.308 versus 30-06 ammo availability

[cajunchefray]

Starting a new thread, after reading the one about a rifle for a new hunter, for US and Africa.

Many are recommending the .308 over the. 30-06.

Is ammo availability really that much better? I reload for most all my firearms so don’t really shop in stores for whatever is in stock.

Around here we can find both, some better prices on 308, but not by much.

There’s no problem with the.308, my first “deer rifle “ used to take my first deer.
I just prefer the.30-06 for wider selection of bullet weights.

What are thoughts on ammunition availability and costs, between these, across the US and Africa?

 

[mdwest]

There’s more 308 around here (DFW) at most of the places I shop…

But that doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of 30-06 options available… if I had to guess, my local cabelas probably has 12-15 30-06 options available… and maybe 20-25 308 options…

It’s not hard at all to find 30-06 around here… Walmart, academy, Cabelas, Bass Pro, and all of the local gun shops always have several choices on the shelf…

And online you pretty much find anything you could possibly want for a 30-06

 

[ftrovato]

ammoseek.com

I think you can find most anything commonly available for both cartridges on many sites.

My two cents are that you're better off with the 30-06 and its increased case capacity handling larger bullets at faster velocities. In some cases with ultra modern powders it shoots like a 300 Win Mag.

 

[deewayne2003]

when new hunters ask me about what caliber for their first deer rifle I say….

“.270, .308 or 30-06 it really doesn’t matter they all work; however in an ammo shortage .308 will be the hardest ammo to find.”

Hopefully the days of empty shelves are behind us, but if you’re shooting a .308 you better not be buying your ammo box by box.

 

[cash_tx]

Regarding that thread you are referring to, I voted for the 308 mostly because I thought it was the most practical option of the specific calibers listed (not counting the "Other" voting option). I too am in the camp of giving the 30-06 a slight nod due to a bit higher performance. Every now and then you can find a deal on bulk 308 range ammo (actually it will be marked 7.62x51 most of the time) at an attractive price; but comparing apples to apples on a few reference websites that i frequent, the price of comparable 30-06 and 308 are within 10% of each other.

 

[cash_tx]

when new hunters ask me about what caliber for their first deer rifle I say….

“.270, .308 or 30-06 it really doesn’t matter they all work; however in an ammo shortage .308 will be the hardest ammo to find.”

Hopefully the days of empty shelves are behind us, but if you’re shooting a .308 you better not be buying your ammo box by box.

To your point, when the summer of "mostly peaceful" Covid panic buying really kicked in a few years back, I was really glad to have a couple 7x57's that could still be fed for normal prices.

 

[Tbitty]

I'd call it a toss-up between 308 and 30.06. As @mdwest Suggested, 308 usually has a few more types but I think that's probably because it gets more target rounds available (like cheap fmj stuff) and/or as an AR-10 platform offering. For hunting ammo, I'd think them equal almost anywhere in the US, and fairly easily accessible around the world.

If choosing for myself, I'd take the 30-06 over 308 for the extra powder capacity.

 

[Longwalker]

There is almost no difference, in availability, price, or performance between the .308 and .30-06. I choose the .308. For me it's a "just right" cartridge. It seems to me that it is more popular and more available for sale in most African countries compared to the .30-06. The 30-06 is more popular in the USA because of its history and the local USA culture. So pick one and you won't be wrong.

 

[JimP]

I wandered through a Sportsman's Warehouse a week or so ago and their ammo shelves were full, however I won't say that they will stay that way once fall gets here and the hunting seasons get here.

I was quite surprised at what wasn't in there. No 375HH, or really anything else until you hit the 50 BMG. They had more of it than just about any other rifle ammo besides 22 LR

 

[CBH Australia]

I’m n Australia I would be confident to say that .308 am and rifles would outnumber .30-06 by a fair margin.
Maybe it will be hard to find in a shortage but there is no shortage of it in Australia.

I guess because the 7.62x51 was a military round and also a target rifle chambering for the Full Bore competition it has been widely used.

