Author Topic: Who uses a .308 win. anything wrong with it ? (Read 7091 times)

Country Boy · « **on:** July 20, 2007, 06:10:30 AM »

I just bought a Browning blr 81 in .308, turns out the rifle was made in 1983 !, so I'm going to the range this afternoon to give it a try.
I would like to use it as my # 1 deer rifle in Mo. I rarely get a shot over 250 yds. and I will be using 150 grn bullets.
Any of you guys use a .308 ? What are your impressions. Any good loads would be appreciiated

quickdtoo · « **Reply #1 on:** July 20, 2007, 06:23:24 AM »

I love mine, have for 24yrs!! I've shot only factory ammo in it, Winchester Supreme 180gr Failsafes and Rem 180gr PSP, killed many deer and elk with it.

Tim

james · « **Reply #2 on:** July 20, 2007, 09:06:04 AM »

My first rifle was a 30-30 but I sold it after a couple of years and bought a .308.(Rem 788) and have had it for 35 years.. I never shot it with the iron sights as I had a Weaver V7 installed on it before I took it home. It has taken uncountable whitetails, ground hogs, coyotes, two mule deer, two antelope, and one black bear. If I had to choose one caliber it would be the .308. Now I use a smaller caliber for antelope and a larger for elk, but the .308 can do it all... at least for what I hunt here in the lower 48. My rifle shot the factory 150 gr Federals the best and that is what I used for twenty years. The last few years I reload 165 gr. hpbt Sierras which gives me additional satisfaction when I make a good shot. I think you will be happy with your .308.
james

Mayor of Hobbs Knob · « **Reply #3 on:** July 20, 2007, 09:30:26 AM »

Took a nice bull moose with my BLR in .308 last fall. It's a great shooting rifle and the 165 Nosler Partitions I used on the moose hunt peformed beautifully. They may be more than necessary for deer. However, my rifle shoots 165's better than it does 150's, or perhaps I haven't found just the right combination for 150 grains. It's a great rifle and a great caliber. Predict you'll love it!

nomosendero · « **Reply #4 on:** July 20, 2007, 09:39:31 AM »

Tim, nice Deer with mass even out on the tines, I like that.

Country Boy, nice gun & cartridge. Big brother has owned a BLR in 308 for years & it shoots good & is a good Deer/Hog/Bear rifle for sure.

If you want 150 gr. bullets, try 44gr of 4064 & work up to 46 if no pressure signs, it is the old
Wooters recipe with Win brass & a good bullet. We used the old Nos. Solid base & Hogs & Deer
hated that load. For the 165 which I prefer you can load 44 gr.& up to 46 gr. if no pressure signs of Varget & with an accurate bullet it is hard to lose. 46gr & a 168 is pretty much the standard with the Tactical crowd. Work up slowly.

Good luck & tell us how it does.

quickdtoo · « **Reply #5 on:** July 20, 2007, 09:53:58 AM »

Thanks Rod, he's what we call a benchleg, blacktail/mulie.

Tim

Dusty Wheeler · « **Reply #6 on:** July 20, 2007, 11:46:00 AM »

.308 is great! I had a .308 Win M-88 for 20 years. It was my varmint rifle! 110 gr spire points evaporated many ground squirrels! I haven't killed anything but paper with my M-70 Featherweight. It wears Lyman receiver sights and is a great lead bullet shooter. The best long range jackrabbit shot I've made was with an M1A with a 4-12X scope and those 110 gr spire points! It is a very flexible caliber and easy to load for.

Country Boy · « **Reply #7 on:** July 20, 2007, 03:46:56 PM »

Didn't have much luck at the range. Couldn't get it to shoot at all. But, I was flinching a lot. Sometimes the rifle would fire and sometimes it wouldn't. Sometimes 3 drops of the hammer wouldn't make it fire. I think it has a firingpin problem, also a little hard to eject some rounds, headspace ? I did manage to shoot a couple of milk jugs at 200 yds But you never knew whin it was going off or not.
I also had trouble shooting groups with my ML and my .243 However my old Blr .358 was dead center, it just lays them on top of each other.( use it for bear)
Guess I will make a trip to Browning on Monday and see if they will correct the firing pin problem and check head space.

Cheesehead · « **Reply #8 on:** July 20, 2007, 04:34:39 PM »

In my experience the 308 has been famous for reliability regardless of the firearm involved. I think your rifle needs some minor repair and you should be good to go. My 308 works very well for whitetail.

