken time to gain acceptance with the BIG shots down south.
I was laughed at 25 years ago ,when I built a 7 Rem Mag F class rifle, until the results were posted. I found the same thing higher bc bullets, then built the rifle around the cartridge, and it worked very well.
 
The .270 Win may be a flatter shooting cartridge then the .308 Win, but look around and see what the Match Bullet offerings are for both. You will see the .30 caliber has tons compared to the .277 for the .270.

With that said, not all .30 cal match bullets will work out of a .308 at 1000 yards. 168 SMK have got to be the worst bullet ever for 1000 yards.
 
The .308 family is traditionally chosen as a precision caliber round because shorter rounds are inherently more accurate then their longer brothers. i.e. .308 Win vs. .30-06 Spfd. This is the reason many companies are pushing the short magnums and super short magnums, which have their roots in benchrest shooting where almost all the prime calibers are short and stubby. Another reason that shorter rounds are chosen is the efficiency that they can provide a reloader in terms of powder to velocity. Shorter rounds tend to burn less powder to achieve the same velocities with comparable weights in bullets. If you go to Sniper Country and Benchrest central there are numerous articles on the subject...
 
There is a comparison that was done between the 3006 and 308 a long time ago and the 308 won in the accuracy dept. It is telling to see just how many precision shooters shoot 308.

Brian
 
Let's start by saying that I have no personal beef with the 308 having built more custom rifles and owned more rifles in this cartridge then ALL my other projects combined.

So why is the 308 so popular??? Because it is a NATO cartridge and the US loves their 30cals. With the enormous number of shooters that MUST use this cartridge for work, it makes sense that they would also use it for play.

The cartridge that must be used in Palma and service rifle (until fairly recently) shooting and a great hunting cartridge, it has extremely wide appeal.

However, ballistically for LR, it is definitely in the lower half of available choices. It is a small case so does not have the horsepower to get high BC bullets to velocities that matter. Even at BR pressures, a 308 will never launch a 210/220/240gr bullet to any velocity worth mentioning.

Ballistics are determined by the shape of the bullet (its BC or drag) and the muzzle velocity. Bullet weight has precious little to do with performance however, heavier bullets in any calibre tend to have higher BC (more material to make longer streamlined bullets).

Bullet with the same BC AND drag function launched at the same muzzle velocity will have the SAME ballistics despite having very different weights.

If competing, the 308 may be dictated by rules so have at it. It does work. However, if building a LR rifle for pure performance, there are many many better choices is calibres from 22 to 7mm. I have left out the big magnum 30's and 338's as this is not the place to start.

LR choice will always be determined by available bullets. For a while, service rifles were shot with 223 and 308 with both doing about the same. Now, you will have to look long and hard to find any 308 service rifle competing with the new gen 223 AR's. The difference in performance is so drastic, a 308 only class has been started so old iron will not go to waste.

The wealth of components and info is not limited to the 308. Every caliber save the 25 and 270 have an abundance of awesome bullet choices. Even the 25 and 270 have great bullets just not many. Not sure why as they can make fantastic shooters. We will just have to wait for bullet manf. like Wildcat bullets to change the landscape.

For now, LR light rifle is dominated by the 6.5. The 6mm is making strong headways and if more 'better' bullets become available, WILL take over from the 6.5. In the heavy classes, the 7mm is making strong inroads into what has been a 30/338 dominated class. Better bullets just make that possible.

As I have recommended many times, the best starter cartridge is a fast twist 223. The Savage FV being the least expensive shooter! From there, the world is your oyster. There really is no wrong answer. It all depends on your uses and rifle parameters.

We have such a huge range of choices, the 308 is like Vanilla at B&R's. Still a good choice but....

Jerry
 
308 rules because it does a good job and bbl life is far longer than anything that kills it balistically.

For example most of my 308 sniper rifles will go around 10,000 plus rounds and still hold .50 moa.

Now my 300WMs start to lose that at around 1800 rounds.

Its about a good balance not being the best at everything.
 
"...when ballistics tells us 270 have better ballistics???..." Not at long range it doesn't. Using Remington hunting ammo, a 200 yard zero and 150 grain bullets, the .270 drops 61.2" at 500 yards. The same bullet weight in a .308 drops 54.8". Doesn't seem like much of a difference, except that in DCRA shooting, short range is 300 yards. At 300, the two are within an inch, but the .270 drops off fast past 400. Mind you, except for Palma matches(special rules for ammo), nobody uses a 150 grain bullet for long range shooting. 168's or heavier and match grade bullets at that.
Having said all that, there is a certain amount of 'that's what we've always used' invloved. There's no rule that says you can't use a .270 if that's what you have.
There are precision matches for nearly everything, so you need to figure out what type of match you want to shoot in and make your decision about the rifle and calibre based on that. Stateside NRA and National matches are being won with extremely gussied up(think expensive) AR-15's in .223.
"...168 SMK have got to be the worst bullet ever for 1000 yards..." Too light past 600. 175's work better. I know a guy who uses a very custom .300 mag with 190 grain match bullets for 1,000 yards. Rifle weighs 17.5 pounds.
 
In war, its finding out what everyone else uses and why , the .308 is a great cartridge , but was later replaced by the .223. Lighter and smaller ammo, can carry more.
As far as shooting straight to greater distances there are many that will out shoot the .308. My 7 rem mag is one of those. Same weight bullets , different profile. Draw backs, size and recoil, but recoil can be minimal with handloads and a heavy gun. This would not mean much to us , since we drive to the field/range, as far as the weight goes. 7-08 would be a better choice than the .308.
Frank
 
Also a larger round will maintain a velocity a little better than a smaller round. Negative effects of windage will be less with a larger round.
Click to expand...
BULL! Bullet size or weight is not the determing factor. It is the Ballistic Coefficient (BC) that is important. A 6mm or 6.5mm bore offers smaller, lighter bullets than the .308 bore but the 6 - 6.5 bullets have much higher BC's and thus fly flatter, further and with less wind drift.

.308 is more popular for precision shooting for lots of reasons but one of those is the huge variety of very good bullets. A good bullet makes all the difference.
 
Now you are opening an old can of worms.
For a starter rifle in the long range game, go with a .223 with a fast twist. Much easier for a new shooter to master with lighter recoil, cheaper to reload for, and elevation and wind drift is almost equal to the .308, when using 80 gr bullets in the .223 Vs. 155 gr in the .308.
 
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