I know no one really cares...but not a fan. I've used a Mod fwt and a Ruger UltraLight, meh. Now, I have always admired and loved shooting the M60 Pig, but...just can't get excited about any short action round, even the old 358 Winchester! I tried it awhile back, one last time. I bought a new CA Mesa in .308. Never shot it, gave it to my Marine SIL, he loves it, ha. My oldest hunting pard out here uses his BLR 308 he bought in 1970 for everything! Oh yeah I forgot, I have had a new Mod 742, shot it three times/sold it. I also traded for a ;ole new Mod 7600, never shot it.Traded it off! I just thought I would enliven your 308 lovefest just a little! lol
Another .308
- Thread starter filmjunkie4ever
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filmjunkie4ever
Handloader
- May 4, 2011
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The .308 isn’t my absolute favorite cartridge but that said it sure checks a lot of boxes and is well proven. I can think of many other cartridges I would rather blaspheme than the .308!
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filmjunkie4ever
Handloader
- May 4, 2011
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I too prefer the .30-06! It’s my absolute favorite....not "exactly" blaspheming, but I admit that I am prejudiced toward the 30-06!
Back in late '70s, my BIL had a nice Mod 788 in 6mm Remington. It was extremely accurate with the 100gr factor Clkt load. Only thing I did not care for, upon shooting it, was the heavy, gritty trigger. I don't know if all of them have similar triggers, but that particular one was bad. The Mod 788 itself seems to be very well liked by those that have them.
wvbuckbuster
Handloader
- Nov 5, 2015
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At one time in my younger life I could only afford one hunting rifle and it was a 30-06. Since then, I have been blessed to be able to afford more than one and have and do use different calibers. Still have a 30-06, doesn't get used much anymore but like it just the same. Dan.
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- #47
filmjunkie4ever
Handloader
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The first centerfire rifle I bought out of highschool is my Winchester Model 70 Classic Stainless .30-06! It is my absolute favorite rifle. It didn’t take long for us to become a winning team, and for her to be christened “Old Reliable.”
I own lots of others that I use, and dote on as well but that .30-06 is still my favorite. She may not see as much as use as she once did but I try to take her hunting on a least one of my tags each year. About a year ago I had my initials engraved on the floorplate by Jesse Kaufman out of Sturgis.
I am very blessed with a variety of good, quality firearms with which I get to spend my days hunting.
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lefty315
Handloader
- Sep 29, 2004
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I’m late to the party on this thread but if my 788 in .308 looked like yours I would have kept it. That’s a good looking gun! I kept the 788 in .222 rechambered to .223 because it’s an absolute tack driver.
salmonchaser
Handloader
- Dec 13, 2013
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I had four 308s during my High risk, recidivist, interdiction and apprehension career. First was a heavy barreled, wood stock Ruger 77 topped with a Bushnell Banner 3x9 scope. It was an accurate rifle on the day you zeroed it. But it would shift zero reliably. I was able to convince my LT. It needed to go. Then I had a Remington 700, I want to say PSS. Very accurate rifle. Ran that one hard for four or five years. Command felt we needed to expand the team due to some of the calls we had. Added a second 700. Brought in a new shooter as well. It was one of the rifles that would fire on manipulating the safety. King County Sheriffs office also got at least one but I think it was a couple of rifles at the same time out of the same lot. King County and Seattle got together, I heard about it from one of their shooters and Accuracy International got a hell of a nice contract. Very accurate rifles, on the front end of the chasis stock design. I shot once a week, I think the only time I adjusted the scope was with a new lot of ammo. One day my commander called me upstairs. When that happens I usually walk into his office with the discipline pending form in hand. Didn’t need it, he had access to end of the year money, wanted to spend it before any of the other division commanders could. Only problem was the equipment had to be delivered by the end of the week. I think it was Wednesday. Team had been talking about adding a designated marksman system, semi auto, we had actually had a couple of AR 10s in for T&E but they were not shooting 1MOA. Went to a local gun shop, They happened to have an M1A national match and a scope mounting system on hand. They also had an HS precision with a short 18” barrel and a much lighter stock. I think the thing weighed about 1/2 of the accuracy International. It was like the owner of the shop new exactly how much money I had and a deal was struck.
