{"id":1243,"date":"2020-03-31T13:27:31","date_gmt":"2020-03-31T17:27:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wholesalehunter.com\/blog\/?p=1243"},"modified":"2020-05-27T12:44:47","modified_gmt":"2020-05-27T16:44:47","slug":"308-win-or-30-06-springfield-by-craig-boddington","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wholesalehunter.com\/blog\/308-win-or-30-06-springfield-by-craig-boddington\/","title":{"rendered":"308 Win OR 30-06 Springfield? By Craig Boddington"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Right now, the 6.5 Creedmoor<\/a> is gathering all the headlines and glory. Fifty years ago, the 7mm Remington Magnum<\/a> was America\u2019s darling, for some years the world\u2019s most popular cartridge to carry a \u201cmagnum\u201d suffix. Both, to me, are anomalies. America is .30-caliber country!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
308 blacktail: An excellent blacktail from northern California, taken with a Winchester M88 in .308. The 88 is one of several lever-actions chambered to the .308. Able to fit into short actions, the .308 offers a much larger choice of both rifles and actions than the .30-06.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It started in 1892 with the .30-40 Krag<\/a>, and continued in 1895 with the .30-30, now 125 years old and still selling well. Introduced in 1906, the powerful .30-06 became the American standard. Introduced in 1963, the .300 Winchester Magnum<\/a> was at first reviled: Too short in the neck, caught up in Winchester\u2019s catastrophic pre-\u201964\/post-\u201964 shift, and designed to replace the revered .300 H&H. The .300 Winchester Magnum did not take off well. However, the sun, moon, and stars realigned. Over time the .300 Winchester Magnum, a proper American .30-caliber, booted the 7mm Remington Magnum as the most popular magnum cartridge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"308
308 Dad M70: My Dad, Bud Boddington, took most of his game with this Winchester M70 .308. Dating to the 1950s, it has been shot little since Dad passed 20 years ago\u2014but it still groups extremely well\u2026like most .308s.
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It remains to be seen if the 6.5mm Creedmoor will retain its current popularity, but I believe order will return to the universe and we will again become a .30-caliber nation, as we have been since the dawn of smokeless powder. However this plays out, two great and versatile .30-caliber cartridges will remain among our most popular choices. They are, of course, the .308 Winchester<\/a> (aka 7.62×51 NATO) and the .30-06 Springfield<\/a> (aka .30 U.S. Government, Model of 1906).<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

\"Co
Co elk .30-06 Of several, this is the first elk I took with a .30-06, a Remington M700 using 180-grain Nosler Partitions. Both the .308 and .30-06 are superb elk rifles\u2026at moderate ranges.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The .308 is based on a\n.30-06 case shortened from 63mm (2.494 inches) to 51mm (2.015 inches). It was\nintroduced in 1952, the year of my birth so, like me, it\u2019s no spring chicken. We\nmust never forget that the .30-06 is the most powerful cartridge ever adopted\nby a major military power. The .30-06 and its 1903 Springfield bolt-action\nrifle defined what we think of as \u201cstandard\u201d action length. In part this was\nits undoing; its later Garand rifle was long and heavy; we wanted a shorter and\nmore efficient self-loading action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"DSC_0292:
Left, .308 Winchester; right, .30-06. The .308 (7.62×51 NATO) was introduced in 1952 by shortening the .30-06 case. The result is a slightly less powerful cartridge that fits in short actions, is more efficient, and tends to be extremely accurate.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Well into the Fifties the\n.30-06 was not only America\u2019s service cartridge, but also our most popular\nsporting round. Unabashedly, I am a .30-06 guy. As such, I have huge experience\nwith the .30-06\u2026and not nearly as much with the .308. In performance on game,\nthe .308 and .30-06 are similar. Always it depends on who is doing the loading\nbut, with greater case capacity, with bullets up to 180 grains the .30-06 averages\nabout 150 fps faster than the .308. Game animals are unlikely to discern the\ndifference; there\u2019s really nothing you can (or should) do with a .30-06 that\nyou can\u2019t (or shouldn\u2019t) do with a .308. The gap widens with heavier bullets. These\ndays few of us actually use<\/em> heavier bullets, but with 200-grain bullets\nthe .30-06 is about 200 fps faster\u2026and with 220-grain slugs the .30-06 is\nnearly 300 fps faster than the .308.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"DSC_0358:
