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- Oct 22, 2014
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The rest of your points were mostly correct, however- whose obsessing?
It shoots a wide variety of bullets at speeds for good terminal effects to 600 yards. Yes it has more recoil than other options.
Again- what hype? This is about the only thread where 308 is discussed.
I’ll tell you where the 308 dominates: predictability. Especially with the world’s best/most consistent factory ammo: Federal Gold Medal and Tru.
Cons:
- Recoil. It is at the top limit for excellent shooting in a sub 10lb suppressed rifle.
- External ballistics. It’s a 5 or 6 mph wind rifle. It hits 1,800fps at about 600 yards for most good combinations.
Pros:
- Predictability. It does exactly what it does without weirdness.
- Stability for a functionally unlimited barrel life. You can take GMM from the 90’s, the 2000’s, the 2010’s, and in the store now, shoot 5 rounds from each and have all rounds land in a 1.5” dot at 100 yards. You zero it in a bomb proof system at 100 rounds- it’s still zeroed at 1,000 rounds, 3,000 rounds, and 10,000 rounds…. It just doesn’t change. With Berger 185gr Juggernauts you have the most predictable in flight 30cal bullet made.
- External ballistics. Lots of combos match quick drop near perfectly/perfectly to 600+ yards. With certain factory ammo, it has a terminal al range of 700’ish yards. With certain handloads, it has a terminal range beyond most scopes ability to adjust.
- Terminal ballistics. Excellent with bunches of factory ammo. Too much with some.
- Barrel life is functionally unlimited. You can shoot it as fast as you can run the bolt and loads mags and it doesn’t care. No worry about torching a throat from heavy training sessions. No need to cool the barrel down unless you can’t see through the barrel mirage. If you can’t see through it- pour water on it.
6mm, 6.5’s, etc. are all great and outdo the 308 on paper and in real life for a time. However- 6cm, 243, etc can be finicky. Factory loads are inconsistent lot to lot. The stable range of the barrel on a 243 or 6cm is between 200-1,200’ish rounds (depending on firing schedule). Before 200 they speed up quite a bit usually, after 1,200-1,500 rounds often enough MV changes or other barrel wear changes can lead to shifts in zero and data. That doesn’t mean that the agree is toast at 1,200 rounds, just that once I start getting close to 1,000 rounds I am paying attention to firing rate, zero, and MV- none of which has to be done with a 308. I also don’t want to shoot 30+ rounds without cooking. I don’t want to do frequent 20 round plus without cooling; again, that does not matter to a 308.
So- 6mm’s and 6.5’s offer higher performance, but the cost is you ah e to pay attention to them in some ways. The 308 offers acceptable performance for almost all shooters and uses, and you do not have to think about it, ever. Just shoot it.
