308 barrel length

[BradP]

I have just acquired a 18" barreled 308. My question is will there be too much of a velocity loss to still be a 300 yard hunting rifle? I know this question has been asked before, but I can't find quite the answer I'm looking for. Thanks in advance.

[Wyosmith]

Oh heck no!
If you look at the scores and the performance on game of the 30-40 Krag from 100 years ago, it is quite good. The 18" barrel you have with a 308 is going to do a bit better than the Krag did with a 22" barrel and factory loads.
I have a 16" 308 and my wife and a friend both used it last year to kill elk at about 350 yards.
Worked just fine!

[jmr40]

You might be 200 fps slower than a 24" barrel. That will put you very close to WW-1 era 30-06 loads from a 24" barrel.

[BradP]

But that should still be capable for deer to 300?

[GeorgeStrickland]

For many years I used a Remington Mohawk 600 in 308 . I loaded a Sierra 180 grain round nose over Olin 748 . All the deer I shot with it never complained !

[Wyosmith]

It's capable of clean kills on deer out to 500 yards.

If you look at the ballistic charts for a 30-30 170 grain load at 200 yards and your 308 load at 500 or even 600 yards you will see you have all the deer rifle you need.

I doubt you will find any hunters with much experience who will tell you a 30-30 is not good enough to kill deer out to about 200 yards. And you have a lot more gun than the average 30-30!

You are likely overthinking this.

Learn your gun and load and gain the skills. You have a very good tool for deer hunting.
I, my wife and several of my friends have put a lot of elk down with our 308s most of which have 18" barrel, and my MVP has only a 16" barrel.
Elk are a LOT bigger and tougher then deer. At 350 to 450 yards I can tell you from experience that the 308 is ok for elk. Don't worry about it being too weak for deer.

Gun-writers of today will try to sell you something, but that's their job. If you read many of the magazines that litter the shelves today you will be told you need some ultra-stupendous-super-uber-duper-mega-magnum.

BS!

You need skill and a cool head.
You'll do just fine.

[BradP]

You're right. Sometimes a fellow just needs a little reaffirmation. Thanks for the responses!!

[Mobuck]

Just my opinion but short barreled .308 rifles are fairly obnoxious to shoot. I have a 20" .308 carbine that is a very capable deer killer BUT I don't use it much since it's LOUD and has significant recoil for it's actual performance.

[Mike / Tx]

I use a Ruger Compact with a thin 16.5" barrel. Depending on the ammo I usually average mid 2500 to mid 2600fps with 150gr bullets. It has taken over a half dozen feral hogs in the 250-400# range out past 300yds with DRT results.

Like mentioned, find something it likes and learn it, the rifle and caliber are plenty capable if you use the proper combination for your game.

[T. O'Heir]

"...kills on deer out to 500 yards..." Provided you know the ballistics. A 165 grain .308 drops like a brick past 300. Sighted in at 200 it'll drop roughly 8.6 at 300. 25" at 400. Energy's there though.
Like Mobuck says, short barrels make 'em loud with lots of muzzle blast. Only matter when sighting in though. Deer hunting doesn't involve fire fights. Does involve a fair bit of carrying. Carbines are really good for that.
"...can't find quite the answer I'm looking for..." What is that? snicker.

[Art Eatman]

Sir T.O'Heir, I note that your 165-grain .308 data is right at being equal to my .30-'06 150-grain data for 400 yards. Roughly, a two-foot drop when zeroed at 200. (Four feet at 500, on my home range.)

I load fairly hot; a couple of easy one-shot kills at 350 and 450 yards. Witnesses spoke of my father's kills at around 500 yards with his loads no hotter than GI specs.

So, back to the .308. It fairly well replicates the old GI '06 load with an 18" to 20" barrel--as designed.

[44 AMP]

For many years I used a Remington Mohawk 600 in 308 . I loaded a Sierra 180 grain round nose over Olin 748 . All the deer I shot with it never complained !

EXACTLY THIS!!!

Except my rifle was the earlier vent rib Remington 600 not the Mohawk. And I preferred the Sierra 165gr BTHP for deer.

I shot that rifle A LOT, and got pretty good with it, even making a (later measured) 627yd first round hit on a woodchuck, using 125gr. Total fluke, the force was REALLY with me, but of course I did take credit. (and yes, it was witnessed by others, and no, I have never been able to do it again...)

The .308 Win has the energy to make a clean kill on a deer at any range you can hit the deer. The limiting factor is YOU, and not only your knowledge of drop, but also your skill at "reading" the wind.

DO both right, the .308 will NOT let you down.

[doofus47]

You're fine.
Happy shooting

[Primed Case]

My standar 150 gr load that shoots 2800 from my 26" 700VS. The same load runs about 2500 from my 16" SR 762. Your 18" bbl should be a bit faster than that.

[Jack O'Conner]

Just focus upon marksmanship. If you hit the animal through the chest organs with your .308 at 300 yards, it will topple quickly. Shot placement and bullet performance is what kills game animals and not figures upon paper charts.

Jack

[alex0535]

People put bullets on target much farther with accuracy on .308 barrels this short. If you can do your part at 300 yards to put bullet into vitals, the deer sized animal will not know the difference between an 18" and a 28" barrel.

[Rich Coyle]

BradP,

I used a .308 this year that is 18" long. With 155 grain Sierra they averaged 2,775 feet per second. With the new Hammer solid copper 101 grain they averaged 3,341 feet per second.

[Chainsaw.]

My buddy just came back from a three day hunt with the 16" 260 remington (6.5x308) chambered rifle I cerosafed for him. Said it sure beat the heck out of carring around the 7mm mag he is used to. Something nice aboit a short barrel. You'll have plenty of oopmf to take a deer.