Caliber 308 belongs to a large group of combat and hunting cartridges, which has a very wide scope and distribution. This group includes a number of varieties of ammunition very similar in their technical characteristics that were developed on the basis of thirty-caliber cartridges used in the US Army at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Caliber 308 is versatile and suitable for both the needs of the army and for hunting. This cartridge is produced by almost all major companies in the world. There are a huge number of different modifications of cartridges for 308 caliber weapons, which differ in bullet characteristics that have an impact on the scope and ballistic data. The range of hunting carbines and military weapons using this caliber is very wide and includes, inter alia, domestic developments. This caliber is optimal in many respects, including shot accuracy, lower recoil, lighter weight of the weapon for this cartridge and ample reload automation capabilities. Domestic manufacturers of hunting weapons have long used the potential of 308 caliber and offer a wide selection of 308 caliber ammunition at affordable prices, as well as developing new versions of carbines in line with the latest trends in the unification of hunting weapons, including options with interchangeable barrels and bolt larvae.
Thirty caliber predecessors
The history of the American thirtieth caliber dates back to the “government cartridge” of the 45-70 Government, which began production in 1873.
It was a heavy and low-powered ammunition for a single-shot Springfield army rifle with the following characteristics:
1. Caliber - 11.63 mm.
2. Powder charge - 4.54 g.
3. Bullet weight - 26.2 g.
4. Power - 3000 joules.
It was a cartridge of a transitional era, when smoke powder was replaced by smokeless pyroxylin species. Its ballistic characteristics and stopping effect are very close to a shot from a 16-caliber smooth-bore gun. At the turn of the century, the American army needed a new cartridge, lighter, under smokeless powder and a smaller caliber for multi-shot rifles. So in 1892, the 30-40 Krag cartridge for Krag-Jorgensen rifles appeared. This was the earliest member of the family of American cartridges of the thirty caliber, which had a classic bottle-shaped cartridge case. The main difference between this cartridge and subsequent developments is the protruding flange at the rear end of the sleeve. Its characteristics were as follows:
1. Caliber - 7.8 mm.
2. Length - 78.5 mm.
3. Bullet - 6-13 g.
4. The initial speed is 883-820 m / s.
5. Muzzle energy - 2529 J.
It was a sharp leap towards increasing range and accuracy of fire. At a distance of 200 m, when shooting along a flat trajectory, the bullet goes down 2 cm. For military purposes, this cartridge was not used for long, but is still used for hunting large animals up to 250 kg.
The main representatives of the American thirtieth caliber
All cartridges of this family have the same bottle-shaped cartridge case as the 30-40 Krag, but they do not have a protruding flange.
The main representatives of the thirtieth caliber were developed as a small-caliber class of ammunition for handguns. These cartridges differ in the length of the sleeve, which affects the amount of gunpowder, as well as the shape, weight and design of the bullet. The sleeve without a protruding flange is a German development and is designed for rifles with a box magazine of the Mauser M 98 type. The first representative of the classic range of American thirties caliber ammunition was the ammunition for Springfield rifles, which are copies of the aforementioned German rifle with a box magazine and a free-running rotary shutter. At the beginning of the twentieth century, two such ammunition appeared. These are calibers 30-03 and 30-06 Springfield. Both cartridges differ from each other by the size of the sleeve and the shape of the bullet. Caliber 30-06 has a shortened 1.77 mm sleeve, but the most significant difference is the design of the bullet. Caliber 30-03 has a heavy bullet weighing 14.3 g with a round head. This bullet turned out to be not very high in terms of firing persistence, but it has excellent stopping properties. These characteristics became the reason for her short military career and soon transition to the category of hunting ammunition. The last two digits in the designation of the caliber mean the year of adoption of these cartridges by the US Army. Caliber 30-03 - 1903 Caliber 30-06 - 1906 Adoption of a new cartridge of the thirtieth caliber just three years later was due to a bullet. The Germans began to make pointed bullets for their store rifles, which were lighter and had more accuracy. In the United States, they immediately reacted to German innovation and adopted their version of a cartridge with a pointed full-shell bullet weighing 9.7 g. So the caliber 30-06 appeared, which is still used as a military munition, and it is considered to be the most common hunting cartridge in the world.
