You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
Educate me on the 308 please.
- Thread starter bspillman
- Start date
I hate to say it, but just shoot it. I shoot 1-2k rounds of .308 each year and unless you are practicing regularly, it will simply be another gun. Recoil is recoil, hold it tight, shoot from a rest whenever you can and buy quality accessories.
.308 is pretty flat until 275 yards depending on your zero, but it works fine out to ~900 yards. Many stretch it to 1k plus, however you gotta shoot a lot to get more than 600 yards out of it. Even at 400-600 yards wind of ~10 mph will push it 1-2 FEET off target.
Good luck, if you want to shoot a lot buy a reloading press and associated gear.
.308 is pretty flat until 275 yards depending on your zero, but it works fine out to ~900 yards. Many stretch it to 1k plus, however you gotta shoot a lot to get more than 600 yards out of it. Even at 400-600 yards wind of ~10 mph will push it 1-2 FEET off target.
Good luck, if you want to shoot a lot buy a reloading press and associated gear.
The 308 is a well balanced, very practical round. It was invented to duplicate military 30-06 performance in a smaller package, with better accuracy, and with less recoil. With the best commercial loads 30-06 will always shoot the same bullets a little faster, but not by all that much. The 308 will be about 3-5% slower, but generate about 20% less recoil compared to 30-06. While the average shooter will never notice the difference the best target shooters find it slightly more accurate.
As a hunting round it is certainly suitable for any game in North America, although I'd consider it very borderline on a 1000+ lb brown bear in Alaska.
Your skills as a shooter will determine how far you can take game with it. There are dozens of choices in bullets and loads. Choose the right loads and the 308 is perfectly capable of taking elk size game out to 400-500 yards. Add another 100-150 yards for smaller deer size game. There are very few people who have what it takes to shoot that far.
As a hunting round it is certainly suitable for any game in North America, although I'd consider it very borderline on a 1000+ lb brown bear in Alaska.
Your skills as a shooter will determine how far you can take game with it. There are dozens of choices in bullets and loads. Choose the right loads and the 308 is perfectly capable of taking elk size game out to 400-500 yards. Add another 100-150 yards for smaller deer size game. There are very few people who have what it takes to shoot that far.
The 308 is an excellent target or hunting round. Recoil isn't that bad, I've shoot hundreds of thousands of round of 308 with rifles with steel butt plates and I hate recoil.
I don't load hot. I keep my 308s to about 2600 fps MV in 165(8) to 175(180) gr bullets.
Using that load the round still has 1500 ft lbs of energy at 600 yards which is good for elk, more then adequate for deer antelope size animals.
If using a 100 yard zero you need to come up about 13 MOA to get to 600 yards.
There are tons of excellent bullets out there. You want to extend your hunting range look at Berger bullets. They are designed to enter the target a few inches and the come apart, totally destroying the central nervous system and I've shot a lot of game with them, they work as advertised.
Berger says the on target remaining velocity should be about 1800 fps for them to work properly. Using the 185 Gr Berger for hunting, with a MV of 2600 fps, your remaining velocity of 1800 fps would be about 900 yards. Farther then normal hunting ranges. This Berger bullet only needs 10 moa to get you to 600 from a 100 yard zero.
Like I said, I don't load hot. I keep my loads MV at 2600 because I also use the loads in gas guns.
But in your Remington, your MV can be faster, and you'll find factory loads are.
Fear not, you'll be happy with your 308. Any commercial factory load will work hunting. You can get better performance and accuracy by reloading if you want to move to competition shooting.
I don't load hot. I keep my 308s to about 2600 fps MV in 165(8) to 175(180) gr bullets.
Using that load the round still has 1500 ft lbs of energy at 600 yards which is good for elk, more then adequate for deer antelope size animals.
If using a 100 yard zero you need to come up about 13 MOA to get to 600 yards.
There are tons of excellent bullets out there. You want to extend your hunting range look at Berger bullets. They are designed to enter the target a few inches and the come apart, totally destroying the central nervous system and I've shot a lot of game with them, they work as advertised.
Berger says the on target remaining velocity should be about 1800 fps for them to work properly. Using the 185 Gr Berger for hunting, with a MV of 2600 fps, your remaining velocity of 1800 fps would be about 900 yards. Farther then normal hunting ranges. This Berger bullet only needs 10 moa to get you to 600 from a 100 yard zero.
Like I said, I don't load hot. I keep my loads MV at 2600 because I also use the loads in gas guns.
But in your Remington, your MV can be faster, and you'll find factory loads are.
Fear not, you'll be happy with your 308. Any commercial factory load will work hunting. You can get better performance and accuracy by reloading if you want to move to competition shooting.
Recoil is on the medium side, lighter with a heavier rifle. Are you shooting with a scope or open sights. Shoot the first round with a strong hold and adjust from there,recoil isn't that bad. I Don't know what rounds your shooting with or if you reload.I'm a bench rest shooter only 308 cal. 168gr.bullet, my hold is the butt just touching the shoulder , finger on the trigger and thumb to the side not over the top. My right hand is holding the bottom of the rear bag. So really it is a one arm hold. Recoil isn't that hard. Don't be afraid of it, take your time, start your zero at 50 yards, when you get a good group move to 100 yard zero then your good to go. Stay at 50 if shooting with open sights, scoped its up to your level of shooting. Be Safe, hope I helped.
Last edited: