If you are starting reloading, 308 is a great choice. Plenty of 30 cal bullets about and dyes are cheap and everywhere there is all the necesarry food groups. Good calibre for deer, used by military, good range, very, very accurate when you have the right handload AND best priced. 7mm 08 wears out barrels a lot faster than 308 or 3006. Oh yeah, and 762 barrels are very easy to come across.aaronjo wrote:Oops...forgot to mention, I am starting to learn how to reload....
Title_II wrote:If you carry a fun in Australia you will go to jail.
sandgroperbill wrote:A couple of things. Exactly why would you need something between .223 and .300wm? It wouldn't be hunting as those two calibres cover virtually everything huntable in the country.
Sooo... Either a target calibre or perhaps think something smaller... .204 ruger may interest you...
Now to the other thing... .300wm definite? If you're looking at .308 then .300wm doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me (and wapol may not approve a .300wm if you already have a .308, they can be a funny lot). Perhaps maybe .338wm may be more suitable if you geta .308 before hand, but don't rule out .30-06.
aaronjo wrote:As the title says I'm yearning for a bigger calibre up from my .223.
It'll be a hunting/recreational rifle for anything bigger than foxes and occasionally it'll be a paper serial killer (target shooting in case no one got that...).
There's the option of a .308, classic calibre, good enough for most animals as long as it's not buffalo or camel.
Considering 6.5 Creedmoor, apparently it's a .308 but better.
Also 7mm-08, .243, the list goes on....
I just would like a rifle between the .223 and the 300 Win Mag which I must get in the future just because I can, lol!
aaronjo wrote:As the title says I'm yearning for a bigger calibre up from my .223.
There's the option of a .308, classic calibre, good enough for most animals as long as it's not buffalo or camel.
Considering 6.5 Creedmoor, apparently it's a .308 but better.
Also 7mm-08, .243, the list goes on....
I just would like a rifle between the .223 and the 300 Win Mag which I must get in the future just because I can, lol!
I would go the 7mm-08 it has much better BC for projectiles of similar weight over the .308, since you don't have a 300win mag yet I would go 7mm rem mag so you can use the same 7mm projectiles.
I reckon the 7mm rem mag is better than 300 win mag due to better BC of projectiles
brett1868 wrote:I would go the 7mm-08 it has much better BC for projectiles of similar weight over the .308, since you don't have a 300win mag yet I would go 7mm rem mag so you can use the same 7mm projectiles.
I reckon the 7mm rem mag is better than 300 win mag due to better BC of projectiles
Not quite right, true the BC of the 7mm projectile is better than the 308 but the 308 can usually be driven faster. I ran the below 2 loads through Applied Ballistics using velocity data from ADI and Berger projectiles as they use the more accurate G7 BC.
7mm, 168Gr Berger Match VLD Hunting G7 BC of .316 @ 2486 FPS 1:9.5 Twist (Load data based on ADI manual for 168Gr SMK 37.1Gr BM8208)
30Cal, 168Gr Berger Match VLD Hunting G7 BC of .242 @ 2707 FPS 1:12 Twist (Load data based on ADI manual for 168Gr SMK 43.3Gr BM8208)
200m Drop / Energy
7mm-08 2.37moa - Energy 1791 ft-lb T.O.F .28sec
.308 1.98moa - Energy 983 ft-lb T.O.F .26sec
400m Drop / Energy
7mm-08 9.37moa - Energy 1370 ft-lb T.O.F .60sec
.308 8.28moa - Energy 1405 ft-lb T.O.F .57sec
600m Drop / Energy
7mm-08 18.28moa - Energy 1028 ft-lb T.O.F .97sec
.308 16.83moa - Energy 963 ft-lb T.O.F .94sec
At all distances the 308 had slightly less drop and the edge on energy out to 400m but the 7mm-08 retains more energy out past 400m due to it's better B.C. Important to keep in mind that a 168Gr projectile may not be the best performer in either calibre, I used it because the 7mm-08 load data tops out at 175gr projectiles and 208Gr for the .308 and 168Gr is reasonably easy to find. The math shows that performance is very similar between the 2 rounds to the point of insignificance till you want to shoot past 400m. The ballistic differences / drops / energy remain fairly consistent across a few other loads I checked for same weight projectiles. I possibly should have scaled the projectiles for a fairer comparison, as in a 155Gr 7mm Vrs 168Gr 308 but it's late and I need to get up early. If I was going to choose between the 2 I'd probably sway towards the 7mm-08 for a couple reasons. First up is that performance is comparable to the .308 and secondly it does it with 6.2Gr less powder.
aaronjo wrote:This is almost turning into a "what caliber should Aaron choose to punish his shoulder" thread, almost, lol!
Ignore my obsession with the 300WM and lets say I wanted a rifle for bigger game that my 223 cannot handle. What would be recommended as the next caliber up?