The problem of choosing a weapon of thirty caliber
The fact is that there are two main and most common versions of the thirty-caliber ammunition with almost the same ballistic characteristics, but they require two different versions of the design of the chamber and the size of the bolt group. This weapon is under caliber 30-06 and under caliber 308 win. This problem is constantly faced by novice hunters, since they are offered almost the same guns for cartridges with the same ballistics, but the choice of a weapon depends on the binding to a certain type of ammunition. In order for this circumstance to cause less embarrassment, we need to tell why this problem appeared at all. The US military is to blame for everything, since both cartridges were developed for military weapons for the US Army.
The caliber cartridge 308 is a shortened version of the caliber 30-06. A shortened version appeared after World War II, when for military needs a new intermediate cartridge with weaker returns was needed, on the basis of which new automatic weapons systems could be developed. A shorter sleeve makes it possible to create compact automation due to the short stroke of the bolt group, and the weakening of the muzzle energy creates even greater prerequisites for reducing the weight of the weapon. In the early 50s, caliber 308 was adopted by the US Army and other NATO member countries. This cartridge is still used for machine guns, machine guns and sniper rifles in the West. On the weight and ballistics of hunting weapons, the change in the dimensions of the cartridge of the thirtieth caliber of the 1906 model was practically not reflected. That is why there are two cartridges of the same caliber, under which almost identical guns are made with different stroke lengths of the bolt group.
What is the difference between caliber 308 win and caliber 30-06 for hunting
Caliber 30-06 of the sample 1906 g has the following characteristics:
1. Caliber - 7.62 mm (practical caliber - 7.82 mm).
2. The length of the cartridge is 84.84 mm.
3. The length of the sleeve is 63.35 mm.
4. The possible range of bullet weight is 6.54-16.2 g.
5. The initial speed is 820-976 m / s.
6. The range of muzzle energy is 3200-4126 J.
7. The ability to manually equip the cartridge with the right bullet and the required amount of gunpowder.
Caliber 308 win has the following characteristics:
1. Caliber - 7.62 mm (practical caliber - 7.82 mm).
2. The length of the cartridge is 71.05 mm.
3. The length of the sleeve is 51.18 mm.
4. The weight range of the bullet is 6.54-13 g.
5. The initial speed is 800-950 m / s.
6. Muzzle energy - 3600 J.
Minor differences and price differences
These cartridges have similar technical characteristics, and their ballistic performance is almost the same. Caliber 30-06 can be equipped with heavier bullets, but advantages over the 308 caliber in muzzle energy are possible only with an appropriate barrel length with an appropriate twist and the use of special powder with slow burning. The most significant difference between these ammunition is their cost and availability on the Russian market. Imported 308 caliber for hunting will be cheaper than 30-06. But domestic cartridges of both calibers, which are much cheaper than imported, are very different in quality. According to hunters, caliber 30-06 manufactured by Barnaul with a steel sleeve has a lot of complaints about firing accuracy, the number of delays in firing and the likelihood of jamming of the shutter. But the domestic caliber 308 has much less complaints about quality. When choosing weapons for the thirtieth American caliber, it is worth considering the big difference in the price of ammunition, which exists between high-quality imported cartridges of 30-06 caliber and domestic cartridges of caliber 308, also of quite acceptable quality. In both cases, the difference in ballistic characteristics will be insignificant. Under the shortened version of the American thirty-caliber cartridge in the market for hunting ammunition, there is a wider selection of weapon models.
Ballistics
Balistic 308 caliber has some specifics. The loss of speed of a 308 caliber bullet and its displacement relative to the horizontal plane depend on the weight of the bullet, its type and the capabilities of a particular cartridge. The table below shows the comparative ballistic characteristics of different cartridges when firing at a distance of 200 meters and a twist of 12 inches.
| Type of cartridge and manufacturer | bullet weight | starting speed | muzzle energy | deviation |
| Winchester partition | 150 gran | 884/733 m / s | 3800/2605 J | -19.8 cm |
| Winchester ballistic | 168 gran | 814/703 m / s | 3606/2689 J | - 21.8 cm |
| Norma nosler | 180 gran | 796/668 m / s | 3694/2600 J | - 29.5 cm |
| Remington Swift Scirocco | 180 gran | 823/117 m / s | 3961/3000 J | - 21 cm |
| Federal Sierra HPBT | 168 gran | 823/710 m / s | 3631/2700 J | - 20.5 cm |
| Hornedy Light Magnum SST | 150 gran | 915/775 m / s | 4075/3461 J | - 18 cm |
| Lapua lock-base | 170 gran | 860/746 m / s | 4068/3064 J | - 19 cm |
It can be seen from the table that the 308 caliber ballistic cartridges from different manufacturers can differ significantly due to the different mass of bullets used, their different shapes, as well as different quantities and quality of gunpowder. Ballistic characteristics of 308 caliber cartridges of domestic production are somewhat inferior to imported cartridges, the data on which are given in the table.