Although first introduced by Winchester as a commercial cartridge, the .308\/7.62×51 NATO was designed primarily for self-loading actions. This semiautomatic AR10 was built by Doug Turnbull.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

So, the .30-06 is a bit\nmore powerful and shoots flatter than the .308, and does better with\nextra-heavy bullets. Personally, I like<\/em> the .30-06 better, but I\ngrudgingly admit the .308 offers significant advantages. The shorter case is\nmore efficient. Efficiency is conducive to accuracy, so, on average, a .308 is\nlikely to be more accurate than a similar .30-06. That said, in my experience\nquality of barrel and ammo are more important to accuracy than case design.\nI\u2019ve never had a problem with .30-06 accuracy, certainly not for hunting\u2026but it\ndepends on what you want to do. The .308 has been used for bench-rest\ncompetition; the .30-06 rarely. Also, because it\u2019s slightly less powerful, the\n.308 kicks less than the .30-06.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"DSC_0634:
Because of required action length, semiautomatic sporters in .30-06 are fairly uncommon. One of them is the Sauer 303, used to take this big Texas boar at last light.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The greater advantage to the .308 is its suitability to shorter actions\u2026and various action types. My Dad did virtually all his hunting with a Model 70 Featherweight in .308, a shorter and lighter bolt-action than was possible with a .30-06. The .308 has been chambered to several lever-actions, including the Savage 99, Winchester 88, and Browning\u2019s short-action BLR. In lever-actions, only the long-action BLR and the 1895 Winchester have been chambered to .30-06. Semi-auto .30-06 sporters aren\u2019t as scarce: Remington\u2019s Woodsmaster series; Browning\u2019s BAR; H&K M940; and Sauer 303. Self-loaders in .308 are common, including Browning, Remington, and of course, the M14\/M1A series and the full gamut of AR10-based rifles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"DSC_1037:
Semiautomatic .308s are more common than .30-06 self-loaders. Browning\u2019s BLR in both short and long-action is chambered to both. This big aoudad was taken with a left-hand short-action BLR in .308.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Today not as many\nshooters handload as we did a while back. To handloaders this doesn\u2019t matter,\nbut for shooters of factory ammo there\u2019s a huge advantage to choosing popular\ncartridges because, in both variety and availability, there\u2019s lots of ammo. Everybody<\/em>\nloads both .308 and .30-06, with hundreds of factory loads to choose from, featuring\njust about any bullet. Popular cartridges also benefit first from emerging\ntechnology. Hornady\u2019s Superformance line uses blended propellants that increase\nvelocity without increasing pressure. When Superformance was introduced in 2009\nthe first load was a 165-grain .30-06. In the test rifle we used, this load\nclocked over 3000 fps, which is creeping into .300 magnum territory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"IMG_3054:
An advantage to \u201cpopular\u201d cartridges is wider choice of loads. Both the .308 and .30-06 (shown) are loaded by everyone, literally hundreds of factory loads, with every imaginable type, style, and bullet weight.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is unlikely that a\n.308 load with a 165-grain bullet can ever be that fast. However, today the\n.308 is more<\/em> popular than the .30-06, profiting equally from ongoing\nload development. Because the .308 case is more efficient and propellants\ncontinue to advance, the velocity gap between the .308 and .30-06 is narrower\nthan it used to be. For example, that same Superformance .30-06 load with\n165-grain SST is currently rated at 2960 fps in a 24-inch barrel. The .308\nSuperformance load with the same bullet and barrel length is rated at 2840 fps.\nThat is a very fast .308 load, just 120 fps difference from the .30-06 load\nwith the same bullet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"IMG_4088:
My friend Ron Silverman is a staunch .308 guy. A careful and picky shooter, Ron loves accuracy and chooses the .308. It is probably needlessly powerful for deer-sized game, but it performs with decisive results. This 2019 Kansas buck was downed in its tracks with a single Berger bullet.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There is a difference:\nThe faster .30-06 will deliver more energy and shoot a bit flatter. No matter\nwhat loads are used, the .308 is not quite a .30-06. However, one thing the\ngrowing long-range crowd is teaching us: Trajectory, meaning bullet drop at a\ncertain distance, is just a number. Know the number, know the range, know your\nequipment, and the solution is just a matter of dialing the range or holding\nthe correct stadia line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"IMG_4100:
