.308 out of a 16 inch barrel for pigs

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bshefa

New member
I posted this earlier asking about the efficacy of this combo on pigs out to 300 yards. Let me ask this another way: Would a 150gr 308 bullet out of a 16 inch barrel essentially have the same ballistics as a 150gr 30-30? Could you extrapolate from there the effective range to kill pig sized target?

Thanks
 
I can't tell you if it will match a 30-30 at 300 yards, but a .308 will still have plenty of knockdown power for a pig at that range if you do your part and place it correctly.

The effective range is going to be what you can hit as .308 packs a wallop. For the average marksman hitting a pig at 300 meters would be a rather spectacular shot. Unless you're a really good shot, I wouldn't worry about max effective range.
 
.308

The 308 drops after 100 yards. I would consider a bullet in the 30 cal family for the range Im shooting at. Ive killed hogs with a SKS but at a 25 yard range. A well placed shot within the calibers effective range is important.
 
The short answer is that it depends. While the exact velocity would vary with the load you use, you can expect to get 2450-2550fps out of a 150gr bullet out of that barrel length. This would give you a slightly higher velocity than the .30-30. However, with the .308 Winchester your bullets will usually have a much higher ballistic coefficient (~.400) than those fired from a .30-30 (~.220). This, combined with their slightly higher velocity, will result in a generic 150gr .308 bullet shooting slightly flatter and hitting a little harder than a generic 150gr .30-30 bullet.

Using a these rough figures in a ballistic computer shows that the .308 bullet will have over 1000 FPE all the way out to 400 yards. With a 250 yard zero, the bullet will hit 4.59" high at 150 yards and 5.39" low at 300 yards, which is adequate, but not great for hunting purposes. For comparison, a generic .30-30 load would drop below 1000 FPE between 150-200 yards and be over 15" low at 300 yards with a 200 yard zero.

Bottom line: the .308 will work better than a .30-30 out past 200 yards and still hit plenty hard enough to get the job done even when fired out of a 16" barrel.
 
If you can make solid shots out to 300 yards with your .308 the cartridge will do its job. It comes back to the shooter to do his. Ammo selection is also worth thinking about. Before I hunt with a rifle I get comfortable shooting at paper or steel.
 
It will work no doubt, but I would much rather have a 30-30 then a 16" 308. I like at leased a 20" barrel on a 308 with 22" being about ideal.
 
Just as an aside, The purpose of this rifle when shooting at hogs is not "hunting", it is eradication. We have a pest problem here. A 16 inch rifle is much more handy out the window of a truck than a longer rifle.
20 rounds in the magazine doesn't hurt either when there are big groups.

I've been doing this for a long time, and feel pretty confident in shots at significant range. I've got several 300+ laser range finder confirmed DRT shots on hogs with my 20 inch AR10, however it is quite difficult to shoot out the driver window because of length (2.5 inch muzzle break) and weight. I've made it work,but am always looking for something new :) I was just concerned about the trajectory and amount of power loss in this combo.

Will definitely shoot it extensively so I feel comfortable with its limitations.
 
sure

A 16" .308 will be grim death on hogs, to any distance you can place your shots well. It will also be more gun than a similarly tubed .30-30 as it has more powder capacity.

I bet somebody has some chrono results on a 16" .308.
 
xf9218 said:
The 308 drops after 100 yards. I would consider a bullet in the 30 cal family for the range Im shooting at. Ive killed hogs with a SKS but at a 25 yard range. A well placed shot within the calibers effective range is important.
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A .308 actually drops immediately upon leaving the barrel, as does every single other round.

OP, I would have no hesitations to using a .308 out past 300 yards for hogs; even with a 16" barrel. Go get 'em.
 
Just as an aside, The purpose of this rifle when shooting at hogs is not "hunting", it is eradication. We have a pest problem here. A 16 inch rifle is much more handy out the window of a truck than a longer rifle.
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If you're just looking to eradicate them, who cares what the round is doing or if it makes a clean kill you can easily find?

Though I certainly don't like unnecessary suffering, I like pigs tearing up my property less, so I'll shoot them with whatever I have, even if it's a .22LR. I've dumped whole AK mags at groups of pigs hoping they'd walk into one of the rounds.

If you're shooting that far out you may want to consider a suppressor, as at that range they don't know what's going on and you can get more than one shot off before they start scrambling. Plus it won't blow your ear drums out like a muzzle break would. I refuse to shoot my SCAR without ear plugs on.
 
Noise is a problem. Before I knew better I shot quite a bit without protection. Now I have ringing ears. To keep this from getting worse, I keep a pair of Pro Ears in my truck. I will not shoot without them.

A suppressor sounds awesome but seems like quite a hassle to get. Maybe one day I'll have the time to work that out.

I agree about not really caring on hogs. I have emptied mags out of a 10/22 more than a few times knowing the animals will likely die. But when they drop right there, I do like to see what I've killed and get pics. Nobody says eradication can't be fun!
 
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By the way the new rifle is a FNAR with a 16 inch barrel. Took it out and shot it yesterday and it is scary accurate for a semiauto. Cheap core lokts were making cloverleaf groups consistently. Didn't really move POI when it heated up either. This is going to be fun.
 
bshefa...I think that is an excellent way to go.... 308 cal has always been a favorite of mine.... I have a Remington 760 Carbine..18 in barrel and a M&P AR10.... Remington Corelokts 150's are what I use.... I recently did a build for my wife....Her hog gun....Remington 7400....Lightweight syn youth stock added....Barrel cut to 16.5 inches and crowned.... Nikon 2x7 scope.... I recently sighted in at 100 yrds.... I left it at the last 2 shots.... I have 2 buds who did this same build with very good results....
 

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That looks pretty handy. I really like what you have done with that rifle. I have a standard 7400 in 3006 that has killed quite a few hogs. They work well. Mine strings high when it gets hot but if you know it you can adjust for it.
 
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