New rifle choice

[MostlyLeverGuns]

Lighter calibers will kill elk as does a 25-20, 308 is as light as I care to go for elk, 30-06 means a heavier long action bolt gun without much of a step up from the 308, if you going to carry a long action bolt gun, and you reload, the 300 Win Mag does add something and is not any harder to reload and is very accurate, even with pleasurable light boolits. The 308 is still used by military all over the world, plenty of load data, components, information, all kinds of rifles, bolt, lever, semi-auto, old and new. If a store has '06' ammo it will have 308. Not much 'cheap' or surplus '06' around, plenty of 'white box' 308. I know what the paper numbers say about kinetic energy of the lighter numbers over longer ranges. I also know that there are other ways used to measure hunting effectiveness, Taylor's Knock Out, Keith's pound-feet (momentum),a few others, where they don't hold up as well as the heavier bullets and larger calibers. There is a BIG difference between dropping a deer or antelope and killing a bull elk. While I think the 243 is just fine for deer and antelope, I think the 308 is the lightest I'd use on elk.

[Minerat]

While I think the 243 is just fine for deer and antelope, I think the 308 is the lightest I'd use on elk.

Thats why I changed from the 308 to a 300 Wby mag as my elk rifle about 10 years ago. The 308 served its purpose (1969 to 1985) till I could afford something else. I don't own an 06 never figured 250 fps made that much difference at the distances I usually shoot big game at.

[Texas by God]

The .308 is the easy choice. BUT I would take the 7-08 after elk with a 160 gr Partition with no hesitation. I came close to becoming a one rifle man when the 7-08 came out, but realized I need several rifles to be truly happy. I may own one yet; my new grandson will need a rifle and there's a NOS Stevens 200 7mm-08 at the LGS for $240....

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[toallmy]

I like the way you 2 think Minerat. MostlyLeverGuns in the 80s I went from a 243 to the 300 Winchester on 100-180 white tails then in the 90s I went back down to the 3006 , I always thought the perfect round for me would be a good 308 Norma Mag because I run my 3006 wide open , but the 300 Win backed off a bit . But I would still recommend the OP step up to a 30 caliber and he can find a 308 that shoots good pretty easily without worrying about recoil . You can't walk across a shooting range without stepping on 308 brass , someone has a extra set of reloading dies he could pick up reasonable and I'm shore with the selection of bullets he could make it work .

[William Yanda]

Of the 3 calibers you mentioned I would choose the 308 Win.

Jedman

+++++1

[popper]

308, maybe 12:1 twist? What is the difference in powder req. for same performance in 08 vs 06? Lots of LC brass around.

[Outback32]

he rifle im looking at is the tc compass

[FergusonTO35]

Very happy with my $400.00 Remington 700 ADL 6.5 Creedmoor. You should make sure you don't get something below your state's minimum caliber for Elk, it's .270 here.

[Mr Peabody]

im looking for a new rifle. my plans are to hunt hogs. possibly antelope and elk. I was thinking 308, 6.5 creedmore or 7mm_08. my plans are to reload for whatever rifle i end up with

I can vouch for the Weatherby Vanguard Select in .308. Accurate and easy to carry.

[FergusonTO35]

Vanguard/Howa 1500 is always a great choice!

[crankycalico]

.308 is superior to the 6.5. If you want a 6.5mm you get a 6.5x55 Swedish or nothing.

Barrel life on .308 beats the other stuff all to ****. Its got the right combination of case volume/over bore/bore diameter. Powder charges are good.

Sure a 30-06 IS better in that it gives you larger jacketed bullets to use. Cant seem to find load data for .308 win past 200 grain. 30-06 still goes to 220 in data.

Recoil is a pain, but thing is, if you get a heavy barrel with threads and toss on a dynacomp you get a lot less. And use the correct butt pad,, you get less. Use a rifle of actual weight, ie 03a3 and not some tiny little graphite thing that gives a 5 pound rifle.. you get much better results.

[BLR Mike]

Buy a nice used 308 and send it off to JES to be rebored to .358!

[Texas by God]

Buy a nice used 308 and send it off to JES to be rebored to .358!

We have a winner.

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[zymguy]

We have a winner.

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whats a good donnor rifle?

[Texas by God]

I used an old Rem 700 .243 when I had it done by Jes. A member here is slaying deer in Kentucky with it now. Any .243, 7-08, or .308 can be rebored to .358 if the barrel dia. at the muzzle is big enough.

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[charlie b]

So, since the can of worms about cartridge selection is wide open....

What do you really want to do with it? Is it primary hunting with a few range days a year, lots of range time with hunting a couple times a year, or just hunting?

Hunting mostly whitetail with hopes of someday taking that trip for elk? Or do you have a chance to go elk hunting every year?

All of these affect cartridge selection...a LOT.

I used to hunt every year. My cartridge of choice was the 7mm-08 (this was 20 years ago) in a Rem 788. Ugly rifle but it shot really well and the 7mm-08 was perfect (in my mind) for smaller game up to the larger mule deer we have out here in the west. 6.5CM is the current fad, but, a .260Rem or 6.5x55 would do just as well. But, I would probably not choose one of these if I hunted elk a lot. It would do the job but I would just prefer a bit more.

For elk I'd go with a longer case cartridge, .30-06 probably.

You may also note a trend. I like to shoot paper with my rifles a lot so brass cost and availability is a key factor. I have hundreds of .30-06 and .308 cases laying around, mostly surplus. I used .308 cases exclusively when loading the 7mm-08. Just necked them down and good. My current rifles (paper only these days) are .223 (Savage Axis), .308 (Savage 12BVSS) and .30-06 (Garand). See a trend

[Jedman]

I didn't hear you mention you had a certain type of action in mind.
There are older used guns with blue and walnut that are reasonably priced that have a lot more character and will rise in value compared to the newer plastic stocked rifles.
I like single shots and lever actions and when you mentioned your intended hunting I thought of my Savage 99 in 308. It's accurate as most bolt rifles and it's a 308 and does everything well.
Many choices but I would buy something that looks and feels like a good friend and not a tool.

Jedman

[Outback32]

im looking at a tc compass. i live in Illinois so the only thing i hunt is coyotes. i have a 243 for that. i go to Louisiana every year to hog hunt. planning on going antelope hunting. and one of these days id like to go elk hunting. the gun would mainly be hogs and maybe antelope.