All things .308 Win

I want to know why people love the 308 so much. I had one and it didn't live up to my expectations. I'm trying to understand what I missed. Not derailing anything.
There are many posts here discussing and displaying why we like the .308. Maybe go back to the beginning and start reading…with that open mind you have.
 
Oh boy, good job, you got me. So it's only 1/2 the recoil for better ballistics from a shorter barrel. Owned!
Simply called you out as a person who was using exaggerated numbers to bolster their point. You no longer deny that. And your amended position of 1/2, better, shorter checks out. Glad we got that sorted.
 
At the risk of reigniting the dumpster fire: Can do everything better? Incorrect, the 30-06 can't fit in an 84M action. Have had a couple of 84Ls in 30-06, but they're just not the rifle the 84M is and went down the road.
That is true but that half inch of action length, so pesky.
 
Let's get this thread back on track.

This is a 130ttsx recovered from a whitetail buck that a friend of mine shot with my 308. MV is 3100ish and shot was sub 80 yards. Surprised that I found the bullet. Small sample size but ive been happy with this bullet so far.
 

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Let's get this thread back on track.

This is a 130ttsx recovered from a whitetail buck that a friend of mine shot with my 308. MV is 3100ish and shot was sub 80 yards. Surprised that I found the bullet. Small sample size but ive been happy with this bullet so far.
Man that thing is flat. Guess that's what 3k fps will do. What did the wounds look like?
 
Let's get this thread back on track.

This is a 130ttsx recovered from a whitetail buck that a friend of mine shot with my 308. MV is 3100ish and shot was sub 80 yards. Surprised that I found the bullet. Small sample size but ive been happy with this bullet so far.
Not to derail but would you please add this to :


Thanks!
 
Let's get this thread back on track.

This is a 130ttsx recovered from a whitetail buck that a friend of mine shot with my 308. MV is 3100ish and shot was sub 80 yards. Surprised that I found the bullet. Small sample size but ive been happy with this bullet so far.

What was the angle of the buck and shot?
 
I’ve long felt 308 is the most boring cartridge in the world. Capable but dull as dishwater. And that it’s only real home was in a battle rifle.

Then when I moved here I knew instead of having a safe full of options I likely need to make one rifle work for all my hunting for at least the next few years. I also would need to pay better attention to logistics because I wasn’t going to be able to load up the peculiar metric calibres that I liked for no other reason than I liked them. I’m unlikely to ever get a shot past 300yards and shots at 50 are a lot more common than shots at 200. Coupled with a lead ban for hunting coming in a few years. It was impossible to make a logical argument against 308.

As mentioned earlier barrel lasts forever. All my local shops have a variety of ammo options. And it will kill everything from a muntjac to a red stag with most of the ammo on the shelves

At least the rifles pretty.
 

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The 43 and 43.3gr charges were still too hot, producing sticky bolt lift. The 43gr group wasn’t too bad at .999”, and with the 43.3gr charge, eight of the ten went into .538”, but two “flyers” opened the group to 1.423”. Had 15 rounds of prepped brass left in that box, so loaded up five rounds of 42.4gr and 10 rounds of 42.7gr. I wasn’t impressed with how the 174s were grouping thus far, so also loaded up some 168gr Tipped Matchkings, which my hunting rifle really likes, and for a 168, has a really good BC with a .535 G1. For the TMKs, I was more cautious and loaded up ten charges, .2gr between charges, starting with 42.7gr and ending with 44.5gr, the charge my hunting rifle likes. These were just to find max, to give me something to work around. Before this range session, I wasn’t happy with how I mounted the scope due to reticle cant, so remounted it, this time to my satisfaction. This range session, I started with the TMKs, using the first charge as a sighter then made all the adjustment my zero stop would allow before grouping the next nine. The next nine of 9 different charges went into .495”, though by 43.7gr, bolt lift was getting sticky again. I then fired the ELD-VTs. These grouped better than heavier charges, but nowhere near as good as the TMKs did. This rifle definitely prefers the 168gr Tipped Matchking over the 174gr ELD-VT and once I finish up with this box of 174s, I’ll not be pursuing them further.

