7mm-08, .308, or .270?

Status
Not open for further replies.
While any of them would work well, Id recommend the 7-08. 120-140gr bullets should be plenty heavy enough, but should you be INCLINED you can still drive 160-175s at speeds that are effective......I was looking at hodgdons data for Staball, and its scooting a 162 at 2800. Even the more common powders tho would get you within 150fps of the .270 and 150gr bullets.
 
I'd like to know where some of you buy ammo? I don't shoot factory ammo, but I've never been to any place that didn't have 7mm-08 setting on the shelf along with 308 and 270. Now, That is excluding the current ammo crisis.

I'd choose the 7mm-08. I have a 7mm-08 and 308, the 308 spends most of it's time in the safe. They will both kill deer and elk sized game equally. I have no use for a 270, I have it covered with my 6.5-06 and 30-06. Don't over look the 25-06 either, it's a deer killing machine with very tame recoil.
 
They are all fine. I hunted whitetail for years with a Remington Model 7 in .308. Sold it a couple years back and replaced it with a 7mm-08. Absolutely no regrets. So my order of preference: 7mm-08, .308, then .270 ... though I've never owned and don't plan to own the latter.
 
I really like the 7-08 and it has killed every deer in sight when I have used it. The .308 is a bit bigger bullet with a little more recoil and is close to the same thing. And both of these cartridges have been winners in major shooting competition, The 7-08 was developed for it. The .270 while accurate enough for hunting doesn't have that pedigree. And with the same weight bullets doesn't really shoot much flatter and not faster than an an 06. However for hunting at normal ranges you probably won't notice any difference and neither will the game. I would still take either the 7-08 or .308 over a .270. Bigger is better, short action is better, accuracy is better. But the .270 is a good hunting cartridge as well. A good choice for women and kids. I just thing it was way oversold by a certain Winchester schill.
 
I have all three of them, each for different purposes. Any one of the three will do nicely. I haven’t hunted deer in over 20 years but if I were going to again, my 270 is the one I’d be taking with me. If I was buying a new rifle today for my purposes it would still be a 270, 7-08 a close second and the 308 an also ran.
 
All three are great cartridges. There’s a lot of overlap in the shooting world, and it shows with these and many other cartridges. With careful bullet and load selection, nothing you shoot with any of the three will be able to tell the difference out to the max normal ranges people shoot at game. All three can be loaded with bullets appropriate to the largest and smallest game and varmints in the US, and handloaders can load for recoil as light as need be for anyone to shoot them, even in a light rifle. My gimpy shoulder and my M70 FWT .270 attest to that!

All that said, if the largest game you will hunt are whitetail deer, a .243 or .260/6.5 CM/6.5x55 will do the job just fine, too.
 
Another vote for the 7mm-08. I have been very impressed with mine since I got it about 10 years ago. I have never needed a second shot to drop a deer. They are all very effective deer cartridges and come down to personal preference. I wouldn't say finding ammo is an issue with the 7mm-08. Pre- current conditions, anyplace I could find 308 or 270 I could also find 7mm-08. Plus with online ordering it is really a non issue.
 
Doc Holliday45,

Any of those three are fantastic options for medium sized game. You win regardless of which is selected.

I am not biased to a particular caliber nor do I exhaustively study calibers. A 270 Win was placed in my hands at a young age and only God knows how many whitetail it’s been used to harvest since then. So that’s what I use for killing game, and it’s been great for me.

Pick one, dial it in, and start whacking em.
 
I think it's splitting hairs, but that's the case with most big game calibers in most cases. Especially if you're shooting shorter distances. The 7mm-08 is probably the one I'd pick, although if I only had one rifle I may lean 308 for a little better ammo selection and availability. The 270 would shoot the flattest of the three but if I'm going to a long action I'd prefer a 30-06 by a pretty wide margin over the 270 so that would be my third pick of the three.
 
I prefer 270 Win, for no particular reason other than that I am no fan of the 308 Win (for no relevant reason) and do not have a 7mm-08, which seems a perfectly good cartridge. 270 Win and 308 Win ammunition is ubiquitous in normal times, and 7mm-08 isn't far behind. All three of these will make deer dead if you hit them in the boiler room. For the purposes of deer, they are six of one, half a dozen of the other, and one more than five of the third. Pick the rifle that you like best chambered in any of these and you will be happy.
 
.308 seems to be the more popular round around here, but I bucked that and bought a SPS youth in 7mm-08 for the kids to shoot...and me to have down the road as a lightweight deer rifle. It's a sweet little shooter with a 20" bbl, muzzle break, and a 2-7 VX-Freedom. I have reduced recoil for the range and 120gr TTSX @ 2950 for game.

.308 is easier to find ammo for, but I reload so the 7mm-08 made more since as the same weight bullet has a better BC.

I have no interest in a 270, for a rifle in that size (long action) I prefer the 280 Rem for the same reasons I prefer a 7mm-08 over the 308 Win.
 
Last edited:
Owning both the .308 and the 7-08, my choice is the 7-08. Any of the three are fine, but with what I own, if I were looking for a long action to add to the other two, my 7 mag would be the third in the set rather than a .270. there's a decided enough difference there to make it worthwhile. Besides, for me. the mag is an all weather stock and stainless steel, the others are wood and blued steel.
 
For my use and preference, 30-06 every time. I've said before and will say again, there isn't anything in N. America you can't put on the ground with an '06. From your list, the .270 if (a) you can't find an '06 and (b) recoil isn't an issue to you. If you're recoil sensitive, chuck the lot and buy a .243 Winchester. However the recoil difference in the .270 and '06 is negligible. The best part (to me) about the '06 is that you can find loads from 125 grain to 220 grain; with the others you're a bit more limited in bullet weight.

Mac
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

P
  • Locked
.308 vs 7mm-08
Replies
18
Views
3K
Art Eatman
A
R
  • Locked
7mm-08 vs .243
Replies
5
Views
6K
Ben Shepherd
B
J
  • Locked
No .270-08??
Replies
5
Views
1K
David4516
David4516
B
  • Locked
Absolutely love the 7mm-08
Replies
14
Views
1K
bpl
B
P
  • Locked
What about the 7mm-08?
2
Replies
27
Views
2K
303 hunter
303 hunter
Back
Top