I used to really hate the .308

I've been thinking of posting here more, instead of just reading and commenting from time to time. Seems selfish to just hang in the shadows. So here's a post about my change in thinking and a new project.

I used to hate the 308. Not for any good reason really, just emotional. I disliked it like @Bob Nelson 35Whelen hates the .243. When I was a kid, all my reading material was books checked out from the library or purchased at the "friends of the library" sale. Needless to say, in both cases any books I could find on hunting were old. Those old books taught me about the classic safari cartridges, among those was the 30-06. Robert Ruark, Jack O'Connor, Hemmingway, myriads of others carried an 06. The only thing I knew about the .308 was that it was newer, was developed in part for NATO as the 7.62, and the only person I knew who liked it was an old Vietnam War vet at my local gun shop who said it was all he would ever shoot. I thought of it as a "Fudd" cartridge for people that just blasted away at anything and everything.

Fast forward 30 years and to my first trip to Africa in March. Africa taught me to "unlearn" what I knew about precision. It taught me that its OK to squeeze the trigger when the reticle is moving around some, that 1/2" MOA is not necessary, that its OK to remove a scope to use irons and then put the scope back and trust it to be back to good hunting accuracy, and mainly not to let perfect be the enemy of good. It taught me the value of a working rifle that can adapt to the shooters needs and be a useful tool all year, not just in season.

Modern precision rifles are nice. They are light, suppressor ready, accessory ready, and accurate. But I started thinking of a way I could marry my old precision mindset to my new Africa mindset. I wanted a classic rifle that I could also run with a bipod or tripod, that I could suppress when I wanted and not suppress when I didn't. that I could set up with a red dot for fast predator control and as a truck gun all year, but also scope during hunts. It needed to be something that was reasonably good in a short barrel, not just to maintain decent velocity but mostly so that I didn't blow my eardrums out shooting it bare. It also needed to be a cartridge that I could find easily in Africa. I almost lost my ammo on my first trip, so I went from not really thinking that was a real issue to realizing that it WAS a real issue for traveling hunters.

I ran across a good deal on an M70 featherweight in .308. With my new criteria and mindset, I realized why it's so popular. I had a gunsmith cut the barrel down to get good threads and shoulder with my suppressor. No instruction on length, just needed to be in the meat of the barrel for a good attachment. I think he ended up just under 17" to make that happen with the thin barrel profile. He cerakoted the barrel and action, not because I asked for it but because he damaged the bluing while working on it. Fine with me. I filed a flat spot and attached a short pic rail to the underside. I had a Warne rail that happened to fit, had a red dot I don't use (not a fan on a pistol it turns out) and an Accupoint scope with no home. I purchased some low quick release rings and a cheap Chinese made thread protector.

Today was the first time really shooting it. I shot it bare, suppressed, with red dot, with scope. It's a 1" gun with both 168 ELDM Hornady Black ammo, as well as Swift A-Frame 165s, both factory loaded. It even shoots both to the exact point of impact at 100 yards.

I can't wait to hunt it this season. I might take it with me in September for baboon with @Tally-Ho HUNTING SAFARIS.

I may not be an old dog, but I am learning some new tricks and it's been fun. I can finally appreciate the .308 for what it is. Who cares what the case stamp says? All that matters is the bullet. How is it built, how fast is it going, and what I expect to do with it.

I’m a 30-06 man, but there’s nothing wrong with the 308. I just never found the extra bolt travel to be a problem.
Often times my 06 is loaded with a 180 at 2550, so basically 308 performance.

You have a interesting set up right there, a RMR on a picatinny, as well as a scope. How do you intend to zero in if the plan is to switch while on a hunt?

I prefer the 06 as well, that’s all I’ve owned in 30 cal my whole life. This is new for me, and the first and only .308 I’ve ever owned.

SStomcat said:

You have a interesting set up right there, a RMR on a picatinny, as well as a scope. How do you intend to zero in if the plan is to switch while on a hunt?

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I wouldn’t switch mid hunt. Just commit to one setup. I zerod both at 100 and confirmed repeatability by swapping between them a few times.

Nice rifle. People like and dislike things for all sorts of reason.

