Best thing I can think of about the .30-06 is that it can be turned into a .280

And the only thing I can think of about the 308 is it's still just a mediocre 30 cal.

You're not wrong. I pulled the barrel from mine and turned it into a .260 In .30 cal the Win Mag may be the best one.

I've shot many deer and hogs with a .308 and none walked away. I guess they fell because they thought they got shot by a .30-06.

If your trying to make a point ya lost me, the same can be said for 22's to 458's thats not really whats being discussed.

It was directed at all of the arguments that the .30-06 is "better" for hunting than the .308 (not just this thread, all of these types of threads). I couldn't find a "tongue-in-cheek" smiley.

I believe for hunting the shooter is what makes a shot count not the round. If your shot placement is on target the animal will drop. Whatever you're comfortable shooting and availability of ammo or reloading supplies would be the determining factors for me. Just my .02 (some may want to give back change)

That's boiling it down to the essence of it. The .30-06 is simply more cartridge than the .308 is.

The difference in recoil between the .308 and the 30-06 is not enough for my shoulder to perceive. They will both shoot the exact same bullet. There are economic and logistics advantages for the shorter case of the .308 and that is why the military adopted it. The public followed suit and the .308 surpassed the 30-06 in popularity. It will never surpass the 30-06 in performance...

I think it had to do much more with the desire to develop automatic and semi-automatic battle rifles. They obviously wanted to stay as close as they could to the performance of the .30-06, but a shorter cartridge could be made to feed more reliably.

Most all scopes are cammed for .308 I am partial to .308.

Six of one, half dozen of the other. I have both and use both with equal effectiveness for my purposes.

The biggest difference I see at this point is the rifles (short vs. long action). I have a heavy barrel .308 Win. built on a long action that I love. My latest .308 is a nice compact short action that's accurate and fun. I have .30-06's set up the same way. I've seen very little if any difference in the field.

Just got back from the rifle range in Bandera w/a buddy of mine..shooting in the drizzle..he'd never shot my .308 TRG..shot 3 handloads, 1 factory all under 1 MOA and mostly same place..and
he'd never even seen a TRG. We also zero'd his 243 pre 64 mod 70
and his Browning SS 22-250..both were louder..and shot about twice the group size even with handloads..and they were his..He'd
never even seen a TRG, and I have it setup Left Handed...To answer your question,,,,30-06 kick..some a bunch..are louder, take a longer action, and except for 180 grain and up projectiles
serve no better purpose in hunting than a .308..which is cheaper
to shoot..Don

Hermano, you may be right, but the last time I checked, the .30-06 was the most popular U.S. centerfire in sales, still well ahead of the .308 and the rest of the field.

When I go to Africa in July, my light rifle will be a tang Ruger 77 in .30-06, stoked with a stout load of 180 gr Nosler Partitions. The old Springfield should be a worthy companion to my .375 H&H Whitworth.

In a little bit heavier rifle there's no reason not to take the '06 with it's little more punch. In a light weight, shorter, handier rifle I like the .308 due to less recoil.

I'd pick the type of rifle I wanted first, then pick the cartridge.

Coupled with the fact that the smaller round was lighter, less bulkier, allowing the soldier to carry more ammo for less weight. Don't underestimate the economic value of savings with a little brass and powder Per round. Most everything the military buys is based on the lowest bid.

What is cammed?

Pics of said Whitworth?

If I was worried about cheap I probably wouldn't be shooting Weatherby's, I look for performance and the 06 gives you about a 10% boost over the 308. The advantages of that 10% was explained nicely in the link provided up page. Take your 30 cals available and rate them by performance and it easily fits in the middle of the pack, mediocre at best.

Lots of mumbo jumbo, ford vs chevy on this subject but Chads comments speak the truth.

There is nothing wrong with the .308, but there's nothing wrong with the 30-06 either. If shorter cases make for more accuracy, what about the newer 30 calibers from Remington and Thompson Center? Will they shoot more accurate than a .308?

I haven't shot a 30-06 ever, my the trusty .308 in the corner won't let me down. It's as accurate as me, and if I did the ballistics right, the 308 is more powerful than the 06. But somebody could come along and prove me wrong. I recommend it because it's more common in the shooting world, not the hunting. There's just a better selection. Think about it, you don't here of a navy SEAL sniper using a 30-06, or any military sniper for that matter. And it's not chambered in "assault rifles" (sporting firearm to me) so lets recap why I think the 308 is better

More available accessories
Used among professionals
Super accurate
Less recoil
Good for anything from coyotes to bear

You could use a 30-06 for coyotes, if you don't want to keep the hide which I do.

If more speed equals more recoil, then explain the 204 ruger and 220 swift

More speed in the same caliber and weight bullet, not two different calibers.

Those are not 150gr + bullets.

And that's comparing apples to oranges. You would have to compare .223 to .22-250. I have both, and both shoot 55 gr bullets. The .22-250 has more speed and noticeably more recoil.