I go the other direction. On a super-light rig like the T3, I'd take any reduction in recoil I could until I have to go to a round that's inadequate for the job. If a 308 is inadequate for the job, it's likely you'll need a 300 anyway. So I'd go with the 308 unless you know that you need more.

Don't own Tikka's because i don't care for the recoil in such a light rifle. That being said I prefer the 30-06 but cannot give a quantifiable reason why. I would also take a .270 over either. Have a .270 and 30-06 and prefer the .270 for anything in Texas. It shoots flatter.

Love my .30-06's.


That being said, I also have .270's and 7mm-08's that I'm very fond of and have taken deer, hogs, etc. with. No issues with either, and they both recoil noticeably less than the '06's.

Pass the salt please!

Get one of each! "Man can't have too many guns"

Tikkas aside, the advantage with a 308 over a 30-06 is that however much shorter the action is, you can add that to the barrel, and the rifle will be just as handy.

Nothing wrong with just as handy, but with a longer barrel.

-- That's what she said, last night!

In the Tikka, your dealing with the same gun at the same weight, physics says that the slight increase in velocity will increase recoil slightly. With the 30-06 you have a much greater ability to use heavier bullets. For those that say if you need more than a 308 go to the 300 WM, my personal opinion is that if a 30-06 is marginal you should be going to a 338 WM because you don't get enough of an increase with the 300 WM.

There is not a deer in the woods that will have 308 bullets ricochet off, yet would fall over dead with a 30-06.

Looking at real world results on targets and game animals to 500 yards, there is no difference - absolutely zero, unless someone wants to start discussing hunting grizzlies, which is a topic unto itself.

As far as ammo availability, either 308 or 30-06 are readily available. I've never not been able to locate it by the case, and I go through a case of factory fodder or more a year which supplies brass for my handloads.

My 30-06, which I liked, moved on down the road and the 308 remains. It is a real pleasure to shoot, and easier to assure good shot placement, which is far more important than 100 fps.

If there is a need to step performance from a 308, the next step up is a 300 Win Mag or one of the big 7mm's. A 30-06 is not a step in much of anything other than recoil. Truly, they are same/same in practical results downrange.

Just my two cents.

.308 Winchester, 180 gr. Sierra Game King SPBT, G1 .501, MV 2680 fps.

100 yards 0 Mil, 2509 ft/ lbs
200 yards .5 Mil, 2175 ft/ lbs
300 yards 1.2 Mil, 1876 ft/ lbs
400 yards 2.1 Mil, 1611 ft/ lbs
500 yards 3.1 Mil, 1376 ft/ lbs

.30-06, 180 gr. Sierra Game King SPBT, G1 .501, MV 2780 fps.

100 yards 0 Mil, 2706 ft/ lbs
200 yards .4 Mil, 2351 ft/ lbs
300 yards 1.1 Mil, 2033 ft/ lbs
400 yards 1.9 Mil, 1750 ft/ lbs
500 yards 2.9 Mil, 1499 ft/ lbs

Hi FJG,

Looks like dead deer with either. Shot placement is the issue that will matter.

Since you are plugging in numbers - can you add 30 cal 185 Berger Hybrid at 3075 and a 30 cal 210 Berger Hybrid at 2800?

And if you don't mind, to help illustrate the difference in bc, try 7mm, 176 grain, bc of .725 at 2875, which was my old 7 WSM load.

Would be interesting to see them all side by side.

And glad you picked Sierra bullets, if only it were a 175 SMK.

I sure will. May be a couple hours. Just picked the SGK since it's simple and still a popular bullet.

Me too.

Thank you sir.

The SGK still works very well despite all of the marketing efforts of the competitors.

More and more, I've come to the conclusion that shot placement is paramount above all other factors and by a large margin.

I know its OT, but in my 20+ years of hunting I have had several, about ten, instances where a cup and core bullet failed to do what I believe it is intended to do, penetrate, expand, and exit. Shooting other bullet styles, those "marketed by competitors" has resulted in nothing but exactly what the bullet is in my mind designed to do and what I expect out of it. That's why I fall for the "marketing gimmicks" of premium ammo because while 90% is good 100% is better.

