30-06verus .308&7MM-08

[ipscshooter]

ORIGINAL: smwbwk

proven fact the 308 does everything the 06 does just alittle better  with considerably less recoil

I'm curious... Who "proved" that?   Given the same bullet weights, the 06 shoots a little faster, hits a little harder, and has a flatter trajectory.  So, how is it that the .308 is doing "everything" a little better?  And, "considerably less recoil"?  With 150 gr bullets, the .308 recoils at 15.8 ft lbs compared to the .30-06's 17.6 ft lbs.  The 7mm-08 with 140 gr. bullets recoils at 12.6 ft lbs. (and, with a much better ballistic coefficient, shoots flatter and hits harder beyond 200 yards than either the .308 or the .30-06).

If you want a new rifle with an excellent mild recoiling cartridge, the 7mm-08 is tough to beat.

If you're on a limited budget, I tend to agree, however, with the guys saying to just use the managed recoil rounds...

[Dan Salmon]

I'm certain he'll come back and say the military.  There is and has been an argument since the military switched to the 7.62NATO cartridge in the 50's that the reason was due to recoil and accuracy, but the real reason was the amount of ammunition a single soldier could carry and what lead to the 5.56NATO cartridge not long after the 7.62NATO was introduced. 

The .308 Win will never outperform the .30-06 Springfield, nor will the .30-06 Springfield ever outperform the .300 Win. Mag. as some will say with current powder offerings.  Yes, they will beat the previous standards of the next cartridge up (.308 to .30-06 to .300 Win Mag), but the case capacity of each larger cartridge will always make the larger case out perform the smaller case. 

As far as the difference between their performance, there isn't anything in real practical terms other than lower recoil of the shorter rounds and a slight ballistic coefficient advantage of the .284" bullets. 

Really, in the end, the difference is between the amount of powder capacity and about .024" of bullet diameter.