Ruger American in 308 or 30-06 for my needs?

N

Northslope Nimrod

New member
I want a lighter hunting rifle. I currently have a Remington 700 in 30-06 and a DPMS 308 AR-10. The AR is a bit heavy but carries well. The 700 is average weight. While elk hunting I often walk 30 miles in a day, climbing some pretty steep mountains at times. I will keep my other rifles but I want a light weight one for those long haul days. I've decided on the Ruger American (for the value). Currently I shoot 180 grain Core Lokt bullets at 2700 fps from both my 308 and my '06.
Thus, is there a reason why I should get one caliber over the other? Recoil should be the same unless I go with heavier loads in the '06 correct? I don't worry about recoil for me...for I have never really felt recoil whilst shooting at elk. However, I will likely have my boys use this rifle and they will be 13 and 15 next season, neither very large. Recoil could be an issue for them for a couple more years.
 
Personally, I have the American in 308, and it's a shooter for a hunting profile barrel rifle. If I were elk hunting, I would get the '06. A bit more range can be wrenched out of that chambering, IMHO. With the same weight bullets, recoil should be similar, but with 180's, will be stout for the boys regardless of the chambering you choose.
 
There is no reason not to get the 308. The 30-06 will give you about 100 fps more speed (about 3-4%), but about 20% more recoil. Either of those is going to be 7-7.25 lbs with optics on them and be on the lighter side. That would push the 30-06 recoil just a bit too far in a rifle that light.

With decent factory loads the 308 is a 400 yard elk gun, the extra speed makes the 30-06 good for about about 500 yards. Any of the various 300 magnums will get you to 600 yards With good hand loads and modern bullets you can add at least another 100 yards to any of them .

Can you hit an elk at 500-700 yards? If you are like 99% of shooters 300 yards or so is about the limit of their skills. If so the 308 is more than adequate, at 300-400 yards or closer no animal on earth will know the difference.
 
I do not have a standard ruger american although I plan on getting one. I do own a ruger american predator in 6.5 creedmoor and it is an absolute tack driver. I hear the standard Americans also shoot great. I think about the only difference in the too is barrel diameter, but between 308 and the 06 I would be happy with either. I do think the other poster is correct that the 06 is going to have pretty stiff recoil. The stocks are very light.
 
Unless you're handloading, with a need for regular use of 180-grain bullets, I see no advantage in the '06. With the 22" barrel, the .308 is equal in muzzle velocity with the '06, when using 150-grain bullets.
 
My $0.02 worth.

I have recently purchased a Ruger American in .30-06. I am new to rifles, so what I have to say may not be worth $0.02. I bought a .30-06 over a .308 for the simple reason that everywhere I have been in the last few years that sells ammo, has .30-06 if they have anything at all. .308 rounds have been missing but now seem to be making a comeback.
In the last few years I have fired a Mosin/Nagant, a .308 Ruger Hawkeye , a .450 marlin, a .30-30 marlin and my Ruger American .30-06. Despite it's light weight, it does not kick as hard at the Hawkeye or the .450 Marlin. It is more in line with the Mosin/Nagant. The factoy recoil pad must have been made by Dr. Schoals. That thing really works.
I have since made a few mods to my Ruger American that I may grow to regret, but as they say, live and learn. I saw a video on You-Tube where a guy put Rockite in the forearm and the butt of the stock. I did what he did in the video with a few changes. It added a few pounds to the gun, further reducing the recoil. Now, where I live, I will not be chasing Elk for 30 miles. I might walk 300-400yds to a "stand" but that is about it for me.
So that about wraps it up. I hope this information is useful to you. I would like to hear what you end up going with, why and the results.

Thanks for reading and good hunting.
 
Does the ruger american predator have the same claw extractor like the other Rugers?

Also can you not wrangle an extra 100 fps out of Hornady Superformance with any caliber?
 
I have both rifles in standard size. Both shoot MOA out of the box. I have a Burris Fullfield on the 30-06 and Leupold VX1 on the .308.

