.308 vs. 30.06?

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Half-Cocked

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I have the option of getting a Ruger .308 or a Savage 30.06. or was it the other way around? Any way one is a .308 other is 30.06

I am leaning towards the 30.06 because it looks like a .308 magnum to me. They are pretty close.

The .308 has the whole military/law enforcement appeal however 30.06 bullets are in stock.

Opinions?
 
I had a choice of calibers couple years ago, bought the 30-06 just nostalgia mostly.
 
Yep I compared cartridges today in person. I am going with 30.06 I looked at the 6.5 creed too. That's a weird round fat case skinny bullet supposed to do better at long range.

That 30.06 looks better to me. Plus the bullet is heavier probably making it a good hunting rifle.
 
Either will do the job. My preference is the .308. They both can use the same bullets.

I have the younger siblings of both cartridges in 7mm/.284, a 7mm08 & 280Remington.
 
I think the 30-06 would permit the use of heavier bullets because the room in the case yet for powder. That would be my personal choice but if you are shooting nothing heavier than deer that would not matter between the two. Around here more 30-06 bullets choices and availability. All this is my opinion and others certainly feel differently.
 
They are both great Cartridges that have stood the Test of time, You won’t go wrong with either of them. Personally, I love the .308 Win, it is definitely my Favorite Centerfire Cartridge. I am running 165s @ 2,800 Fps Very Comfortably Through my .308 Win. On average, with the Same 165/168 Grain Bullet The 30-06 requires about 10 more Grains of Powder to achieve that Same Velocity

The little .308 is Quite Capable ;) This is mine @ 1,100 Yards This Spring
 
I apologise for the long post I should have opened with this....

Here is a curb ball the .270.

A little background. I have not shot a high power rifle. I have shot a .50 cal muzzleloader with 70 grain triple 7. I have fired a 9mm and a .45 and a .410 shot gun. Never been hunting.

I have been cleared for purchase at a local store however I am not sure what I want.

I would like to be able to drop a deer (instantly if possible high fpe) however I also am interested in target shooting 200+ yards. Is it possible in one rifle?

I hear the. .270 has the higher ballistic coefficient. Gun range is unfortunately limited to 200 yards.

I also would love to hunt small game such as rabbit. I may need something different for this. I saw a cool looking rifle with 2 barrels a .410 and .22lr. probably will try to find one of those for small game.

I am concerned about the recoil and how accurate I can shoot but again I do not want to chase a deer. If I decide to hunt with this. I live on the east coast and I hear our deer are smaller.

I wonder if maybe I hang out at the range and offer a few bucks I can take a shot of some calibers to get a feeling for how much recoil I can take.

I am still looking at that 30.06 even with the bad bc. After seeing what it did to a pork roast I was impressed!
 
Get the 30-06 then immediately send the barreled action to Oregon (Jess) and have it bored and chambered out to 35 Whelen. Now you have something to talk about. Or just be boring and leave it an 06 ;)
 
They are both great Cartridges that have stood the Test of time, You won’t go wrong with either of them. Personally, I love the .308 Win, it is definitely my Favorite Centerfire Cartridge. I am running 165s @ 2,800 Fps Very Comfortably Through my .308 Win. On average, with the Same 165/168 Grain Bullet The 30-06 requires about 10 more Grains of Powder to achieve that Same Velocity

The little .308 is Quite Capable ;) This is mine @ 1,100 Yards This Spring


I actually did see this and was very impressed! Unfortunately I am limited to what seems like a measly 200 yard shot. Great work!
 
In many cases, until you get to 200 grain bullets and above, the .308 can do anything the .30-06 can. There's less than 100 fps velocity between them. With lighter, varmint bullets of around 100 grains, the .308 has the bulge, in my opinion, with accuracy. The .308's shorter case allows for more uniform ignition.

Either way, caliber-wise, get the Savage. You can do a barrel swap in the comfort and privacy of your own home with a strap wrench and some head space gauges.
 
I've own two of each of these guns over the years and unless you planning on hunting game bigger than deer go with the .308, less recoil and more accurate.
 
