most accurate 308
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LouBoyd
Well-Known Member
The largest long range improvement you can make in a 308 for make and model isn't the barrel. It's choosing the 308 Norma Mag instead of the 308 Winchester cartridge. Compare their ballistics.
Grumulkin
Well-Known Member
That is kind of a silly question because to get the "experience" one would have to have shot a dozen or two different brands/models of 308s and you're not going to find many that have done that. You also don't specify what 308 but I'm assuming you mean the 308 Winchester. In addition, you have to specify what you want it for. If you want the "most accurate" 308 you would need to go with a custom unlimited bench rest gun weighing maybe 30 lbs. on a return to battery rest but that wouldn't be too practical for most of us.
Many manufacturers give an accuracy guarantee, which in many instances is a ho hum 1 inch at 100 yards for 3 shots. Les Baer gives a 0.5 inch 100 yard accuracy guarantee for 5 shots with match grade ammo in their semiautomatic 308 Winchester and a 0.5 inch guarantee for 10 shots in their 308 Winchester bolt action rifle; I don't think it gets better than that. HS Precision gives a 0.5 inch guarantee but I don't remember if it's for 3 shots or for 5 shots.
To give you an idea of how erroneous an accuracy evaluation based on a 3 shot group can be, consider the above group shot with a Thompson/Center Encore. It's the best 3 shot group I've ever fired and it was done with a gun I couldn't get to consistently do better than 1 to 1.5 inches at 100 yards. So, to me, a gun that comes with a target showing a fantastic 3 shot group proving how good it is doesn't mean much to me.
There have been very accurate rifles made by many different manufacturers such as Remington, Ruger, Blaser, Weatherby, etc. but unless they have enough confidence in their product to give a meaningful accuracy guarantee, you may get one with an "acceptable" capability of 1 inch 100 yard groups or you could get one much better or a bit worse.
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ICANHITHIMMAN
Well-Known Member
It is a silly question as the accuracy part is so dependent on you and your actions. The guys here could give you a reasonable expectaion as to what you may experence with X rifle from the factory but with factory guns luck of the draw has a lot to do with it.
Savage F class factory rifle would be my pic based on track records
Michael Eichele
Well-Known Member
Assuming you are asking about factory rifles.
The Remington 700 5R has been an amazing performer for a factory 308. I had regular sub .25 MOA to .5 MOA and I could count on it. It truly was a .5 MOA (on a bad day) gun. I never went to the range and wondered if it would shoot good today. I expected it to and it never let me down. I have always heard similar reports about this rifle and never a negative one although I am sure there are. A percentage of those will be a personal problem and a few being a problem with the rifle.
The Remington 700 5R has been an amazing performer for a factory 308. I had regular sub .25 MOA to .5 MOA and I could count on it. It truly was a .5 MOA (on a bad day) gun. I never went to the range and wondered if it would shoot good today. I expected it to and it never let me down. I have always heard similar reports about this rifle and never a negative one although I am sure there are. A percentage of those will be a personal problem and a few being a problem with the rifle.
brentc
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Agreed. I think for an out of the box .308 the 5R is hard to beat for the reasons mentioned above.
7stw
Well-Known Member
Not really a silly question but you might get a silly answer! In my shooting " career"' I have been blessed with 3 exceptionally accurate heavy barrelled .308's. The first was a Remington " Varminter". It had the BDL wooden stock, which I bedded and floated. It would shoot about anything you put into it. The second was a700P. Bought it new, broke in quick and loved 168SMK moly coated bullets. Quarter inch groups were typical, amazing accuracy, great barrel. The third one, which I still own, and plan to keep, is a store bought 700 SPS varmint special. It loves 168 Bergers, 168 smk, and also 185 Lapua's. As a matter of fact I am going to shoot it tomorrow. Now here is the caveat. All three of them are Remingtons. The last one of the three that I bought , I got lucky with. Obviously you know of Remingtons quality issues now, and is is, (pardon the pun), a shooting match, as far as if you got a good one or not. Most of mine are Remys, but I will not buy another new one. BUT, if you search the used market, you can find something that is not shot out and get years of fun from it. Hope this helped without getting political.
AIM SMALL, MISS SMALL. lightbulb gun) 7 STW.
liltank
Well-Known Member
Savage 10FP, or Mod 12VLP. That's my vote. 
baldhunter
Well-Known Member
That you very much everyone for your replies. i was thinking of using the 308 win for target shooting to practice at 500 yards. I already have a 270 winchester 70 extreme weather and a 7 rem mag remington sendero to hunt with. i hear lots about the savages as great accuracy. i weas thinking the tikka T3 varmit or a 700 sps Varmit. However, i hear good results from savage.
I also agree with previous comments about generalizing rifle accuracy. I have owned three Remington Milpecs in 308 over the past several years. All shot under .5MOA right out of the box with Federal 168 Match SMK's. Two of them shot .25MOA out to 500 yards with hand loads. I think the biggest advantage of the 5R rifling is that the accuracy would hold for least 200 rounds without cleaning, and POI was the same, hot or cold. They would also clean up very fast with minimal copper fouling. The barrels seem to hold their accuracy for 2500 rounds before opening up to 1MOA. I agree that the Savage is pretty impressive. There are several at our club that shoot very well. My buddy has a the Benchrest Target Model that shoots a half inch at 300 yards very consistently.
MHO
Well-Known Member
Savage Model 12 F Class if your punching paper and gongs.
