308 OK for Hunting?

[kptaylor]

Just about set on getting a 308 boltgun to punch paper and my friend who is trying to entice me into hunting said I should step up to 300 WSM if I want to hunt mile deer and/or elk.

What are your thoughts on the 308 vs the 300?

[Tropical Z]

I don't know much about the 300 WSM,but .308 is damn good for what you want it for IMHO.

[El Rojo]

.308 is more than enough for mule deer and if used properly can do the job on elk too. The main thing is the gun will do if you will do. If you are ready to take 600 yard shots on elk, then don't use the .308. For that matter don't use anything. Sneak up closer.

[Badger Arms]

.308 is just great. IMHO, you don't need the 300 WSM unless you like recoil and muzzle flash or plan on going after Elk exclusively. It's all bullet placement anyhow. The step up really isn't that great a leap if you ask me. .338 or 375 would be a leap, but you are talking about about two hundred yards more range, nothing else if you are using the same caliber. Since all of my shots are within 300 and usually within 150 yards, I doubt I'd need anything more than a 308.

I've got a 300, but then I WAS in Alaska when I bought it and I happen to like flash, bang, and recoil. My first rifle was an Enfield 1917 sporter my Dad let me shoot when I was, oh, about 7 or 8. He recalls that when I fired it, I turned around with a big smile on my face and asked if he had anything bigger!

[JIH]

.308's enough for most NA game. It can take an elk if shot-placement is judicious.

If you were after moose, I'd say go ahead and get the .300 WSM, but you're also wanting to shoot paper... .308's easier in a whole lot of ways for target shooting.

[Nodakmarine]

Yeah, the .308 works just fine for hunting. Personally, I don't care the for magnums. Your barrel life is a LOT shorter than your standard cartriges so if you are planning to use it to punch paper as well, you might be replacing barrels a lot sooner and more often as well.

[Marko Kloos]

.300 is a better long-range cartridge, but .308 is less punishing, less expensive, and plenty efficient on most game in the lower 48. For most hunting scenarios around here, a .300 is way overkill. Taking shots at deer from 600 yards away is not really good practice...and remember, even if you do hit it, you need to go all the way out there, track it, find it, and drag it back.

[Art Eatman]

kptaylor, for hunting mulies and elk in Aridzony's fairly open country, you oughta do just fine with the .308. The mainest thing is to practice shooting offhand or with any old hasty rest. Get a bunch of cheap ammo and start out with tin cans at 50 yards and extend your range as you become more proficient.

Where you hit Ol' Mulie or Egbert Elk is really a lot more important than how hard you hit.

, Art

[labgrade]

I've used a 30-06 w/180 GameKings (seemingly) forever for CO elk. Got sick of totin' around extra weight so "down-graded" to a M7 in .308 w/18.5" bbl

All handloaded ammo & a 165 (Barnes XBT) only does 2400 fps in the short tube.

Three shots = 3 elk - all bullets blown completely through & one of those was butt-on (= 5 feet of elk).

Trajectory's nothing to write home about, but 300 yard shots well within reason.

Decent bullet & good shot placement = .308 is plenty for anything on this continent, with the exception of defense use against the big bears.

[C.R.Sam]

As noted above. .308 is plenty of gun.

What counts is the gunner.

Sam

[Correia]

308 is a sissy gun. I use mine on gophers and maybe small squirrls. But never on anything bigger than that.

300 WSM is a little better, I will use it on jack rabbits, and perhaps a feral chichhauhau. Other than that it lacks the neccesary penetration. I once had to use 7 rounds of WSM from my Loudenboomer MkIV to drop a charging rock chuck.

For deer size game I like to move up to 458 win mag, or perhaps 600 nitro express if I am hunting in heavy brush. These cartridges have slight recoil, that I tend to notice at the end of my daily 600 round practice sessions. (Shooting flying clay pigeons).

During my monthly trip to Africa, I usually hunt elephant, rhino, and triceratops (you just have to know where to look, they are out there) for these critters I prefer a challenge, and I use an obsidian rock tied to the end of a stout stick. For cape buffalo I use telapathic Mind Bullets.












