.308 or .30-06?

[SAFalconer]

Hi guys as well as being interested in bowhunting I'm also keen on rifle hunting. And I was wondering what are the pros and cons of the above mentioned calibers? Thanks in advance.

 

[TokkieM]

That is one very hard question to give a straight answer too Both are great calibers and they both overlap one another up to a point. I suppose it will all come down to the size of game you wish to hunt and the terrain you are going to hunt in, as far as heavy bullets are concerned the 30-06 has the edge. As for the run of the mill bullets used in both calibers 150-168gr there is little to choose between them give or take a 100-150fps. Animals dont seem to notice the differance when hit in the right spot with either. The only advantage to me is in the design of the rifle and action lenghts for the two calibers in factory rifles. The 308 has a shorter action and bolt throw than the 30-06 has, it may only be a split second faster, but that is sometimes all you get for a follow up shot or shots, especially in Europe durring driven hunting. If you are a mountian hunter the 308 can be built slightly lighter and shorter than the 30-06,not much but after a few days it all adds up. Another reason I enjoy the 308 more is that it has less recoil than the 30-06 in a rifle of similar weight. Once again it has nothing to do with being recoil shy or the 30-06 being a heavy recoiler, it is just faster to regain a sight picture with the 308. Dont know about there, but here 308 ammo tends to be cheaper. I have seen both take big eland down when used with premuim bullets. All going to come down to personall preferance. I am sure other members will have more advice and experiance with both calibers. Good luck making a hard choice

 

[NickyMaz]

I guess it really depends on your purpose and intent. The .30-06 will give you superior energy at longer ranges and it's flatter shooting than the .308. Both will be ok out to 300 yrd and then start seriously dropping (check out some ballistics charts). As was said above the main difference is the .308 is a short action while .30-06 is a long action, that means the .308 can be made into a smaller, lighter rifle while the .30-06 will be (a bit) longer and heavier. Some will sacrifice the performance to save weight on hunts in high elevation and/or to fit the frame of younger or smaller hunters.

 

[TokkieM]

You may find this interesting too.

http://www.norma.cc/sv/Ammunitionsskolan/kaliberhistorik/.308-win/

 

[lcq]

That is one very hard question to give a straight answer too Both are great calibers and they both overlap one another up to a point. I suppose it will all come down to the size of game you wish to hunt and the terrain you are going to hunt in, as far as heavy bullets are concerned the 30-06 has the edge. As for the run of the mill bullets used in both calibers 150-168gr there is little to choose between them give or take a 100-150fps. Animals dont seem to notice the differance when hit in the right spot with either. The only advantage to me is in the design of the rifle and action lenghts for the two calibers in factory rifles. The 308 has a shorter action and bolt throw than the 30-06 has, it may only be a split second faster, but that is sometimes all you get for a follow up shot or shots, especially in Europe durring driven hunting. If you are a mountian hunter the 308 can be built slightly lighter and shorter than the 30-06,not much but after a few days it all adds up. Another reason I enjoy the 308 more is that it has less recoil than the 30-06 in a rifle of similar weight. Once again it has nothing to do with being recoil shy or the 30-06 being a heavy recoiler, it is just faster to regain a sight picture with the 308. Dont know about there, but here 308 ammo tends to be cheaper. I have seen both take big eland down when used with premuim bullets. All going to come down to personall preferance. I am sure other members will have more advice and experiance with both calibers. Good luck making a hard choice

A very concise summary, the only think I can add is that the 3006 does better with heavy bullets due to the extra case capacity

 

[Velo Dog]

Amigos,

I am +1 with lcq and others who have posted that the .30-06 handles heavier bullets better than the .308 does.
The .30 caliber is not my idea of the very best bullet diameter for use in Africa unless you never intend to shoot any larger antelopes/plains game (giraffe, eland, zebra and etc).

However with 180 grain to 220 grain bullets, the .30-06 certainly is popular and successful for hunting PG.
And I have used it with 220 gr bullets on wildebeest and smaller with perfect success (Hornady round nose soft at about 2400 fps), so I cannot complain about it at all.
I have had nothing but success with it in Alaska as well.

