Need help finding my first rifle. Possibly a .308

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I have the peep-thru mounts on a Remington 760 pump in .257 Roberts. It works on that rifle because of how I use it, I keep it for bush hunting and I need to be able to take fast shots at closer ranges. But no, I wouldn't put them on a bolt rifle.
 
Changing gears for a sec

That savage doesn't look half bad either. I've heard mixed thing about savage tho. I was told the old stuff they put out wasn't that great, but when they changed hands they started building a good reputation. If I went out looking at them, how would I know if it was made under the new owner or the old?

Now here's a question my Father and I have been discussing. From my research it seems that Bolt Action is more reliable, and the rifle is more accurate then semi.

If this is true, how much more accurate? IE: If we had the same rifles' 1 with Bolt 1 with Semi, where would we notice the difference? 300 yards? 500 yards? How much of a difference would it really make?
 
In a word, no. Not much anyway. If most bolt rifles will shoot less than 1" at 100 yards, and a modern lever gun will shoot say, 2-3" at 100, (with premium ammunition, of course,) shooting out to 300 yards at large game form standard shooting positions will show......negligible difference if any.
 
Now here's a question my Father and I have been discussing. From my research it seems that Bolt Action is more reliable, and the rifle is more accurate then semi.

If this is true, how much more accurate? IE: If we had the same rifles' 1 with Bolt 1 with Semi, where would we notice the difference? 300 yards? 500 yards? How much of a difference would it really make?
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Unless you're after pronghorns or goats or the like where you might have to take very long distance shots, it will make no difference whatsoever. You don't need extreme accuracy to punch a hole in a deers lungs.

What's really important in a hunting rifle is how well it "fits" you. You aren't going to be shooting off a bench rest in the field, you'll be standing up on your hind legs shooting offhand. So, pick a rifle that feels good when you shoulder it. That's a very subject thing, but if you heft four or five rifles in a row at a good gun shop you'll find that some "feel" better than others. The ones that feel good will shoot best offhand.
 
Where will you be hunting, deep woods/close shots, or open prairie/ long range? I think most folks are kidding themselves if they expect a lot of 500 yard shots . In my opinion, shots over 300 yards on deer are inadvisable. Chances of a clean kill at greater ranges go down rapidly. Hunting means respect for the animal trumps bragging about long range sniping skill. Shoot at paper at 500 yards, not at game. It's a different ethic than being in the military.
 
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I love this forum, everyones always helpful haha.

I would be hunting in FL and in NH (my home state). Hunting in FL will be totally new to me, so I'm not really sure how the hunting is here. But we're talking about taking a couple weeks to go hunting with a friend who goes out west in "Sky Country", I forget the state.

We're going to go to the bass pro shop, and hit up some other gun shops today and just get a feel. Maybe I'll come home with something, who knows?
 
Update

Alright. So today we went to the Bass Pro Shop, then Dick's Sporting Goods, then to Straight Shoot, and a couple other gun shops that didn't prove useful.

I got my hands around the Remmington 700, a Winchester 30?300?, Savage Arms 10 FCP I believe (They said it weighed about 14lbs. No joke.), Vanguard Weatherby, and the Tikka. I must say, I love the Tikka. The Bolt just slides like a hot knife through butter. And the feel of the Weatherby is also awesome. I have yet to find any place that has any Ruger Scouts. Most places say they can order them but that's about it.