Among our Kansas hunters and friends Bobby Dierks had the longest and perhaps toughest shot, a good buck headed over a ridge at something over 300 yards. Dierks used a .30-06, flat-shooting enough and plenty powerful.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I have more confidence in\nthe .30-06 because I\u2019ve used it much more, and I like its higher velocity and\nincreased energy. Fans of the .308 probably like its legendary accuracy, its\nability to be housed in shorter actions, and its lighter recoil. All arguments\nare valid, and we\u2019re really splitting hairs. Although decisively effective,\nboth cartridges are needlessly powerful for deer. Despite what I just said\nabout trajectory, neither shoot as flat as I like for mountain hunting or\nserious long-range pursuits. However, the two are close enough in power to be\nredundantly effective on game larger than deer: Elk, moose, black bear, larger\nAfrican plains game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Namibia
Namibia kudu donna: Donna Boddington used a Ruger M77 in .30-06 with 180-grain Interlock to take this excellent Namibian kudu. We\u2019ve used the .30-06 to take a wide assortment of non-dangerous Africa game\u2026but at normal African shooting distances the .308 works equally well<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Oddly, I\u2019ve never hunted\nelk or moose with a .308, although my Dad\u2019s .308 accounted for both species.\nI\u2019ve taken several elk with the .30-06 out to about 350 yards. The .30-06 is\nstill, always, and forever a great elk rifle\u2026but at reasonable range, so is the\n.308. In Africa I\u2019ve used the .308 a bit. Like I said, of the two cartridges,\nI\u2019m mostly a .30-06 guy, so I\u2019ve used the .30-06 a whole lot more. Both are\nextremely and identically effective on tough animals such as 500-pound\nwildebeest and 800-pound zebras\u2026at normal African ranges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"P1000465:
This Asian water buffalo is the largest game I\u2019ve taken with either .30-06 or .308. Firearms can\u2019t be brought into the Philippines, so we used an old M14 and military ball ammo borrowed from the local military. For close-range jungle shooting it worked just fine!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The long-distance\nshooting that we bandy about as if routine is rare in Africa. Over there, one\ndrop of blood is considered a wounded animal, counted against the license with\nall fees payable. African hunting teams work hard to secure close, near-certain\nshots; anything much over 200 yards is considered \u201cfar,\u201d and shots beyond 300\nyards are rare. At these distances, both the .308 and .30-06 are powerful and\neffective for almost all non-dangerous species. The 2000-pound eland is an\nexception\u2026but I\u2019ve seen eland bulls taken cleanly with both cartridges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Superformance
Hornady\u2019s first Superformance load was a165-grain .30-06, producing over 3000 fps. This was obviously a \u201cfast barrel,\u201d with velocity a bit higher than rated. No .308 load can approach this velocity, solidly into .300 magnum territory.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The .308 and .30-06 have\nalso been used effectively for all thick-skinned African game. The .30-06 with\n220-grain solids was once considered acceptable for elephant, and expert wildlife\nofficers often use 7.62×51 NATO rifles and ammo for elephant control. To me\nthere are much better tools, but the power of these versatile .30-calibers\nshould not be underestimated. When I hunted in the Philippines, we couldn\u2019t\nbring in firearms, so we borrowed a vintage M14 in 7.62×51 and some military\nball ammo from the local garrison. My partner and I each shot multiple water\nbuffaloes Jungle shooting at close range is not something I\u2019d like to make a habit\nof, but we had no problems and the \u201clittle\u201d .308 was impressive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Superformance
On average the .308 is probably slightly more accurate than the .30-06, but I haven\u2019t had any problems with .30-06 accuracy, especially for hunting. This was the first group from Hornady\u2019s fast Superformance load with 165-grain bullet, three shots well under an inch at 100 yards. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Take your pick: Both the .308 and .30-06 are useful and effective cartridges. If you place a premium on accuracy and want a bit less recoil, you\u2019ll probably prefer the .308. The .30-06, with more velocity and energy, and better able to handle heavier bullets, is slightly more versatile. Both are excellent choices, two classic all-American .30-caliber cartridges, almost certain to remain popular and available for many years to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

GUN CALIBER DICTIONARY<\/a> <\/h1>\n\n\n\n