With the exception of the Ruger all of those rifles were very very good rifles. I really liked the HS precision because it was so light and compact, easy to be stealthy and when circumstances changed I could easily sling it across my back and start dancing through doors without banging stuff, too much.
Never owned one of my own, never hunted with one, never understood why people thought it just as good as an 06. With 150s it is close, with 180s it’s as far behind the 06 as an 06 is behind a 300 HH. That being said, they do work just fine. I fired about 1000 rounds a year in routine training with the 308. Probably every other year, except the last couple, I would get sent off to some training school or another, and shoot an additional 1000 rounds or so. Guy and I never became acquainted but we crossed paths several times.I don’t think I shoot any of my rifles as well as I shot my issued rifles, I knew exactly what to expect from them and frankly I’ve never been able to shoot any one of my rifles once a week for four or five years.
With the exception of the Ruger all of those rifles were very very good rifles. I really liked the HS precision because it was so light and compact, easy to be stealthy and when circumstances changed I could easily sling it across my back and start dancing through doors without banging stuff, too much.
Never owned one of my own, never hunted with one, never understood why people thought it just as good as an 06. With 150s it is close, with 180s it’s as far behind the 06 as an 06 is behind a 300 HH. That being said, they do work just fine. I fired about 1000 rounds a year in routine training with the 308. Probably every other year, except the last couple, I would get sent off to some training school or another, and shoot an additional 1000 rounds or so. Guy and I never became acquainted but we crossed paths several times.I don’t think I shoot any of my rifles as well as I shot my issued rifles, I knew exactly what to expect from them and frankly I’ve never been able to shoot any one of my rifles once a week for four or five years.
lefty315
Handloader
- Sep 29, 2004
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I think we got the same batch as King County. My buddy almost took his head off due to that issue, not on purpose either. And then came the Accuracy International…
salmonchaser
Handloader
- Dec 13, 2013
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Pretty scary. King county had one that went off with the very first round they chambered.
I'm thankful I never had a Mod 700 that had that bad trigger/safety issue. I did make a great shot on my first Axis buck, in Del Rio in late 90's (pre-Haitian Invasion) .308 230 yds, my handloaded 165 NBT, 4x scope, Mod 70 Fwt. Sweet shot. That's the best/only kill with the old 308 for me. I shot a doe at 15yds, I don't count that as a challenging shot, ha.
I may have had a better love for the .308 round (as I said, I loved shooting it in the M60!) IF fate had not intervened. Back in Bootcamp, '71' there was only one slot for Sniper Training. I was beat by one point, and another got my spot! ha I don't know, of course, if I would have passed the whole Course back then, but I would have liked to have had the training. If I had passed, who knows where that would have changed the choices I made in Life?
I may have had a better love for the .308 round (as I said, I loved shooting it in the M60!) IF fate had not intervened. Back in Bootcamp, '71' there was only one slot for Sniper Training. I was beat by one point, and another got my spot! ha I don't know, of course, if I would have passed the whole Course back then, but I would have liked to have had the training. If I had passed, who knows where that would have changed the choices I made in Life?
"Never owned one of my own, never hunted with one, never understood why people thought it just as good as an 06. With 150s it is close, with 180s it’s as far behind the 06 as an 06 is behind a 300 HH."
I'm not quite sure I can agree with you on that. Granted this was a somewhat limited test but a few years back I ran some Winchester 180 gr. Power Point ammo in .308 Win. and 30-06 over the chronograph. Both rifles has 22" barrels. The .308 was a Winchester M70 with a 1 in 12" twist and the 30-06 an FN Mauser with a 1 in 10 twist barrel. End result was the .308 was 20 FPS faster than the 30-06.
