308 or 30-06

I believe .308 is better... then again 30-06 ammo is cheap in the US...

Do you have ether?

I'd go with the one you already have. Ether should work.

.30-06 and .308 are very similar, & nearly identical when shooting a 150gr bullet. The '-06 can shoot heavier bullets (up to 220 grain or so), which is only useful essential when hunting bear & moose. The .308 has a shorter cartridge, so you might find new ammunition a little cheaper than for the '06. You can also shoot 7.62x51 in a .308, which means you might find good priced surplus for plinking.

Both are fine for deer.

The answer to that question depends on a number of variables. I own both calibers and wish I reloaded so I could really see the Benefits of 30-06 as a distance round. People loose sight of the fact that Marines with 03A3's at Beuleu(?Sp) Wood were recording Kill shots at as many as 1000 yds. That is with iron sights and ball ammo more importantly.

i like .30-06 and I have one. other people I know who have a .308 like theirs too. both of them are good. from what I hear .308 is getting expensive though compared to surplus .30-06.

from what I hear .308 is getting expensive though compared to surplus .30-06.

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That's putting it mildly.... I just paid 27 cents a round for Wolf .308 and thought I got a bargain

.30-06. Because if you shoot very much, you're eventually going to have to reload. And the longer neck of the .30-06 makes it easier to reload, plus the greater case capacity makes it more versatile.

Of course, it you're independently wealthy...........................

I just picked up and installed the scope on my NEW Remington 700 CDL in 30-06. I bought it in 30-06 because I will primarily use it as a hunting weapon. I have a Springfield M1A in .308 and love it, but it's a bit heavy to hunt with, also, I'm not sure you can hunt in CA with anything that holds more than 5 rounds. I also got the 30-06 because I don't have a rifle yet chambered in 30-06.

That's putting it mildly.... I just paid 27 cents a round for Wolf .308 and thought I got a bargain

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Over 2 Euros a round around here....

I'm mulling over the same decision and here are some of the factors I'm including for consideration....

Mil. Surp. .30-06 (both Greek and US) can be had at CMP for pretty darn good prices. Word is that it's good stuff.

There seem to be a lot of complaints about the mil. surp. .308 being all dried up.

There are a LOT more second hand .30-06 rifles out there if you're thinking about buying used.

No wood with blued steel option for .308 in the current Remington 700 line up (if that's the kind of rifle you're interested in).

the .30-06 long action adds about and inch to the over all length fo the rifle.

modern powder offerings seem to offset the advantages of the .308 in that you can fill the case with a slower burning powder (more of a factor if you re-load).

Not quite "six of one, half dozen of the other". I have both, shoot the 308 in High power matches, used to shoot 30-06, it is plenty accurate just kicks more.

The 308 works just fine up to 175 grain bullets. Then it starts getting pokey compared to the 30-06 with the heavier bullet weights. Both are very accurate, even in a match rifle could not determine if there was much of a difference, you can always get 150 fps more velocity in a 30-06. Powders that work well in the 30-06 also work well in the 308. Old standby's are IMR 4064, IMR 4895, and in a 30-06 bolt, IMR 4350.

Since the 308 was designed to give pre WWII 30-06 ball performance in a smaller package, there is not that much of a difference between the two. But I think the 30-06 is the better hunting round due to a little more velocity and you can load a little heavier bullets at a decent velocity.

I'm partial to .06---the ammo offerings alone make the case really. They are more similar (in practical terms) than they are different.

People loose sight of the fact that Marines with 03A3's at Beuleu(?Sp) Wood were recording Kill shots at as many as 1000 yds. That is with iron sights and ball ammo more importantly.

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If the guy next to you isn't looking through a pretty impressive spotting scope when you pull the trigger, any such claim is pretty suspect, even on an area target . . .

In any case, WW1 era 30-06 isn't capable of any accuracy or range that M80 ball 7.62x51 doesn't also provide.

Over 2 Euros a round around here....

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Wot?

For plinking and hunting with factory ammo, one's as good as the other. Now if you reload and shoot LR, the '06 will leave the .308 in the dust.

Don

BTW, the 1903A3 Springfield did not exist at Belleau Wood in WW1. You're thinking of the 1903A1 Springfield. Also, it was more likely they had 1917 Enfields anyway.

You are presuming that:
A, Logisticaly the Military and or then War Department could get 1917's to forward troops.
Unfortunately this is not always the case with the Big Green Dream. As a case in point my Father was carrying an 03 at Salerno and carried one well past Monte Cassino, Why? since they had plenty of them and Production let alone supply could not get them Garands.
B, That I pulled the confirmed Kill statement out of my unmentionable reagion,
Which I did not. I am still trying to find the reference for this but I do know for certain that German Troops Captured at Belleau Wood reported "Seeing a Soldier Fall from a Fatal wound before the report of the round reached them." This was from the "History of the Gun" What limited knowledge I have of physics tells me that the slug hitting the target prior to the sound of the shot reaching target makes it easily a 900 yard shot. At 600 or 700 yards the sound is still fairly uniform with the travel of the slug.