bullet mass ranges for .308: anybody got info?
For those with little time to read, and no interest in why I'm asking this question, I'll cut to the chase:
can anyone provide information about the range of bullet sizes & types available for .308 Win in factory rounds?
In particular, I'm interested in how the range of options for the .308 compares to the great diversity available for the .30-06.
Either your own knowledge, or a web site or THR thread would be greatly appreciated.
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Here's the why part if you are interested.
I'm still trying to make a decision between 30-30, .35, 30-06 & .308. I'm not in a hurry about this: buying a rifle is still weeks to months away for me, so I'm doing my homework early, and very much enjoying the research.
OK, I'll own up to my ignorance again about the larger calibers (even though I'm chipping away at that ignorance): I did not know until last night that .308 Win is a widely available caliber, is a military caliber and will fire (is roughly equivalent to) 7.62X51mm NATO. Very interesting. And, from what I'm reading, it's one of the most accurate cartridges out there.
OK, so .308 has my interest and attention.
I'm still considering .30-30 because it's widely available, relatively low recoil, and I'm just pining to own another Marlin 336 lever gun (again, stupidly sold mine years ago).
The problem: I can only afford (and really only want) one rifle right now, and I want it to be as much all-purpose as possible. Sort of a SAF (swiss army knife). AND the .30-30 has limited options for bullet size unless one is a reloader, which I'm not. (At least yet...and would prefer not to be right now. Too many irons in my fire already.) For factory loads, I'm finding the .30-30 to be limited mostly to 150 & 170 gr. Fine for deer, but in a SHTF scenario and I'm out of canned sardines and spam, but can't find a deer, I may want to shoot a varmit or even a big jack rabbit, and a 150 gr seems a smidgen big for that.
So, I'm really attracted to the .30-06 for it's range of options bullet wise. Seems like one can get everything from varmit rnds to 200+ gr for the bigger mammals. That's appealing. I'm finding lots of information about that range.
However, for reasons explained elsewhere in this thread, I'm leaning more towards either a lever gun or a pump than a bolt action since I'm already familiar and comfortable with both. But .30-06 isn't available in either of those in a gun that I'm attracted to (yet; I do acknowledge the recommendations made earlier; thanks).
The Rem 7600P is available in .308. I like it's looks. For various reasons, I'm interested in the shorter barrel, and for now, the ghost ring sights. (I won't rule out a scope for later.) I haven't handled one yet, but have I resolved to travel if I must to do so.
But I'm having a bit of trouble finding information about bullet size & type ranges for the .308 and how it compares to the diversity of the '06. Hence my question.
As always, thanks for any info and the continuing opinions.
Nem