Which would you choose and why? In my opinion the 30 caliber has an advantage in building light loads with cast bullets and cheap 100 and 110 grain jacketed bullets for same. It also can use bullets up to 200 grains if wanted. The 7-08 has a lot of bullets with higher ballistic coefficients which make wind deflection and drop less. At least when you compare 139-140 grain bullets and their slightly higher velocities to bullets with comparable SD which in 30 caliber are around 165 grains. Both are easily elk cartridges.

Easy- 308 Win... If you put a 7-08 and a 308 Win side by side with same barrel length pushing the same weight bullet, the 308 Win will be a faster round. Of course you know you will start a 9mm vs 40 cal debate here. But as you mentioned, the 308 has bullet weights from 78 grains to 250 grains and has by far the most projectile options.

On BC... BC DOES NOT MATTER inside of about 300 yards. Inside of 300 yards, an average BC projectile vs a high BC projectile fired at the same speed and same weight will have minimal difference of POI or wind drift in field conditions. I've run the numbers for customers and it's often 1/2" to 1" or less difference between the two. And when probably 90-95% of game is taken inside of 300 yards, some good hunting bullets are often over looked for other "match" bullets that do not perform as well on game. But there are plenty of good match bullets will work well as a hunting bullet. But may shooters get hung up ONLY on BC. They look at a BC chart and select the highest BC because that's what they think they need.

Both are very good rounds, and I have shot and played with both of them on multiple occasions. But the 308 Win is an easy answer between the 2, IMO.

Take your pick. I've used 140 TTSX in the 7mm-08 and 155 Scenar in the .308 both did the job on elk. Whitetail 120 BT and 7mm-08 hard to beat and I would use the same combo on elk.

I'm emphatically going to say 308, my current go-to hunting cartridge, even though i don't own a 7mm-08.

Probably more than good with both. But when compared i'll always take the fatter bullet for hunting. I almost never hunt past about 200yards so ballistic advantage is very low on my priority list. Loves me some 308

308 vote from me as well.

I've killed a lot of critters with my 7-08 and 165 grain Tipped Gamekings. From squirrels to elk.

I've hunted with both. Shot both a lot at the range. If you know what you are going it's just a matter of pulling the trigger and filling the freezer. The minor differences in them are not noticed by the game.

300 yards and less. Either one is fine.

I shoot all my center fire rifles, long range. 7mm-08 with a 162 to 168 gr is the clear winner, 400 yards and greater. Less wind drift and more energy than .308 Win and 6.5 Creedmoor. Ackley Imrove it, and nothing touches it, in that action size.

7mm-08 A.I. is what I have beside me every day.

Between the two, I'd likely choose one based on what bullets are readily available that I like and would work well. Or flip a coin, maybe.

OTOH, I'd be more likely to be trying to choose between .30-06 and .280 Remington since I am a handloader. A little more is a little "better," even if it won't make all that much difference in the field.

For hunting purposes at normal distances, .308. If you’re a reloader, you can load it up or down for coyotes up to moose, if you wanted. Factory offerings are available for anything that it’s considered capable of killing. If this rifle had a strict purpose of killing whatever animal at a far greater distance, then I would probably go neither. I guess it really comes down to is which do you want? I think either will do the job of 99.99% of what normal hunting folks do.

I chose the 7mm because I’m invested pretty deep in it. I have in the past been impressed with the .308s performance on game. Given reasonable distance, it will outperform the 7-08 with same type bullet. Although I’ve never found the 7-08 lacking.

Flip a quarter...the 308 will make a .024 bigger entrance hole

How does it out perform?

I would normally say 7mm-08, but with the .284 bullets getting so expensive, I'd probably lean more towards the .308 for ease of access.

At a 100 yards a bullet of the same weight and construction going faster has more energy. Period period.

I recently went to the 7-08 ai like you did long ago and I wouldn’t chose the .308 over that at any time. It’s amazing how much the 40° shoulder woke this cartridge up.

It helps that it is now the second most accurate rifle I’ve ever owned.