It's just that I'd prefer at least a .33 bore/250 gr bullet for the largest PG species as my personal minimum (actually for heart-lung shots on giraffe, I suspect that a .40 caliber rifle and 400 gr bullet, or larger caliber/heavier bullet would not be too much at all).
Be that as it may, if I was not looking for a .33 or larger caliber and thereby trying to decide between the .30-06 and the .308 for Africa, I definitely would choose the .30-06 for the heavy bullet capability.

Regards,
Velo Dog.

 

[brushmore]

I had to make this very decision not long ago. I went with the .308. The reason reason was that I was looking at getting a rifle on the light side and the .308 has slightly less recoil. But it was probably more for sentimental reasons than anything else. I feel the differences mostly matter on paper and in the real world it's not so much of a difference.

I feel ff you do your job and shoot it accurate enough either one will do the job.

 

[Divernhunter]

No animal will be able to tell the difference between the two.
Also all that is needed in either is a 150gr bullet of proper construction to do the job. Or if one insists a 165gr bullet. Nothing heiver.

 

[Weebs]

Both will be ok out to 300 yrd and then start seriously dropping (check out some ballistics charts).

Exactly. I took a whitetail in North Carolina at ~420 yards with my .308 and had to hold over about 15 inches.

 

[Fr8liner]

I think that sometimes we can get to technical with these choices and forget to see what is right in front of us. Basics - availability and cost of rifle, cost of ammo, feel of the action including recoil and sound.

I always wanted a .308 simply because everyone had one and ammunition was readily available. I ended up buying a 30.06 because it was $300 and right there to buy with 100 rounds of ammunition. No regrets and when a brand new .308 came about for the same price I was happy to let it go.

Killing capabilities tend to rely more on shot placement more than bullet weights, trajectory or velocity.

I now have a 300h&h, why? Because it was there at the right place in a better model and I liked its feel! And the 30.06 is gone.....

Good luck with your choice.

 

[CAustin]

Hello Everyone

I have joined this forum in order to learn as much information as possible for when my friend and I go on our first African hunting safari to celebrate our 30th birthdays in 2017/2018 - a while away yet but I have always been taught it is best to be prepared! We shoot regularly in the UK and both have good weapons handling skills and are able to hit a target repeatedly at distance so feel it is the right time to step up our hunting level.

We are not sure whether to do 1x1 hunting or to share the adventure/hunting each day and do 2x1 hunting - I would be interested to hear the forums opinions on each option (I could not find a discussion on this on the forum but may have missed it). Having gone through a few websites for PH's and Outfitters it looks like we would not save a great deal by hunting 2x1 but would have a lot fewer trophies each - am I right in understanding things this way?

I would welcome any advice you are able to offer on which animals are best to go for on a first trip (I would love to hunt Kudu but not sure if this is a good starting point?) and also on which area of Africa would be best to visit - at the moment we are thinking South Africa so would appreciate view on the different regions within SA. We would be looking to go for 10 to 14 days in total so potentially 7 - 10 days for hunting - I am unsure how many animals would be possible in this time and also what would be the best length of time for a first hunt. I have read a few threads on the pros and cons or package hunts vs "a la carte" but am not yet sure which option we will go for so any pointers on this would be gratefully received.

We would not wish to take our own rifles (to avoid the hassle of travelling with them) and would instead look to hire them from the PH - is this something that is easy to do? Here in the UK we have "estate rifles" but I am not sure if this concept exists in Africa?

I have also noticed that Taxidermy forms a large amount of the cost of a Safari and whilst I have been able to find some price lists online I am unsure of how much it would cost to ship mounts to the UK (I would be looking for one or two shoulder mounts and the rest skull and horns only) - does anyone have experience of shipping to the UK?

In terms of budget we would probably be looking at about $8000 as a starting point - but this could increase as time goes on if we are able to save more each month.

I am sorry for the length of this introduction but had a lot of questions to start with (and will inevitably have a lot more in the future)

Thank you in advance to those who are able to offer help and advice, I look forward to being a part of this forum!

James

I had to make this very decision not long ago. I went with the .308. The reason reason was that I was looking at getting a rifle on the light side and the .308 has slightly less recoil. But it was probably more for sentimental reasons than anything else. I feel the differences mostly matter on paper and in the real world it's not so much of a difference.

