Not lengthy after the 6.5 Creedmoor arrived on the scene, some observers known as it the “.308 Win. killer.” Issues haven’t fairly gone that means. The 6.5 Creedmoor has grow to be immensely widespread, and rightly so, however any notion that it might trigger the demise of the .308 Winchester was unfaithful then and is unfaithful at the moment. The .308 Win. stays a extremely widespread cartridge globally, and it possible will probably be for so long as centerfire rifle cartridges are made.
Besides, it’s straightforward to neglect the outdated .308 for extra attention-grabbing choices. There was a stretch of time after I didn’t shoot .308 Winchester fairly often as a result of I used to be busy testing all of the flashy new cartridges which have been launched not too long ago. The .308 Win. is neither flashy nor new, and I suppose I had come to view the cartridge as being, nicely, considerably boring. It was like an outdated plow horse that simply stored plodding up and down the sphere, doing its job with monotonous reliability. With the knowledge of years, I’ve come to view that as a advantage.
That’s one purpose I got down to rediscover the .308 this 12 months by testing extra rifles chambered for the cartridge and looking with it extra usually. First, whereas looking in northern Alberta with a Mossberg Patriot rifle chambered in .308 Winchester, I shot the largest black bear of my life—that’s noteworthy contemplating I already had one within the file e book. Thirty minutes after capturing that bear, which measured 7 ft, 4 inches from nostril to tail, I shot a fair greater bear that measured 7 ft, 7 inches. Every bear dropped to 1 shot utilizing Hornady’s American Whitetail load with a 150-grain InterLock bullet.
Extra not too long ago, I shot a good looking 200-pound fallow deer in Texas utilizing the brand new Benelli BE.S.T. Lupo rifle and Federal’s 175-grain Terminal Ascent .308 Win. load. I shot the buck quartering on, and the bullet smashed via the massive shoulder bones and penetrated 30 inches earlier than coming to relaxation, intact and completely mushroomed, within the offside cover. The buck ran 12 yards and dropped. Such spectacular efficiency is frequent with .308 Winchester, particularly when loaded with newer premium bullets that ship nice terminal efficiency close to and much.
I’m not alone in my affection for the .308 Win., and it seems a quiet majority of hunters nonetheless use and love the cartridge regardless of its oldness. Listed here are 9 causes the .308 isn’t going away anytime quickly.
Army Roots Ensured Success
The army model of the .308 Win, the 7.62X51mm NATO, was developed within the Fifties and used with the M14 rifle, M60 machine gun and lots of different U.S. and allied-nation weapons. The M14 was changed by the M16 through the Vietnam Warfare, however the rifle continued to see service lengthy afterward. I had expertise with the M14 whereas serving within the Navy off Vietnam through the closing days of the struggle. We nonetheless had M14s aboard, and it was the primary army rifle I discovered to shoot. It left an enduring impression.
Whereas the 7.62X51mm NATO continues to see army service, Winchester way back noticed a industrial marketplace for the cartridge and launched it to hunters because the .308 Win. in 1952, two years earlier than NATO’s adoption of the 7.62X51. Chambered for the favored Mannequin 70 rifle and others, the cartridge rapidly gained a world following. Title the job – looking, goal capturing, or army and police sniping – and also you’ll discover the .308 Win. gainfully employed.
Simply because the .30-06 Springfield was used as a army cartridge and loved nice success as a looking spherical, so, too, has the .308 Win. There’s a sure poetic symmetry on this as a result of the .308 Win. is, for all sensible functions, a shortened .30-06. The .30-06 can launch bullets just a little quicker, however the 308 Winchester can do nearly all the things the .30-06 can do within the discipline, utilizing much less powder and producing much less recoil, whereas conveying the advantages of a cartridge that matches in a brief motion. It’s, in some methods, a extra environment friendly cartridge, and that’s simply one in every of many attributes that helped make the .308 so widespread.
Gross sales Stay Excessive
Yr after 12 months, the .308 Win. has persistently ranked among the many top-selling rifle cartridges. Ammo makers aren’t at all times eager to share exact gross sales figures, however Federal Ammunition and Hornady say .308 Win. persistently ranks amongst their high 5 best-sellers, and Winchester additionally confirms that .308 Win. continues to be one in every of their top-selling rounds.