308 more versatility, availability, lower cost, longer barrel life, basically everything is better unless you are going to do a lot of long range shooting. And if lr shooting is your bag, might as well get a 6 or6.5 cm.

Or just get a 3006

7-08 is the easy button for me. If you can gather up 120 BT's, 140 partitions or accubonds, you're good to go for anything up through and including elk sized game.

The 7mm-08 and 140 grain accubonds are a winning combo.

Interesting.

The doe hunt I went on for 11 years straight was a .308 Win in my hunting partner's hands and a 7mm-08 or 7mm-08 A.I. on my hands. If either one of us shot heart/lungs, there was going to be some kind of tracking to do. Could be 10 yards, could be 200 yards. His never did better than mine, and vice versa. He was shooting 200 yards and less, and most of the time so was I.

308 is my favorite. Jack of all trades, master of none. Just like me.

Lessor recoil load in accordance to the specific rifle set up assuming same accuracy . Out side of that it’s mental gymnastics

Since I have two 7mm-08's and also a 7mm-08 AI, the only choice is which one this time!

I lean towards the 7mm-08.

If you look at Chad’s reasoning a 308 makes more sense since it has a higher sectional density than the 7mm for bullet weight. You have got to respect that larger caliber with the higher cross sectional bullet at the same velocity. Inside of realistic hunting distances the 308 just makes better sense.

For me I still prefer the 7mm-08, especially with the good old 140 gr. Remington Core-Lokt. I have never witnessed the 308 or the 7mm-08 being better than the other at reasonable distances.
And this is coming from a high B.C. junkie.


I just have a soft spot for 7mm bullets. You might notice in the picture that the only non Berger bullets are all 7mm.

7-08. I like the lesser drop.

In reality, no animal will know the difference. In fact, most cartridges work great within ranges most people shoot big game.

Sectional Density

Sierra Tipped Game King

7mm 165 gr .292
.308 165 gr .248

Hornady ELD-X

7mm 162 gr .287
.308 178 gr .268

Nosler Accubond

7mm 160 gr .283
.308 165 gr .248

Berger Classic Hunter

7mm 168 gr .298
.308 168 gr .253

^^ Facts. I think someone had it backwards.

Could also get a 270, be flatter shooting than the 708 with as much energy as the 308, least out to 500

Every time I start really looking at ballistics I wonder why I got rid of my 270. Damn good gun. No 30 aught 6 but still pretty nice

I like your references to 3006. Keep it up.

Sectional density is for non expanding bullets. Hunting bullets typically fully expand once the bullet penetrate 1-2”. Both will have .5 frontal diameters and similar bullet weights. It’s really meaningless when you realize SD is constantly changing as the bullet is shedding weight as it penetrates through the animal.

Even light monos will out penetrate heavier cup and core bullets with high SDs because they don’t lose weight

I guess some people just like to spout off fancy words to sound smart when they really have no idea what they are talking about. I don’t want to call anyone out, but there’s a couple in this thread.

There’s not a big difference between the two, and that should be obvious. As always, it will come down to what you’re doing with it. That’s why we have options. The 7/08 will give you better options for higher BC bullets. The .308 will give you better options for heavier bullets. Which do you need more?

The answer is simple, 300BLK with subsonics.

hahaha, I love this. no wonder i love the 308. I am so stealing this line. I often describe my professional skill set in the same way. Now I am going to refer to myself as the 308 of my industry.

I’m firmly in the you and the game would never know the difference at normal distances without reading the engraving on the barrel or head stamp.

Have a 7mm08 and like it a lot, but would use a 308 without hesitation. As have many I’ve shot deer and hogs for almost 30 years with cartridges ranging from 223 rem to 300wby and 45-70. A bullet in the vitals with any resulted in very similar results. I feel like hunters ego’s influence too much looking at the size of the cartridge.

The best answer is necking up a 7-08 to 30 cal, and problem solved!!

Hmmm...the .30-7MM-08. Take that one and neck it down to 6.5 and we'll revolutionize the firearms industry!

308

Cant wait to see it at SHOT show!