Sorry, you had already received plenty of good responses. I couldn't resist. .308 will work on Elk just fine.

[Art Eatman]

Correia, Correia, Correia! What in the world am I gonna do with you?

It's spelled Chi-hua-hua.

Those who profess to know Spanish pronounce it Chee-wah-wah.

We who live along the Border pronounce it Chee-hoo-ah-hoo-ah, just on general principles. You might note we tend to run short on principles.

I realize you live quite a ways from the Mexican Telephone Company, aka Taco Bell, but you gotta learn, boy!

, Art

[Correia]

Thanks Art! I tried to spell it Fonetically.




Seriously though, have you ever noticed there is no shortage of guys telling you that whatever you are shooting is just way to weak? Especially compared to their Uber-Mag.


-Correia
Who happens to own 3 guns chambered in 308, so he can't be all bad.

[El Rojo]

Correia you are a classic!

[labgrade]

"Seriously though, have you ever noticed there is no shortage of guys telling you that whatever you are shooting is just way to weak? Especially compared to their Uber-Mag."

Now that you mention it.

Lots to be said about using enough gun - no doubt. But too, 7mm Mauser's killed everything known to man (prolly with ~190 gr bullets at about 2100 fps) & it can hardly be called a magnum by any stretch.

BTW, what were those shooters of yesteryear tha 'bout wiped out the buffs ... ?

[kptaylor]

Thanks guys. You confirmed what I was already thinking. My friend is definitely one of the flash and boom crowd... Then again, I don't recall having any elk, venison or anything else other than chicken or beef at his house over the years either

[savagehunter308]

i have a 308, kptaylor, ive never hunted deer or anythign big, sinse i dont have anyone to do that with, but i shot me self a wee'little piglina about 2 months ago. i also live in phoenix az, i dono if u mentioned if u ever shot a 308, u probly have, but living so close to eachother we should go to the Ben Avery sometime, if u never shot a 308, and ud like to id shure as h*ll let u shoot mine a few times ....heres my enourmous game i bagged with wonderful shot placement at a far distance with my 308 (actually it was a ten yard shot in 50 mph winds, ontop a hill ) http://www.wwrendezvous.com/images/ryanwiggens2.jpg -ryan

[Spectre]

So I can use my G1 on WA elk instead of having my .35 Whelen shipped to me? I won't take shots over 300 meters, and probably more like 250 meters.

[Art Eatman]

Aw, Spectre, just take that .308 and break his neck; he'll lie down and wait for ya.

, Art

[Chuck Dye]

For those mile deer, I'd suggest the .30-416 Rigby. For everything else in North America, except, perhaps, the brown bear, the .308 is just fine.

Art & Correia: Of course you know that chihuahua are as big as they are because the Aztec bred them pan sized....

[Art Eatman]

Pan-sized, hmmm? Well, about right for coyote bait; little small for lion.

, Art

[Glamdring]

Where you hit is most important like Art said, bullet construction is next important IMHO. I would probably pick X bullets or failsafes if I were going to use my 308 on bigger than mule deer.

But I want my bullets to exit.

BTW has anyone ever tested 7x57 ball ammo (the original stuff) like Bell used vs say 7.62 nato ball and modern solids from 375H&H & 458 Win in jello, wet & dry newspaper and such? IMO that would be a interesting change from normal fare in gun rags.

[Gewehr98]

Sounds like your friend is afflicted with what we like to call "Magnumitis".

[dfaugh]

Besides being pan sized, they are real fun toys for my German Shepherds....After tha GSDs play with 'em for A while, I just dispatch 'em with my .700 Nitro Express...Sometimes takes 2 or 3 rounds (unless they're inside 10 feet, then the muzzle blast kills 'em)

[Crazyquik]

But too, 7mm Mauser's killed everything known to man

One chap killed nearly 1000 elephants with his over the course of his professional ivory hunting career...

J.