Not to argue, but share my experience for discussion - the only animal I have ever lost was a doe facing me shot in the middle of the chest with a 120 grain Barnes TTSX from a 260. She dropped where she stood with three observers watching. By the time we walked up to her, she was gone with only two pools of blood where she fell and then not another drop of blood. I had a buck that ran 150 yards after a Barnes went through both shoulder blades apparently without expanding. We could not find a drop of blood, and once we found the buck, could not find either the entrance or exit wound until we skinned it. Both shoulder blades had small clean holes. This was a 30-06 with a 180 Barnes TSX (not a TTSX).

Ballistic Tips are the one bullet that I do avoid as I've seen them fail to penetrate more than once - thankfully I was not the hunter.

I will agree that some combos seem to work well, and some not so much, so perhaps the better discussion is which combos produce consistent results for folks.

I've owned and killed animals with both and I currently have a Tikka T3 Lite in .308. With the parameters you set, I would personally pick the .308. I'm not particularly sensitive to recoil, but I do notice the difference between the '06 and .308. The only thing I don't like about the Tikka short actions is that the receiver is just a long action with a bolt stop. Not a big problem but I would prefer to trim that little bit of extra length and weight off to have a true short action. Other than that, I can't say enough good about Tikka rifles. Mine is one of the most accurate out-of-the-box rifles I've ever owned. My only regret is getting the synthetic stock version instead of the wood stock. I guess I've come full circle on the stock issue and I really like the wood stock rifles better.

I'm just as anal retentive as you, Grizz. If I'm going to use a long action, like the Tikka, I'm going with a longer cartridge, like the .30-06. And I own a Tikka T3 Lite in .30-06, but not one in .308.

Just me splitting hairs.....

185 gr. .30 cal Berger Hybrid Target G1 .569 3075 fps MV

100 yards O, 3471 ft/ lbs
200 yards .3 Mil, 3083 ft/ lbs
300 yards .8 Mil, 2733 ft/ lbs
400 yards 1.4 Mil, 2414 ft/ lbs
500 yards 2.1 Mil, 2125 ft/ lbs

215 gr. .30 cal Berger Hybrid Target G1 .696 2800 fps MV

100 yards 0, 3404 ft/ lbs
200 yards .4 Mil, 3081 ft/ lbs
300 yards 1.0 Mil, 2783 ft/ lbs
400 yards 1.7 Mil, 2508 ft/ lbs
500 yards 2.5 Mil, 2254 ft/ lbs

7mm, 176 grain, bc of .725 at 2875 fps MV

100 yards O, 2952 ft/ lbs
200 yards .3 Mil, 2685 ft/ lbs
300 yards .9 Mil, 2439 ft/ lbs
400 yards 1.6 Mil, 2210 ft/ lbs
500 yards 2.4 Mil, 1998 ft/ lbs

Combining all of them into one.

Thanks FJG.

Even worse, I shoot 130 grn core lokt. I've never chased one.

The reason that the 30-06 kicks harder than the 308 (same bullet weight) is that it is more powerful.

Kind of hard to get around that. - And if a hundred FPS or two really doesn't matter, then why not shoot a 30-30. - Ammo is cheaper, and it kicks even less.

Jeffbird brother, never shoot a deer in the middle of the chest facing you. Its one of the lowest percentage shots there is. Its just like a gut shot. Ive been on some bloody chest shot lost deer trackin jobs for people, and they will bleed like crazy at first and then quit. If your forced to make a frontal shot, pull up to the neck swirl or higher to the center of the neck. Man buy some soft points too. I like a high on the shoulder shot, it will drop them, but watch them, because it will paralyze them and some times they get up. They rarely run with a high shoulder shot, because it breaks bones and shoulder blades.

I just aim about 12" lower than the glowing green eyes and it works good

.308

A 30-06 in a T3 lite will hammer you every time you pull the trigger.

I weighed the .308 and the 30.06 with 150 grain soft points and there is only 0.1 tenth of an once difference in the 2. The .308 weighed 0.8 and the 30.06 weighed 0.9 I weighed 8 rounds at one time to see if there was a noticeable difference in the 2 and the math is easy. With me being a long distance hiker while hunting, Im always trying to cut weight. Seems like there is not any substantial added weight with hauling around a handful of either round, so this wouldn't come into play unless you were huntin some zombie r something that required mucho ammo.

That's 7.3 ounces at 8 rounds of 06 and 6.9 ounces at 8 rounds of .308 Not much difference at all. Hey walk 5 miles with a pack and gun and you'll be feeling it all.