John





So I got to thinking about this series of test and thought that I should not be getting heavy bolt lift with the charges I tried. I wondered if the bolt handle timing was off on the Solus and was not getting the primary extraction I should from it. So, I called Jon Beanland and talked to him about it. Told him the bolt would open easily part way then take quite a bit of effort to open the rest of the way, but no other obvious pressure signs. Primers were good and no ejector swipes. Jon asked me if I was using new brass and the light came on. I had had this happen once before when firing resized brass from another chamber in a new chamber. Sometimes a standard sizing die won’t squeeze down brass fired in another chamber far enough on the case walls to provide enough clearance for proper expansion, resulting in sticky extraction. I immediately went to the garage and resized three rounds with my small base body die, took them out back and fired them into the ground for a function check. Eureka! No sticky extraction. Now that I have sized that brass with a small base die and fired it in the new chamber, sizing with a standard die will be sufficient. Lesson learned…. Again…

John
 
So for someone who no longer has a 308 in his arsenal, and is looking to add it once again - should I opt for the TMKs or the AMAX? It seems every tikka loves the amax and they seem plentiful to find. But I love what TMKs do to game.
 
So for someone who no longer has a 308 in his arsenal, and is looking to add it once again - should I opt for the TMKs or the AMAX? It seems every tikka loves the amax and they seem plentiful to find. But I love what TMKs do to game.

Yes



Can’t go wrong with either. I have a stock pile of Amax. If I burn through that then I’ll try TMKs.
 
So for someone who no longer has a 308 in his arsenal, and is looking to add it once again - should I opt for the TMKs or the AMAX? It seems every tikka loves the amax and they seem plentiful to find. But I love what TMKs do to game.
I’d try a box of each and let your rifle tell you which one to use. That being said, the TMKs have a significantly higher BC and they shoot VERY well for me.

John
 
Midway had a nice deal on some unnamed factory overrun 150 soft points recently... I worked up to 47.5gr of Varget at 2.750" COL. Getting 2720 FPS out of my suppressed 16" barrel Tikka. Not the most accurate at 1.5-1.7" at 100 yards, but fine for short range whitetails. Took a neck shot on a doe this week at 120 yards and just about decapitated her... I didn't measure, but I would guess around a 5" exit wound
 
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Form 4 got approved this week. My first can and it’s an absolute dream to shoot. Spotting impacts better than with my bare muzzle 13.5lb 6.5CM… Should have done it sooner, but glad I finally made the leap. Sitting at 7.7lbs now. I’m hoping it will stay under 8lbs with a gen 2 SWFA 6x and UM rings. Looking at ~2730fps with 150gr bullets and Varget. I might try to hit 2750, but I don’t really need to for my at home hunting distances. Mirage was pretty bad from 5+ round strings so I ordered an LS wild suppressor cover.
Is this the 16” or 20” version?
 
Great thread you guys have going here. I really enjoyed making my way through it.

I've owned and have hunted with various .308's through the years. Was never a mainstay for me, but have hunted with them plenty and shot them for fun plenty more.

Just tonight I recieved one of my .308's back. I put it in an ECHO stock to shorten the length of pull for a friend of mine's son whose .243 wasn't grouping for them right before deer season opened. I didn't have time to mess around to see what was up with it, so loaned them this .308, which has been loaned out several times before.

Its worn several stocks through the years, but I think Ill keep it in the ECHO. I shoot it as well as anything and its easily adjustable for others. Though I prefer FFP, the little NF with lit MOAR has been superb. Was going to swap in a 6X SWFA, but the low X SFP and illumination are nice in the heavy timber we generally hunt in. I run it to 600 regularly, usually just work off the reticle on it. It groups tight with about anything. This rig has certainly met the criteria of a bomb proof .308.

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