Cheese

Brithunter · « **Reply #9 on:** July 21, 2007, 02:06:47 AM »

The .308 Winchester is a very versatile cartridge and in a good rifle makes one heck of a combination. Got my first ever deer using a CZ-Brno model 601 Std in .308 using handloads.

safari · « **Reply #10 on:** July 21, 2007, 03:07:25 AM »

Last summer I picked up a BLR in .308, the stainless one with the laminated stock, and a Leupold 2-7X with Warne mounts, all at a local dealers shop. I'm a handloader but didn't have any .308 brass at the time, so I picked up 2 boxes of Federal classic 150gr SP loads to sight in the scope, and play with, thinking I'll handload some "good stuff" later after I get the gun on paper. Well after about 8 rounds into the first box the scope was zeroed, and I played with the rest printing MOA groups until I ran out of ammo.
I went back to the gun shop and bought 2 more boxes of that same lot, and will start handloading for this little tackdriver only after Federal Classic or maybe the new Fusion stuff quits printing those nice little groups-

saltydog · « **Reply #11 on:** July 21, 2007, 04:22:06 AM »

It uses alot of ammo - I like shooting it and it eats it up rapidly.

jasonprox700 · « **Reply #12 on:** July 21, 2007, 04:49:32 AM »

I happen to love the .308. Shot my first deer with one in a Winchester Model 100. I do not have one myself, but I intend to. It can do almost anything the .30-06 can do. It is only slightly slower that the 06, and it is cheaper to shoot.

dw06 · « **Reply #13 on:** July 21, 2007, 08:44:12 AM »

The 308 is a great round,nothing flashy just gets r done.I've be using one for 36 years and shot my first deer and many varmits with it.Hope you get the Browning fixed,you will like it

GeorgiaDave · « **Reply #14 on:** July 26, 2007, 12:03:09 PM »

Hello from Georgia,

The .308 is my favorite cartridge !! I have had one since I was 16 years old and can find absolutely NOTHING wrong with it. There are certainly bigger, faster, flatter guns out there but for its intended purpose it is quite capable. I currently have a few .308 rifles including bolts, pumps, autos and single shots. I would like a good lever but the right one has not come around yet.

I believe that the .308 is one of the easiest cartridges to tune in as far as accuracy goes. Every one I have ever shot is very accurate once the right load is found, be it factory or reloads. Most of my guns prefer a sinlge load and once dialed in just keeps on keeping on. I handload so therefore I can tweek and adjust on a very small scale to get the very best performance out of each and every gun. Recoil is not excessive, muzzle blast is not to bad, and ammo is readily available, which makes this a pleasure to own.

In this day and age where extremes are embraced as "needed" and big belted and short mags are selling like crazy it is not hard to get caught up in the hype but the ever reliable .308 is still one of the best choices for a medium big game rifle.

Dave

sniperVLS · « **Reply #15 on:** January 27, 2008, 01:55:36 AM »

Old topic I must have missed

People aren't posting the one very positive aspect of the .308 compared to the .30-06.....

.... less recoil makes for a much more enjoyable day at the range when shooting a lot of rounds. I know I know, it's nitpicking but after shooting a .270 for the 1st time in 10 years, I said Noooo Thanks and handed my cousin back his rifle and kept on shooting my beloved little .308

Ok I'll try not to revive 6 month old topics, promise!

beemanbeme · « **Reply #16 on:** January 27, 2008, 03:28:56 AM »

CountryBoy, sounds like your Browning is due for a goooood cleaning. Including the bolt being dissassembled and cleaned.

Country Boy · « **Reply #17 on:** January 27, 2008, 12:38:01 PM »

Just FYI. I took it to btowning and got the shock of my life, said they had sold all the blr"rs with steel recievers. Then sent me a dealer and smith. Charged 176.00 to set headspace. I was steamed ! A local guy wanted it I told him the story but he still wanted. I sold it for a 100.00 then went to the computer again. I found one in New York and bought it "used" in the box. Anyway: it is a beauty ! and shoots like a house afire. Best load, plain old federal high shock. I could shoot quart jars at 300 yds. I sure hope nothing goes bad with my .358. I use it every spring for bear

Sourdough · « **Reply #18 on:** January 29, 2008, 07:43:03 PM »

My first rifle was a Parker Haile in .308 with a 26" barrel. That was my only gun for many years. Shot everything Whitetails, Mulies, Antelope, Black Bear, and many many Caribou. I use the 165gr Nosler partition, or Sierra 165 SPBT. The 165s seem to be the most accurate bullets, more so than the 150s. Have used the 180s a few times for Bear, but think they are a bit too much for the cartridge. The 125gr Speer TNTs work good for coyotes.

Brithunter · « **Reply #19 on:** January 29, 2008, 09:00:58 PM »

Hi There,

I have found that the Speer 165 Grain bullet and Reloader 15 works very well in the .308 and whilst it might not be the fastest the deer shot using this load didn't seem to be able to tell.

Now Sourdough,

Which model is your Parker-Hale?

SingleShotShorty · « **Reply #20 on:** February 14, 2008, 12:58:44 PM »

Some of the BLR's came out with a firing pin that was to short I had one that was that way and had my GS install a new one and no more worries.

