.308 and .243

T

ttdub

New member
Hello everyone... I've had some great help from all of you in looking for a rifle. I had almost nearly decided on the .308 Savage Axis, but I heard that having a .308 meant the gun would be a lot heavier than, say a smaller .243. I'm confused though, because I looked at each model on Savage Arm's website, and it says they both weight 6.5lbs, so is what I heard not true? Thanks for any answers guys.
 
The .308 and the .243 share the same case, the .243 is nothing but a neck-down .308 so I would assume their respective rifles would weigh the same.

Maybe you're confusing the .308 for the .30-06 which is a long action .30 cal.
 
What's crazy is that I went through all the calibers, and the gun still weighs 6.5lbs. I'm referencing to the gun, not the actual bullet by the way.
 
ttdub said:
What's crazy is that I went through all the calibers, and the gun still weighs 6.5lbs. I'm referencing to the gun, not the actual bullet by the way.
Click to expand...

Ttdub, there will not be a large variation in weights between calibers for a specific model of rifle, regardless of caliber. Will they each be exactly 6.5 lbs? I doubt it, but it would be hard for you to notice a difference between any two. The thing that you need to know, however, is that with both rifles similarly weighted, the .308 will have more felt recoil.

So if what you were told is that the .308 will be "a lot heavier than" the same rifle chambered for .243, then yes, you were told very wrong.

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Note that with barrel outside dimensions being the same for both and all other rifle parts at exact equal weights, the one with a 24 caliber hole in it will be heavier than the one with a 30 caliber hole.
 
Bart B. nailed it. There will be no real measurable difference in the carry and physical weight of the rifles, at least none that a normal person would notice. As said above the difference is that the .308 will have more felt recoil, again it isn't too significant unless you are a small framed shooter or recoil sensative.

If it were just one rifle to take a whole lot of different game, I'd shoot for the .308. If you're just punching paper, I'd go for the .243. Both are fine calibers that will get the job done with proper bullet placement, though bigger game would be more for the .308.
 
Specs listed in catalogs and online are quite often wrong, especially weights. The 308 and 243 are in the same rifle, same action, same barrel length. The weights will be close, and the 6.5lbs is probably pretty close.

The 243 will be slightly heavier, probably only 2 oz or so. The reason is that while the barrels are the same size externally, drilling a
.308" hole through it removes more metal than drilling a .243" hole through it.

If you are recoil sensitive a 6.5 lb 308 might be a bit much. The 243 will be a little less. Just for reference, from a rifle that weighs 8 lbs (including scope and mounts) a 308 will have around 16-17 ft lbs of recoil, A 243 around 10-11 ft lbs.


What's crazy is that I went through all the calibers, and the gun still weighs 6.5lbs. I'm referencing to the gun, not the actual bullet by the way.
Click to expand...

That is because they often just guess. I don't trust any online specs. Many are off on the weights by as much as 1.5 lbs and Savage is one of the worst offenders. I have a set of postal scales. If you want to know what a gun weighs, go online and ask folks who own them to weigh them and post the results.
 
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