How do I choose the right calibre?

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dak0ta

dak0ta

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Hi,

I'm interested in .308 and 30-06. Most rifles are chambered in both for bolt actions. I'm 5'8 and weigh ~146lbs. Will the 30-06 blow me away? I've shot a .308 a few years ago when I was new to big bore rifles, and it kicked me a bit, but it's something that I can manage today. I've shot 12 Ga 00 buckshot, is that comparable to any?

Also, to take down just your good ol' deer in Canada and possibly a moose/elk one day, will .308 suffice? Short action rifles tend to be cheaper too.

Lastly, which is cheaper to shoot of the two?
 
I believe .308 is cheaper but I am not sure. Either will take down any North American game animal. With the right rifle, recoil shouldn't be a problem.
 
If you're really concerned about recoil, get a gas-operated semi in .308. M1A, Benelli R-1, Browning BAR, etc. You might give up a LITTLE accuracy over a bolt, but they're still plenty accurate for hunting use and they're not shabby for range use.
 
If recoil is anything of an issue, you might think about the 7mm-08 Rem instead. It will take any deer in north america, as well as moose or elk. Lighter recoil than a .308 Win, flatter trajectory, more energy down range, better ballistic coefficient, more velocity... etc... This is not to take anything away from the .308 or 30-06, both are very capable and proven. The 7mm is just that much more efficient...

Cheers...
 
'm interested in .308 and 30-06. Most rifles are chambered in both for bolt actions. I'm 5'8 and weigh ~146lbs. Will the 30-06 blow me away? I've shot a .308 a few years ago when I was new to big bore rifles, and it kicked me a bit, but it's something that I can manage today. I've shot 12 Ga 00 buckshot, is that comparable to any?

Also, to take down just your good ol' deer in Canada and possibly a moose/elk one day, will .308 suffice? Short action rifles tend to be cheaper too.

Lastly, which is cheaper to shoot of the two?
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The difference in recoil between the two out of the same rifles is negligible; granted, I am 10 inches taller and weigh well over 100 lbs more than you, but I don't think you will tell the difference.

I've never hunted a moose or an elk, but I know people that have and .308 or .30-06 will definitely do the job.

As far as which is cheaper, it depends on what you are looking for...The CMP has milsurp .30-06 for a pretty darn good price...If you want something a bit more accurate but still surplus then .308 is the way to go. You can get Lithuanian surplus for ~.50 a round and that stuff is darn near match...If it is strictly for hunting, then it doesn't really matter.

The grizzliest dude I know takes Saskatchewan moose with a 30/30. He also backhands wolverines on a daily basis.
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LOL, now that is manly. :p
 
If you want really cheap ammo the 308 and 30-06 are going to be your best bet because of surplus ammo, with the right bullet and proper placement either will work

just make sure to practice with your chosen rifle so that you can hit what your aiming at
 
With factory ammo the only difference is between your ears. You can handload a 200 fps or so advantage to the 30-06. Whether that's enough to matter can be argued all night. Not for deer, certainly.

308 is a little bit cheaper for factory ammo. 308 milsurp is currently scarce and expensive but that won't last forever.

12 gauge buck kicks much, much harder than either.
 
Oh and in a commercial .308 winchester rifle, can you use 7.62 Nato rounds in it? I thought they were similar, but the powder charges and case dimensions are slightly different?

Can I shoot 7.62 Nato in a .308 rifle i.e. Rem 700, but not .308 in a 7.62 rifle i.e. M14?
 
Oh and in a commercial .308 winchester rifle, can you use 7.62 Nato rounds in it?
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Yes. It's the opposite of .223 and 5.56.

The military round is the weaker of the 2 pressure wise.

You CAN shoot commercial .308 in an M14 or other military firearm but the headspacing can become important due to the higher pressures.
 
>>308 milsurp is currently scarce and expensive but that won't last forever.

Boy oh boy, I wish I knew you were right.
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Only time will tell.

There's a whole lot of ammo being made for the war and when that eventually cools down there's going to be a lot of excess - and contractors sitting on a lot of idle loading equipment just begging for congressional pork like replacing the stockpiles of perfectly good ammo DOD has already got.

