.308 more than 30-06?

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I would wager, and believe it's a pretty safe bet, that many, MANY more .30-'06 rifles are sold than .308 - at least when we qualify that the rifle must be bolt-action. If you throw semi-autos in there, I'll bet the number even out, but I would reckon that the .30-'06 would still win in the sheer amount of rifles slod every year, regargless of action type.

This is not because it's "better"... it's a more well-known cartridge. Every bubba and leroy in America has a .30-'06.

Actually, I would much prefer a .308, simply for the plethora of available ballistic/trajectory/dope research on a myriad of different loadings over a .30-'06 any day.

Also, I would not be suprised if there was more .308 ammo sold every year, especially when we factor in imported ammo. Remember all those old SA battle packs? I don't think the Greek surplus sold throught the CMP was popular enough to offset that, plus I don't think .30-'06 is made by Wolf, Golden Tiger, or any other combloc ammo companies.

There are more .308 autoloaders, so many more shots of .308 are taken. Hell, you can dump hundreds of rounds in a single range trip. How many .30-'06 owners take more than a few shots every year? A couple to sight in or confirm zero, and maybe a handfull at deer, if they're lucky.

.308 is more popular among SHOOTERS, while .30-'06 is more popular among the general public at large. But we do more shooting in a weekend than they do all year. But they buy the majority of (bolt action) rifles sold.
 
Nachosgrande....

Whoever told you the .308 was limited to deer was pulling your leg.

The .308 is more than enough for anything in this hemisphere and that includes the biggest nastiest Brown Bear born in the last 300 years.

For that matter, the famous gun writer and hunter Jack O'Conner wrote in one of his books.... "The first two Grizzly Bears I shot with my .270 hit the ground so hard they bounced."

The whole .30 caliber parade is pure mescal.

:cool:
 
The .308 is pretty versatile and I wouldn't hesitate to use it on elk, but for moose, buffalo or big bears I'd want something bigger.

Then again, very, very few of us will ever hunt any of those and chances are if you ever get the chance you already have some strong opinions about which cartridges are suitable.
 
308 Match ammo in a 308 Match rifle with a Match
Shooter can comfortably beat the same Match 30-06. They actually had to reduce the size of the high power targets back in the 70's because of this.

BUT In an ATR shooting hunting ammo at few hundred yrds I highly doubt most would be able to see the difference between the two.

The 308's additional accuracy is believed to be from the shorter fatter case and optimal 90% fill ratio allowing the powder to burn more efficiently thereby pushing bullets down the tube more consistently from shot to shot.
 
Yall crack me up,you sound like little kids arguing over who got the bigger piece of candy. What does it matter,if you like short action rifles/long action rifles. The average shooter couldn't ever see the difference in the ballistics between the two and the price difference isn't worth worrying about with the ammo or the gun. I pesonally don't shoot 308,but do shoot 30/06 & 300 Win Mag,and I really can't tell the difference between them,unless I'm shooting beyond 250-300yrds.

And the reason the gun instock is cheaper,is that they have them at their Distribution Centers,and the one they have to order comes from a gun wholesaler and they don't get the volume discount on it that they do on the guns they stock in their own warehouses.
 
And I agree with Shawnee...

There is no other rifle I'd be more comfortable with than my 308 if I were hunting the biggest baddest bear that currently lives in this country.

As for moose...same thing...give me a solidly built 165/8 grain bullet (Barnes, TBBC, Partition, etc.) at 2,650 fps and it will work just fine.
 
Ya know, there *could* be ammo for sale somewhere inside Victoria's Secret, and I'd never notice, what with me ogling the skimpy neglige's. i love it!!!


ps off track anyone know of an ar in 30-06??? i duno if cobbs make um but think about it not an ar10 but an ar.06??
 
All I can tell ya is that my safe has 6 30-06 caliber rifles and no .308...

I hope this helps...

:)
 
My experience with trying to buy a .308 rifle:

About 10 years ago, I wanted to upgrade from my 30-30 to a .308, I specifically wanted a Remington 700 BDL in .308 (ADLs at the time had a flimsy POS plastic stock and a Krylon-looking metal finish). I went to several gun shops and nobody had one- they all had them in 30-06, .270, and .300WM though. Several places had the .308s in heavy barreled varmint versions. I inquired at several shops (some were independent shops, some where big-box chain stores) if they could get me one in .308. Noone could even order one in for me. A few places told me that Remington made the BDLs in .308, but not every year, and we just happened to be in an off year. Other places that ordered from a website, said that Remington didn't even list the .308s on their website.

The 30-06s and 30-30s are rifles that seem to sell not because they offer any advantages over other chamberings but because everyone's Dad or Grandfather used them for hunting.
The biggest and oldest rifle manufacturers in the country: Remington, Ruger, Savage, Winchester, etc all cater to hunters first, and to serious target shooters as a small niche of their business if at all.
 
Chuck Hawks did a study of page views on various cartridges as a measure of interest in them. .308 was #1, .30-06 was #3. Surprising to me .270 was #2. .243 was #10.
 
"What I want to know is - who cares if .30-06 is on the shelf in some gas station in Podunk?"