I think SD is misunderstood. It is more a measure of how hard it is to accelerate a certain mass to velocity. Not in any way related to bullet performance. Different materials are of course going to have different lengths. Mass is not a shape. Monos often out penetrate cup and core bullets because their expanded frontal diameters are smaller and they don't lose weight often.

Complicating the choice, I already have two 308's, a 7x57 and a 7-08. My bullet collection in both diameters is outrageous. However I have 4 times as many Partitions in 30 caliber than I do in 7mm. The reason being I shot up most of my 7mm partitions at game. My present 7-08 is a Model Seven with the skinny 18 inch barrel, restocked to suit me and a good shooter. Nice light rifle. My two 308's are very different. A heavy barreled bench gun and a sporterized Mauser that is reasonably light. The bench gun 308 is the action I am going to rebarrel making it into a light hunting rifle. If I were to make this one a 308 I could justify selling the others, keep the 7-08 MSeven, cut my 270 collection of three down to one (Hah fat chance) and have a 30-06 and 7MM RM for specific tasks such as elk and long range black bear shooting. I am even thinking about headspacing both barrels and having a switch barreled rifle with a 7-08, 308 and 260 remington barrels as I already have a tackdriver of a 260 barrel that has been headspaced to this action. I am now thinking the only logical plan is the latter and keep all the other rifles.

I bought my first 708 back in the late 90's. I wanted the Remington 700VLS, the shop had it in 708 and 260. After going thru the load data, ballistic data, and available bullets i chose the 708 and never looked back. The 6.5 craze hadn't started at the time so bullet choices weren't great. otherwise I might be singing a different tune completely.

Fast forward more than 20yrs, when it came time to get my kid a bolt action deer rifle the choice was clear, 708. It's been a fine rifle for her. She started shooting it at 13yrs old, never once complained about recoil, and she's 100% first shot kills with it on multiple deer and hogs.

I don't hate the 308, it's a fine round. But for what I do I just can't see what one does better than the other. But the same could probably be said for more than 20 different popular cartridges out there today. .

You're RIGHT about that, Rick, but it must be remembered that acceleration can be a negative value as well as positive, meaning that what is more difficult to accelerate to higher velocity is also more difficult to decelerate and stop. With a given frontal area, the quantity of mass behind it has very much to do with penetration.

I'll have to stick with my .308, it's just a good all 'rounder for a rifle bullet.

I shot this round many times during my time in the Army, very familiar with it and what it's capabilities are, so I'll just stick with what I know.

Both will get the job done. Having shot and hunted with both, my choice is the 7mm-08.


I shot a .308 for years. This season was my first year using a Tikka lite in 7-08, and it's going to be my go-to hunting rifle moving forward. I can shoot my .308, handle the recoil, and see my bullet impact game in MOST shooting positions. However, hunting is unpredictable and sometimes you need to turn around in the stand, set one knee down, and hunch down to the scope while stabilizing the best you can. I had a shot opportunity like this at 165 yards with my 7-08, shot and saw the impact, and watched the deer drop. That's extremely valuable to me, and I can't do that with a 308.

Why not?

You know seeing the animal get hit has a lot to do with shooting with both eyes open. I have seen and not seen my bullet hit with more powerful rifles and the same with much lighter kicking rifles. I wonder if sometimes I blink when i shoot. I also have to say I see exactly where the bullet hits better with the heavier bullets, say comparing 22 caliber to 7mm or 30 mostly because the dust or hair being kicked off the animal is more obvious. I also think there are times when the hit just can't be seen because nothing obvious happens.

Recoil probably.

Lower recoil the higher mag you can see hits. Beauty of a break or suppressor

Reminds me Bobo, you still haven't found me an AB Raptor.

Pm

You simply can't go wrong with either of these if you choose good bullets.

The best thing that can happen to a piece of .308 Win brass is neck it down to 7mm.

The next best thing is for the manufacturer to give it a small primer pocket.

Speaking of: can .308 be necked down to 6.5 in one step? I have all the .260 brass I'll ever need, but I've never tried it and I am curious. If I had a .308 case I'd satisfy my curiosity right here right now, but I don't.