It is commonly used for hunting, a favourite among pig hunters for availability and performance it is also used by government agencies in aerial shooting programmes as they have semi automatic rifles chambered in 7.62x51

I see .30-06 available and I’m sure it’s a good thing. The .303 was widely available after WW2 so it was commonly used by Aussies who later found the .308 hunting ammo to be better.

Factory .303 and 6.5x55 is neutered or downloaded so I expect .30-06 may also be due to older rifles.

 

[sgt_zim]

There’s more 308 around here (DFW) at most of the places I shop…

But that doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of 30-06 options available… if I had to guess, my local cabelas probably has 12-15 30-06 options available… and maybe 20-25 308 options…

It’s not hard at all to find 30-06 around here… Walmart, academy, Cabelas, Bass Pro, and all of the local gun shops always have several choices on the shelf…

And online you pretty much find anything you could possibly want for a 30-06

The only 30 cal I own is a 308, and it's a target rifle. I'd hazard a guess that if you just look at hunting ammo, there's parity between them as far as what's available. I haven't bought factory 308 for my rifle in, well, ever. I've rolled my own since I bought it 15 years ago.

By hunting ammo, I mean cartridges topped with a premium, HotCor, CoreLokt, Grand Slam, Interlock, SGK, or similar.

I do not consider ammo topped with ELD-X, any Berger, or similar to be hunting ammo. Anybody could use those as hunting ammo, but at ordinary hunting distances, all that extra BC doesn't accomplish anything, and the thin jackets leave much to be desired for my tastes.

 

[dchum]

I’d say there are is more 308 available because there is more made (duh I’m smart)

But if you were to compare loading of good hunting loads. It’s pretty much even!

Lots of silly fmj, target, ar, stuff loaded for 308 so just more out there.


30-06 I see loaded more predominantly for hunting purposes when you find it. Which is a plus.

 

[cajunchefray]

To your point, when the summer of "mostly peaceful" Covid panic buying really kicked in a few years back, I was really glad to have a couple 7x57's that could still be fed for normal prices.

I grabbed the last two boxes of WW 7x57 145 PP, during the “ mostly peaceful “ riots that summer from a local pawn shop that had decent ammo selection.
Ammoseek was a great resource, that my shooting buddy and I used to get 9mm and 45ACP, and we pounced on a case of IMI 5.56 from Midway.
I had plenty of 30-06 and 308 brass, bullets, primers and proper powder.

Thanks all for your input.
Everything posted has validated my understanding.
The internet has many options, I just don’t get out that much shopping ammo now at retail.

I will stick with my 30-06.

But I won’t look down on a nice 308 Model 70 Featherweight.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

Ammunition for both is fortunately widely available in both the United States and Africa in modern times.

But during the 1970s-1980s (i.e the Sanction years) in Rhodesia/Zimbabwe… the .308 Winchester was far more commonly employed in comparison to the .30-06 Springfield. This is hardly surprising, since the .308 Winchester was the standard service cartridge of the Rhodesian army. And almost every hunter & farmer in Rhodesia/Zimbabwe owned a bolt action in .308 Winchester. Back in those days, the innovative local hunters used to convert army surplus FMJ military ball ammunition into soft points by filing the noses down (thereby exposing the lead underneath).

When I hunted in Kenya in 1974, I had the good fortune to visit the famous Nairobi gun shop “Kenya Bunduki”. Rifles & ammunition for the .30-06 Springfield were widely available, but there wasn’t a single rifle or box of ammunition available for the .308 Winchester.

Interestingly, back when I first hunted in Australia in 1975… I observed that rifles & ammunition in .308 Winchester (and .30-30 Winchester) were extremely common while rifles and ammunition in .30-06 Springfield were almost completely unheard of in the land down under back in those days. I never figured out why this was so.

In Canada however, when I first hunted there in 1976… the .30-06 Springfield and the .30-30 Winchester were the most popular calibers for which rifles & ammunition were widely available off-the-shelf. .308 Winchester was quite alien to most Canadian sportsmen, back in those days.