NONYA · « **Reply #21 on:** February 14, 2008, 02:52:57 PM »

Im picking up my first .308 Sat im really looking forward to using IT on some BG this year,I may even use it for everything but elk if I feel comfortable with its ballistic and down range performance,the load Im considering will have nearly the same fps as my 7 mag.

deltecs · « **Reply #22 on:** February 14, 2008, 07:55:28 PM »

Quote from: NONYA on February 14, 2008, 02:52:57 PM

Im picking up my first .308 Sat im really looking forward to using IT on some BG this year,I may even use it for everything but elk if I feel comfortable with its ballistic and down range performance,the load Im considering will have nearly the same fps as my 7 mag.

I'm curious as to the load you expect to use that nearly duplicates the 7 mm Mag.

NONYA · « **Reply #23 on:** February 14, 2008, 09:30:59 PM »

140 gr bullet 48 grs of IMR 4064 =3011 fps ,my 140 gr 7mag load leaves the barrel at 3045,you think any critter alive is going to notice the difference?

sniperVLS · « **Reply #24 on:** February 15, 2008, 01:12:41 AM »

It'll be fine on Elk unless you're talking 300 - 400 yards or more. I don't need to tell you that If you use a bullet that's constructed for the longer range stuff you and I enjoy, you'll have no problem dropping an elk. Are you using the VTR? Is it a green light for that model? I know you love precision and with that said, you put that bullet where it needs to go and you'll be smiling

RANT: Why do people(not talking towards you NONYA) think it's ok to hunt elk with a .270 or .30-06 but say the .308 isn't good enough? because "on paper" they have a 100ft lbs or more energy than a .308? Good grief. If we are talking off the shelf ammo, I prefer 180 grain .308 over the lighter bullets from a .270 any day but that's just me.

Like some jackass telling me I shouldn't shoot at coyotes past 200 yards with my .308 at the range last week after he heard me talking about upcoming hunts..... I proceeded to shoot groups that a penny covered at 200yds and his mouth dropped. I looked at him and told him that I could do that all day long and if I wanted to literally shoot the eye out of one I could, let alone hit the vitals.

Ok I got off track lol. Sorry for that, its 7am and I had a long and stressfull 3rd shift

I need sleep

quickdtoo · « **Reply #25 on:** February 15, 2008, 06:36:51 AM »

Quote from: NONYA on February 14, 2008, 09:30:59 PM

140 gr bullet 48 grs of IMR 4064 =3011 fps ,my 140 gr 7mag load leaves the barrel at 3045,you think any critter alive is going to notice the difference?

What 140gr .308" bullet?

thx,

Tim

Davemuzz · « **Reply #26 on:** February 15, 2008, 07:09:42 AM »

Quote from: sniperVLS on February 15, 2008, 01:12:41 AM

RANT: Why do people........

Like some jackass telling me I shouldn't shoot at coyotes past 200 yards with my .308 at the range last week after he heard me talking about upcoming hunts..... I proceeded to shoot groups that a penny covered at 200yds and his mouth dropped. I looked at him and told him that I could do that all day long and if I wanted to literally shoot the eye out of one I could, let alone hit the vitals.

"People" in general, like to talk about subjects that they think they know about.....even if they don't know about the subject they are referring to. Knowledge is a powerful tool. Wisdom is knowing when to share that knowledge and when to shutup. Some "people" will hear what you are saying...but they will never listen to you. It will only be when they fail thru their own efforts that they will begin to listen to what they heard you say. And if they are not too hard headed, they may grow to even respect your knowledge of the subject.

And some people are just fools.

All I know is that the older I get, the more I realize the amount of knowledge that I don't know.

Dave

sniperVLS · « **Reply #27 on:** February 15, 2008, 07:33:46 AM »

Quote from: Davemuzz on February 15, 2008, 07:09:42 AM

All I know is that the older I get, the more I realize the amount of knowledge that I don't know.

Dave

Agreed. What I do know I try and improve upon, doing that atleast helps me sleep better at night

We could ALL learn from one another, those who prosper are the ones that were willing to soak it all in and use that knowledge in the field.

Davemuzz · « **Reply #28 on:** February 15, 2008, 08:02:04 AM »

NONYA · « **Reply #29 on:** February 15, 2008, 10:39:30 AM »

Barnes has them in their green tip multipurpose line and they are supposedly releasing them in the TSX line soon.If I was after anything larger than a antelope I would load the Barnes TSX or MRX in 150gr.MY SW was completely out of 308 brass AND the powder I wanted,go figure,so I bought 150 rounds of 150 gr magtech FMJs to get it zeroed and introduce some yotes and jacks to my new friend.Looks like the brass ought to be re loadable and Im not in the mood to wait two weeks to get my reloading components to start shooting a rifle Ive been waiting 4 months for.