Making A Case For The 308 Winchester By Michael Eichelle

[countryrebel]

Great article, I racked up a few long range kills with my old M1A and never had any problems. After reading this article I might just pick up a SPS Tactical that has been calling to me. From the kills that I have seen in the past I would not hesitate to take it out past 600 yards on deer.

[Nodak7mm]

Mike,

Thanks for a great article in "Common Sense". I think far too many folks get caught up in magnumitis and just gotta have the latest & greatest that is shown in the gun rags.

With that said, all cartridges have their place & it does bother me that it seems alot of newbies go from using a handed down 30-30 straight up to a 300 Rum or bigger/faster/louder/$$ and consider themselves LRH experts. Hopefully this article will make other newbs consider the .308 and get the basics down first before they take the big guns on.

Again, great article. Thanks for writing it.

Nodak

[Gardien]

Michael,

Thank you for a wonderful article. I will be getting a new .308 bolt very soon because of all the things you mentioned in your article.

My only quesiton has to do with barrel twist. I have read nearly everwhere that a faster twist rate is required to stabilize heavier bullets, but I got from your article that the opposite is true (p.2 paragraphs 2 & 3).

Can you help clarify this?

Again, thank you!

[jonoMT]

Gardien, you will need a faster twist to go to a heavier bullet. In a .308, 10 or even 11 will handle heavy bullets quite well, while the common 12" twist generally is best for bullets under 170 gr.

Michael, I have two .308s and nothing else that I hunt with and I love 'em. As Bryan Litz pointed out in his recent article on this site on the shortcomings of the .30 cal design, there are good arguments to be made about smaller calibers being better. However, the .308 is a very good cartridge for hunting. It's also something I know I can always find ammo for (haven't forgotten any yet, but I can imagine walking into a C-store in some small Montana town and asking for 7-08 rounds and being greeted with a blank stare).

[azeyecap]

I really enjoyed this read, thanks for taking time to write it. Most of us are men, and men need to have the biggest, best and fastest toys we can. Iv fallen into this trap many times, and find myself going back to the old standbys more offten than not.

[Michael Eichele]

Originally Posted by Gardien

Michael,

My only quesiton has to do with barrel twist. I have read nearly everwhere that a faster twist rate is required to stabilize heavier bullets, but I got from your article that the opposite is true (p.2 paragraphs 2 & 3).

Can you help clarify this?

Again, thank you!

You are correct in that heavier bullets require more twist. Technically it has more to do with the density of the materials used and its weight/length relationship. If we could use tungsten for bullets, a 200 grain 30 cal bullet would need less twist than a 200 grain lead bullet and a 200 grain lead bullet needs less twist than an all copper bullet.

Since we use mostly jacketed lead I will base any statements on jacketed lead.

Another factor that involves twist is bore and bullet diameter. The smaller the caliber and heavier the bullet for that caliber will need a tighter twist. For example a 175-180 grain 30 cal bullet really only needs 12x - 13x for proper stability where as a 180 grain 284 cal needs about a 9x for proper stability.

The larger the caliber, the slower the twist typically needs to be for average bullet weights. Granted there are 30 cal bullets that require a 9x but are very rare. Most 30 cal rifles will do their best with 11x or 12x depending on bullet weights. A 10x is needed for the 240 SMK. Most shooters would go with a 9x for a slower round like the 308. The 11x will handle up to the 210's even at 308 velocities. That is about more bullet than is practical for the 308. I use the 208 on occasion but more often than not I am running 155's through 200's with the 168-180 being shot the most. With that in mind I use a 11x for all of my 308 needs. If I were going to use a maximum of 190 grains I would use the 12x for my 308 needs. You can run the 200's in a 12x but my opinion is that 12x is very marginal for 200 grain pills especially the newer ones like the Accubonds. 12x and the 200 AB works ok for the 300 RUM's but not so much the 308 due to the lower velocity.

Having said all that, bullet weight for bullet weight and specifec gravity for specifec gravity, the 30 cal requires less twist than a smaller caliber. This slower twist allows for slightly better velocity/pressure relationships and less radial torque during recoil. The same rules apply when switching from the 30 to 338 or 338 to 375 calibers. The bigger the bore the less twist is required for equal construction and weight compared to a smaller caliber.

I hope that helps!

[Gardien]

It does-very much. Thank you, again.