The Esoteric .308 Winchester

For most of the hunting that I do a 264 WM is a heavy clumsy gun. I happen to have a Westerner that I use for long range varmints and had another long ago for that.

But for the great majority of hunting a light compact 308 is a far more useful gun. This not a comparison where a 26" piped 264 is just a little heavier and longer but its a great differance.

The 308 short action is better for woods hunting and east of the river there are a lot of woods! The 308 is better for back packing and mountain hunting as well. Not only that but it's a USA military cartridge also.

I am a new fan of the 308 and really find it far more useful than the 264 WM and its quite clear that 99.4% of the other hunters do also.

The 308 Win is just right.
 
Took me a while to warm up to the .308 Win. After all, when Dad taught me to shoot a centerfire, it was with a .30-06. What else could a man possibly need to hunt North America? And of course I looked at the .308 as a pale imitation of the .30-06...

Well, decades later, I've got three of the darned things in my safe. Shot my way to "High Master" in long-range prone competition with one. I handload it by the hundreds, if not thousands... Go through barrels annually. Shoot the tar out of my .308's while most of my other centerfire rifles gather dust.

Good cartridge, no complaints.

Oh, I've got a few hotter, faster-stepping rifles when that's called for!

Regards, Guy
 
I would like to point out that dull 308 can take light loads to kick like a 30-30 So the wife can shoot it and work her way up.
With all theses magnum rounds why is it that the 308 is still the number one choice for compitition shooting? If you could get tighter groups we all would take the punishment. 260 is closing in though. Also with the military being able to choose any round 300 win mag 300Wthrby even the 260 have been tested the old dull 308 is still the highest choice and it still has the record for the longest confirmed kill.

:idea: Also I have a challenge and would like other people to try this and know what they found. choose your favorite round and start with the min load and then go to the max Use 10 dif powder loads make it simple or even just 5. Then average the groups. Now go to the 308 and try it. I have two 308's and these averaged groups are allways better than anything else. What does this theory prove. Well it shows how versatile this round is and those small variances in reloading that sweet spot load don't matter as much. If you have the time powder and curiousity try it.

My peep sight savage99 308 has hit more deer elk pronghorn in MT and Wy than any of the other great rifles I own. It is a no frills just works rifle.
 
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