And what are the chances the ammo they carry is the same as the ammo that shoots best in your rifle??? Answer - Not Hardly at all.
So then what are the chances the ammo they have even shoots to the same point of aim as the ammo you sighted in with??? Answer - Not much.

If you add a dime to all that "it's sold everywhere" sillliness it still won't be worth 10 cents.:rolleyes:

"Chuck Hawks did a study of page views..."

Would be interesting to know what type of shooter most frequently consults the pages (eg., target, deer hunter, elk hunter, reloader, paramilitary, mall ninja ???).

:cool:
 
Shawnee and Woof-
hey guys, I care about what's on the shelf at the Podunk station...that's where I buy my ammunition.

why? because it's on the way to where I hunt, and since it's what I buy all the time, that's what I shoot all the time and that's what I've used to sight-in my rifle before heading to the field...and, if in my haste to get out the door, my box-a-year is inadvertently left behind, I don't sweat it, I just stop at Mom-'n'-Pop's gas station/liquor store/huntin' and fishin' supplies shop and pick up a box of the normal stuff - no worries.

So, just about any place I go, I find Remington Core-Lokt 165 grain (and if not 165, the 180 grain works just as good at "white-tail range").

I could give a rip about shooting pieces of paper at long range, I want meat.

Txhillbilly - you're right; your opinions match mine
 
My {wild-@zz un-scientific} guess is that since the .30-06 is on the shelf, the store probably got it a while back at a lower price than the current (whole-sale) price of the .308.

Let's say the situation is reversed...They have .308's on the shelf, but you want a .30-06, and it has to be ordered as a single 'one-of-a-kind'....I suspect you would see the same price differential.
 
Take note. You see, fellas, there's a LOT (as in millions) of people like Dave/hoff in this country. Whether or not it matters to you in particular (that every mom and pop store has it in stock) doesn't make .30-06 less appealing for that reason for these millions.
 
"Dave/hoff" is right. If a hunter uses whatever flavor 30/06 the local Podunk market has on the shelf, he's all set.
But that same fact applies to any caliber on the shelf at the Podunk Market, not just 30/06 - so the '06 is no more (or less) "available" than any other caliber the store carries. There are a lot of little places that carry the '06, but there aren't many that carry ONLY the '06.

:cool:
 
My head is still swimming. Are we saying we believe there are actually people out there who will buy a rifle because they think ammo for it might be available at the Podunk Gas 'n Go but the "other" might not be? A-and that's important because Podunk is on the way to where this mythical buyer hunts and he is worried he might leave home with all his hunting gear but forget his ammo? Really? I thought this line of (dare I call it 'reasoning?) got started because it was argued that surely the 06 is the most popular BECAUSE it is available at the gas station, that proving the point?
 
In the time I've spent here, along with some usefull information, I have also learned that most gunboard threads are like lead figures.

No matter what form they start out as, they all melt down the same.




Jesus tap-dancing Christ, people.
 
But that same fact applies to any caliber on the shelf at the Podunk Market, not just 30/06 - so the '06 is no more (or less) "available" than any other caliber the store carries. There are a lot of little places that carry the '06, but there aren't many that carry ONLY the '06.

A good point, sir, but not precisely the point I had in mind.

It could be that I suffer from a skewed perspective. As a lad (back 25-35 years ago), I traveled the Missouri and Arkansas backroads quite a bit more than I do now-a-days, but in THOSE days, the Mom-and-Pop shops were in far greater abundance and those stores couldn't afford to stock a wide variety of ammunition, hence the limiting factor of "what does the local population buy?"

Probably cartridges to fit Grandpa's '03 A3, Uncle Jake's .30-30, or Daddy's 12 gauge scattergun.

Now most of the roadside stores have some affiliation with a larger chain outfit or a wholesale network that likely allows the stocking of a greater variety of products (if a good part of their trade happens to be "sporting goods"). So, entirely plausible that .308 ammo (and .270, and .300 WinMag, etc.) is available.

But, back in the day, it was the previously mentioned, common stock ammo that was available. As a 20-something-wood-hippie-try to live-off-the-lander, I owned (and still own) the firearms I knew I could get ammo for nearly everywhere I cared to go.

So, in answer to the OP, I'd have bought the '06 for 250 bucks and let it go at that.
 
I can answer the question as to why so many people buy the 30-06 instead of the 308....

I've known the answer for years...I just enjoy seeing people debate it and the reasons they give.

It may not be the ONLY reason...but it is the most common reason.


The reason is "68 miles per hour"...some of you will know what that refers to, others will not.

But I assure you...that IS the reason.
 
Naw, Woof. Believe what ya want, man. I'm just saying that the reasons that I bought the '06 was for the reasons in my posts.

They may seem silly to you, but they are perfectly logical to me. If you are not old enough to have been shooting or hunting when I started, I cannot fault your lack of experience, but if you have been participating in these activities for longer than you've been a poster to this web site, why would you feel it necessary to denegrate my opinions? This is supposed to be "The High Road" after all.

The OP wondered why a .308 rifle would cost more than a .30-'06 rifle at a big box store. I think he got the correct answer in posts 2, 3, and 4.
 
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