Advantages of 308 caliber hunting weapon systems
308 caliber hunting carbines can be either multi-shot, automatic, semi-automatic, as well as single-shot and combined, with several barrels of different calibers. Self-loading and automatic carbines for a shortened thirtieth caliber hit more precisely due to lower recoil. The 308 caliber carbine for hunting has a number of other advantages. Single-shot carbines have a lighter bolt with a short stroke, which makes it possible to reduce the length and weight of the weapon without compromising accuracy. The 308 caliber cartridge is universal. Under it, you can find single-shot shotguns with both a horizontally sliding bolt and a vertically sliding one. 308 caliber rifles with a vertical shutter are especially compact, light in weight and recharge silently, without delay, and their shock spring can be in the form of a bracket, rather than a spiral, which makes these systems fail-safe. There are also advantages that caliber 308 has. Hunter reviews indicate that if the magazine fails, these cartridges are easier to load into the chamber manually, one at a time, and with longer cartridges, such as caliber 30-06 and others, this technique is not so effective or even impossible due to length. And one more advantage. In magazine rifles under long cartridges, deformation of the soft shell of a bullet occurs more often when it is automatically moved to the chamber, which affects the accuracy of the shot. The caliber 308 has much fewer complaints in this regard. Reviews of experts positively evaluate precisely 308 caliber in this regard, rather than longer versions of the 30 caliber.
308 caliber in weapons systems with interchangeable barrels
The 308 caliber cartridge has always been in line with modern trends in the development of hunting weapons. Universal systems in which several of the most popular calibers and their varieties can be used are becoming increasingly popular. There are samples that can be modified in the field even in a 308 caliber carbine, at least in a 30-06 caliber carbine, and also change the caliber of the barrel. For example, the Browning MARAL system includes interchangeable barrels and bolt larvae. Its mechanism is very similar to the AK mechanism, but there is no gas outlet device. This moment of reloading is carried out manually by pulling the shutter frame back and forth. Among domestic developments with interchangeable barrels and bolt larvae, one can name an automatic carbine manufactured by VPO Molot. This unique Russian-made hunting weapon is a fully automatic store carbine with a gas vent that can work as a 308 caliber rifle, as well as a 223 Rem and 20X76 carbine. This is both a gun and a carbine of two types in one system, issued for one license.
The optimal twist for caliber 308
There are several options for trunks with a twist for the 308th caliber, from 10 to 14 inches of barrel length. A twist is a complete revolution of a bullet around its axis, which it makes when moving in the barrel. Accordingly, a 10-inch twist - this is the full rotation of the bullet in the barrel, which the bullet makes after passing a ten-inch run along the barrel. The heavier and longer the bullet, the shorter the twist should be. To determine the optimal twist for caliber 308, you need to know the type of bullet that will be primarily used in hunting. The standard weight of a bullet of 168 grains can be considered optimal for a caliber of 308. Reviews indicate that for such a bullet the minimum possible twist will be 14 inches. Lighter bullets with such a twist will be re-stabilized, but their ballistics will remain within the tolerance range. For heavier 308 caliber bullets, a shorter twist is already needed. Many hunters say that for a 308 caliber you need 12 twist. For example, the Chezet 550 caliber 308 carbine in various modifications is often given as a sample. Czech rifles are distinguished by a universal bolt for a different length of ammunition 308 caliber, which in itself is quite massive. To reduce the weight of weapons, Czech gunsmiths use a special technology for the production of thin-walled barrels, which greatly affects ballistics due to instant overheating of the barrel. For commercial hunting, you need a thick barrel, a simple sight, when you can quickly catch a target on the fly, a fail-safe mechanism and a shutter for the cheapest cartridge of 30 caliber, which is 308 caliber. The twist should be designed for the maximum value of the weight and length of the bullet. With all the pros and cons, 308-caliber hunting carbines must be chosen with a 12-inch twist, which will provide a reliable shot for domestic ammunition equipped with domestic bullets. The 308 caliber has a more free choice of hanging bullets at an affordable price, so a 12 twist is a wider weapon potential.