I feel ff you do your job and shoot it accurate enough either one will do the job.

The fact is the 308 will get the job done just fine. What matters is where you out the shot and how good you are with the rifle. Get what you like sir and then practice a lot before you go!

 

[bassasdaindia]

for Africa hunting ..... 30-06 .

 

[ROCKET]

While it is know thet the 30-06 has a plus better performance over the .308, reloaders are those who usually take advantage of this......in the practice and in the field under hunting circuntances, no doubt, both calibers are capable to do the job in a same way, at the same ranges with the same bullets with no differences.

Last May I took 10 trophies in the Karoo with a old Musgrave rifle chambered for .308 with PMP (cheap ammo) 150 Grains soft pointed.
I got animals from Sprimbock to Kudu, Orix, and Zebra and more, taking shoots never less than 150 mts up to 220 mts as the Impala shoot was and I had no problem at all and the trophies were done with a single shoots in the shoulder or in the chest.
Only the number 11.....was a Blue Wildbeest I have shooted for meat and starts to walk when I pulled the trigger.....the shoot was little rear and unfortunatelly We never seen again for the next days.....bad bullet placement.

So if you go for the .308 you cannot go wrong.....good choice for a small, short and light hunting rifle......!!!!

My dos pesos amigos.....!!!!!

 

[Mekaniks]

So first a little bit of history as I understand it... At the end of WW2 the 7.62x51 NATO was adopted by the US military as a short action .30 cal that would operate better in auto/semi-auto rifles as replacement for the long action 30-06. Winchester then "sporterized" it, called it the .308 win and and in the early 1950's started marketing it in their popular model 70 as a capable lightweight option to the 30-06.
I have owned and currently own both. And have enjoyed both. The first rifle I bought myself at 19 years old is a Springfield 1903 in 30-06 AI. That rifle and I accounted for numerous mule deer and a truck load of ground hogs in WA state, before I moved to AK a couple years later and left that gun behind. Now almost 30 years later I am planning my first African plains game trip and I am "resurrecting" my old 30-06 AI, putting on a new scope, working up some new hand loads and possibly some new stock checkering.
All that said...over the years my personal preference though has become the .308 and the short action family of calibers that it spawned such as the .243, 7-08 and .338 fed. Probebly the biggest reason for that though has been that when I need to push 185g bullets long ranges at 3000 fps, or shoot 250g bullets that hit like a hammer, I use my .338 win mag as my "go to" gun.
If I was only going to have just one caliber to try and do it all (I know just crazy talk) it would be a 30-06. So I don't know if any of this helps you to make a decision between the 308 - 30-06 or just confuses it more but I hope it help. Have fun,

 

[SAFalconer]

Thanks guys for all the input

 

[postoak]

Can you get Remington Managed Recoil loads in South Africa? If so, I am going to suggest you get a .300 Win. Mag. It's a great plains game caliber (and in my experience none too powerful) and the MR loads mimic the old American cartridge the .300 Savage, which is a great round for game under 200 pounds.

 

[SAFalconer]

Not sure. Thanks for the advice.

 

[postoak]

It's exactly what I did with mine. I use only the MR loads for deer here in the States. I use the full loads when in Africa, and if/when I go after, elk, moose, and mule deer. I would also use the full loads for American antelope, even though they are smaller than our deer -- simply because of the long ranges involved.

I now reload for my .300 Win. Mag. so I no longer need the MR loads. I can duplicate them on my own.

 

[Marcos Rodriguez]

All the times the 30-06 be my favourite election, and ONLY because the heavier weight of the bullets he can mount in the case.
Even a child make sense of the difference between a bullet of 150 grs (308)and another of 180 (30-06)at the same vellocity!
I think the "thirty oh six" is much powerfull and trusty, but the shot placement makes the difference! With a bad shot, any caliber fail... (but NOT THE CALIBER, the HUNTER... ejem....)

 

[JamesJ]

Personally I love the .308 and I have found that anything the 30-06 can do the .308 is just as good. when I feel the need for larger bullets or more power i go the the .300 magnums. there is just so much overlap, I just don't use the 30-06 at all.