Which Rifle makes a better Sniper Rifle?

The choices are the 308, the 300 mag, or the 306

Which manufacturer do you recommend for the best accuracy for a bolt rifle, and what do you recommend for a scope?

What type of distance are you shooting?
The 30-06 is probably the most popular deer hunting cartridge, very good for medium to short range take downs, but I doubt it would be as effective at sniper ranges of 500 plus yards.
The 300 Win Mag is the more powerful of the choices you offered, but that doesn't mean that it is the most accurate round at long distance, but of the 3 calibers you mentioned I would guess it would be the most effective.
For a scope, get one with lots of eye relief if you are shooting 300 Win Mag. I've still got the scar over my right eye from learning that lesson about 10 years ago.

I usually don't have to shoot at things over 200 yards away, so I'm not going to be your best answer in this thread.

eb

i want something that shoots pretty flat from 250 to six hundred yards

reply to post by backyard guru


They will all three shoot comparatively flat out to 800 meters +

The USMC has used the 308 effectively for years and there are documented kills at over 1500 meters.. One is required to shoot effectively at 1000 meters to pass Scout Sniper School.

The 06 will shoot a little flatter and have a slightly longer effective range over the 308.

There are two very popular "300 mag" rounds...

300 Win Mag
300 Weatherby Mag

Both being magnum rounds will shoot effectively past 1K meters, have excellent transfer of energy even at that distance, but being "Mag" rounds will have severe recoil and a follow-up shot will be slower.

I like the 308 having used it for years, but my personal choice is the 06..

Semper

It depends on what you are shooting at, but for anything smaller than an Elk, I would choose a bolt action 25.06. The slightly smaller slug shoots much flatter than a 30.06.

Of the three you listed, I'm going with the .308.
30.06 comes in 2nd, but is far from an inferior sniper round.
30.06 tends to have more drop after 200 yds than the .308.

Also, there is a growing group of shooters who are smarter than I swearing the .300 is the cats meow.

I remember years back speaking with people who said the .308 was garbage. These were old timers who had gone through wars with there M1's, so they were a bit biased.

I believe that the case re: 30.06 vs. .308 is all but won, however there is more to come re: the .300

Currently, all ammo is stupidly expensive, but the .308 remains the cheapest of the three. It is also the current nato round, as well as the round of choice for military and LE snipers, ensuring it to be available for quite some time.

the dealer here in town is trying to get me to buy a sako tikie or tee kie, i know that is the wrong spelling, but its pronounced that way, hes pushin the 06 on me, and my friends on the other hand recommend like you do to use the 308.

I simply want something that could become a rifle that i would love, never want to give up, and always make that kill.

Is that too much to ask for , I had that once when i was a kid, my dad bought me a marlin 22 mag bolt, a 883 and it never missed, I always got my bunnies and tree rats every shot, now its time to move up , and I wanted something for long range.

I guess it will never really be a sniper rifle as Im not a sniper, but I want the fricken best there is, so I can take my buddies on the range, not once , but all the time.

Thanks for your advice

As with your other gun post you will find that much of it is personal preference. The gun doesn't make the man the man makes the gun. Sure a better gun helps but better just means your comfortable shooting it and it feels good in your hands.

Now I'm not expert but he best advice I would give is to go to a place you can rent the guns and try them out. Just because you spend 5k on a gun doesn't mean you will like it. Also don't worry about your friends or what others think. Worry about what the purpose of the gun is to you. If its self defense of your home then think of what works best for you.

I'm not trying to flame you but it just seems your more worried about what people will think of the gun you get then why you should have that gun in the first place. Its late though so I'm possibly being over critical and I wish you the best on your gun choice .

I myself will be buying a new handgun this weekend. Something else to think about it the ammo you will need to buy.

30.06 tends to have more drop after 200 yds than the .308.

Actually no..

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/2bf65aced261.jpg[/atsimg]

Look closely and you will see the 06 shoots flatter, especially at longer ranges.. Makes sense as they have the same size bullet, just the 06 has a larger shell casing and more powder..

However for all practical purposes, the Ballistic Coefficient is identical..

Semper

right now i am just wanting other peoples ideas on the subject, my friends are pretty much set in there opinions and I can ask them all day and it will always remain the same, there is no where around here to rent, so its ok if your being over critical, just point me to that bad boy rifle. I only want to buy one , I know one thing , iM not trading in my 22mag, I love it way to much and out to about two hundred and fifty yards I can shoot a pop can right in the heart every shot. I of course have also shot about four thousand rounds through it in years past.

I guess i should of phrased my question better , has anyone known a rifle in any of those calibers that has stood out, been better than it had to, that is what i want.