Can’t argue with any of the advice given so far. You got to remember the availability of shells in the event you leave yours home. You will be able to purchase 270, 7mm-08, 308, or 30-06 at any mom or pop shops. Like what was mentioned the difference between the 308 and 30-06 is about 100fps. No deer or whatever will be able to tell the difference. The 30-06 outperforms the 308 only if you have the need to go after really big game. Being you mentioned you’ll be basically hunting deer and looking for a 200 yd gun the 308 or 7MM-08 would meet all of your needs! I shoot a 280Rem which is between the 270 and 30-06. I took it to Africa and took a Kudu and Zebra both at about 230 yds. Both were one shot kills. The Kudu dropped where it was standing and the Zebra gave up the ghost after about 40 yds.
My grandson shoots the 7MM-08 and loves that gun! So far the deer he has taken with it has been bang flop. I’m sure one day he may have to track a deer not because of the bullet, but where he shot it.
Good luck in you decision and let us know what you chosen.
 
"I have the option of getting a Ruger .308 or a Savage 30.06. or was it the other way around? Any way one is a .308 other is 30.06..."

Lots of good ideas here... I'd go with the 30-06 myself as I've had one for a long time (an older Model 77 MkII ) and it
has never let me down. A nice Savage .308 would be a good choice as well if deer hunting is all you plan to do. The trigger
on the Savage is better (unless you have a good gunsmith work on the Ruger.)
 
When I was in your shoes I went with a .308
Had a really nice 30.06, and several calibers around it but sold most of them (kept my Winchester Big Bore .375)
About 4 years ago it was time to get a new bolt gun and the same two calibers along with a 7mm Rem Mag were in the running.
I absolutely love my Tikka .308 due to its lower recoil and amazing accuracy!
can’t go wrong either way, it all comes down to what do you want out of the gun?
 
I prefer the .06 just because, that is the caliber I grew up shooting.
I’ve got two of them, a Ruger and the gun given to me as a 16 year old for my birthday. A Winchester Model 70 XTR Sporter.
Absolutely love them both.
I’ve been loading the 178 grain ELDX to about 2500 FPS (I don’t remember exactly and I’m not near my bench) I can push them faster than that but that is the load I got the best accuracy with. Thats enough bullet for anything in North America.
I haven’t played with the loads a lot for either gun. Just always loaded the min, med, and max published loads and chose the one that grouped the best.
I haven’t really tried more than two powders either. I’ve only been using 4895 and 4350.
As stated above though, not enough ballistic difference to choose one over the other.
The short action of the .308 may be preferable to you.
This is how I would decide, the rifle that looks the best, and feels the best in your hands, is the one I would choose. Handle them, run the bolt open and closed several times on each. If it feels right, buy it.
 
Lots of .308 fans out there too lol.

It's a damn tough choice. I see the 30.06 as the magnum to the .308 however I heard the .308 is a higher compression case.

Honestly if the energy at 100 yards is the same or similar I guess I'd opt for the caliber that can offer more accuracy. Back to the .308

Damn maybe I'll just flip a coin. Another thing I was considering is cost per shot. Welp they are pretty much the same! The only thing that cost a little more is those funny looking creedmores or 300 magnum. I wasn't looking at those calibers anyway.
 
I prefer the .06 just because, that is the caliber I grew up shooting.
I’ve got two of them, a Ruger and the gun given to me as a 16 year old for my birthday. A Winchester Model 70 XTR Sporter.
Absolutely love them both.
I’ve been loading the 178 grain ELDX to about 2500 FPS (I don’t remember exactly and I’m not near my bench) I can push them faster than that but that is the load I got the best accuracy with. Thats enough bullet for anything in North America.
I haven’t played with the loads a lot for either gun. Just always loaded the min, med, and max published loads and chose the one that grouped the best.
I haven’t really tried more than two powders either. I’ve only been using 4895 and 4350.
As stated above though, not enough ballistic difference to choose one over the other.
The short action of the .308 may be preferable to you.
This is how I would decide, the rifle that looks the best, and feels the best in your hands, is the one I would choose. Handle them, run the bolt open and closed several times on each. If it feels right, buy it.

I agree. I did handle them both. Now one of the rifles the bolt handle came damn close to the mounted scope. I did not like that much. It had a funky knob on the bolt too. I think that was the Savage. The Ruger had a nicer bolt with good clearance but the polymer stock felt cheaper and thinner.

Gonna have to go handle them again before making a final purchase.
 
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