My 30-06 likes 180g I'm still searching on the 308
 
Personally, I would go with .308 all day long for white tail deer. Not much advantage with the 30-06.

The .308 is a great deer caliber and the offer less recoil with nearly the same advantages as the 30-06 .

For elk, I am not sure as I am not an elk hunter. That is where you might see the advantage of 30-06.
 
"There is no reason not to get the 308. The 30-06 will give you about 100 fps more speed (about 3-4%), but about 20% more recoil."

If 100 fps is 3-4% of your total .308 velocity, that means that you are getting 3000-4000 fps out of that bad boy.

How do you do it?

Now I'm wondering about the "20% more recoil" figure as well.

On recoil and youngsters:

There are reduced recoil loads for the 30-06, and of course if you reload, then you can just use starting loads instead of max, and even go to a lighter bullet to reduce recoil.

You can reduce the 30-06 to emulate the .308 - but you cannot safely load the .308 up to 30-06 levels. With this in mind, which cartridge would you say was more versatile?
 
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My RA in .243 with Leupy 1.75-6x32, leather sling and ammo weighs right at eight lbs. Not a lightweight but certainly do-able for "normal" hunting. I generally get my elk opening weekend and might put four to five miles of hiking in. Thirty miles a day? Whoo!
Elk hunting this last fall my son had a cow tag and I had an OTC spike tag. Hunting gods smiled on us as we spotted a cow and spike together second day of the hunt as they were moving across a sidehill at ~700 yards. We made our approach but the closest we could get was a steepish downhill at ~450 yards. We shot off our packs, (no rangefinder, inadvertantly left at home). I went first with BLR 358, had to walk my artillery rounds in, third shot broke his quartering towards me front shoulder. Not a killing shot, but he was down. My boy took an educated guess with his .308 as I spotted for him. First bullet hit right behind his cow, maybe ten inches high, second shot took her broadside high, broke her spine, she was down. We hightailed it to the animals so we could quickly dispatch them.
Is the .308 a good elk round? "Good enough" would be my term. If you are hunting 300- 400 lb elk and can hit to 500 yards, and use a good bullet, it will get the job done. IMO, the 30.06 adds another 15% to the capability of the .308. At the end of the day, one cannot argue with the laws of physics. More powder capacity means higher velocities and the .06 shines with the heavier bullets that the .308 is beginning to struggle with. 165 Partition @2700fps in the .308 is a good enough elk combination. 180 Partition @2800 fps in the .06 is mo betta. Gotta make your call based on other criteria. My son started hunting with a 270 Win Howa 1500. A heavy pig but it mitigated recoil. He went to a 30.06 syn stock 700 and hated the recoil. He now shoots a syn stocked 24"bbl 700 .308 and he loves it. Recoil matters. The .06 has more of it than the .308 when you load them both to their potential.

BTW, 2800fps with 180 in .308?????
 
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"...which cartridge would you say was more versatile?..." Neither, with like bullet weights, the difference is about 100 fps and the length of the action. Mind you, a 2700 fps 180 grain .308 load is over max. According to Hodgdon, IMR4064 gives the highest velocity at 2683 fps out of a 24" barrel. Same load out of a '06 is a max load.
Anyway, between the Ruger American and the M700 Mountain there's very little difference in weight. Few tenths of a pound.
"...my boys use this rifle..." Their size doesn't matter. How each handles recoil does and a lighter bullet like say a 140/150 will kill an elk with less felt recoil. Mind you, the recoil might be an issue on the practice range. Two shouldn't be using one rifle anyway.
 
30 miles a day you say? If you can actually do that in mountainous terrain, you are a better man than any of us and can carry whatever you want! :eek:

Of the given choices, I'd take .308, although .270 or similar would be even better.
 
