308 or 30-06 or 270

[Lithyuk]

Morning Lads, looking for some advice on the following calibres please, I’m target shooting at 300 & 600m and there vast open ranges, never a still day, I’m looking at adding 2 out of the 3 on a variation and if anyone can advise on which to leave out I’d really appreciate it.
Currently loaning a club 308 rifle on range days but not had chance to shoot the 270 or 30-06.

Kind Regards

Paul

 

[Jack3]

30-06

 

[Tim.243]

Morning Lads, looking for some advice on the following calibres please, I’m target shooting at 300 & 600m and there vast open ranges, never a still day, I’m looking at adding 2 out of the 3 on a variation and if anyone can advise on which to leave out I’d really appreciate it.
Currently loaning a club 308 rifle on range days but not had chance to shoot the 270 or 30-06.

Kind Regards

Paul

@6.5creed

 

[Lithyuk]

@6.5creed

Morning Tim,

Sorry I forgot to mention we cannot shoot 6.5 on the mod ranges,

 

[paulbshooting]

308 for range only. Flexible on bullet weights and readily available factory ammo or reloading components.

 

[Oldstalker]

Purely personally I would get the .270 and 30-06. My reasoning goes like this: all three have good ammunition availability but ....
1 30-06 is one of the most versatile game calibres in the world. I do not have one as I do not shoot dangerous game (I don't count wild boar as such). It is a good "longer ranges" round and suitable for all larger deer and European game but also for most African species. That said you should do no more damage to roe deer than any other calibre IF you place your shot correctly; you do need to ensure a good backstop anyway whatever your calibre.
2 If you are a home loader then you will need less kit (but more different bullets) to reload 30-06 and .270.
As a general comment though there is an awful lot of overlap, in terms of function, between all three calibres you mention. Perhaps the best advice I can give is to retain one of your "FAC slots/variations" in order to get something completely different from the other two calibres. If you only ever intend target shooting then the .308 remains probably your best option since you are currently borrowing.

 

[Shootgun]

.270

 

[Sonicdmb73]

Morning Lads, looking for some advice on the following calibres please, I’m target shooting at 300 & 600m and there vast open ranges, never a still day, I’m looking at adding 2 out of the 3 on a variation and if anyone can advise on which to leave out I’d really appreciate it.
Currently loaning a club 308 rifle on range days but not had chance to shoot the 270 or 30-06.

Kind Regards

Paul

Do you reload? As that can make a difference to my answer. If yes buy whatever you can feed easiest locally. It's ok getting a .270 Win but if you have to go on a 200 mile round trip for ammo it'll soon get old.
If you do consider what you're trying to achieve with the rifle. I'm no expert on the rules or types of competitions at those ranges, but can you use it for x y or z if you want to.
Lastly if those questions are answered I would offer this comment you can load a 30-06 to .308 speeds. But without excess pressure you can't load a .308 to 30-06.

Personally I've owned a .308, I still own .270 and 30-06. They each have a place in my cabinet but the 30-06 is definitely the more versatile of the two.

 

[Lithyuk]

Purely personally I would get the .270 and 30-06. My reasoning goes like this: all three have good ammunition availability but ....
1 30-06 is one of the most versatile game calibres in the world. I do not have one as I do not shoot dangerous game (I don't count wild boar as such). It is a good "longer ranges" round and suitable for all larger deer and European game but also for most African species. That said you should do no more damage to roe deer than any other calibre IF you place your shot correctly; you do need to ensure a good backstop anyway whatever your calibre.
2 If you are a home loader then you will need less kit (but more different bullets) to reload 30-06 and .270.
As a general comment though there is an awful lot of overlap, in terms of function, between all three calibres you mention. Perhaps the best advice I can give is to retain one of your "FAC slots/variations" in order to get something completely different from the other two calibres. If you only ever intend target shooting then the .308 remains probably your best option since you are currently borrowing.

Thank you very much for your well explained knowledge, yes just paper punching at a distance is my only intention, really appreciate it

 

[Lithyuk]

Do you reload? As that can make a difference to my answer. If yes buy whatever you can feed easiest locally. It's ok getting a .270 Win but if you have to go on a 200 mile round trip for ammo it'll soon get old.
If you do consider what you're trying to achieve with the rifle. I'm no expert on the rules or types of competitions at those ranges, but can you use it for x y or z if you want to.
Lastly if those questions are answered I would offer this comment you can load a 30-06 to .308 speeds. But without excess pressure you can't load a .308 to 30-06.

Personally I've owned a .308, I still own .270 and 30-06. They each have a place in my cabinet but the 30-06 is definitely the more versatile of the two.

Morning,

Yes I’ve got all the loading kit, which i find equally as enjoyable as the shooting itself. Thank you for your advice

 

[Border]

Morning Tim,

Sorry I forgot to mention we cannot shoot 6.5 on the mod ranges,

Any 6.5 or just Creedmoor?
If so then 6.5x55 would be my choice.

