# .308 for varmint hunting



## cloudy1 (Apr 9, 2006)

Was thinking of getting a good bolt action for Varmint hunting. What do you think of a .308? I know 22-250 is about the best but what about ammo costs? I can get .308 mill surp for under $4 a box. I've always loved .30 cal ammo and am reluctant about a 22 cal bullett. Isn't the wind bucking ability much better with a heaver bullet like the .30 cal, or is the bullet expansion more important. I know a .30 cal. FMJ through a P Dog won't expand. Is the extreme high velocity of the 22-250 responsoble for the carnage you see on P Dog hunting videos? Never been Varmint hunting but can't wait to try.


----------



## Burly1 (Sep 20, 2003)

Maintaining accuracy with surplus ammo is sometimes difficult. Fmj's won't expand, and ricochet might be a problem, depending on where you are shooting. Another downside might be the recoil of the .308. While not violent, it is far greater than that of a .22-250 or .223. Maybe something in the middle, on the order of a .243 or .260 might be more appropriate. I understand where you are coming from with the cheap ammo issue, but maybe looking into reloading could be another solution. Just my thoughts, and I wish you good shooting, whatever you decide. Burl


----------



## dogdigger (Jan 26, 2004)

i will be taking my .308 out in about 3 weeks when it finished. i will let you know how it does.

mark


----------



## finalflight (Mar 29, 2006)

One of my friends and I both shoot .308's and for coyotes and fox we have found that they work great using fmj's. :sniper:


----------



## Dave_w (May 25, 2005)

Eh, reloading's not gonna save you any money these days, I don't think. I do it, but I do it because I'm pretty sure I can make a premium-accuracy load for less than what the factories charge. Really, between the actual machine and all the extras, well... Startup costs are just too high, Burl, in my ever-so-humble opinion.

Now, if it were me, I'd use a two-gun setup, if we're talking prairie dogs and ground squirrels. A decent .22LR for short shots, and a .223 for anything longer than 75 yards or so. Note that this solution has pretty high startup costs (2 rifles, 2 scopes, 2 cases, so on and so forth), but the plus side is that you now have two rifles  . I did this when I got started on varmint not too long ago, and it's a setup that serves me well. My .223 is pretty decent, and I can reach out to maybe 200 yards or so in the field, with good consistency. On the range, 250 and 300 is the outside limit (range extends because I know the exact distance to target, windage, and all that jazz).

As for .308...well, kind of overkill. I still don't think recoil is going to be a problem, though, just the expense. If I had to pick one cartridge, it'd be in Burl's .243/.260 range. Forget surplus ammo...it's good for plinking and random, entertainment-based practice, but not much beyond that. As for being reluctant about a .22, don't worry about it, o ye of little faith. Remember, it's not the size of the bullet, it's the skill of the shooter. And twenties are par for the course in varmint.


----------



## Burly1 (Sep 20, 2003)

Agreed, if you are talking making ammo on the cheap, adding the initial costs of equipment makes that $4 stuff look like a real bargain. Every round I turn out with my reloader, compares favorably to the very best premium ammo available and shoots accurately in my rifles. It is, therefore, well worth the cost and effort. If premium performance is not your goal, or if you can afford the best factory fodder (providing you can find some that your rifle likes) then reloading may not be a good option. Heck, you might even get your hands on one of those magic rifles that shoots well with anything you feed it. It happens! Not frequently, but it does happen. One more thing, and maybe some of the more hardcore varminters can answer this one; Are fmj bullets legal for taking furbearers in ND? I don't know, but I think I would check before using them. Burl


----------



## Whelen35 (Mar 9, 2004)

The 308 can be very accurate out to ranges that most of us can't be. That said, I think the 308 would be a poor choice if the shooting was going to be in the 100 + shots a day varmit hunting. For fur it is great. For when the wind picks up or the shots start to get long, it is a great thing to shoot and a pleasure to own. For pure volume, the 223 would get the nod from me. Surplus plinking ammo is cheap, and bulk soft point factory or second party reloads are also very cheap compaired to many others like a 220 swift or 243, 25-06 or even the 22-250. Get a good scope possibly one with mill-dots and practice. I think you will find the 223 very good out to 300yds and more if you practice and have a rangefinder. And I would like to chime in on the reloading thing a bit also. Depending on how much and what you shoot, you can indeed save a lot of cash. If you shoot anything that is very expensive to shoot more than one box a year, you can make up the money spent very quickly. Also if you like to shoot guns where the ammunition is very hard to find or not factory loaded any longer, it is your only way of doing it. About 10 years ago, a friend of mine who has a class III permit figgered it out that when purchaseing componints in bulk he could save the cash purchase of his dillion 550b in the first 1500 loads reloaded. This compaired of course to factory first loads of the brass. Costs have gone up in the last few years so this may not be the same as then, but I know the last 2000 rounds of 45-70 that I loaded up cost me $0.105 per round. This with a 405gr cast bullet, CCI primer pouder and brass that I already had or that people gave me. I know that is cheaper than I could have purchased it, and some of it was loaded for a contender pistol, and some loaded hot for a marlin guide gun. Try getting that from factory loads at that average price.


----------



## Dave_w (May 25, 2005)

Hmm...the more I think about this one, the more I think it's impossible to really do the long-range varmint thing on the cheap. I'm kinda lucky because I don't ever need to reach out farther than maybe 150 yards, I've already got a couple guns suited to the sport (thanks to the overlap between target and varmint), and I'm already reloading.

Of course, we're also in the mindset of having "real" varmint guns, "real" varmint ammo, and so on and so forth. Suppose we dialed back the requirements a bit? Say, 100-150 yards max range? In my experience, it's hard to find a gun that won't be able to take out something the size of a fox or a coyote with surplus ammo at that range, assuming you're fairly good with the rifle in question. Prairie dogs and ground squirrels (the latter of which is my typical fare; very smart critters, like to hide in holes with only their heads exposed, and there's a lot of them) are a bit trickier because they're so damned small. Game along those lines are the only thing I truly consider to be "varmint" anyway, although I know that the line is very blurry.

But yeah...the volume of ammo is something to consider. I can spend three hours at my favorite field and expend 200 rounds easily, varying between .22LR and .223. Which is why I try and make closer shots with the .22.


----------



## Bore.224 (Mar 23, 2005)

I would want a cartridge to shoots flatter than the .308 so I would pass on the .308 for varmint. If keeping it cheap is also a main concern the .223 remington is KING!! If you got bucks to spend I would go with a .223 WSSM , 243 WSSM or maybe even a .25 WSSM.


----------



## pergoman (Apr 13, 2006)

I met a guy a couple of years back while hunting on the Rosebud.He brought his 308 deer rifle from Wisconsin to try prairie dogging.After the first day in the field when he came back to the hotel he was asking for direction to a gun store.That 308 was great for about the first 50 rounds or so and then his eyes started to tear up at the mere thought of touching the trigger.I think Lock, Stock, and Barrel took care of him.


----------