Anyways so my new question

~~~~~~

At the Bass Pro Shop I saw the dummy rounds and I was looking, and it seemed the .308 was tiny compared to the .300 and the 30-06, so I opened up the actual boxes of ammo and peaked.

Why does the .300 seem to be the larger of the 3? I thought a .308 would be bigger. Is the actual bullet in the .308 just a hair bigger yet the cartridge of the .300 larger?

Could someone explain to me the differences between the 3 rounds? I thought I was sure what I wanted but now I'm not so sure.

Also! Straight Shot had the Stag Model 2t that I was eye balling overseas for the longest time... 5.56 Nato/.223 for 1060... So tempting.
 
Thank you for your service. I still remember mine.
personally I agree with ORHunter79. The best deer rifle IMHO will and always will be a 30-30. (Marlin 336 pre cross bolt safety, Skinner sights o yea!) YMMV.
Now onto your options. A lot of people are talking about scout rifles. The idea was a good all around rifle but not great at everything. If you are budget conscious then you can't beat savage bolt guns. If not you can just go from the tikka all the way to making your own and buying the stock, barrel and action! Assuming this gun is for deer from 50-300 yards you might not need irons. but if you want find some good ghost rings and slap 'em on. this will hinder scope use unless you want to put it scout style. To adress your question on the 300 vs 308 vs 30-06 is that the bullet diameter are all .308. the 30-30 is a .308 also. the 308 is a short action version for the 30-06. and the 300 mag has more powder the the 30-06 which has more powder then the 308. My opinion is get rid of the irons, buy the savage 3-06 and add a leupold 3x9x40. Savage is right now with that accutrigger, accustock, and superb accuracy is not only a steal but IMHO the best deal on the market. 30-06 vs .308? Well america's favorite cartridge (besides 30-30) is the 30-06. More powder, maybe a bit of elk hunting, or you can buy it wherever a place sells ammo. the only reason our military has .308 instead of 30-06 is because .308 cycles better in semi auto and full auto. Everybody needs to own a 30-06. Good Luck on your choice. Please pics when it happens.
-jsnaps
 
In my opinion, AR sights, which of course are the same as on your M4, are about as good as it gets for sight picture, and adjustability/useability.
If you are somewhat (as in at all) handy with basic hand tools, and are up for a couple hours worth of reading up, and a couple hours work, a Saiga with a home done conversion and some mojo or tech sights is good bang for the buck, and can be had in .223, 7.62 x 39, .308, 5.45 x 39, 12 guage...
 
Tikka

Get the Tikka. It's a poor man's Sako. And the .308 (7.62x51) is good enough for the Army Marksmanship Unit, so it's good enough for me. BTW, I shot a trophy-book buck at Eglin AFB's Commander's Private Deer and Pig hunt last year at 416 yards with my .308. It's all you need. Tikka is the ticket in your price range. Now just check out Meopta glass and you're all set. Good luck!
 
Alright well here is the difference of the 3 simplified.

They all have a bullet diameter of .308.
A heavy loaded .308 Winchester matches a light .30-06 Springfield
A heavy loaded .30-06 matches a light .300 Winchester Magnum

The .308 works best with bullets between 130-165 grains. It is also the only of the 3 to fit in a short action rifle. .308 rifles are usually (but not always) lighter and tend to recoil less than the other 2 calibers.

The .30-06 works best with bullets between 150-180 grains, but is also notorious for success with bullets up to 220 grains in weight. The lighter '06 loads are usually loaded on par with the .308, but it is a bit more flexible with the 180-220 grain bullets for elk/bear/bigger stuff with some loads pushing it well into the .300 territory.

The .300 is best with bullets between 180-220 grains, and offers better long range ballistics than the '06. It really only offers a benefit if you exclusively want to use heavier bullets at longer ranges. An observation that I have made is that people who own .300 Winchester Magnums almost always swear by them, claiming it to be even more flexible than the .30-06. I'm not sure if this is necessarily true, but if you own handloading equipment I would imagine that this caliber would be a reloader's dream caliber.



Now for the rifle side of things:
New Remingtons are almost all junk, unless you go for one of the really expensive nice models. Look at some other threads on here. New ones are better off left on the shelf.

Savages are very popular for a couple reasons.
A) They're cheap
B) They're very good out of the box
C) They are extremely easy to work on and customize
D) They work and work and work and keep on working

I don't know a darn thing about Tikkas so I'll stay quiet here.

The Ruger Gunsite Scout seems to be a little hard to get a hold of because of its apparent popularity. I know Bass Pro Shops and Cabella's both carry it, and I'm sure any gun store could order it for you. Ruger makes some gooooooooood guns...
 
Another vote for Tikka here, I have two, and I have had great results with both. Tikkas are only produced with standard length (30-06 length) actions, so if you go Tikka, in my opinion unless you are planning on shooting a lot of surplus .308, you might as well get the 30-06 and have slightly more flexibility. All this said, If you like the Vanguards, I don't think you could go wrong with a Vanguard, Vanguard S2, or Howa (same barrel and action as the vanguard). You might even be able to get a really good deal on the original Vanguards, as places seem to be clearing them out in favor of the new S2s.

Savage, of course, supplies a cheap, accurate, robust rifle that will do anything a hunter needs done. I have never been terribly attached to them personally, but lots of folks are and there's no doubt they work.

The Gunsite scout is a fascinating new rifle, but it is a bit of a step up in price from the previously mentioned rifles. Also, .308 in a 16.5 inch barrel is definitely going to wake you up when it speaks.

In your position, I think I would probably keep my caliber selection limited to .308, 30-06, and .270 Win (also 30-30 if you want to go lever). Those classic calibers are plenty powerful for most NA game, and are pretty much universally available for reasonable prices.
 
Thanks again for the clarification on the rounds. Sometimes that stuff confuses me.. Obviously :banghead:

Now someone said the .308 is the only one of the 3 rounds (.300, .308, 30-06) that comes in short action. What does that mean? Just a slightly smaller bolt? A hair more effort to pull back and push forward again? Seems like something kind of miniscule that wouldn't really matter.

