30-06 over 308

[Bill Poole]

" The "Cook" was a reloader, shooter and shot a 30-06. He gave my buddy 50 rds and a free breakfast. At the end of the hunt we stopped and gave his wife a $100 tip. Showed him a big 4x4 buck and the grin on his face was priceless. "

This story says more about what a great bunch of folks rifle loonies are than providing any more info about cartridge selection

 

[Eric Alexander]

Difference between 30-06 and 308 gets bigger with heavier bullets. 175gn and below...not much unless you load them up. 300 Win .Mag. is great for hammering big things at long distance. I believe the 30-06 is better across the board. Easier to find ammo, easier to load ,more versatile, and cheaper to shoot with out hammering your shoulder. You can load down with H4895, or up to max. with some of the great powders and bullets that are now available. You could probably punch out one of the 308s to 30-06 if you wanted. Just my $.02.

You cannot use a 308 barrel to up to an '06. The shoulder is too wide. You could do an '06ai cuz it opens the shoulders or 300 WM or 30 Nosler assuming these 308s are long action... but most aren't. An '06, generally has a1/10 twist allowing you to load the higher BC bullets whereas many 308s are 1/11 or 1/12 twist.
Your original plan is sound. Get an '06, shoot it. If it doesn't group well enough, have your smith true it up. Blue printing a 700 almost always yields a good sub-MOA performer. .. and now, with 1/10 twist barrel you can use the higher BC bullets. And if, down the road, you feel the need for more speed, take it back to your smith and have him open the bolt face and re-ream barrel to a 300WM or 30 Nosler. .. or rebarrel it to a 280ai without opening bolt face.
But you are starting with a good platform.

 

[Eric Alexander]

You cannot use a 308 barrel to up to an '06. The shoulder is too wide. You could do an '06ai cuz it opens the shoulders or 300 WM or 30 Nosler assuming these 308s are long action... but most aren't. An '06, generally has a1/10 twist allowing you to load the higher BC bullets whereas many 308s are 1/11 or 1/12 twist.
Your original plan is sound. Get an '06, shoot it. If it doesn't group well enough, have your smith true it up. Blue printing a 700 almost always yields a good sub-MOA performer. .. and now, with 1/10 twist barrel you can use the higher BC bullets. And if, down the road, you feel the need for more speed, take it back to your smith and have him open the bolt face and re-ream barrel to a 300WM or 30 Nosler. .. or rebarrel it to a 280ai without opening bolt face.
But you are starting with a good platform.

Expl:The shoulder of the 308 case is too wide and the 30-06 has too much taper. But if you blow out the -06 case ( ala Ackley, Gibbs, Sherman) then the taper is opened up to that greater width. Find the diagrams of 308 and 30-06 cartridges, overlay them and this will become clear.

 

[HawkeyeSATX]

I forgot to mention, that in the .30-06, you can get over 2900 fps with a 180 gr bullet using StaBall 6.5, or RL-26! With the Hornady 212 gr ELD-X bullet, you can get it to going 2700 fps, or a little faster.
I know a guy on another board, he handloads, and used StaBall 6.5, with a 22 inch barrel, and got a little over 2700 fps, and at 200 & 300 yds, got sub-moa with his rifle.

 

[Son of a Gun!]

You'll gain about 150 fps over the 308 Win with the 30-06 and about 400 fps with a 300 Win Mag and a 2' longer barrel! If you are going to rebarrel I'd go with the 280Ai You won't need to change bolts and with 168-160 gr. bullets have better ballistics. As for the ADL action I'd prefer it because they are lighter and you have more bedding area for the action!

 

[Montana'eer]

You'll gain about 150 fps over the 308 Win with the 30-06 and about 400 fps with a 300 Win Mag and a 2' longer barrel! If you are going to rebarrel I'd go with the 280Ai You won't need to change bolts and with 168-160 gr. bullets have better ballistics. As for the ADL action I'd prefer it because they are lighter and you have more bedding area for the action!