300 Blackout Win Mag (aka 308)

Perfect caliber for Texas hunting

I haven't tried it.

I get a donut at the neck shoulder junction, necking down to 7mm. It's enough you've got to fight to get the bolt handle to cam over, for some brands of brass.

You might run into a neck turning process, making .260 Rem out of .308 Win.

I'm sure you can get it done, I'd just expect some work.

I've been waiting for 24 hours for the two of you to start sparring over this topic. Lol.

I know a pretty good gunsmith in west Texas that would likely agree with that.

I'm about 20yrs late to the 260 party, but i was told that necking up a 243 to 260 is a better option. Never actually tried it but now out of curiosity.

I had much better luck necking 358 down to 338 than 308 up to 338. Your mileage may vary.

Yes Sir, recoil.

Shooting with a solid set-up I can see impact on my .308 and 7mm-08 no problem. I shoot both with an Omega suppressor which also helps.

My 8lb 7mm-08 has little to no recoil, feels like a .243. It's just a stock Tikka that I had threaded. I can shoot it in an awkward position with the but of the gun in my bicep if needed, no problem. My 14lb .308 for me has just a little bit more recoil to where shooting in awkward positions make it tough for me to control. That's just my experience. Lighter rig with less recoil, I can shoot it better and see my impact. It's a no brainer, great hunting rig for me.

That's a good point, but I can't shoot accurately with both eyes open. Especially at distance.

I'm sure it varies for people. But for me, closing one eye with a low recoil, low mag scope with a MIL/MIL set-up makes hunting from 30 yards to 300 doable. I don't take hunting shots past 300 as my longest practice range goes to 300.

"Can" it be done in one step, yes. But... you are reducing the size of the neck .044" (from .308" to .264"), and that is one large step in one pass necking down/up. I generally won't go over .020" to .030" in one step. I would use a neck expander between the two.

Back in the day when the 260 Rem was the top competition cartridge, there were many shooters necking down 308. But most neck turned their brass. The necks become very thick and start to make contact with the side of the chamber neck walls. I burned up 2 barrels shooting 260 Rem using Remington brass. It is/was a bad [censored] round!

I only comment to people who are worth commenting to.

Did you get the weights backwards or are you really meaning your 8 pound 7mm08 Rem kicks less than a 14 pound 308 Winchester both using the same can?

Both are great cartridges.

As a deer/hog rifle, IME, a generic cup-and-core 140 grain bullet at 2700-2800 fps has always been very effective. 7mm08 Rem is my personal preference. But, I shoot hand loads exclusively.

If I were planning to use the same rifle for larger game, though, or planning to only shoot factory ammunition, the .308 Win would make more sense.

I see the factory ammo argument. However I can’t think of any game animal I would hunt with either of the two cartridges where I would consciously decide a 308 was adequate and a 7mm08 was not.

Because there isn’t, love to see the stop watch comparison

Adding 7-08 to the list...

Back im "salad" day's my ever day WW 27's in 230's were almost %100 of bullets were easy for a bang flop if I was On more often than Not out to bang flop if I was until I turned "80 plus,

There is a massive I0 Pointer on the wall over my head from far west texas . Been a very long time to smell burnt gun powder, again.

We moved from DFW area 40+ year's ago and used Archie & Janet's range for a time but have not pulled the trigger, but hope to used get the trigger back/ after moveing again from Palestine & Anderson County PDQ before I turn more than 89 before Gabrial blows his Horn /

Decided to get another action and use both barrels.

I had the donut issue and fixed it by grinding off the top of a shell holder around .03 so I could set my die lower and overcome the exterior donut issue. That said my 260 is set up with minimum headspace so I may have had to shorten the shellholder for that reason also. With Fedearal cases I did have the thick neck issue but all other brands worked fine.

^^^ Exactly this. ^^^

I've had both. There's nothing wrong with either if you choose good bullets, but I ultimately settled on the .308 Win. just based on a HUGE range of ammo availability. Pick the one you like best and roll with it!