The .308 Win for plains game

I have shoot all animals ever hunted in my short career with a .308. Would use it on Eland aswell as long as the the animal is close bye. Wouldn`t take a 200 yard + shot. Prefer shorter.

James I would suggest you try and elicit just how good a shot your guy is with the 308? invite him to a range if you can. as it is my experience 99%% say great shot and usually not the case! If he shoots the 308 well and alot I say let him be, good bullet placement from a familar gun way better than putting a guy behind a 300mag or bigger that he cant shoot because of recoil issues. let a MAG beat your guy up and he will start flinching with the 308 and he will be ruined! Just saying ya gotta be taught to shoot the mags and learn properly and will be good to go for life. seen to many newbies buy a mag take it out, no one to help them with it, beats them up, etc, and its all over. so dont push you guy to bite off more than he can chew.

Your asking the wrong question about the 308. The real question is at what distance is the 308 adequate for Eland? At 100 yards or less the 308 is just fine for Eland.

The other thing to consider is the 308 can be loaded a bit hotter as seen in the Superperformance line. Some may not like the gmx and interbond bullets though. Reloaders should be able to sub out a Barnes or Partition though.

Something else to consider is barrel length. The carbine barrels a lot of lightweight 308's have is going to cut down velocity.

I have shot a few PG with a 22-250, and a friend of mine shot an Eland with a 25-06, 100gr bullet.

It´s all about shot placement and being confident with your gun and cartridge.

curtism1234 said:

The other thing to consider is the 308 can be loaded a bit hotter as seen in the Superperformance line. Some may not like the gmx and interbond bullets though. Reloaders should be able to sub out a Barnes or Partition though.

Something else to consider is barrel length. The carbine barrels a lot of lightweight 308's have is going to cut down velocity.

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funny thing about the 308 is that it is so efficient you don't really get hosed on velocity with a short barrel. I can get 2800 with a 150 ttsx out of my 20" 10fp with no pressure signs using varget. CFE223 would net me a bit more

@Nyati agreed given time and placement, but with a less than perfect shot the results are pretty bad.

This thread reminds me of a series of trips taken by the son of a fellow officer about 30 years ago. the boy was going elk hunting for the first time and was going to an area that had been very productive for their group in previous years. The boy was taking his .243 win for which his dad had handloaded 100 gr Nosler Partition bullets- at the time, 1981, it was considered the best bullet available for big game. Where they hunted was national forest, but bordered private land. the boy was placed on a stump watching a small draw that came out of the private land. Shortly after sunrise a spike elk walked from the private land down the draw, passing about 75 yards in front of the boy, who fired one shot. The elk stumbled and fell. The elk was dead by the time the boy had covered the distance. When the boys dad returned to work, and for the following year all that we heard was how great the 243 was on elk- how those of us that used 30-06 and 300 mags were way over-gunned, that if we had any sense at all we'd forget those big guns and use at maximum a 270. It really got old. Every time I'd see him (a couple times per month) I'd get the same story. the next season found the boy sitting on the stump with his prefect elk medicine 243. As if on cue a spike elk travels from the private to public land and the boy puts a Partition into its lungs. the elk stumbles, but regains it's feet and runs. since it was public land, another hunter, not of their group happened to see the elk, fired a short at which time the elk fell dead. A discussion ensued but the unknown hunter had tagged the elk by the time the boy arrived, and since the hunter had fired the shot before the elk dropped, the elk was conceded to the hunter. For the next year we heard that while the 243 is excellent for elk, those other hunters shouldn't be such game hogs- afterall, that elk was dead on it's feet, etc. The third season was virtually a repeat of the second season. Elk shot, ran, shot and tagged by another hunter. The year following the third hunt things were very quiet regarding the 243. On the boys fourth hunt, he now 17, was using a 30-06. The moral of the story is, that while there is no great evil in using a cartridge that is marginally adequate for the game involved, there is no great honor to it either.

I will tell you what I discussed with my outfitter, I have 243, 270, 308 & 375 (will be adding the 300WM in Jan 17). He said the 308 would be fine on anything other then Eland but recommended 300WM. He suggested if I did not want to rent his, 300WM to bring the 375, as better to shot thru brush without turning the bullet. I did. After I got there, said the best gun would be a 30.06. The PH's personal gun was a 2 something, but he carried the outfitters 300 WM in the truck most days for Baboons and Jackals.

All shot placement. I don't have any doubt that the .308 is adequate.

Calling a .308 marginally adaquate for plains game actually made me laugh.

I have a sweet little 308 compact built an a Ruger M77 frame that I wouldn't hesitate to use. Lie Pieter and others said it's shot placement!

Albert GRANT said:

Calling a .308 marginally adaquate for plains game actually made me laugh.

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You and me both.

Nothing wrong with .308 on PG. Been there and done that. Happy hunting!

If one cannot shoot a 308 properly, then handing them a 300 win mag or similar would more than likely make matters worse.

No substitute for shot placement and good bullet selection.......a magnum is not a miracle cure.....

Needing a good laugh, I searched the entire posting where the 308 was referred to as "marginally adequate". Unable to find it I am forced to consider a lack of imagination evidenced by other posters and revert to the political seen for laughs..

I for some horrible reason I was restricted to one cartridge for all my hunting in Canada it would be a .308. I have used the cartridge to take everything from moose to pronghorn antelope. I have complete confidence in its ability. But I don't shoot at unwounded game at over 300 yards either.
I have a fair bit of experience with similar cartridges like the 7x57, 8x57IS, 30-06, .270, 7x74, 7mm08, .303, etc, and don't believe there is any real difference in killing ability within that group. I start to notice a little difference with the .35 Whelen, 9.3x62, and .375H&H, but only on the biggest critters like elk and moose.
I had perfect satisfaction using a 30-06 and 165 gr. Barnes tsx on 6 species of plains game, very satisfactory one shot kills. Any of those shots would have been just as effective with a .308, the same bullet at about 80 fps slower.
But I muffed a shot at an eland bull at a fairly long 270 yd distance. Got only one lung. The result was a messy tracking job and four more shots in the vital triangle after the eland had its adrenaline up. Next time I hunt eland I'm taking my .375. But that't just me, and one bad experience.