Not sure I'd want a 300WM with a 2' longer barrel than my .308, lol

 

[blueprairiedog]

The more you spend the faster you go .as I handed my 03a3 to our gun smith yesterday I told to move at the speed of cash and bet him 100.00 he would not have it ready for the match this Saturday. A lot of gunsmiths have a 06 reamer on hand.the question was 308 or 30-06 the 06 will do anything the 308 will do except wait in the back of the safe to be turned into something else.just how I see today and might change my mind tomorrow

 

[hawk45]

If you were coming in w/o any other rifles and deciding, I'd say 30/06 as it's a proven do all caliber. But since you have a few .308's in the safe already, then to me the 30/06 isn't a big enough jump in performance, so I'd recommend going 300WM. I've become a more keep it simple kinda guy when it comes to calibers and stopped chasing the incremental differences and every "new best" cartridge. There is something to be said for being able to grab a box of ammo off any shelf in any place in the world and/or being able to share ammo with others in a pinch. Best if luck!

 

[TAZMAN]

I am fortunate to have several rifles. I have the hot rounds such as 7-300wsm, 338 lapua, 6.5 PRC, and several others. the 30-06 is a great all around rifle that can be tuned for several purposes. I have a full built 308 also which will do dang near anything I want but the 30-06 is just a little better at everything. Plus most millennials don't know what a 30-06 is so just say it's a 30 caliber non belted magnum and throw out the metric numbers for it and they will spend 2 days on the internet trying to figure it out.

Note: all my guns were lost in a tragic boating accident a few year ago

 

[thwatson2]

308 and 30-06 are like fraternal twins. One is shorter than the other but they perform and act very close. The extra performance comes at a cost of about 8 to 10 grains of powder. I own and love both of them. That being said, I'd go 300 WM... it is one of my favorite. it's a nice jump up in punch and it gets you into 200 grain bullets. I know there are some complaints of the belt and cycling but I've never experienced any feed problems. It's a great old cartridge...I also would suggest the 300PRC if you wish to eliminate the belt and shoot VLD bullets. very close to the WM

 

[Laguna Freak]

The question was 308 or 30-06? Short answer 308 for all the above mentioned reasons. Both cartridges are excellent choices with storied histories but neither really lends an advantage over the other especially if you hand load.

Really? You're serious about this? So you have personally shot a 308 with 24" or shorter barrel that will safely push 150 grain bonded hunting bullets over 3000 fps and up to 3150 fps?

This I gotta see...

I ain't even from Missouri and I'm thinkin' "Show me!"

 

[Laguna Freak]

The higher pressure limit of the 308 can meet or exceed the velocity of a 30-06 up to about 150gn, so the 30-06 only gives you an advantage of bigger bullets. I like the idea of staying with 30 cal bullets but I'd lean towards the 300wsm/wm/other to extend your velocity range.

I beg to differ. There is no higher pressure limit in modern 308 vs modern 30-06. I have a 20 year old Steyr 30-06 and like every other Steyr its chamber is factory pressure tested to just shy of 120,000 psi.

 

[Ward Thurman]

30-06 is the standard by which all other cartridges are measured. I have looked at the books and on a 180 gr bullet, the 300 Win mag only gets you about 200-300 fps more than the '06. The photo in my header is my son's elk taken with a 100 year old Enfield in '06. If you don't mind the recoil and you want to go big, stepping up to a 338 something or other will give you a lot more wallop for elk at the big distances.

 

[Laguna Freak]

Hello all as title says I've been thanking about buying a Remington 700 adl in 30-06 to do my first semi custom rifle build and my question is is there really a need for a 30-06 if I already have 2 308s I do have everything but brass to load for a 30-06 but up to 175 grain bullets what can a 30-06 give me over my 308 for whitetailto elk.if I do not buy a 30-06 I will most likely try to find a 300 wm or 300 wsm. Thanks in advance

IMO, the best advice you have received for "your" circumstance is a 30 cal magnum. Whether 300 WM or 300 WSM is your choice. Now, that is truly a more difficult choice. But, there are a pile of threads discussing the comparisons.