.308 or 30-06?

Question

First off, this is for a multi-purpose rifle. I mainly hunt deer in crowed woods(Trees, not people. Lots of cover. Only one shot). I have only deer-hunted two times, pretty soon three, and I used a 30-30. But my dad is thinking about getting a new gun for the rest of my life. What should I get, the .308 or the classic 30-06?

Answer 1

The .308 is more accurate....... Please look over the 2 websites below... Yes they are geared more for tactical and competition target but the information is still quite relevant to you.....

http://www.snipercountry.com/Articles/FH...

http://www.6mmbr.com/308Win.html

The .308 has plenty of power for deer. Most folks would argue the .270 is plenty but the .308 does have an excellent reputation... The recoil of the .308 is also a little lighter than the 30-06.......

Answer 2

.300 win mag.  Great for mule deer, white tail, moose, caribou, elk, and black bear.  Shoots flatter and has better ballistics then the 30.06 and the .308 and will take game game at a greater distance than either if needed.  It does have a bit more recoil though as it is a magnum cartridge.  If you want an all around cartridge the .300 win mag is as close as you can get imo.  It will drop every large game in North America easily with correct shot placement.  And it doesn't tear up the meat like the bigger magnums can.

If he's getting a gun for the rest of his life I'd suggest a Remington 700.  It's the best rifle I've ever owned.  I hunt with mine in .300 win mag and love it.

Answer 3

If you are going to be hunting woods and heavy cover the 30-30 is a great choice. Or 35 Rem.

I love both the 308 and 30-06. Today I choose the 30-06 for your new rifle. NOTE in woods and heavy cover a scope won't help much, more of a hindrance.

In heavy cover I shoot a Marlin 336, 35 Rem.This is where Ghost Ring sights really come into their own.

Answer 4

30-06

Answer 5

Got it, crowded woods.  Both are excellent choices but for crowded wooded hunting I believe I would go with a rifle I already own.  It is a lightweight, stainless .308 Winchester Browning lever-action rifle.  It has a 20" barrel and high-visibility red fiber optics front sight.  That, or if you can find a good Remington pump action or semi-auto carbine in .30-06.

Happy hunting.

H

Answer 6

Please go with the thirty odd 6, man i hunt the same type of woods and i have layed down so many deer with that gun and please get one of the nicest scopes you can get too, i just really love the overall balance of this gun and the power its got, I used a .308 once and it was just a little bit shaky for me, so you better go with a thirty odd 6, and good luck, if its brown its down.

Answer 7

Lots of answers already.  Both calibers are a good choice.

There is nothing the 30-06 can do that the 308 Win cannot do.

However, there are three things the 308 can do the 30-06 cannot.

The 30-06 was designed in 1906.  The 308 Win is equal to the 30-06 in velocity because it was able to use the new powders introduced by Winchester in the 1950.

First, the 308 has a shorter bolt draw.  This means there is a little less wrist action to chamber and and fire a round.  This shorter action means the rifle's overall length can be made smaller, or, a larger barrel can be accomodated without being a nuisance.

Second - the 308 is physically smaller - it costs less because it has less material in the cartridge brass.  Why pay $5 to $15 more a box for 30-06 ammo the rest of your life when you could be saving $5 to $15 a box the rest of your life?

Third - 308 Win is a current military NATO standard round.  You have access to huge quantities of inexpensive components to handload from.  Most military bases and national guard personnel have access - not unusual for a buddy to drop off a few boxes of ammo or a 5gal pail of brass. (( This happens when a range exercise is cancelled in the middle....... and once the ammo cans have been unsealed they are not welcome back to the armory.  It is either passed out to those who can use them - the rest is destroyed.))  It is also not uncommon to find high grade military 308 Special Ball and other sniper or exotic round - tracer, armor piercing etc - at gun shows.  308 Win is extremely popular.

All things between the 30-06 and 308 are very much equal - but the 308 Win is a much less expensive firearm to operate.

Hope this helps.

Answer 8

You really can't go wrong with either a .308 or .30-06 because they are pretty similar. Remingtons ballistics shows the .308 to be about 100 fps slower in the same cartridge meaning same bullet and bullet weight than the .30-06 but the .308 is also a little shorter and lighter. You can't go wrong with either, if you want to take longer shots especially between or through the open spots in a dense tree type of environment I would not go for the .30-30. Nothing wrong with it as it has taken so many deer but I would want personally a flatter shooting cartridge and more accuracy plus longer range out of a hunting rifle.

Answer 9

There is a big difference between shooter accuracy and the gun's inherent accuracy. A bolt-action 308 will hit your shoulder with twice as much felt recoil as the 30-30, despite what the numbers say, because the shoulder suspension system absorbs the first 15 or 20 ft-lbs of recoil unfelt. More felt recoil means more overbracing time and general distraction from the concentration needed for your very best work on the job at hand. Ignore those who say you need "satisfying recoil levels or you are not a man"! Those people are nuts. So it is that at deer woods ranges limited by visibility, the 30-30 is more accurate than the 308 by a wide margin. However, you can handload the 308 or 30-06 down to 30-30 power levels for deer woods use just fine, but you, or somebody, has to do it or it won't get done! That way, you can use standard loads in the 308 or 30-06 for elk, or handload 200 to 220 grain loads for Grizzly! So it all comes down to you guessing whether you will go after elk sometime later on, and if you will learn to handload, or secure the services of someone who does. The reloading manuals from Hornady or Speer gotten mailorder from http://www.midwayUSA.com/ or their Google competitors, have excellent tutorials on reloading, and all supplies needed can also be similarly ordered. Finally, the time is coming when everything for the 308 will be much more available, and cheaper, than 30-06 stuff, and the 308 has plenty of power. Good Luck. Regards, Larry.

Answer 10

Since theres alot of cover, you want a heavier bullet in case it hits a branch. So I would go with the 30-06 since you can get up to a 220 grain bullet. But 220 grain will ruin alot of meat so I would go with something a little lighter.

Answer 11

Your best choice is the 30-06, because you have a greater variety of bullet weights to choose from. The 30-06 has been tried, true, tested, and proven since 1906.* It has harvested more Deer than any other caliber except for the 30-30 Winchester.*

Answer 12

30-06

not only 'classic'

and 'famous'

but u can hunt almost every north american animal with it

please get a 30-06

Answer 13

If you could only have one rifle? The 30-06, no question about it.

Answer 14

for thick woods the 30-30 is the better of all 3 guns.

Answer 15

unless you just want a lever action than go with a .308, however a 30 ought 6 is the undoubtedly superior gun.

i not going to list down all the reasons why, because it would take too long and it already seems that the general consensus is to by a 30-06. get a Tikka. also the 30-06 is known for being the all around gun for north american game (you can hunt every thing in north america with it effectively"

Answer 16

The chambering should follow the rifle. With the kind of hunting you're doing now, something short would be advantageous. I'm thinking Remington's model 7 or the Mountain rifle version of the 700. If you go that route, then 308 is the choice. But if you're getting a standard rifle, the extra length of the standard action isn't a real consideration, and 30-06 is the better choice. Of course, the whole thing is splitting hairs, but you did ask.

Answer 17

Keep the 30-30.