# Best to buy....?



## Halloween (Nov 24, 2012)

For some extra $$ to spend. What is the best caliber to buy ? .308, 30.06 ? What. And I'm not talking .22 or 5.56. I mean bear meat, deer meat and big game!


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## Justaguy987 (Mar 2, 2013)

Are you buying a gun or just ammo? Over the last few months 30-06 ammo has been on the shelf in every store I have been in looking.


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## Halloween (Nov 24, 2012)

Justaguy987 said:


> Are you buying a gun or just ammo? Over the last few months 30-06 ammo has been on the shelf in every store I have been in looking.


I want to purchase a rifle. Surprisingly I have collected alot of brass for both but never owned the gun. It was before the craz!


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## Launchpad (Feb 3, 2013)

I'm a big fan of 30-06. Time proven performance combined with readily available ammo makes this a must have rifle. All of my rifles are bolt action. Just a personal preference and I like the reliability of them.


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## swjohnsey (Jan 21, 2013)

Ballistically comparable. The .308 has a reputation as a more accurate cartridge and has the advantage of being used by the military.


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## hiwall (Jun 15, 2012)

If your going to reload the 30/06 has more case capacity, so can attain higher velocities than the 308(I'm sure you know that they use the exact same bullets). Rifles in 308 use the short action that can shave a wee bit of weight and length off the rifle. There's really not much difference one way or the other.


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## ZoomZoom (Dec 18, 2009)

I don't know where you live, but location may be something to consider.

If you live in some location like rural Pennsylvania, most every household has a 30-06. If you live near a large military contingent, you'll find the .308's may be more predominant. I think it's worthwhile to have/use what's common for your area. Makes it easier to share ammo if needed, reload with friends, compare notes (and parts?)... An extreme of this is to look at something like a 30-30. Very common in rural hunting areas but if you went to a city and opened a poll asking if people had this caliber the answer of NO would probably be 98%.


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## biobacon (Aug 20, 2012)

30-06 and 270 have never ran out in my area. A lot of things to consider but what about a good ole shotgun? Pump action 3-7 rounds, all kinds of shell types you can use and you can go to walmart this afternoon and buy one for $200-$400and just about all the shells you want. I just bought a case of 10 boxes of shells for $52. That's like a quarter a shot. If your talking about those big cals and their recoil any way, its just something to think about. Best of luck in whatever you get.


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## Caribou (Aug 18, 2012)

Both the 30-06 and the .308 are excellent. Both were chosen as military rounds. The 30-06 has higher muzzle velocity and will reach out further but the .308 is a good long range choice and is one of the current sniper rifles. Since you have empty brass for both you may want to consider that the only significant difference in reloading these rounds is that the .308 takes less powder. If you want semiautomatic the .308 is more readily available and magazine capacity is larger. For a bolt gun either would be a good choice. The enabler in me would suggest a 30-06 bolt gun and a .308 semiautomatic.


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## TheLazyL (Jun 5, 2012)

Halloween said:


> For some extra $$ to spend. What is the best caliber to buy ? .308, 30.06 ? What. And I'm not talking .22 or 5.56. I mean bear meat, deer meat and big game!


The only ammo that I have seen in my numerous trips to Walt-mart is 30-06. So if you can't afford to wait 30-06 is what I'd suggest.


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## GrinnanBarrett (Aug 31, 2012)

I would buy the rifle in 30-06. Remember you can get a chamber insert to caliber down to .308. The difference is the length of the case 63 versus 51. I assume you are looking at bolt action rifles. GB


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## LongRider (May 8, 2012)

IMHO an AR 10 makes the most of the versatility of the .308 round


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## cnsper (Sep 20, 2012)

30.06 all the way for me. I have seen what it does to a deer at 180 yards. My brother shot an elk head on with a 30-30 and the thing ran off. Although it is a heavy enough round, it does not have the power a .06 has.

Ammo for the .06 is everywhere, even military. Yes they still have them and most hunting areas there will be a lot of 30.06 ammo. 

It is a pretty common round. I prefer it over the 223 because of the punch behind it.


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