Seems with all the new stuff on the market today, you don't hear a lot about the 308 much anymore. Seems like I have always had one but don't shoot it much. I decided today I would get mine back out and knock the dust off it and see if I can make it shoot. Its a tank and most definitely not a carry rifle but its fun off the bench. Mines a 26" heavy barrel Remington 700 in a H-S stock with a Timney trigger and a Vortex PST scope. I've had it a while and haven't even got a good load for it yet.

I have a iwi galil ace carbine in 308. Nothing wrong with the 308 but nothing real special about it either.

I love that it was around to neck down to .260. That's what I shoot most for long range. I have bigger and faster, but the .260 is my fav.

I have a couple 660"s and an M1A in .308, there's nothing wrong the caliber, and they are accurate, but I personally prefer the 30-06.
My go to load is 41gr. IMR3031, Rem. 9 1/2 primer, and 165gr. Hornady Spire Points, I would prefer to shoot the 150gr. HSP, which is all that I load for the 06, but after trying both, the 165 is more accurate in my .308's probably due to them having a different rate of twist.
Agree, with the latest and greatest calibers coming on the market, the old standbys are being put on the back burner and not being talked about much anymore.

My centerfire bolt guns are all 308, 243, 223. Guess im pretty boring. 308 works just fine for me though.
The one with the can is going to idaho with me this spring. The other is getting turned into a 16" 223 as soon as my barrel arrives.

Youngest son still loves his 308

Idaho springer last year. 165 grain sierra tgk in the chest, he sprinted about 30 yards and dropped stone dead. No tracking required, no death moans, just lights out.

It should be a shooter, Bill.

I've had a love/hate relationship with the 308 since its inception. Built the first one in this end of the world while still in high school in '52 or '53 on a 98 Mauser, using a brand new surplus Browning water cooled machine gun barrel under the watchful eye of a great friend/mentor who was an accomplished gunsmith. At the time, the Army was working on the T65 round, later known as 7.62 NATO upon adaptation. It was my 2nd center fire rifle, the first being a 92 Win. in 38-40.

There was little to no loading data or brass at the time. Made brass from plentiful GI 30-06. Didn't realize I should be reaming necks and I'm sure that had a lot to do w/poor performance as I had to reduce loads drastically to get any accuracy. Anyhow, I was less than impressed with the cartridge, but after all, while beautiful inside, it was, in fact, a MG barrel, probably not conducive to tiny little groups. Remember, moa groups were very special in that period of time, unlike today. Later re-barreled that rifle to 6mm Rem.


My next 7.62 NATO was a National Match M1 Garand which served admirably in Service Rifle competition and a Rem. 40XC for NRA rifle course, which was superb in accuracy, but from which the first round downrange was a FORS (Remington's acronym for "fire on release of safety"). Since safety was not used in the course of fire, that was not an issue, so used those two rifles to their full ability using primarily 168 & 190 gr SMKs for a number of years. Both capable of moa accuracy.

All of the above have gone down the road. Next was a Savage Scout which I bought to replace my beloved Dtech 243 WSSM for coyote work after the ARs became persona non-grata on the ranches I hunt. Fine rifle, just didn't fit like the AR.



My last, and current version is a Browning BAR, Mark 3 DBM which is a bit of a disappointment in the accuracy department. The only thing I have found it shoots really, really close to moa is 110 gr. Varmageddons, and it still will never fill the shoes of the Dtech, but is going to have to do as nothing fits like an AR.



The 308 is a very capable cartridge and the 110's are the hammer of Thor on coyotes; fur friendly.....not so much. My favorite powders are the old H4895, Varget works well, also, and the old Ball C is not bad either.

I was recently reminded of IMR 4064 and plan to try some loads with that powder in the BAR, as it performed well in the 40XC years ago.

Regards,
hm

Nice bear

I shot a Savage 112S for my silhouette rifle, that was alomost fifty years ago it knocked over rams at 500 meters. I had a little Savage 99 in 308 that someone had wacked the barrel to 16 1/4", it was an awesome still hunting rig with a Weaver V-4.5 on it. 180gr RNs did the job in it. my best day was an eight-point first thing in the morning, then tracked a big doe to fill the freezer and then snuck up on one when I went back to have lunch with my dad and help him drag a doe up to where the boys could drag them out.

I always thought that a little Sako Mannlicher stocked 308 would be the near perfect big game rifle(I think I read too much of Wooter's work). Over the years I've killed deer with 22 different rifle cartridges, 4 different muzzleloader calibers and 2 different shotgun gauges. The 308 does stand out.

I love the .308. It kills big timber deer and hogs deader than Madonna's virginity.

I don't know why but seems I've always got a 308 of some type in the stable. I guess one reason is I have so much brass and bullets. I made 7mm08 out of all my Lapua brass but still have a bunch of different brands. Even being a heavy rifle and it kicks like a cranky mule, its fun to shoot and it knocks the crap out of my steel swingers.

The only .308’s I have ever owned are ones I have now, a Bergara 14 Hunter, and an M1A Socom. The Bergara is very accurate with 130 gr. Barnes TTXS. Took a nice Georgia hog with it, dropping it on the spot. Then I decided to try it on coyotes, found some 110 gr. Varmageddons (also very accurate) and dropped three coyotes stone dead with hardly a twitch. Recoil from my Bergara is basically mild. The M1A is a great shooter and reliable with military ball 7.62x51 ammo.

The .308 has proven itself in the fields on game, competition, in the military and law enforcement. There’s nothing special about it, but also there’s nothing really not to like. If you maintain reasonable expectations, the .308 is very capable.

My Bergara .308, setup with an ATN 4k Pro digital for coyotes.

Those are some fine .308's gents...I use mine all the time...I built it on our forged upper/lower combo, put a 16in fluted stainless barrel on it, with a 3.5lb trigger and my YHM Phantom QD suppressor...

Here it is with my first badger...
image000001 (2) by Jason Mosler, on Flickr

and here it is with a coyote that I shot up in Nevada...

20190923_111000 by Jason Mosler, on Flickr


So many kills...so little time...