.308 Winchester and .30-06

[Noob_71]

I was looking through some published trajectory tables in the "Shooter's Bible". The highest published muzzle velocity for a commercially available .308 Winchester load at 178 grains is the 178-grain A-Max from Hornady with a muzzle velocity of 2,965 fps. The highest muzzle velocity I could find for a .30-06 178-grain bullet was somewhere in the 2,800 fps range. In general, the absolute top listed muzzle velocities at every given bullet weight showed the .308 holding it's ground against the .30-06. This makes absoultely no sense to me at all.

In fact, with the exception of the "Accelerator" loads, the flattest shooting (at 400 yards) .308 Winchester load was flatter shooting than any .30-06 load I could find. How does shortening a cartridge by half an inch, thereby decreasing case capacity, increase potential for muzzle velocity and flatness of trajectory?

[jcpython357]

Noob, The 308 is a higher pressure cartridge, Jay

[Darryl Cassel]

Noob

The loading manuals I have all state that the 06 will achieve faster velocity with the max loads listed.

For instance, the 168 gr in the 308 will produce a max listed velocity of 2754 FPS in the new Hodgden manual while the 30/06 has a max listing of 2897 FPS with the same bullet.

The 06 in the other manuals I have list the 06 as getting between 100 and 150 FPS faster velocity with most bullets tested.
You can shoot a 180 gr in the 06 faster by 100 FPS then you can a 175 gr in the 308. This is per the new Hodgden manual.

Barrel length in the "tested rifles" can make a difference. If the 06 has a 20 to 22" barrel and the 308 has a 24 to 28" barrel that was tested, then the advantage "can" go to the 308.
Both being equal barrel lengths, the 06 will create a faster velocity most every time.

DC

[Jeff In TX]

Noob,

That is a misprint. I believe the published velocity of the 178gr AMAX is 2700 fps. I don't feel there is that much difference between an 06 and .308, so my vote goes towards the .308.

Uses short action, less powder, less recoil and more commerically available match ammo.

Just my $0.02 worth. But to each his own

[DANTEC]

if you use 30.06 in rather tight base chamber ( origianl military chambering is very broad ) you can easy increase the pressure at the level of the 25.06 ( 63000 PSI ) ang get more velocity

another design problem of the 30.06 is slow shoulder angle , you need to keep you headspace near minimum to avoid any important moove of the case , with sharp aangle you have less problem .

But a 30.06 with a good chambering job ina good barrel is able to drive bullet fast enought to go far .

good shooting

DAN TEC

[thecowboyace]

165 180
In looking at Sierra's bullet lineup, the 180 grain bullets can be pushed to 2800fps in the '06 whereas the .308 Winchester one has to drop down to the 165 grain bullet to get the 2800fps. Bullet weight equal the 30-06 comes in nearly 200fps faster than the .308 Winchester. Now Sierra is listing fps about 100-150 fps slower than Hornady in the heavier bullets. I will say that one shooting the 110 grain bullet in the '06 goes 300fps faster than the same bullet in the .308 Winchester

[Jeff In TX]

When I compare a .308 to 30-06 I find them almost identical.

So for me, the 308 is really just a 30-06 WSM.