The more I heard about the differences the less the .308 appeals to me haha.
With the abundance of 30-06 rounds I saw today in comparission to the .308's it seems a couple bucks cheaper to get the 06 rounds.

Honestly for target rounds (at least for my .40) I go to walmart and pick up Winchesters 100 round box.. Is the 30-06 or the 300 going to be something I'd be able to find there?
 
What does that mean? Just a slightly smaller bolt? A hair more effort to pull back and push forward again? Seems like something kind of miniscule that wouldn't really matter.
Click to expand...

It means a .6" shorter bolt throw and maybe 2-4 oz less weight in the action... The difference seems kind of minuscule to me as well, but it has sold a lot of rifles.

lastly, if you're Walmart doesn't carry 30-06... well I'd say you should find a new Walmart... I would still expect Walmart to carry 300 Win Mag, but I'm not as sure about that.
 
I too was searching for a new gun this year as they opened rifle hunting in my county for the first time this year, WNY. I already own a Marlin 336 in 35 rem unscoped, which I love for quick handling and the speed of the lever action but am letting my son use. I have always wanted a .308 and after handling most all of the afore mentioned rifles, savages, tikka's, remingtons and considering the terrain and available shots on our hunting lease, I went with the Ruger Gunsite Scout with a Leupold 1.5x4 scout scope. I have always preferred the carbine style shorter guns and the Ruger seemed to fit my style of hunting. I own all the different available magazines for it and definently recommend the new poly mags available from Ruger and Cheaper than Dirt. As for the optics SFWA has the same scope as mine but with Firedot reticle which wasn't available when I ordered mine which would make it the best scout scope available IMHO. I use it on 1.5 in the woods and crank it to 4 for the farthest shot on the lease 240yds, and before the scope came I was ringing the bell at 180yrds behind my house every morning with the iron sights. Alot of people feel the flash suppressor is an uneeded option but now I have been using it in the field I found one big advantage to having it as I was climbing a gulley I slipped on the muddy embankment and instead of packing the end of my barrel with mud it was an easy clean for the suppressor and a lesson learned. For the $ and the overall handiness it has turned into my goto rifle although I have traded the boy for the .35 a couple times but he favors the Marlins open sights and weight. I thought the Tikka's and Savages bolts cycled smoother but I just like the feel of this package, definently go with what feels best as I'm sure they are all accurate enough.
My .02
 
Handle a .308 Browning Lever Rifle in a store

then look for one in the forums.

I found one in as new for about $200 more than the Savage rifles (model 99 used or model 200 new).

You probably will find little reason to ever want an "up grade". It has a take down for easy cleaning and carry (20 inches long bag), polished bore, irons, magazine for pointy bullets, weighs around 7 lbs, handles very nice, and is really a bolt action even if it is a "lever".
 
Zapawaf said:
The more I heard about the differences the less the .308 appeals to me haha.
With the abundance of 30-06 rounds I saw today in comparission to the .308's it seems a couple bucks cheaper to get the 06 rounds.

Honestly for target rounds (at least for my .40) I go to walmart and pick up Winchesters 100 round box.. Is the 30-06 or the 300 going to be something I'd be able to find there?
Click to expand...


.30-06 is one of 5 calibers that can be found in any crevice of the world. If your just plinking around, I recommend buying one of the Greek surplus cans of '06. Cheap, reliable, and accurate enough. It also is loaded a bit lighter because it was intended to be used in the Garand so your shoulder will thank you later.


As for the .300, the only ammo I have ever seen in that caliber at Wal-mart was Remington and Winchester's budget stuff at around $23-$25/box. If you want to plink with this caliber your going to need to reload or have a pretty fat wallet.
 
I'm late to the .308, but have recently been using them a lot-and like them! I have an M1 A SOCOM 16", a Ruger m77 (whatever they call their itty bitty ones) and a TC Encore. All three of them are great guns as far as I can tell. I have taken deer with the first two, the last one a nice 8 pt Thanksgiving am with the M1 A.

Definitely different applications for the 3 above, so you need to try to find one that fits your needs/likes/wants. The .308 seems to me to be a good choice.
 
DPMS Panther Arms makes AR-10's in .308. They are reported to have very good accuracy. Several models cost less than $1000. I bought the Classic .308 (This model came with iron sights) not long ago, I'm very happy with it, but I've not put it to any serious accuracy test yet. Buds Gun Shop has them the cheapest I've seen. You can also get 5 and 10 round magazines for hunting. Hope that helped!

Thanks for you're military service. :)
 
Now someone said the .308 is the only one of the 3 rounds (.300, .308, 30-06) that comes in short action. What does that mean? Just a slightly smaller bolt? A hair more effort to pull back and push forward again? Seems like something kind of miniscule that wouldn't really matter.
Click to expand...

The action is the heaviest part of the rifle, so shortening it not only decreases the weight and length, but changes the balance. Is it enough to matter? Only you can decide.

As for ammo prices, don't forget surplus NATO .762x51 ammo! If you look around you can find bulk purchases of cheap ammo for the .308 that you can't find for other .30 rounds. That's a lot of cheap shooting.

Unless you're planning on hunting Canada or Alaska for moose and the like, the .308 will serve as well as anything else for game up into the 500 to 600 pound range. The rifles will be lighter and more compact, and you have cheap surplus ammo for practice.

Anything in that class will serve, but (in my opinion), the .308 has a couple of things going for it that the others don't.
 
Will the 7.62 x 51 Nato fit in the .308?
I believe from my internet stumblings, that's how it works and NOT the other way around
Ie: .308 will not work in a 7.62 chambered rifle

Is this accurate? Any benefit to using 7.62 in a .308?



Reason I'm even asking is I'm on Cheaperthendirt website and they have .308 mixed with 7.62.
Most of the packaging (if not all) say .308/7.62x51 Nato
 
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