.303-vs-30-06 which is better

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Gun_nut

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What is the best for oregon 200-300yards away and say im hunting elk wich round would perform better with brush and being in a clearcut:confused:
 
This might get moved to Rifles. I think there was a similar thread recently.
The cartridges are very similar in performance. The 06 has a little edge with heavier bullets, mostly just because the case capacity is greater. Some of the more serious target shooters say the 308 has an accuracy advantage, albeit probably slight. If you are trying to build the lightest weight rifle the 308 can use a short action. All things being equal (which they seldom are) the shorter action could be stiffer, which might enhance accuracy. For the scenario you have described I'd pick the 06.
 
Either caliber should work well. Personally , I would chose the '06 because of the readily avalible ammo of any type almost anywhere.
 
+1 on rocky's answer. Either will do it's part if you do yours, but I'd opt for .30-06 just for the greater options in bullet weight, design, and loadings.
 
Consider the classic elk load in rifles of this approximate caliber -- the 180 grain Nosler Partition Jacket. The .30-06 will drive that bullet to about 2700 fps. The .303 will barely make 2300 fps. That's a dramatic difference.
 
The 303R should get a 180gr bullet up to 2400fps (MkVII ball spec = 174gr @ 2440fps), but it's still clearly not in the same class as the 30-06. Moreover, there are far more bullet choices in the 168-220gr range in .308 than there are in .311 caliber.

As fond as I am of the 303R, if you have a choice *and* the choice is free in either case, you'd be well advised to pick the 30-06.
 
well

I've shot many deer with the 'o6,,,and one with the 303....
All my deer (so far) have been one shot stops;) some better stops than others.
I couldn't tell the difference except, in my advanced age I do appreciate
the mild mannered 3o3, it seems to work better than its #'s indicate.
My brother in law thought :neener: it was an exit wound when in fact it was hit
twixt neck and left shoulder , the very well mushroomed bullet was recovered imbedded in the hide of the right hind leg having skirted the ham!
Take what you are comfortable with, i've never been lucky enuff to need to re-supply ammo during a hunt! You are in a win win situation
robert
 
For hunting, you don't need to get into reloading.

With a .30-'06, you can buy a ridiculous variety of off-the-shelf ammo, including good elk loads. It wins hands-down.

And if you do want to handload, someone has cooked up and tested recipes for anything you'd ever want in the '06.
 
Gun_nut said:
What is the best for oregon 200-300yards away and say im hunting elk wich round would perform better with brush and being in a clearcut:confused:

If you're using a .303 against Elk I'd suggest working up handloads using the Woodleigh 215 grainer that's designed for the cartridge. However I think you'd be pushing things at 300 yards. It's far easier to buy a heavy .30'06 load with the right bullet off the shelf, and the extra power will give you more range to shoot.
 
I would go with an 8mm becouse thats what i got . butt im with robert go with what u injoy shooting most.its the romace of hunt we remember most.:)
 
Ehhhhhhh, in some loadings the two are ballistic twins.

The reason to prefer the .30-06 is the wide variety of commercial hunting loads available.

If you handload, go with whichever one you want.
 
These two cartridges are so similar that I think you should pick the one that makes you feel better. With such similar ballistics the bullet placement is the most important criteria.....therefore whichever one you "feel" best about will be the one you will be most successful with.

Sometimes we split hairs about which cartridge is best, but maybe we should ask ourselves which rifle do we feel more comfortable with....for cartridges that are similar.:)
 
Ehhhhhhh, in some loadings the two are ballistic twins.
I beg to differ. In every modern commerical load or handload using bullets ranging from 125gr to 220gr, the 30-06 has at LEAST a 300fps advantage. It can't help it - it's got more powder capacity and operates at a higher pressure. The only time that 303R gets close to the 30-06 is when you're comparing modern 150gr 303R loads with M2 30-06 ball specs, and that hardly seems an appropriate comparison.

Would the .303 performe better in brush then the 30-06?
I believe that 'bush' performance is really a combination of two factors; the rifle needs to be suited for fast snap shots, and the bullet used needs to be relatively impervious to lightweight brush. A key point here is that NO chambering or bullet shy of dangerous game fodder can plow through branches and twigs as if they're not there. Having said that, round nose or flat nose bullets (in any caliber) seem to be less affected by small brush that would a spitzer of equal weight/caliber.

The 30-06 will have a lot more energy to deliver on target than the 303R, but either can do well if the rifle and bullet is selected for the environment.......

These two cartridges are so similar that I think you should pick the one that makes you feel better.
Agree with the premise that comfort with the rifle is at least equal in importance as is the chambering, but I cannot agree that these cartridges are 'so similar'. I've shot and loaded for both for a number of years now, and there is just no WAY that anyone can make the case (based upon actual empirical numbers, not just stating something without proof) that the 303R is on par with the 30-06 using modern loads as the point of reference.

If you have a 303R, make it work for you. If you have a 30-06, use it and be happy. If you have neither and need to choose one, the 30-06 is a more able chambering.
 
Gun_nut, leaving out bullets that will fragment on brush, there is no such thing as a "brush buster". Any bullet, spitzer or roundnose, 25-caliber on up to 45-70 and such, will deflect. The amount of deflection depends on the distance from the branch to the target.

(About every ten or fifteen years, somebody piles up some brush and sets up targets behind it. After a whole bunch of shooting and calculating, they give the same report as I first read back in the 1940s. :) )

Typically, a "brush gun" is one which is handy, is quick to bring to aim and shoot in a snap-shot situation.

Art
 
The .303 British is a great round, ballistically equal to the .308 Win and just below the .30-06. I have an Enfield and truly enjoy shooting it. In the ealier part of the century, a great many Enfields were brought back to the US and used for hunting with good results (as were a variety of Mausers). That said, the extremely limited selection of factory .303 ammunition and .311" hunting bullets make the .30-06 a far superior choice for most sportsmen.
 
rbernie said:
Agree with the premise that comfort with the rifle is at least equal in importance as is the chambering, but I cannot agree that these cartridges are 'so similar'. I've shot and loaded for both for a number of years now, and there is just no WAY that anyone can make the case (based upon actual empirical numbers, not just stating something without proof) that the 303R is on par with the 30-06 using modern loads as the point of reference.
QUOTE]

The word 'similar' in the dictionary that I am looking at says "nearly but not exactly the same or alike". I did not say that the 303 British and the 30-06 were the same, but similar. I still beleive that for the application proposed in the initial part of this thread that the 303 British is as capable as the 30-06.
 
No, I think by any measure the .30'06 can be loaded with a serious edge over the .303 at 200 or 300 yards. There's a lot more room in the cartridge and it can run at substantially higher pressures. At its light magnum levels, the .30'06 runs into .300 Win Mag territory.

The .303 is a very different animal, more akin to the .30-40 Krag as a hunting cartridge than the .30'06. And it must be treated differently. If you expect to take big game with the .303 you must load it with large, high SD cartridges that make up for its lack of velocity. A 180 grainer out of a .30'06 may be fine for Elk, but the same weight bullet out of a .303 is marginal for large game beyond short range.
 
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