.308...The .357 of rifles cartridges??

[roscoe]

The 06 is generally downloaded by today's standards to prevent someone from destroying a trapdoor Springfield rifle.

Yikes! This I want to see! There might be a problem getting the cartridge to seat in the chamber - or maybe it would just slide out the muzzle.

 

[Dave R]

What is it that makes the .308 "inherently more accruate"? I am in the process of chosing between the .308 and 30-06 for my first hunting rifle (hopefully getting a WY antelope tag). I am leaning towards the '06 but not 100% sold on it yet.

The practical answer is, the difference in accuracy is small enough that it is lost in the real world between the rifle in question and the shooter in question.

My advice is, if you are going to use strictly commercial ammo, get a .308 so you'll have cheaper ammo to work with. (Unless you are going to hunt big critters and really need a 220gr. bullet.)

If you're going to handload, get a .30-06 because it is a more flexible cartridge, and you'll never notice the difference in ammo cost if you handload.

 

[FotoTomas]

I am a bit of a practical shooter as opposed to a hunter. I like both the .308 and the .30-06. The fact that the .308/7.62 NATO is a current military issue round around the world AND I like those guns for sport and defense I would prefer the .308. If I were to become a hunter then the simplicity of the same cartridge in my hunting rifle would give the nod to the .308.

Being honest with myself I too would agree that the .30-06 is theoreticly a more versatile cartridge than the .308 BUT your average to better than average rifleman would not be able to see the difference in performance. They might however see the difference of ease of use with the short action and slightly less recoil for turnbolts.

It all boils down to preference. I currently prefer the .223/5.56 as it meets my needs better than the other two above.

 

[1911 guy]

Efficiency

The .308 gets my nod, yet again, for powder/velocity efficiency as well as being a short action, which helps handling in a sporting rifle. Another component of the accuracy equation is length from base to neck. The shorter the distance, the less chance for runout or non-concentricity. As was stated earlier, though, that difference is small and most of us don't shoot accurately enough to distinguish it. The "-06 is a good cartridge, but I still prefer the .308 over it.

 

[mfree]

My three cents as to comparisons:

.308 == .38spl
30-06 == .357

 

[pauli]

mfree beat me too it.