I always felt the same way about the 30-06. Not that it isn't a great caliber, but everybody has one and I am bit of a contrarian.

Be sure to give 150-155 gr bullets a try in the old 308. 155 Tmks make a mess of deer sized animals and can be pretty zippy from a short barrel. Also, try some subsonic rounds. They are quiet death. I like the ones from discreet ballistics.

The good thing about the 308 is there are lots of options.

AckleyHunter said:

Nice rifle. People like and dislike things for all sorts of reason.

I always felt the same way about the 30-06. Not that it isn't a great caliber, but everybody has one and I am bit of a contrarian.

Be sure to give 150-155 gr bullets a try in the old 308. 155 Tmks make a mess of deer sized animals and can be pretty zippy from a short barrel. Also, try some subsonic rounds. They are quiet death. I like the ones from discreet ballistics.

The good thing about the 308 is there are lots of options.

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I’ll try those. I’m a fan of tmks in my 6mm. I’m also going to give 130 ttsx a try

@Parkerpusher, I really enjoyed reading your write up. I have taken my .308 Kimber Mountain Ascent to Africa many times, and I’ve taken a lot of animals with it. This spring I had the 22” barrel cut down to 17”, put my Scythe-TI suppressor on it, it shoots .75” groups with Federal tipped trophy bonded ammo. I think the total weight of my rifle, suppressor and a Swarovski z5i scope is 6lbs 7oz. It’s a real delight to carry.

Now that you’ve taken your first African safari, are you planning on returning? What would you most like to hunt next?

@Andrew62 thank you.
I didn’t do any write up after my hunt in March, wasn’t sure I had anything to say that hadn’t already been said. But it was amazing…. And no surprise, I was planning the next hunt before I was on the plane ride home.

On that hunt I took a zebra mare, a Blesbok on opportunity, and then a good blue wildebeest. Then we switched gears and hunted buffalo the last half of the hunt.

I would hunt wildabeest again, they are fascinating and fun and delicious. And I could hunt buffalo every day of my life, that’s an addiction I didn’t expect.

Moving forward, I’m interested in some of the tiny 10. I would love to hunt sable, and I think waterbuck are beautiful I’d love to hunt them as well. I need a good warthog in there also they are cool and crazy! I want to do a leopard hunt at some point, I’m thinking 2028 but it’s early stages for planning that. Right now I’m saving my pennies for a baboon cull hunt with Stuart @Tally-Ho HUNTING SAFARIS in September. Talking with him, sounds like the first half will be productive but once we’ve worn out bait sites it’s gonna be difficult so we may move on to something else. I have big dreams of doing a buff / tuskless hunt in Zim next year too.

More than species to target, I’d like to experience more of Africa. See more of it and meet some more great people.

This has quickly become a problem as you can see!

The 308 is gonna be pretty sweet when they make those peak case cases for it like they did the creedmore.

@Parkerpusher, anything you can add about any hunt you take will have meaning to the rest of us here, share away!

Sounds like your first trip was a great experience, and I hope this falls hunt has many great memories too. A baboon cull hunt sounds quite interesting, what gun will you be using for that?

If you can make it to Zim for a buffalo/tuskless hunt, I highly recommend it. I did that very hunt last year with @DALTON & YORK SAFARIS, I had a great time. Being in a truly wild area in Africa is such a special thing!

@Andrew62 thanks for the encouragement, maybe I will do a write up on my first hunt. It was a lifetime in the making and it definitely changed me for the better. I may not have any worthwhile advice but I can surely throw some words down about how I felt and what I experienced. I think it’s even clearer in mind 4 months later than it was immediately after.

I’m not sure what rifle I’m bringing in September, I’ve gone back and forth. Talking with Stuart made me realize that the hunt would be open to other opportunity either for culling other species or trophy hunting if I had a clear objective, so initially I was just thinking of my 30-06.

He mentioned long range was not an opportunity and a benefit for baboon so then I got to thinking about my 6mm precision rifle and a 375. Now, I’m thinking maybe just keep it simple with one rifle and bring either my old 30-06 or maybe this new 308. I do need to decide soon but so far haven’t… open to advice. My gut tells me to bring the 375 no matter what second rifle I bring for baboon.

