As I grew into my teen years, some influential people including My uncle Dave, ( A Marine during Vietnam, A Marine Corps Weapons Instructor, and later a Law Enforcement Officer / Weapons instructor) furthered my indoctrination that the 30-06 was the true battle rifle and the best you'll ever get.
He repeatedly explained that it (the 30-06 based rifle / M-1) was the true sniper rifle, capable of 1,000 yard kill shots. You could drag that rifle through the mud, run a rod down the tube and do it again! The only reason the marines ever switched to the 308 Winchester or 7.62x51 NATO was because of the pressure from all those "new hippies in the White House". "To Hell with the Navy, Army, Air force, and all the other jokers out there! They can do what ever the hell they want!" (Slamming the heal of his hand, while somehow holding a cigarette loosely between his lips.) "Marines get the job done Dammit!" He would then say. "I guess we just got tired of all the head-aches and people telling us we just want to be different". I never asked him what he thought about the M-16 and the the 5.56 NATO. I knew my ears wouldn't handle the repeated abuse! I also knew that I couldn't point out that a lot of his family and kin (my cousins, brother, buddies) were joining the Army, Navy and Air force as well as the Marines.
I began shooting more regularly at about 17 years old. I began shooting different calibers and different case sizes trying to find the ultimate "kill em all rifle". It seamed like every third or fourth person I talked to said, "You should try the 308! That's the best performer you can find!" And as you can guess, my reply was never Okay, I'll do that. I could never think of the 308 as anything other than that ugly wanna-be that's got everyone fooled. Thanks Uncle Dave...
Over the next eight or nine years I continued to resist any notion of developing any affection for the round. I did use the cartridge in several different rifle platforms and became fairly proficient with it. But despite this, I never could bring myself to say "Yeah, I like this one". I began shooting all kinds of cartridges, big ones, fat ones, tall ones, skinny ones, some with large bodies and tiny little heads. (Ha ha!) But I could never bring myself to say "I think I like that 7.62x51 or 308 Win". I just couldn't do it!About three and a half years ago I started out on a project. I wasn't sure where I was going with it, or what was going to happen. (I never would have guessed that because of this project I would have written a book. And no way-never in my wildest dreams would I have guessed I would learn to really love the 308 Winchester, but it happened!). I began comparing cartridge performance, versatility, bullet availability, bullet selection, powder efficiency, recoil generation vs. energy produced , standing ballistic data for different environments, overall comfort in shooting, ability to adapt to the cartridge and how proficiently and predictable I could adjust my point of aim, hold over, or doping. I wanted to find the holy grail, and if I couldn't find it, I wanted to find the best all around performing cartridge and rifle that a guy on a budget could shoot. (Never mind the mint I was preparing to spend in finding it.)
So here I am three and a half years later. I now own a few different rifle platforms chambered in a 308 Winchester and I am even looking for another. I have not found the "Holy Grail". But what I have found that there are a handful of cartridges out there that fit my search criteria very well. In my opinion they are awesome. And yes the 308 is one of them.
I still love my 300 Win Mag and my 375 H&H. I love to get behind anything that chambers the 50 BMG, and I still love light and fast cartridges like the 22-250, 25-06 and others. Recently I even spent some time on the trigger behind a Remington / Freedom Arms rifle chambered in 338 Lappua, sending rounds One Thousand yards down range. You can guess that I really enjoyed that. But I have to say, the 308 Winchester has become a cartridge that I enjoy shooting. It has truly become one of the cartridges that I compare all other cartridges against. One may be faster, or another provide more energy, or just simply smack the crap out of something within the first 300 yards. But what really matters to me is; can I hit what I am shooting at wherever it is, is there "enough bullet" to kill the animal, and can I afford to practice and build skill with it? If I can answer yes to those questions, then I know I am in pretty good shape. And most of the time, the 308 Winchester will do all of it for me. Be safe, Shoot Well, Defend Better, and do your part!
Andrew C.