The only real threat I see is President B. Hussein Carter II may ban imports and surplussing the public and this time two years from now there won't be a round of it left.

In any case I don't expect the current situation of M2 ball being cheaper than M80 to last.
 
I'm 5'8 and weigh ~146lbs. Will the 30-06 blow me away?
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I'm 5'5" and about 140, and shoot my Win. Model 70 in 30-06 with no problems. I'll admit the recoil is a little jolting, but with a slip on recoil pad, I could shoot it quite a bit before the jolt started to get annoying. The pad is also a lot more "grippy" than the stock pad, so it helps keep the rifle in place in my shoulder a lot better, which is a big deal if you have a bony chest/shoulder meeting area like me. It's more jolting when shot from a bench, than a "field" position like you may use hunting, so that helps too.
 
If recoil is really an issue to you, Remington makes a Low Recoil line of ammunition for small or novice shooters. Ballistics are still comparable to the .30-30, IIRC, which is plenty for most North American game at ranges they are typically encountered.

I don't think the .30-06 should be a problem with proper care taken to good fundamentals. I started shooting the .30-06 back when I was 11 or 12 years old. It took me by surprise at first, but I quickly adapted and it never hurt me. That was an old 1970s M700 with absolutely no sort of butt-pad at all. Modern recoil pads help soak a lot of the hurt. Make sure you hold the rifle tight and have enough eye relief on your optics, and take it slow. Don't try shoot 30 or 40 rounds on your first range outing. The minute you start to feel sore or catch yourself anticipating recoil, put it away and go back to the .22. Over time, your body will learn to deal with it and slowly, your mind will comprehend that even if the sensation isn't pleasant, it isn't exactly painful either.

I would recommend you invest in a .308. It should be plenty for deer, elk, moose, and black bear if you keep ranges sane. You could actually reach out and touch a deer or black bear from a ways but I would recommend you not until you know you have the patience and skill level to accomplish it. And though some may disagree, I wouldn't be shooting at elk or moose with that cartridge much past 250 yards.

And I'll let you in on a little secret...

Cartridge selection doesn't matter nearly as much as some think it does. There are a whole host of cartridges that will work, and game animals won't tell the difference. The cartridge you choose isn't nearly as important as the bullet you choose or acknowledging your own limitations. If you just don't like recoil, or you have a shoulder or back injury, or other handicap, a .243 or 6.5x55 will do you far better than a .308, or even a .338. I know someone who killed a lot of elk with a .243 and 100 gr Corelokts. I know, it's not what I'd call ideal either. Apparently, he didn't get the memo, and neither did the elk. He was a very accomplished rifleman with the patience to wait for the right shot and the discipline to pass the shots he couldn't make. And he never went hungry for it. The Europeans have used the 6.5x55 on moose for decades and it reportedly does just fine. I am a big fan of using enough gun, but for me, this means using the most gun that you can shoot comfortably. Shot placement and bullet selection are far more important.
 
Neither you nor your target will ever feel any noticable difference between the 308 and the 30/06. I have both, a Ruger 77 in 308 and a Remington 700 in '06. When I go hunting I usually grab the closest one.
 
