Which is the better sniper rifle 308 or 30 06?

Answer 1

The .30-06 round has more power (barely) and theoretically longer range, but more precision ammunition is made for the .308 Winchester rifle. The .308 also has less recoil and barrel life will be longer, and as a short-action rifle it is less expensive and more common..

The US Military uses .308 and to a far lesser extent .50 Caliber and .338 rounds as sniper rounds. In the recent past they also used .300 Winchester Magnum.

In theory, the same high-performance and high-ballistic-coefficient bullets used in .308 match target ammunition can be used in the .30-06.

.308 ammunition is far, far more common than .30-06, and the .30-06 is not a current military round in major Western powers.

*First, there is no real designated military cartridge known as a .308. The .308 win. is a trade mark protected name from Winchester that originated approximately 2 years before the military adopted the T-65 cartridge currently known as the 7.62X51mm/NATO cartridge. Historically, there were a number of changes to the T-65 cartridge after Winchester released its .308win.. The military and ammo manufacturers will tell you that these cartridges are not interchangeable, because of brass, chamber and cartridge overall length differences.

*Second, I agree that the old 1930's military .30M2 BALL(30-06) cartridge based on IMR powders has slightly more power than the 7.62X51mm/NATO. However, in the commercial market this would be a false statement. Check out Hornadys Light Magnums in the 30-06 180gr. range or any of the hand loads using their Superformance powders or Hodgdon's 4831sc powders. There is at least 160fps. or more velocity in favor of the 06! Also, there is a larger variety of ammo types offered for the 30-06 than any of the .308 win. and 7.62x51mm/NATO combined. Perhaps this is another reason why the 30-06 is the number 1 hunting cartridge in the world!

*Third, the 30-06 can handle the older crimped .30cal bullets as well as any of the newer stuff in .308dia. and can handle slow, medium and faster burning powders with standard or magnum rifle primers aswell. Handling bullet weights ranging from 55gr. to 250grs. isn't a problem either and is considered the most versatile high powered rifle cartridge in the world unlike the .308 win.. Longer aerodynamic bullets such as the 180gr. SST, 185gr. Berger VLD's or Winchesters 180gr. Silver Ballistic Tip Boat Tailers for long range shooting, isn't a problem for the 30-06 either. The 7.62X51mm/NATO and .308 win. would have difficulties with these longer bullets because of lost case capacity. None of the large ammo manufacturers currently offer a longer 180gr. VLD or ballistic tip boat tail loads in .308 win.. Neither the 30-06 or 7.62X51mm/NATO surplus brass has consistent enough in case and external dimensions to compare from manufacturer to manufacturer that offers any real accuracy. Internally, the 7.62 NATO is different than the .308 win.. Your brass specs. would have to be controlled astringently. It is for this reason that I feel that surplus ammo does not a sniper rifle make! Cheap ammo spawns cheap results! A survivalists point of view favors the 30-06 for reloading, because the 7.62X51mm/NATO which is still in our arsenal is a non typical or non standard G.I. issue infantry round from a modern military point of view. The 7.62x51mm/NATO falls into the same category as the .300win. and the .338 Lapua and weapons systems like the 240 bravo are being phased out in favor of the 5.56x45mm S.A.W.'s (squad automatic weapons). Everybody knows that the M-16 platform utilising the 5.56x45mm cartridge replaced Americas only infantry rifle the M-14 in 7.62X51mm/NATO after Vietnam. The new 6.8 spc. (Special Purpose Cartridge) will probably replace both of them as a (DMR) Designated Marksmen Rifle!

*Last, as far as accuracy goes there was a feller by the name of Carlos Hathcock a.k.a. "White Feather" that said his favorite and most accurate sniper rifle was a Winchester Model 70 in 30-06. Mr. Hathcock a very famous USMC sniper also used a Remington 700 in 7.62X51mm/NATO in the latter days of his last tour in Vietnam for logistics reasons. He is in my opinion more than qualified to make such a statement.

The 30-06, given strong enough brass and guns, can always be loaded faster than the .308 because of case capacity. The 7.62x51 is in current US use in the Mk14 DCM rifle, which is being replaced by the new .223 DCM rifle but is not phased out yet. The 7.62x51 and .308 are dimensionally identical but 7.62 GUNS are frequently made to looser tolerances and with greater headspace. If you're loading your own ammo you load it to fit a particular gun anyway.

-M-

* -M- A .050" difference in cartridge overall length (C.O.L.) which will affect bullet seat depth is exactly what I'm taliking about! I'm sure that you believe in GO/NO-GO gauges for checking headspace. Most people don't reload mil surplus ammo anyway. This could be dangerous! Well at least we agree on .308win and 7.62x51mm/NATO chamber differences and 30-06/.308 powder/case capacity!