Factory ammo is loaded to the maximum allowed pressure (MAP) as determined by SAAMI and the manufacturer. If a round from a fresh lot tests higher than the MAP that lot is scrubbed until it can be determined if a fluke or a problem. In theory the .308 is loaded to a higher MAP than the 30-06 It wouldn't surprise me if factories kept the MAP down a bit due to some older 1903 Springfields still in use. I've noticed this with some ammo for the 7x57 as well with velocity running about 200 FPS slower than advertised.
I've always regretted not being able to run more tests of the .308 vs 30-06 to see if that held true. It was also interesting that the 30-06 didn't come close to advertised speed until I ran some through the 26" barreled Ruger #1B. My hand loads on the other hand were easily doing 2700+ FPS from the 22" barrel.
Paul B.
I'm not quite sure I can agree with you on that. Granted this was a somewhat limited test but a few years back I ran some Winchester 180 gr. Power Point ammo in .308 Win. and 30-06 over the chronograph. Both rifles has 22" barrels. The .308 was a Winchester M70 with a 1 in 12" twist and the 30-06 an FN Mauser with a 1 in 10 twist barrel. End result was the .308 was 20 FPS faster than the 30-06.
Factory ammo is loaded to the maximum allowed pressure (MAP) as determined by SAAMI and the manufacturer. If a round from a fresh lot tests higher than the MAP that lot is scrubbed until it can be determined if a fluke or a problem. In theory the .308 is loaded to a higher MAP than the 30-06 It wouldn't surprise me if factories kept the MAP down a bit due to some older 1903 Springfields still in use. I've noticed this with some ammo for the 7x57 as well with velocity running about 200 FPS slower than advertised.
I've always regretted not being able to run more tests of the .308 vs 30-06 to see if that held true. It was also interesting that the 30-06 didn't come close to advertised speed until I ran some through the 26" barreled Ruger #1B. My hand loads on the other hand were easily doing 2700+ FPS from the 22" barrel.
Paul B.
Guy Miner
Master Loader
- Apr 6, 2006
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I remember when Seattle and King County went with Accuracy International rifles. Managed to get a few rounds through one while I was an instructor at our old state SWAT sniper school. I was more than a bit envious...
My 30-06 Rem 700, the one I've hunted with so often during the past 10 -15 years, is the only one I ever had with a weird trigger. Twice while hunting it went "bang" before I was prepared for that to happen. Each time I'd just flicked the safety off and suddenly a bullet went downrange. Two misses on two different bears btw... I replaced that trigger with a Timney and the rifle has been great ever since.
308 is a fine cartridge, like Salmonchaser I've sent so doggone many rounds downrange through one, though I seldom hunt with one. Target competition and SWAT training toasted a few barrels over the years.
Regards, Guy
RL338
Handloader
- Mar 23, 2017
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Now that’s scary.
wvbuckbuster
Handloader
- Nov 5, 2015
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Bought a Rem 700BDl 30-06 back in 1986. Adjusted the trigger and it has stayed the same ever since. Never messed with it. Got a good one, I guess. Dan.
I have used Timneys, Shilen, Kepplinger, Jewel, rifle basix, and Traister. I can't remember the others . I have also had some very good factory triggers that once set, perfection. They are all very good, but I love the Trigger Tech. This is on a hunting rifle, that is. I like to have 1# at the range and anywhere from 1.5-2# on a hunt. If my old hands get cold and stiff, I can easily crank it up to 3# and still "roll him off the next ridge", ha. I do miss that great Kepplinger Single Set Trigger though. Unset it was 2.5# and set was just Ozs! I sold them with their rifles and wouldn't you know, they went belly up. For me, the next best thing still is the TT. "Best Part" is they can get filled with gunk/trash and still work!
