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Remington .308

buckslayer85
Is the .308 a good hunting rifle? what types of game are harvested with it?
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9 comments

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  • buckslayer85
    I have been offered two guns in .308 but can only afford one of them. They are a Remington 788 and a Remington 600. They are from different sources. The 788 has an older scope on it, and is in 98% condition. I won't see the 600 until Wednesday evening. I know nothing about the "reputation" of either model. I'd appreciate any information anyone could provide.
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  • TWalker
    Welcome to the forum! The .308 is an excellent hunting caliber for game up to the size of black bears and mule deer. It is accurate, ammo is readily available with a variety of bullet weights for everything from varmints, target shooting and big game. It will work on elk or moose but a larger caliber is usually recommended for them and for dangerous game. I consider the .308 a great choice for most hunting.
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  • Nwcid
    The .308 is a great all around caliber. With the proper ammo it is able to take any game I can think of in N America. .308 is probably the most common rifle round in the US.
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  • stevecrea
    One way I would answer your question would be to compare the .308 Winchester with the 30-06 Springfield, which has been one of the most popular big game cartridges in the last 100 years.


    With a 180 grain bullet, which is one of the more popular weights, maximum loadings for the .308 usually attain around 2600 feet per second at the muzzle. In contrast, maximum loadings for the 30-06 usually attain around 2700 feet per second at the muzzle. This 100 fps difference is only about four percent.

    Yes, the .308 is a good hunting cartridge, for deer, black bear, hogs, caribou, elk, and many species of plains game in Africa.
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  • beantownshootah
    quote:Originally posted by buckslayer85
    Is the .308 a good hunting rifle?

    Its an excellent round for hunting, and its one of the most popular calibers in North America (and in fact the world) for hunting.

    The military version of this round, the 7.62x51mm NATO, also happens to be one of the most popular rounds in the world for sniping as well as general infantry use.

    Advantages of the .308 include high intrinsic accuracy, "goldilocks" power level (ie enough power to get the job done out to several hundred yards distance, but not so much that most shooters can't handle it or will find it intimidating to shoot), ready availability of a wide variety of ammo including brass and bullets for reloading, and ready availability of a large number of guns.

    Every manufacturer chambers guns in this caliber, and most chamber EVERY hunting gun they make in this caliber.

    Also, this is one of the few rounds for which sporting (as well as military type) semi-automatic rifles are both popular and widely available.


    quote:
    what types of game are harvested with it?

    All North American game CAN be taken with a .308, provided the hunter is skilled and knows his/her limitations.

    That would include prairie dogs, coyotes, deer (all sorts), hogs, black bear, and more esoteric game like alligator, etc.

    Its perfectly adequate for elk or moose as well (and lot of people do use it there), though many prefer bigger rounds.

    Likewise, while its POSSIBLE to take brown (ie grizzly) bear with this round (and its been done), given the size and dangerous nature of that particular animal, I think most hunters would prefer a bit more "gun".
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  • hk-91
    One of the better rounds for hunting, and if you reload there are alot of bullets grains and types for most any game.
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  • reddnek
    The 308 might be good, but the 30-06 and 270 are better
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  • colt423
    Best way to think of it is . 308 son of 30-06. it a 30-06 with a shorter case so weapons would cycle faster.
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  • sandwarrior
    quote:Originally posted by colt423
    Best way to think of it is . 308 son of 30-06. it a 30-06 with a shorter case so weapons would cycle faster.


    It's actually descended from the .300 Savage. It's the original short .30 cal round the Gov't started playing with when they thought the 30-06 was too big. However, the Savage .300 was developed and released in 1920 because people didn't like the big kick of the 30-06. They've all taken just about everything on this side of the world and even a bunch on the other side of the world.

    There is no shortage of power in the .308 for hunting anything in N America. The great big energy guns also cause great big recoil...thus misses. You don't want misses when hunting dangerous game.
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