 

[Ronin]

Of the three choices

The most versatile is 30-06 and I know many stalkers who use it and have a play on the range

 

[Lithyuk]

Of the three choices

The most versatile is 30-06 and I know many stalkers who use it and have a play on the range

Thanks for that mate, it’s definitely gonna be 1 of the calibres I’m listing on my variation,

 

[Heym SR20]

Assuming you are looking for a deer stalking rifle rather than a target rifle.

If target rifle that might be used for stalking, the answer is simple - 308 as the ammunition for target shooting is very much cheaper.

7x57, 270, 308, 7x64 and 30-06 will all do the same job and are pretty much interchangeable. Bullet choice is important but if you had any of the above in your hand and any game animal stepped put in front of you you would be able to kill it cleanly and efficiently at a range of a few feet out to a few hundred yards.

My advice is take time and look at plenty of rifles. A stalking rifle is carried far more than it is shot. It should fit you well and be instinctive to use. You come round a corner in the wood, buck of a lifetime pops out and you have but a moment to take a shot off hand, or you have been on Scottish hill, covered 15 miles, crawled the last 250 yards and you need to put a bullet into the boiler room of the wee switch that is standing next to the royal that has spotted you and getting nervous.

Find a rifle / scope combination you like and provided its in a deer legal calibre from 6.5mm up you can take on anything the world over. In the UK 243 Win on up will do the job. However I suggest a min of 6.5mm with 2,000 joules of energy at 100m cos that’s about the minimum in jurisdictions for game bigger than a Roe or Fox.

 

[Lithyuk]

Evening,

It’s only to be used for target shooting 600mtrs was wanting something that had a flatter trajectory and planning on loading my own ammo, unfortunately we cannot use 6.5 on any of the mod ranges we go to so looking for something that would do a decent job

 

[nun_hunter]

Evening,

It’s only to be used for target shooting 600mtrs was wanting something that had a flatter trajectory and planning on loading my own ammo, unfortunately we cannot use 6.5 on any of the mod ranges we go to so looking for something that would do a decent job

Personally from what you have said I'd just get a 308. Everything from the cheapest mil surp plinking ammo to expensive target ammo and everything in between is available to you plus reloading consumersbles are cheap.

The 30-06 will just be more powder, more recoil, more expense for zero gain at 600m on paper. The .270 as a target cartridge at 600m I wouldn't even entertain it.

 

[csl]

The 30-06 will just be more powder, more recoil, more expense for zero gain at 600m on paper. The .270 as a target cartridge at 600m I wouldn't even entertain it.

I disagree.

You can load bullets of a massive weight range with .30-60 and you can load it down to sub-sonic. Coming from a calibre invented in 1906, loaded with early smokeless powder. That was forward thinking.

 

[Sonicdmb73]

Personally from what you have said I'd just get a 308. Everything from the cheapest mil surp plinking ammo to expensive target ammo and everything in between is available to you plus reloading consumersbles are cheap.

The 30-06 will just be more powder, more recoil, more expense for zero gain at 600m on paper. The .270 as a target cartridge at 600m I wouldn't even entertain it.

I beg to differ, and refer to the below. Ok so milsurp is out. But the bullets are the same as the .308 Win. 100gn to 220gn and bullets designed for everything from varmint to moose, and all the target specific long boat tail ones. The only way you can get similar performance from 308 is Palmer brass and high pressure (hence the need for small primers). According to Ballistic AE Hornady 150 SST out of each (best for drop in 30-06 according to AE). You have six inches less drop and eighty foot pounds more energy at six hundred.

I disagree.

You can load bullets of a massive weight range with .30-60 and you can load it down to sub-sonic. Coming from a calibre invented in 1906, loaded with early smokeless powder. That was forward thinking.

 

[Rafter]

The answer is obvious.
1) fugeddabout the 308. Just stop it.
2) as to 270 or 3006, wrong. 280 is the ultimate. Women will find you more attractive, traffic cops will be more lenient, your conversation will be more interesting and your company more appreciated by your compatriots. Why anyone does anything else is beyond me.

 

[jthyttin]

It’s only to be used for target shooting 600mtrs was wanting something that had a flatter trajectory and planning on loading my own ammo, unfortunately we cannot use 6.5 on any of the mod ranges we go to so looking for something that would do a decent job

You really should've given this extra info in the OP to get better answers...

Forget the 30-06 and 270. Really.

Put in 308, or even 223. If you want to avoid 6.5mm then the other choice would be 7mm-something or moderate volume 6mm (6mmBR including close alternatives). In the 7mm front, 7mm-08, straight 284 Win (in std action with longer throat) or 7mm PRC.

You could also put in 6.5 Creedmood or 6.5 PRC, and just wait it out.

Thank me later (or actually all that have given reasonable not sentimental responses in this thread)...

(for 600m you don't want to lob 30cal projectiles much faster than 308 since the recoil; you also want option for decent barrel life hence the 308 or 223; the flatter option would depend on whether you put emphasis on easier recoil or better performance in wind)

EDIT: forget what I said about extra info, it was mostly there but forgot it myself since I read it yesterday and after that thread had gone AWOK with all the 30-06/270 sentiment...