How can that be when so many new cartridges have arrived in recent times that ship superior ballistic efficiency? Ammo makers say there are a number of causes for this. Along with being a really versatile spherical for hunters pursuing deer, elk and different large recreation, the .308 remains to be a favourite for goal shooters and it’s very fashionable to be used in semi-automatic rifles for hog looking and private safety to some extent. It has for many years been the probably the most broadly used sniper cartridges by militaries and legislation enforcement, and whereas different cartridges have made inroads into that market, the .308 Win. arguably stays the world’s hottest short-action rifle cartridge with a bullet diameter bigger than 223. Those that predicted the demise of the .308 weren’t simply untimely. They have been incorrect.
It’s Correct
The .308 Win. way back earned a popularity for delivering good accuracy within the discipline and on the goal vary. Of all of the rifles chambered in .308 Winchester that I’ve examined this 12 months, most may print their finest 3-shot group at a half-inch or higher with ammo they preferred. OL Employees Author Tyler Freel did a large check on each funds and mid-priced looking rifles this 12 months and shot 217 teams with 15 totally different masses via quite a lot of rifles in .308. With 5-shot teams, essentially the most correct looking rifles averaged between 1.1-inch and 1.3-inch teams. Thoughts you, that was with looking ammo and looking rifles. Match-grade ammo fired in match-grade rifles can do higher.
Though a number of different cartridges are favored for some types of aggressive capturing, the .308 Win. remains to be utilized in PALMA capturing, and it’s one in every of two decisions allowed in F-TR class matches. In line with some sources, it was the 308 Win. that reportedly triggered the NRA at one time to cut back the scale of targets utilized in some competitions to cut back the variety of ties.
It’s Versatile
You’ll hard-pressed to seek out many different manufacturing facility cartridges loaded with as many alternative bullet weights and kinds because the .308 Winchester. Present listed choices, with bullets within the 110-grain to 185-grain vary, show that there’s a .308 load to go well with each choice and attain most any job.
Present masses from Federal Ammunition embody three totally different Gold Medal goal rounds and 13 totally different masses within the Federal Premium line utilizing bullets such because the Trophy Bonded Tip, Berger Hybrid, Nosler Partition, Terminal Ascent, Barnes TSX, Swift Scirocco II, Trophy Copper, Nosler Ballistic Tip, and Nosler AccuBond. There are, as well as, three varmint and predator masses utilizing gentle bullets in addition to an American Eagle FMJ load, 4 Fusion masses, two Non-Typical Whitetail masses and three reasonably priced Energy-Shok masses.
Winchester makes no fewer than 18 totally different .308 masses, together with a brand new 150-grain Copper Influence spherical together with others within the PDX1 Defender, Ballistic Silvertip, Energy Max, Tremendous X, Deer Season XP, Match, Expedition Lengthy Vary, and white field FMJ strains. Winchester’s lineup notably consists of some subsonic masses.
Hornady lists 15 totally different .308 Win masses utilizing 125-grain to 168-grain bullets, together with 4 new masses using Hornady’s new CX and ECX copper bullets. Black Hills Ammunition provides a dozen totally different looking and match .308 masses within the Black Hills Gold line utilizing all the things from 125-grain Hornady CX to 178-grain Hornady ELD-X bullets. Nosler makes greater than a dozen .308 masses, together with some topped with a few the very best looking bullets ever made, the Nosler Partition and Nosler AccuBond.
Handloaders know that the .308 Winchester just isn’t troublesome to load for, and there’s a wide selection of accessible bullet weights and kinds.
It’s Lots Potent
The .308 Win. is greater than enough for many North American recreation at regular looking distances. It’s a dandy deer cartridge. It’s routinely used to take elk and moose, and it’s onerous to think about a extra excellent all-purpose black bear cartridge. It’s surprisingly widespread in components of Europe. In Africa, the .308 Winchester has lengthy been utilized by hunters to take each species of antelope, as much as and together with eland. (Freel used a .308 and Norma 180-grain Bondstrike ammo with nice success on his 2019 plains recreation hunt in South Africa). In 7.62X51 NATO type, it has even been utilized by poachers to kill elephants.
The .308 Win. does have its limitations. It’s not as quick current hotrods just like the 28 Nosler and it’s not as highly effective as large boomers just like the .338 Win. Magazine. Its bullets don’t have as excessive of a ballistic coefficients as these of the brand new, trendier cartridges. However most hunters needn’t fear about any of that. At 400 yards a .308 Terminal Ascent bullet (175 grains) remains to be delivering 1,503 foot kilos of vitality, which is lots for North American recreation. And that’s, after all, extra vitality than the 6.5 Creedmoor bullet (130 grains) delivers on the similar distance.
