# 7mm-08 vs .30-06 vs .308



## biggamehunter69

I have a friend that has a 7mm-08 and he said he would reccomend buying one. he said they are a little bigger than a .308 but not as big as a .30-06. I want to get a .30-06 or .308 because everyone i hunt with has them so i could borrow ammo if i ran out. He also said they dont have near the recoil of either. is it a good long range rifle, is it big enough to hunt elk moose and black bear. I know the .30-06 is big enough but is it as accurate. What about the price of bullets is there much diffeence. What would you guys reccomend for me?
:jammin:


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## Burly1

A 7mm-08 is simply a .308 case with a 7MM bullet seated. It is in fact smaller than a .308. Get a 30-06. You can't go wrong.


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## Bore.224

7mm-08 will inherintly be more accurate than the 30-06 but the difference most likley will not matter for hunting. I would go with the 7mm-08 I like short throw actions and mild recoil. Also the 7mm-08 will shoot flatter than the .308 or the 30-06.


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## People

I am a 308 person my self but if you want to shoot the bigger stuff I would also suggest the 30-06. all of them are capable of holding good groups sure the 308 will hold better than the 30-06, and the 7mm-08 will be better than the 308 if all things are equal.

The 30-06 is the better choice because ammo is available everywhere. Cost will be a little more but not much. If you get one that you can not find ammo for all you have is a very expensive club.

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## Invector

I looked on a few web sites for this and found the 7mm-8 is slower and does not have the impact energy a .308 or a .30-06 does. I use to have a .308, I did not like the gun but liked the caliber. It was a nice shooting for close range (again the gun I had was not the best). I now shoot a .300. I like the speed and impact the .300 gives. Of your looking for speed a .308 can hit the high 2k mark and a is just a bit faster, while the 7mm-08 has good speed but it lacks impact and rage the other two have, I looke this up on the winchester ammo website.

If you are looking at using it for more then just deer a .30-06 gives you a bit more advantage. If you are looking at maybe trying varmints a .308 is popular for them too. Both a .308 and .30-06 can get in the numbers for elk or game bigger then a deer. pluse ammo for them are to come by unlike the 7mm-08.


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## Aussie

I own a 7mm-08,Sako 75 and 2 30-06's an Eddystone and a Brazillian mauser. If you are concerned about recoil, and would like a light rifle, then the 7mm-08 with a 139 grain SST Hornady factory load, is a lot easier to shoot. I would not feel under gunned with that outfit, however, I have never been bear hunting. The 7mm-08 does shoot well over distance, due to an increased Ballistic coefficiency.
The 30-06 is the most versatile cartridge I have reloaded. I've shot most things with it from foxes to feral cattle, and as a Yank once said, you can't beat cubic inches when compared to a .308. A word of warning, when using some one elses ammo, if it is not the same as what you are using, it will shoot to a different impact point.


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## Scooter

All three rounds will do the job on elk, deer, and black bear given bullet placement, quaility bullets and proper range. The other thing is you will find 7mm-08 factory loadings harder to find and not near as much variety. So either handload, take more ammo than you think you will use or go with the 30-06 or the .308 because will find these offerings more times than the 7mm-08.


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## Invector

The numbers I found on several sites shows a 7mm-08 to have number similar to a 25-06. I would not shoot an elk with a 25-06 and did not find any rounds for a 7mm-08 that were elk capable. Up in the mountins 7mm .308 and 30-06 along with the .270 are used alot for elk. Most people I have known from colorado would say the same thing. A 7mm-08 would be a great deer gun with plenty of power and speed along with a good size slug. If a 25-06 can take down a bear so could a 7mm-08. I just would not take it elk hunting.


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## sdeprie

Read what Scooter wrote. All 3 will do the job. 7-08 will be harder to find in factory loads to do just exactly what you need to do, but if you reload, you should be able to make it as effective as the others. You talked about Eld, Deer and Black Bear. The Deer and Black Bear about equal on ft/lb requirements. I have seen it written in many professional articles that just about any good deer rifle will be enough for Black Bear. If you start talking about the bigger bears, this will be a lot different. I'm not sure if 30-06 or 308 ammo will be cheaper, but if you are on that hunt of a lifetime, you don't want cheap stuff. Most folks talk it as fact that a 308 is more accurate than a 30-06. Well, that depends on your rifle. I've seen 308's that can't shoot themselves out of a paper bag. A quality 30-06 is probably more accurate than the average shooter can shoot. I think the 30-06 is the most versatile caliber available. With the 308 JUST behind the 30-06 in ballistics, that would make it the second most versatile caliber available, and it comes in a smaller package.


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## wirehairman

I shoot a .308, and my wife shoots a 7 mm-.08.

I'm a .308 guy and swear by the caliber. I think it gives a person a that reloads great versatility (from 80 grain to 220 grain bullets) and has a nice punch. My dad has worked up a load with a 165 grain spiral point, boat-tail that my gun loves, and I won't shoot anything else. I've killed numerous deer, antelope, and elk with it (including a 6x6 bull elk at approximately 450 yards).

My wife's 7 mm-.08 is very accurate and kicks like a .22 (in my opinion). However, it loses a lot of impact over 250 yards and really gets pushed around by the wind. In 7 years, I've never seen her need more than one shot to drop a deer or antelope in its tracks but have not had the opportunity to get her on an elk yet.

As for the price and availability of ammo, finding factory ammo for my wife's gun is tough and not cheap when we do. Fortunately, my dad picked up some dies for her, and she's started to reload her own shells.

On a side note, be careful to keep your ammo seperate if you end up with both calibers. I can easly chamber one of the 7mm-.08 rounds in my .308, which would be bad news.


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