The 30 miles goes something like this: 8 to 10 miles up a trail into "Wilderness Area" (ie: no improvements, no motorized vehicles etc). I do this in the dark. I then hike up into a canyon or along the side of a mountain and START hunting. Thus most of the mileage is on a trail going up the bottom of a huge drainage. I will typically walk 3 to 4 miles while hunting. After an unsuccessful hunt I will walk 6-10 miles out on the trail again. I will then leave for a second hunt around 3:30 or 4 in the evening. My evening walk is usually shorter. Sometimes I don't return to camp until night. I just walk until I find elk. My favorite drainage to hunt is 12 miles long with finger canyons.
I also have several walks that are only a mile or two long. For those walks, any rifle will do. This rifle will be for the long haul days.
If successful ,we usually pack the elk to the main trail and and then down the trail on horse back. Our radios will reach 8 miles down the drainage if we are up on a side hill. The signal really travels in those straight canyons. My dad often brings the horses; otherwise I hike out and bring the horses in the next morning. (yes, sometimes I ride in and then hunt, but it limits my options and I don't like worrying about my horse staked out by itself)
 
A buddy asked me the same question. .308 vs 30-06. I told him if he planned to reload then get the 30-06. If he didn't get the .308.

30-06 has greater options but the .308 will be cheaper to shoot if you don't reload. They still have surplus .308 for practice.


That said. Years later I am not sure it isn't easier to find .308 brass at the range. I picked the 30-06 and I am happy with my choice to date.
 
I bought the American to hike along these mountain ridges with. I opted for the 7-08 though but am reloading for it so no issues. Vortex Diamondback and sling gives it around 7.2 lbs. I have no regrets.
 
I have the Ruger American in .30-06 with a Nikon Buckmaster 3-9x40 BDC. My wife has a Ruger American All Weather Stainless in .270 with a Vortex Diamondback 3-9x40 BDC.

They are both very good rifles. Slung up and prone both rifles shoot MOA straight out of the box with Remington Core-Lokts. I shoot 180's and she shoots 130's.

As far as caliber goes, I figure it's just whatever you like the best. The American will perform well for you.
 
If you hand- load then you can get more mileage out of the 30-06 with R17

Progressive powder that builds to a peak and hold it instead of a spike.

308 is case limited.
 
Eight years ago I bought my deer rifle. I had killed my first deer the year before with a borrowed rifle. I don't reload so I wanted a popular standard factory round that would not be hard to find. I also wanted a versatile round. It would be a whitetail deer rifle that might also be used to take a coyote. I also wanted to have the capability to take bigger game if I ever got the chance.(That chance almost fell into my lap a few years back. They were recruiting hunters to cull several hundred moose out of the overstocked Theodore National Park in North Dakota. You didn't even have to buy a license. All that and a guide for each five man team would be provided. You apparently could shoot several moose but only keep the meat for one. Unfortunately I found out about it too late to change other plans.)
I considered three calibers, .270, .308, and .30-06. I chose the .30-06. Versatility was one reason. I have seen factory loads from 110 to 220 grain bullets. As someone else already mentioned, it is the caliber most likely to be found if for some reason you are out in the boondocks and need to buy ammo.
For deer hunting I chose the 150 grain Remington CoreLokt. So far I have fired the rifle 15 times at deer and coyotes. With those 15 shots I have put 13 deer and 2 coyotes on the ground. The deer were at ranges from 25 to 125 yards. The coyotes were at 25 and 75 yards. I have never missed a deer or coyote with it. Interestingly my longest shot on a deer was at 150 yards with my muzzleloader.
 
Since you asked>
Ruger American. All Weather Compact in>308. Only because both cartridges you chose have medium range {200 yards & less} ability where Bull Elk are concerned. Compact model would be a nice light easy pointing rifle for the boys use. And that 308 Managed-Recoil cartridge made by Remington would be a dandy cartridge for either boys use. After all you wouldn't want those younger fellers to develop a flinch during practice. Yup. Shooting dads traditional high velocity ammo may just do that.

But then again if your interested in a long bolt throw 30-06 buy the Standard model.
 
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