Much like yourself, I’m quite partial to the .30-06 Springfield (esp. when loaded with 220Gr Remington Core Lokts).

 

[cajunchefray]

What I’m really wondering about is the retail availability of 308 and 30-06 in other than RSA countries like Namibia, Zambia, Mozambique and Zimbabwe and Tanzania?

 

[thriller]

when new hunters ask me about what caliber for their first deer rifle I say….

“.270, .308 or 30-06 it really doesn’t matter they all work; however in an ammo shortage .308 will be the hardest ammo to find.”

Hopefully the days of empty shelves are behind us, but if you’re shooting a .308 you better not be buying your ammo box by box.

Your right that’s why I diversified into about a dozen different calibers

 

[Firebird]

One consideration should be that .308 is much more common that .30-06 in AR platforms and is more likely to get scarce in times of stress, threat and panic

 

[Hunter-Habib]

What I’m really wondering about is the retail availability of 308 and 30-06 in other than RSA countries like Namibia, Zambia, Mozambique and Zimbabwe and Tanzania?

Namibia- You can get both equally easily
Zambia- You can get both, but mostly Hornady brand
Mozambique- There are no gun shops there
Zimbabwe- During the sanction years, .308 was more easily available. Nowadays, you can get both relatively easily.
Tanzania- You can get both, but Tanganyika Arms Ltd (the only gun shop in Tanzania) only stocks Sellier & Bellot brand

 

[cajunchefray]

Ammunition for both is fortunately widely available in both the United States and Africa in modern times.

But during the 1970s-1980s (i.e the Sanction years) in Rhodesia/Zimbabwe… the .308 Winchester was far more commonly employed in comparison to the .30-06 Springfield. This is hardly surprising, since the .308 Winchester was the standard service cartridge of the Rhodesian army. And almost every hunter & farmer in Rhodesia/Zimbabwe owned a bolt action in .308 Winchester. Back in those days, the innovative local hunters used to convert army surplus FMJ military ball ammunition into soft points by filing the noses down (thereby exposing the lead underneath).

When I hunted in Kenya in 1974, I had the good fortune to visit the famous Nairobi gun shop “Kenya Bunduki”. Rifles & ammunition for the .30-06 Springfield were widely available, but there wasn’t a single rifle or box of ammunition available for the .308 Winchester.

Interestingly, back when I first hunted in Australia in 1975… I observed that rifles & ammunition in .308 Winchester (and .30-30 Winchester) were extremely common while rifles and ammunition in .30-06 Springfield were almost completely unheard of in the land down under back in those days. I never figured out why this was so.

In Canada however, when I first hunted there in 1976… the .30-06 Springfield and the .30-30 Winchester were the most popular calibers for which rifles & ammunition were widely available off-the-shelf. .308 Winchester was quite alien to most Canadian sportsmen, back in those days.

Much like yourself, I’m quite partial to the .30-06 Springfield (esp. when loaded with 220Gr Remington Core Lokts).
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Thank you @Hunter-Habib .
The history of Kenya hunting is fascinating. I remember Finn Aagard writing that the 30-06 firing 220 SP bullets was very effective on PG.

When I lived in the upstate of South Carolina,25 years ago, the Remington 220 grain Core Lokt was available in any store, from a local gun shop to Wal Mart and Academy.

When I asked my local gunsmith why every shop has 220 grain 30-06, he just said, in typical Southern style, “ the deer just don’t go far.”

Lesson learned.

 

[cajunchefray]

One consideration should be that .308 is much more common that .30-06 in AR platforms and is more likely to get scarce in times of stress, threat and panic

Man ain’t that the truth!

I was seriously thinking then maybe I should have bought a 7mm-08 or 260 Remington on the AR-10 platform instead of 308.
I was shopping AR-10 uppers.

308 Winchester/ 7.62x51 ammunition was the first thing sold out in my area.