308???? Why!

[jvw2008]

Dadajack posted earlier that he has a 308 Christiansen Arms in the near future. Got me thinking about the cartridge. Started a list of pros and cons in my head. The most obvious pro is ammo availability. Curious what others would list as pros and cons.

[DHuffman]

Dadajack posted earlier that he has a 308 Christiansen Arms in the near future. Got me thinking about the cartridge. Started a list of pros and cons in my head. The most obvious pro is ammo availability. Curious what others would list as pros and cons.

It's a good cartridge the only con IMO is the recoil.

[gman47564]

I have a couple same as new 308 barrels leaning up in the corner.. they shoot plenty good enough.. i just dont like them.. lol. As dave said the recoil for one.. another con to me is the 308 doesnt have enough ass behind it to push the high bc heavy 308 bullets fast enough to reach their full potential.. why push a 200+ gr bullet 2600fps when you can push it at 2950+ fps with the same felt recoil pretty much.. i screw one on every now and then. Get it shooting pretty good then realize i still dont like them and pull it back off.. lol

[jvw2008]

Another pro that occurred to me is the huge bullet selection available. The excellent barrel life advertised is, IMO, a function bullet velocities used rather than some special inherent trait.

[mnbogboy]

Pros; ammo, brass, bullet availability (well there was)
           Easy to load & tune, not a total powder hog
Cons; kick, not a "knock down DRT" type of game
            cartridge compared to others IMHO (biggest
            reason i moved on to faster cartridges).

[Rob01]

Nothing wrong with the .308. I have a few and use them in Tac class in PRS matches. Shoot them to 1200+ yards and they do well. With the past few years showing up with better and higher BC bullets it's brought new life to the .308. A good brake cuts down on recoil as well so not really a negative.

[dadajack]

Because the 308 was my first true love. And, I don't have a bolt action 308 in my stable right now. True, you cannot push the uber high BC bullets to 3000 FPS, but, the rifle I purchased is not a target rifle. It's main purpose will be for hunting, so the velocity capabilities of the 308 paired with the exceptional accuracy I expect to be able to achieve will more than make up for the increased wind drift at 500 yards, which would be more than 2X the distance I would ever shoot at a game animal in my neck of the woods. If I was shooting prairie dogs, or at anything else from a supported position, with a bench/tripod, I wouldn't hesitate to take any of my 6.5s out. Currently, they're all target configurations with relatively high magnification scopes, and would not be fun to try and take a shot using a tree or a fence to steady my aim.

Honestly though, my first answer is the true one. The 308 will always be my first love in centerfire rifles, and it is still viable in all aspects of shooting. I just hope the rifle has a long enough throat for me to play around with slower powders and single feeding them heavy, slippery 30 cals.

[jvw2008]

"  The 308 will always be my first love in centerfire rifles, and it is still viable in all aspects of shooting."

This is the answer that I think will ring true for most Americans. The 308 is recognized world wide as the American "icon cartridge". It's rich history as a broad spectrum effective hunting round for American game and world domination in military application is unprecedented.

Some may argue the AK47 and its round have a broader military distribution. It does, but it's application is restricted to combat due to poor accuracy of the platform and cartridge.

The world of cartridge design is rampant with new offerings. Look at the number of wildcatters out there constantly tweaking this and that as they search for their idea of the ultimate cartridge. The 308, for decades, has withstood these "new kid on the block" challenges - at least in the American gunners mind. Everybody should own one!?

[Ranger 188]

It's just good.
It does a lot of thing "just" good nothing outstanding.
With the new crop of better bullets and barrel twists,
for 6mm, 6.5m and 7mm, it's fallen by the wayside.

[dadajack]

Everybody should own one!?

2 gun minimum please...

[jvw2008]

" , it's fallen by the wayside."

Our military does not agree with you. ?

[Rob01]

Some in it do.

https://www.armytimes.com/off-duty/gearscout/irons/2019/11/06/socoms-about-to-get-these-knights-uppers-in-65-creedmoor/

[dadajack]

It's just good.
It does a lot of thing "just" good nothing outstanding.
With the new crop of better bullets and barrel twists,
for 6mm, 6.5m and 7mm, it's fallen by the wayside.

Fallen by the wayside? No. Being overlooked due to newer, shinier, easy button cartridges, yeah. The 308 is NOT the best hunting, target, or plinking round, but it is not irrelevant by any definition of the word. It is, and always will be, one of the greatest American military/commercial rifle cartridges ever conceived of. Much like the 7.62x54R, which is STILL in use for military applications today. The longest serving military round in history. I have one, or two, rifles chambered for it, but it holds no place in my heart other than the Mosin being a pretty damn cool rifle.

[jvw2008]

Some in it do.

https://www.armytimes.com/off-duty/gearscout/irons/2019/11/06/socoms-about-to-get-these-knights-uppers-in-65-creedmoor/

Several of the special ops sniper teams have been training on my range for the last eight years. I'm pretty familiar with platforms they are currently using. There has been some limited testing/training with the 6.5CM and they have stacked up against the 308s very well. The 308 is so heavily ingrained across our multiple services that it's hard for a "new kid" to step in line.

[Rob01]

Every cartridge is new at one point. If they had the internet years back the 30-06 guys would be posting about the new kid .308 trying to take over. LOL That the Creedmoor is coming in and being tested a few years back when it wasn't even 10 years old says something. Won't completely replace the .308 but it's in there.