I find a 12gauge double or pump shotgun with 00 buck in it somewhat less pleasant than a 150 grain .308 in a bolt gun. I haven't shot bullets heavier than 168grains in .308 turnbolts, but I'd expect that doing so would minimize the difference somewhat. It SEEMS to me that 12 gauge 00 buck in ANY autoloader bothers me less than most .308 semiautos(with 147 to 168 grain pills) that I shoot. I don't know what accounts for this, but the difference may be purely subjective.
I would probably opt for the .308 over the .30-06, since the rounds are slightly more economical, whether buying or reloading. If you can't drop an animal using a .308, then I doubt a .30-06 will do it, either. Conversely, if you cannot shoot a .30-06 due to recoil, I doubt that a .308 will be much better. The suggestion that you go to the 7mm-08 makes some sense. The really NICE thing about the .308 or .30-06 is that there's a cartridge BASED on one or the other which is almost custom-tailored for nearly any application. The .243 or .25-06 are superb light deer or varmint rounds. The 7mm-08 or .270 are both nice compromises between the varmint rounds and parent .30 caliber rounds. For larger and often dangerous animals, the .358 and .35 Whelen are difficult to beat. The latter cartridge approaches the .375 H&H in "thump", but can usualy be had in a more portable package.
Such versatility is difficult to beat. I don't know what sort of restrictions on firearms ownership or on reloading equipment prevails in Canada, but these might also be an issue in your selection. If you are restricted to a certain number of firearms, then perhaps a .270 Winchester and a .35 Whelen would cover almost any hunting situation you might encounter. If you do much reloading, you'll also find that these rounds are pretty forgiving of the novice. Additionally, the .35 Whelen seems to lose nothing in terms of accuracy, when loaded down to .35 Remington-type power levels.
Lastly, there's nothing very much wrong with the .303 British cartridge that is made right by the .308 or the .30-06. It might not be my first choice for varmints, but in all other respects, I think it's a fine round, usually found in a world-class bolt-action rifle. Not the best case life if one's a reloader, but its prevalence in Canada might offset this. Additionally, lower-power reloads seem to work well in it.
 
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Go with what you feel most comfortable with. They make both an 06 and a .308 that will tag a human sized target out to 1k yards, which is longer than many of us can shoot. They both will drop a moose at 300, and recoil isn't really that bad from a semi-auto. I know people will argue that a semi-auto is not as accurate as a bolt, but I'll just remind them that the Garand has made 1k yard shots. It takes a special gun/ammo/shooter for that type of accuracy. I wouldn't worry so much about bolt vs. semi but the accuracy of you with the gun.
 
308- 30-06

Try my pistol, I have one in 30-06 and one in 300WBY Mag, both have recoil both have muzzle brakes on them, try these, I use them, they look scarey but I still stand weight 190, 5ft. 5in. and a nice guy, be carefull
 
Do yourself a HUGE favor - forget the military dinosaurs and get yourself a 7mm/08. You'll be glad you did forever.
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Why not the dinaosaur that spawned most of the military calibers, the 7x57, so close to the 7mm/08 the differences are almost non existant.

I'll stick with my 30-06, the first centerfire cartridge I had, and has always been able to do anything I would ask of it.
 
"....the 7x57, so close to the 7mm/08 the differences are almost non existant."


Except the 7mm/08 is a true short-action caliber and the rifles and factory ammo for it are much more common and much more diverse than those for the 7x57. And, No, reloading is not for everyone.


:cool:
 
7mm-08 also costs, on average, $5 more for a box of shells.

.30-06 and .308 are both cheaper (about the same price).

Don't get me wrong, its a nice round, but its not for someone who is on a budget.
 
Except the 7mm/08 is a true short-action caliber and the rifles and factory ammo for it are much more common and much more diverse than those for the 7x57. And, No, reloading is not for everyone.
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according to midwayUSA

they stock 20 different loads for 7mm-08 with the cheapest being $16 a box

they stock 13 different loads for 7x57 with the cheapest being $13 a box

I say pee on both and buy a 6.5x55
 
"Don't get me wrong, its a nice round, but its not for someone who is on a budget."


Now That's Funny !!! :D:D:D


NONE of the larger game centerfires are cheap enough "for someone who's on a budget. In fact - deer hunting is not cheap enough "for someone who is on a budget".:D:D

I suspect when Dakota shoots his deer with his new 7mm/08 he probably isn't going to think: "OH Phooey, I could have saved 15 cents if I had shot it with a 30-ought-fuddy-duddy". Also suspect by the time Dakota has fired a box of cartridges at deer the extra few dollars for a box of ammo will not be anything he worries about.

Would certainly agree, however, that the 7x57 and the 6.5x55 are both 3000 times more preferable than the .308 or 30/06.

P.S. The price differential at Midway is due to the fact that enough people are shooting 7mm/08 the makers have brought out premium ammo for it - like the $50/box Cor-Bon and that is what is making the "average" price of 7mm/08 a little higher. Not to mention 3 or 4 of the ammo offerings in 7x57 are junkers.

P.P.S. I'm really certain the 30-ought-:barf: is NOT the only caliber ammo sold in Canada - even in the areas away from cities.


;)
 
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