Hi
Just finished reading a American article on the 308. They were stating for a one gun man that this could be the best round as you can load from 50 to 180 gram loads, making it suitable for foxes through to Red.
Any comments
Now you have done it!!
Welcome to the forum.
As I am bored I will start the war.
Answers can be as long or short as you want. But key to this argument is do you simply want to buy ammunition off the shelf - if so when you take the wide choice of manufacturers/loads, and does a job with very little fuss/drama then possibly yes.
Before somebody shoots me I did say possibly!
If you load your own, want a short compact action that is not overbore and does not burn a relatively large amount of powder, then maybe the answer is a 7mm-08. I did only say maybe!
Reasons:-
Good bullet choice - weight 120-160 grain thus a narrower throat/ twist window, covering all UK species with aplomb.
Higher BC than .308 bullets, not as high as 6.5s granted, but you may run into chambering/twist issues when you consider a 100-150ish bullets in 6.5. The 120-140 range in the 6.5s are exceptional. But the 160 in 7mm fills a particular niche VERY well, ie slow and heavy!
Good brass, the best being Norma, and shortly Lapua.
Feeds from a magazine well.
Ballistics / terminal results very good.
VERY SMOOTH / accurate round to shoot.
But it is not yet a very common round in the UK, however it is definitely on the rise, but it's current "rarity" would count against it.
Just remember, there will always be a calibre that does a particular job better than another, you are looking for one rifle.
Also there is NO such thing as a flat shooting calibre.
And there is NOTHING wrong with a .308!
The beauty of this sport is that you can gradually acquire particular calibres for particular jobs and and learn/have fun along the way.
Now we will wait for all the other suggestions (6.5/260s, 25-06, 270, 30-06, and yes the .308) -all have their merits and all do a very good job and in most cases more popular so have better merits in other areas.
And then there is the 7x57 which when loaded to modern pressure levels is another exceptional round - umm I wonder!!
Frankly I would be happy - for a time - with any of them, you just the start to get that itch which needs to be scratched!
Enjoy,
HL