You Can Discover Ammo
There are few locations on the planet the place ammunition is offered the place you may’t discover .308 Winchester. That may’t be mentioned of many different cartridges. The 308 Win./7.62X51 NATO is a long-established, international commonplace. Even on the peak of the current ammunition scarcity, when the preferred looking cartridges have been all however inconceivable to seek out, it was simpler to seek out .308 than different widespread rounds just like the 6.5 Creedmoor. I believe that was partly as a result of there was merely a lot of it in circulation, in so many alternative loadings, earlier than the scarcity arrived in full drive. For some time, issues received so dangerous that even the .308 Win. disappeared in some areas, but it surely was one of many first widespread looking cartridges to rebound and trickle again onto retailers’ cabinets. I’ve not too long ago discovered .308 Win. ammo at each vital retailer I’ve visited. This isn’t the case for some looking masses, just like the .300 Win. Magazine.
Everybody Chambers for it
Just about each main rifle producer makes bolt-action weapons in .308 Winchester. They accomplish that for one easy purpose: the rifles promote. Within the reasonably priced rifle class widespread decisions embody the Ruger American, Mossberg Patriot, Winchester XPR, Savage Axis, Franchi Momentum, Mauser M18, Thompson Middle Compass II, CZ 457, and others.
Therer are good mid-priced rifles, just like the Weatherby Vanguard and plenty of Howa fashions, plus a few of the extra reasonably priced Bergara fashions, in addition to the Kimber Hunter, Tikka T3X, and Savage 110.
You’ll discover no scarcity of costlier high-quality rifles chambered in .308 Win. These embody variations of the Ruger Hawkeye, Browning X-Bolt, Winchester Mannequin 70, Bergara Canyon, Benelli Lupo, and others. Many customized gun makers will fortunately construct you a rifle in .308, if you want.
It’s also possible to discover single-shot rifles such because the Henry Single Shot, and lever-action rifles just like the Browning BLR, in .308 Win. I shot my first large trophy wild boar with a .308 Browning BLR a long time in the past. Sadly, that gun is not in my stock. I don’t keep in mind when or why I parted firm with it, however I significantly remorse doing so.
It’s AR Pleasant
Eugene Stoner’s authentic battle rifle design, which might grow to be the M16, was initially chambered for the 7.62X51 NATO cartridge, the army model of the .308 Win. That AR10 design has been round for greater than six a long time, and whereas it almost went extinct for a time, it has risen from the lifeless to grow to be a star. That’s partly as a result of it provides numerous room to work with within the receiver, which led to the AR-10 being chambered for a bunch of cartridges in weapons tailor-made for particular functions, however the .308 Win. stays the bread-and-butter chambering for the AR-10.
The principle downside of the AR-10 for hunters was the truth that it was heavy, with many weapons weighing 8-10 kilos empty with no optic hooked up. Chopping weight meant chopping barrel lengths and sacrificing velocity. That’s not the case. At this time, yow will discover plenty of AR-10 rifles weighing nicely beneath 8 kilos. instance is Ruger’s new SFAR (Small-Body Autoloading Rifle), which packs 308 Winchester punch right into a gun almost equivalent in dimension to an AR-15. It weighs simply 7.3 kilos with a 20-inch barrel. That places it on par with many widespread bolt-action rifles.
Recoil is Tolerable
In weapons of cheap weight, recoil of the .308 Winchester received’t rattle your enamel. Recoil will increase with lighter rifles and heavier bullets, after all, so some comparisons assist put the cartridge’s comparatively gentle recoil in perspective. A 7.5-pound rifle launching a 150-grain .308 Win. bullet at 2,800 fps produces about 15.8 foot-pounds of recoil vitality. That’s simply a few foot-pounds greater than you’ll get from a mild-recoiling 143-grain 6.5 Creedmoor bullet, and it places the .308 Win. comfortably throughout the recoil tolerance of a majority of shooters.
In distinction, a heavier 8-pound rifle chambered in .270 Win., firing a 150-grain bullet, delivers 17 foot-pounds of recoil vitality, whereas the identical gun capturing a 150-grain .30-06 bullet hits the shoulder with 17.6 foot-pounds of vitality. Numbers are likewise greater for the same-weight bullets in cartridges just like the 7mm Rem. Magazine., 280 Ackley Improved, 300 WSM and 300 Win. Magazine. None of those cartridges will make an animal any extra lifeless than a correctly positioned, well-constructed .308 Win. bullet, and the .308 will produce much less recoil in lighter weapons than any of those cartridges.
If you need a 30 caliber bullet to impression with accuracy and good vitality on track whereas producing tolerable recoil in your shoulder, the nice outdated .308 Winchester could be your best option.
