What beats a 308

[Scottish Highlander]

Hi everyone. I have a Tikka T3 308 as my main stalking rifle for deer hunting. I was looking at adding a second rifle or replacing my current 308.

The 308 is a brilliant rifle but can anyone add what would be a good move forward. I was thinking a 7.62 but I have no experience with this kind of caliber.

Thanks

[WillyKern69]

338 Whinchester Mag.

WK

[olddav]

Are you looking for more punch or ability to reach out further?
If more punch perhaps something along the lines of 35 Whelen, 338-06. If your looking for a long reach then perhaps a magnum of some sort ( 7mm Mag, 300 Mag, 338 Mag etc....), but then again a magnum does offer both (punch and long range).

Now let's see just how wrong I got this.

[dahermit]

7.62 x 54 or 7.62 x 39? Or, did you know that .308 is 7.62 MM? You pull'en our leg or what?

I was thinking a 7.62 but I have no experience with this kind of caliber.

Yes you do.

[PVL]

Would have to know what you mean by "beats".

[kahrguy]

scottish Guess you don't know a 7.62 is also 30 cal just like your 308 and mostly known in the military as a as a 7.62x51 or 308 winchester. If you just think you need to move up in cartidge size look at a 300WSM or 300win mag or 338 win mag. Then compar them. You may want to spend some time first looking up different cartidges to help understand how they differ from each other. Wikipedia can help there too. make notes.

[g.willikers]

Obviously he's just fishing for an excuse to buy another rifle.
Heck, any excuse is good.

[Wyosmith]

Well being that you did say "for deer hunting" I'd have to say that not much beats it.

If you want more range with less holdover, faster will shoot flatter, but I doubt it will make any difference unless you have opportunities to shoot over 350 yards. If you do, maybe you should look at a 270.

For normal deer hunting that are many calibers that will do as well, but nothing I can think of that will do better.

[Art Eatman]

If you're a good enough shooter and can accurately estimate the range and the wind drift, the .308 with a 150-grain is plenty good for deer to 500 yards.

Family experience. '06 loaded to GI pressure is right at equal to the .308.

[TXAZ]

+1 What Art said.
A 308 can drop pretty much anything on the North American continent, with a decent shot.
338 Lapua may have some advantages, particularly at longer ranges, but if you're price sensitive to ammo, check out cost per round before committing.

If you want to engage polar bears, big African game, or vehicles particularly over 1000 yards, there's always the .50. But a .308 is pretty blasted solid.

[PatientWolf]

You should definitely get a 7.62, maybe the 7.62 NATO. You should just send that worthless old .308 T3 my way.

[Hummer70]

What he is really doing is rubbing our noses in it as he knows he has the top of the line rifle in the Tikka and everything else is a downgrade. I just finally got a Tikka and love it. Came from a buddie's estate. New unfired stainless 308 to boot.

[Strafer Gott]

Is there going to be a big red deer involved? I'm still free associating on Scottish Highlands and stalking rifle. And on top of it, it's a Tikka. You must be living in Heaven, man!

[gummy jones]

you need to get something that is both plentiful and on the cheaper side to shoot. 338 lapua is not that and almost no one needs that.

go with the 300wm. you dont need it but it is on most gun counter shelves, is a beast and you can shoot to 1000yds (a feet which very few do but everyone thinks they want to do).

[Colorado Redneck]

Shoots flat, less recoil than bigger calibers, plenty of knock down for everything up elk.

[bamaranger]

Yeah, the "7.62" line is confusing. There are lots of "7.62's"!

I will comment that a bolt rifle in 7.62x39mm is a dandy little rifle to an extent and suitable for whitetails and hogs, possibly black bear. Cheap to shoot (can we say that anymore?) with mild report and recoil. Great starter centerfire as long as the range is not to great, and pretty useful as a GP piece as long as you don't need .308 win or '06 power, and most of us don't most of the time!

Some (not many) may be bored .308 instead of .311 and if so can use commonly available .30 cal slugs, and may shoot .308 dia well enough for plinking anyhow. For a while I loaded my Ruger bolt so chambered with 147 gr GI FMJBT and shot very cheaply. In those days I could get 1000 slugs for well under $100. I did not want to shoot import steel case ammo thru that particular rifle.

[Water-Man]

Do what I did. My T3 is in 6.5x55.

[the rifleer]

a ferd fteen thousand

[hooligan1]

7mm Remington Magnum.

[jehu]

+100 for the 7mmREM. The 308 will do what you want but the mighty 7 will do it better.

[jmr40]

The problem with buying a 30-06 or 308 is that is is darn hard to justify anything else once you have one. Any performance from gains 308 up to 338 magnum is really splitting hairs. At this point you buy another rifle because you "want' to, not because you "need" to.

[wpsdlrg]

Laddy,

If you are hunting in the Highlands, with the distances involved and the game available, then you can't do much better than the .308 (or 7.62 x 51, 7.62 NATO, etc., etc.). In fact, for hunting throughout the UK and Europe as well, you can't do much better.

You can't do much better than a Tikka T3, either.

If you simply want an additional rifle (and who doesn't), or a different rifle.... well, that is another matter indeed. The possibilities are almost endless.

[AllenJ]

I was looking at adding a second rifle or replacing my current 308.

If your rifle is "brilliant" take it from me and don't replace it. I once had a 30/06 that would consistently shoot sub MOA and I sold it to get a 300 Winchester Mag. Twenty some odd years later I'm still kicking myself

If you want a second rifle I'd look no further than the 7mm Remington Mag. Accurate, powerful, and low recoil are just some of its good points.

[dalegribble]

+1 for the 7mm remington mag

[tahunua001]

The 308 is a brilliant rifle but can anyone add what would be a good move forward. I was thinking a 7.62 but I have no experience with this kind of caliber.

yes you do, your 308 is a 7.62mm round, almost anatomically identical to 7.62x51 NATO and so close that you can shoot 7.62x51 out of a 308(do not try in reverse order).

30-06 is a small step up but is a little better suited to long range hunting. if I was going for a full step up, as in looking for flatter shooting with a lot more oomph, I would go with a 300 magnum of some sort. 300 winchester magnum and 300 weatherby magnum are great cartridges for long range hunting but I can't vouch for availability in Scotland.