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.