I’m already booked with @RANCHERO Outfitters for Zim. It was impulsive and I didn’t reach out for advice, but after a phone call with Magnus I felt like we were very similar in thinking and would get along great. Plus, he talked about hunting from a tented spike camp and I was sold. It’s a part of Africa I really want to see and experience.

What unit or concession/ area of Zim did you just hunt?

Through the years I've been educated about how great the .308 is, 2 examples: in Colorado an old gentleman and his brother were road hunting, seen a small herd of legal bulls, he used an open sight .308 to kill 2 cleanly, as they were dressing them he asked us to help load them in truck and asked me to unload his gun, no 2 bullets were the same. In Newfoundland in a trophy moose camp I killed my moose of a lifetime and the next day I went the other person in camp to tag along along, he killed a monster bull drt with a .308. Boring but fantastic cartridge

Just loaded and shot some 130 TTSX @ 3000 ish loaded with CFE 223 into an inch at 100 yds. Should be poison for whitetail!
308 Win Blaser R8 suppressed. Real kitty cat.
DB

You have a perfect Safari rifle for any and all PG hunting. Well done. Try out some of the Federal Fusion ammo in 180g. I used these in my old FN Browning 308 on my 1st Safari to take five PG critters. All were one shot and dead. My rifle has a 22" bbl and is very light. I bought it years ago but had never hunted with it until Africa. I spent almost 6 months refinishing the stock to remove the 10 coats of glossy varnish and replace them with a rosewood/walnut stained rubbed oil finish. Perfect for Africa.


First two shots were taken in Limpopo on our last day of hunting as we perched atop a knoll glassing a water hole for Boons and Warthogs. It was the perfect end to a perfect hunt. Took a big ram Impala after a long stalk thru the bush and a 180y shot.

Very nice looking rig and extremely versatile. Load it up or down as desired for intended quarry. I have some 150 gr Hornady reduced recoil for kids to use or roll up to 180 for bigger stuff. Have fun.

And here I thought I was the only 308 win nay sayer. Like the OP, I have little to no ballistic or scientific basis for this perception. I just felt (still feel?!) that if I'm going to shoot a bolt action .30 caliber projectile, the 30-06, 300 wsm, 300 win mag and 300 RUM all do it better.

HSands said:

And here I thought I was the only 308 win nay sayer. Like the OP, I have little to no ballistic or scientific basis for this perception. I just felt (still feel?!) that if I'm going to shoot a bolt action .30 caliber projectile, the 30-06, 300 wsm, 300 win mag and 300 RUM all do it better.

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It’s funny. Because much of the talk with the bigger calibers is you don’t want to shoot them too fast.

Look for an OTB suppressor. That would really make that rifle a dream to carry in the bush.

HSands said:

And here I thought I was the only 308 win nay sayer. Like the OP, I have little to no ballistic or scientific basis for this perception. I just felt (still feel?!) that if I'm going to shoot a bolt action .30 caliber projectile, the 30-06, 300 wsm, 300 win mag and 300 RUM all do it better.

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I feel the same way. I had already had a .30-06 and was building a .300 Win. I decided that I needed a short action, "wet-weather proof", light rifle for climbing the steep rain soaked ridges of Western Washington where I live now. They had a Remington Model 7 in stainless and synthetic at the local Sportsman's Warehouse (this was some years ago) in 7-08. I could have bought one in .308, but just thought that with the '06 and .300 I wanted something different, and besides I'm just not a .308 fan. No good reason, just can't work up any enthusiasm for it. Besides I load for all my hunting and could always form cases from .308 or .243 if I had to. There seems to be an unlimited supply of that brass. I also own a 7mm RM and have bullets.

I still like my blue steel and walnut rifles and mostly carry those, weather permitting, and have only shot the 7-08 at one buck. The 140 AccuBonds took him just in front of the last rib on the right side and exited on the left side of his neck. The follow up tracking job was not lengthy. The range was 196 yards. Now would anything have been different if I had bought the rifle in .308? Not one bit. I just can't get excited about it.