Everyone should have a well setup 308.
As
@NSI stated:
1). Absolutely predictable and consistent. Set it up correctly, zero it, true it, and it remains the same for longer than most people’s lives.
2). Available everywhere. Excellent ammo is extremely common. It has the most consistent factory ammo of any cartridge, and it’s widely available- Federal Gold Medal Match 168gr and 175gr SMK. You can take FGMM 168gr from 20 years ago, 10 years ago, 5 years ago, and today, and all will be inside a 1.5” dot at 100 yards.
3). 50 state legal.
4). Terminally effective with several bullets/loads to 600’ish yards, and past 700 yards with a few.
5). Recoil is light enough that a trained shooter can use it very well in a moderate weight rifle.
5). Trace/splash is large enough to consistently spot past 900 yards.
The 308w does recoil more than optimum. However it is low enough that nearly anyone can learn to shoot it well with a suppressor or muzzle brake. It is boringly consistent and you don’t have to worry about barrel life and being “gentle”- it likes abuse. You don’t have to worry about zero changing due to barrel condition- never clean it, and the zero stays the same from 50’ish rounds to… near forever.
Through the entire 10k plus barrel life MV’s stay the same. Data stays the same. Zero stays the same.
A simple, correctly setup, bomb proof 308 is one rifle people should have, that they never futz with.