308 Ammo Review 2018 American Eagle Vs Federal

Ah, boy. I get this one a lot from different ammunition customers, as well as those looking for the consummate rifle to do it all. I'd have thought that past now—some 56 years after the introduction of the .308 Winchester as a sporting round—the feud would have settled downwards, but information technology certainly doesn't wait that style. I think this may be the one of the most heated debates in firearms history, and seemingly without much cause, as the two cartridges are very similar in performance levels. Still, each camp has an army, and rocks continue to be hurled across the front end lines.

The .30-06 Springfield is, undoubtedly, the American darling. It has proven its value on the battleground as well equally in the game fields for well over a century, and earned its identify in the register of cartridge history. Information technology has been used—with varying degrees of success—on every species of game animal that walks the earth. 1 of the secrets of its success is the fact that it offers quite a bit of bullet weight and killing power without beating the snot out of the shooter. Born for war, it brought the American Military into the modern era, delivering sleek spitzer bullets for the first time, and definitely increasing the constructive range of the shoulder-fired weapon. It shows its heritage—sharing the aforementioned case head design as the 7x57mm Mauser—but uses a 63mm case length. The first incarnation, the .30-03 Springfield, used the same heavy, round-nosed bullets as the .xxx-40 Krag (our previous armed services cartridge), but was quickly revised to the good old .30-06 we all know and love. Information technology was adored past Roosevelt, Hemingway, Fitz and may other early hunters who inspired our grandfathers, and remains a perfectly sound choice as a hunting cartridge today. It works and then well it'southward almost boring.

The .308 Winchester was built-in from the idea that modernistic (late 1940s) smokeless powder would generate the same velocities from a shorter cartridge. Shorter equals not only lighter, but a cartridge that requires less raw materials to produce. The soldier could carry more armament, and the field results were so shut that the Ground forces felt it worth the fourth dimension. Experimentation began with the .300 Savage cartridge, merely the final incarnation was the vii.62x51mm NATO, released to the sporting public in 1952 (2 years prior to armed services adoption) every bit the .308 Winchester. Information technology was hailed equally a shorter version of the .xxx-06, and immediately started a cartridge war.

Both cartridges use the aforementioned .308″ diameter bullets, and both have a case capacity large enough to button those bullets to sensible, useable velocities. Those who swore allegiance to the .thirty-06 pointed out the slight velocity reward that the larger case offers, and how information technology handles the heavier bullets so much ameliorate. Those in favor of the new-kid-on-the-cake pointed out how much lighter the shorter activity rifles were, as well equally the fact that the shorter action offered amend rigidity, and therefore a better level of accurateness. The .308 Winchester was offered with a ane:12″ twist rate barrel (as opposed to the Springfield'due south usual 1:10″) and wouldn't stabilize the long 220-grain bullets. While I accept used those heavyweights, in my .300 Winchester Magnum, I really don't know also many people who hunt with the 220s anymore.

My Dad joined the National Baby-sit in 1968, and with an M14 in his hands at Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri, was hitting human silhouettes at 350 meters with iron sights. He was sold on the .308 Winchester earlier I was conceived, and in my business firm, in that location was merely one cartridge, and all else was nonsense. I had friends whose fathers were every bit adamant about the Springfield, having given testimony that the shots they fabricated would accept resulted in failure if they had any other burglarize in manus. Personally, I began my career with a .30-30 Winchester in mitt, and I couldn't see the deviation between the .308 and .30-06, at least on deer. Both killed a deer quickly and effectively, and other than one being longer, the field results were inconsequential.

So what'southward the big deal? What are the existent differences betwixt the two highly respectable .30s? Well, each has come to be the footing for its respective activity-length, with the .308 case measuring 2.015″, and the .30-06 measuring 2.494″. The .30-06 does have a definite velocity advantage, bettering the .308's velocity by near 100-125 fps. Does that translate into a decided advantage in the field? No, no it doesn't. Does the difference in activity length actually make a divergence in speed of a follow upward shot? Not in my experiences. I've used brusk, long and magnum-length actions all over the world, and none of them have ever posed a handicap, at least not to me. It'due south kind of funny, as many in the hunting crowd tout the .30-06 every bit the better choice for its velocity advantage, nonetheless the precision shooting crowd routinely depends on the .308 Winchester as a 1,000-chiliad cartridge, and few are taking the Springfield out that far anymore.

Both cartridges are available in many guises; almost every single ammunition manufacturer produces both. With the exception of the truly heavy bullets, both tin effectively drive bullets from 125 grains to 200 grains. How does a hunter choose?

The recoil is no mitigating factor, as both are very manageable, even if the Springfield has been historically a bit snappier. Neither has e'er been bothersome, fifty-fifty during extended periods at the demote. Price is not an outcome either, as the two are similar in toll, with the .308 being (a bit) more affordable. Both cartridges are economic to shoot. If you feel that you lot are the kind of hunter who would savour using ane cartridge for all sorts of game, I suppose the .30-06 would make a better selection, as the really heavy bullets are better for large bears, though I personally feel in that location are better bore diameters for those creatures. They are both very accurate cartridges; and I've seen both give fantastic accuracy, as well as some rifles that just wouldn't shoot.

This is one of those situations where I feel it'southward as close to a dead heat equally you're going to become. Within the normal range of bullets, I uncertainty any game animal would be able to notice the difference between the two. Each has conspicuously proven itself, and will proceed to do so, with improvements in powders and bullet applied science making this great pair of cartridges even ameliorate. The .308 Winchester certainly doesn't wait like a long-range cartridge, though it can certainly handle shots out to ethical distances. W.D.M. 'Karamojo' Bell, the famous elephant hunter who was a proponent of the 7x57 for the pachyderms, stated the shorter bolt throw would take made the .308 Winchester the best elephant cartridge always. Compare that to the impeccable reputation and nostalgia that comes with the Springfield instance, and y'all've got a tough option.

I was raised on the .308 Winchester, and I've used i for a quarter-century on deer, bear and other game. I've besides used the .xxx-06 Springfield on some rather tricky shots on game from deer to red stag. I like them both. I have—to be completely honest—mated my .308 with a .300 Winchester Magnum, so the case could be made that I didn't ask the shorter case to work very hard.

This one is almost too shut to call, but I'm going to give the (very slight) edge to the .thirty-06 Springfield, based on one cistron lonely: the additional example capacity. I know that every bit a handloader, I've had to work with some highly compressed loads in the .308 to go what I wanted, and the roomier Springfield case does make life easier. That said, I'm not giving upwards my .308 any time soon, but I do feel comfy saying that as far as a hunting cartridge goes, the design of 1906 is about as close to perfection as it gets.

Looking for previous installments of our "Caput to Head" series? We've got you covered.
• .22 Nosler vs. .224 Valkyrie
• .300 Win. Mag. vs. .300 WSM
• .223 Remington vs. .22-250 Remington

blackwellwhost1993.blogspot.com

Source: https://www.americanhunter.org/content/head-to-head-308-winchester-vs-30-06-springfield/

Share this post