.308 or 30-06

[QuickdrawMcGraw]

I'm wanting to buy a good, accurate long range (800-1100 yd.) rifle. I've heard that the .308 is the best, with 30-06 running a close second. I like the idea of the shorter action as well as the ablility to carry more ammo. I would appreciate any insight on which brand gun as well as which round.

[fritz1]

I believe you will have more variety with 30-06 more bullet weights, I could be wrong but others may chime.

[fritz1]

Also don't discount other calibers like 7mm Rem Mag, very flat.

[tdyoung58]

Shooting at that distance the best accuracy with be with handloaded ammo rather than off the shelf stuff.

either one would work good for you, lots of excellent shooters shoot both calibers successfully.

[Jonnyboy12]

I'm wanting to buy a good, accurate long range (800-1100 yd.) rifle. I've heard that the .308 is the best, with 30-06 running a close second. I like the idea of the shorter action as well as the ablility to carry more ammo. I would appreciate any insight on which brand gun as well as which round.

I was wondering the same thing... I've heard some really good things about the 7mm lately though and wondered how it compared...

[Tim Ault]

While both will shoot out to the ranges you mentioned,Neither will excel at or past 800 yds.You would be better served with a 300 Mag.or even better a 6.5-284

But if your set on a 308 or 30-06 I would pick the 06 due to better performance with the heavier bullets(175+ grs.)

[reverserboy]

I've seen .30-06 ammo available at times when .308 was all dried up. There are a fair # of people shooting .308 out of semi auto military style rifles which I believe can cause it to be sold out before 06. I would go with 06 for a longer barrel bolt action rifle.

I think .300WSM is a cool caliber but ammo will be more $$$ & harder to get.

[S&W M&P40c]

Ballistics as listed in my Winchester ammo manual:

Super-X Centerfire. Stats at 500yd range.
.308: 150gr. 1492fps, 742ft.lbs. Trajectory -57.3
30-06: 150gr. 1558fps, 808ft.lbs. Trajectory -52.8

Popular Magnums for comparison:
7mm Rem.Mag.: 150gr. 1929fps, 1239ft.lbs. Trajectory -40.1
300 Win.Mag.: 150gr. 1813fps, 1095ft.lbs. Trajectory -39.3

Hope that helps.

[mojo]

Is the .308/30-06 the BEST cartridge for 1000 yrds? No

There are much better options out there. Just ask arrrgh about it. He competes in 1000yrd matches with his .308. He has mentioned that he is going to change calibers when he gets his new gun. I think it was between a .260 and something else.

With that said, will .308 go out to 1000 yrds? Yes. I plan on using my .308 to go out that far. I choose .308 to learn with. I feel that it will force me to work on fundamentals more.

[arrrrgh15]

I'm wanting to buy a good, accurate long range (800-1100 yd.) rifle. I've heard that the .308 is the best, with 30-06 running a close second. I like the idea of the shorter action as well as the ablility to carry more ammo. I would appreciate any insight on which brand gun as well as which round.

308 is NOT best. Whoever told you that doesn't know their ass from a hole in the ground.

As indicated by the other posts, there are much better, particularly in the 800 to 1100 catagory. By 1000 yards the 308 barely has anything left.

I would argue that 308 is a great place to start because of the readily available supply of MATCH grade ammo if you are not a reloader, and fairly affordable rifles that can maintain at least 1moa accuracy, and readily available data tables for wind/elevation.

If you do reload, consider other options that can run a short action. Also, 6.5creedmore has match grade ammo, with any luck black hills will start cranking out some of that special batch of 260rem ammo, so on and so forth.