338 Lapua Magnum is likely to become the standard long-range sniper round for NATO countries. It is already used by the UK, Finland, Canada, Italy, Australia, Belgium, the Dutch, Ireland, Singapore, Slovenia, Swiss, Turkey, and some US units.
308 is a versatile little cartridge that fits in compact short-action rifles. There is some improvement to be had on these short-action rifles, such as switching from M118LR to a better bullet, or to a more overbore caliber like 260REM.
Stepping up to a long-action (3006, 300WM, 338 Lapua), there is a big jump in ballistic performance
possible, yet the 300WM and moreso the 3006, have a hard time taking full advantage of this because to get above a 0.6 BC in 30 caliber, you have to step up to a 210gr bullet or heavier. These long-action rifles pay a penalty in length and weight to the short-action rifles, so this cost needs to pay off in ballistic performance.
In the 300WM cartridge size, the bore size to look at for awesome LR ballistics is 7mm. The 7RM, with less case capacity than the 300WM, has much better ballistics due to the very high BC 168 to 180gr bullets.
Stepping up to the 338 Lapua, you now get superior exterior ballistics (ie, better than any rifle that weighs less than 25 lbs, e.g. 308, 416, or 50BMG) and fantastic terminal ballistics-- more power than 44RM at the muzzle, at 1200 yards.
Here is a table comparing some common LR cartridges
Code:
_Bullet_ _BC_ _MV_ 0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 | YARDS
50BMG 750AMAX 1.050 2660 > 0.00 1.30 5.36 12.46 22.89 37.00 55.17 77.85 105.43 | wind (inches)
338LM 300SMK 0.77* 2750 > 0.00 1.71 7.16 16.85 31.42 51.61 78.30 112.23 154.03 | wind (inches)
338LM 250SCNR 0.675 2950 > 0.00 1.78 7.45 17.61 32.96 54.37 82.86 119.34 164.57 | wind (inches)
7RM 180gr VLD 0.698 2850 > 0.00 1.80 7.55 17.82 33.31 54.88 83.49 119.96 164.95 | wind (inches)
7RM 168gr VLD 0.648 3000 > 0.00 1.81 7.60 18.01 33.78 55.86 85.34 123.21 170.23 | wind (inches)
300WM 210gr VLD 0.640 2850 > 0.00 1.97 8.30 19.69 37.03 61.36 93.79 135.24 186.03 | wind (inches)
300WM 190gr SMK 0.53* 3000 > 0.00 2.22 9.45 22.66 43.21 72.73 112.92 164.66 227.12 | wind (inches)
3006 190gr SMK 0.53* 2850 > 0.00 2.39 10.18 24.47 46.77 78.78 122.02 176.67 241.27 | wind (inches)
308 155 Scenar 0.508 2850 > 0.00 2.52 10.75 25.91 49.59 83.51 128.98 185.82 252.36 | wind (inches)
308 175 M118LR 0.51* 2600 > 0.00 2.94 12.62 30.61 58.93 99.18 151.45 214.00 285.09 | wind (inches)
50BMG 750AMAX 1.050 2660 > -0.00 1.55 6.42 12.11 18.46 25.48 33.26 41.89 51.50 | drop (moa)
338LM 300SMK 0.77* 2750 > -0.00 1.44 6.21 11.99 18.69 26.41 35.35 45.76 57.90 | drop (moa)
338LM 250SCNR 0.675 2950 > -0.00 1.15 5.32 10.50 16.60 23.76 32.19 42.18 54.06 | drop (moa)
7RM 180gr VLD 0.698 2850 > -0.00 1.29 5.78 11.30 17.78 25.34 34.22 44.68 57.04 | drop (moa)
7RM 168gr VLD 0.648 3000 > -0.00 1.08 5.14 10.21 16.21 23.30 31.72 41.77 53.81 | drop (moa)
300WM 210gr VLD 0.640 2850 > -0.00 1.31 5.89 11.60 18.39 26.45 36.08 47.62 61.43 | drop (moa)
300WM 190gr SMK 0.53* 3000 > -0.00 1.13 5.40 10.91 17.70 26.09 36.56 49.67 65.87 | drop (moa)
3006 190gr SMK 0.53* 2850 > -0.00 1.36 6.17 12.36 20.01 29.51 41.39 56.20 74.30 | drop (moa)
308 155 Scenar 0.508 2850 > -0.00 1.38 6.25 12.59 20.51 30.42 42.89 58.46 77.43 | drop (moa)
308 175 M118LR 0.51* 2600 > -0.00 1.87 7.94 15.85 25.85 38.55 54.55 74.20 97.56 | drop (moa)
50BMG 750AMAX 1.050 2660 > 2660 2494 2335 2182 2035 1894 1759 1631 1513 | velocity (fps)
338LM 300SMK 0.77* 2750 > 2750 2520 2302 2094 1898 1712 1540 1387 1256 | velocity (fps)
338LM 250SCNR 0.675 2950 > 2950 2678 2422 2181 1955 1744 1550 1380 1237 | velocity (fps)
7RM 180gr VLD 0.698 2850 > 2850 2592 2349 2120 1905 1704 1521 1359 1225 | velocity (fps)
7RM 168gr VLD 0.648 3000 > 3000 2714 2445 2193 1957 1737 1537 1362 1217 | velocity (fps)
300WM 210gr VLD 0.640 2850 > 2850 2570 2307 2060 1831 1618 1431 1270 1145 | velocity (fps)
300WM 190gr SMK 0.53* 3000 > 3000 2655 2334 2038 1762 1513 1302 1142 1033 | velocity (fps)
3006 190gr SMK 0.53* 2850 > 2850 2515 2206 1917 1652 1418 1227 1090 998 | velocity (fps)
308 155 Scenar 0.508 2850 > 2850 2500 2176 1880 1610 1379 1195 1067 982 | velocity (fps)
308 175 M118LR 0.51* 2600 > 2600 2261 1950 1664 1414 1214 1075 983 917 | velocity (fps)