I personally like the 30.06....it just FEELS right for me, i've hit many a target from ridiculous range.
I'm talking my grandpas 30.06 though, bolt-action and has got a bit of kick but man it shoots great!

Out of the three. I prefer the 308 ball. But I am biased, M1. M14 lover. 600 to 1000 yards For those kind of distances I will use a spotting scope but I still prefer aperture sights. But I am silly like that.

reply to post by Plasma applicator


Lol, sly for sure!
Granted I never shot the 306 at anything over 1000 yards....just targets across the pond in up north Michigan anywhere from 300 to 850 yards apprx.

As for Rifle Preference...

That is harder as it is subjective..

I own a 308 Remington that I love and a 30.06 Winchester that I also love..

My Styer is a 308, but I have more fun shooting the Rem..

I even owned a Savage once that was cheap, but a great shooter..

Weatherby makes a fine weapon as does Ruger...

Just personal choice

Semper

All of the cartriges that you named will belt you a lot harder than your .22, all of them will make a lot more noise than your .22, and all of them will cost a lot more to shoot than your .22. Think about what else the rifle will be used for. Shooting a deer sized animal with a .300 Mag is overkill.

A good quality scoped rifle with quality ammunition will probably suffice for your purposes. The military snipers think Remington's have the best actions and are using .308's for what they call "close range." You probably don't need and can't afford military optics. Buy a moderately priced scope and that will work. Sometimes, the Remington's are marketed with a factory scope. That combination works well and you may be able to buy military 7.62 in bulk for practice and reloadable brass. After you have the rifle, scope, and ammunition solved, you will discover that the key to accuracy is the shooter. For the longer distances, you have to be aware of how your bullets behave in the wind and how hot surfaces with rising air affect what your sights tell you. Shooting across valleys is tougher because of different wind directions and speeds that you can't read between you and the target. Dumb luck will help on those shots.
I recommend that you give the 30's a try before you buy. Ask someone you know that owns one if you can shoot it. If you want to fire 10-20 rounds, buy the ammunition.

i have a 7mm mag and it does fine for about 1,000yrds then it starts to drop off but a very good gun for dear,elk, and caribu.
30-30 or 30 06 are good to for same purpose just don't have the reach out power.

[edit on 18-3-2009 by crawgator406]

I have both a 308 and a 300 win mag. I think there is quite a few posters on this thread that are not very informed. I have hunted white tail with both. Granted it does not take the energy that the 300 has to kill a deer at most common yardages BUT, it will out shoot the 308 in energy and maintains a flatter trajectory at any given distance. Think of it this way, the bullet for the 308 and the 300 is the EXACT same size. The only difference is the amount of powder charge and corresponding chamber pressure. My 300 shooting a 150 grn load will vary in trajectory 20 inches out to 400 yards, the 308 wil vary in more than 28 inches. Keep in mind that the slower the round moves the shorter the distance it goes as it drops. To make it real clear a 150 grn bullet out of both rifles drops at the same rate. The bullet travels farther in ratio with the drop with the 300 because it is faster than the 308. I hate to pop the 7 mag guy but that is a very overrated cartidge. Its long range accuracy is poor. The ballistic coeficiant is bad in comparison to a 30 caliber round. If you are looking for long range accuracy then you need to compare the BC of each load and corresponding velocities in order to determine what cartidge is best.

Even if you get the longes flattest fastest round out there it won't make you able to use it. Long range shooting takes hundreds of rounds to even get an idea of what you are doing. Not trying to dog anyone just trying to keep it real.

PS.. the only reason I left the 06 out was because it is almost perfectly in the middle of the other two cartridges. All three cartridges ROCK. I love 30 caliber cartridges.

im 15 almost 16 and own a browning a bolt in the 300 win mag caliber
when i first shot it it was able to hit a plate 12 inches round from 4 yards with a crapy scope.
15 rounds later hit a plate at 650 yards that was 24x24
it was easy.
if your a woman you wont be able to handle the recoil
p.s it didn't take me 15 shots to hit the 650 plate.
only 1.
i recommend the 300 mag because its superior range and accuracy and stopping power

The .308 and .30.06 are almost identical because the .308 was developed when the weapons researchers at the old government Springfield Armory noticed that the M1 Garand 30.06 cartridge only was filled 2/3 with powder.

They developed a shorter cartridge that was lighter The smaller case requires less brass and yields a shorter cartridge. This shorter cartridge allows a reduction in the size of the firearms that chamber it. but held the same powder load and used the same weight bullet as the 30.06.
That cartridge was the 7.62x 51 (.308) NATO round.

so for all intent the 30.06 and .308 are identical i ballistics.
en.wikipedia.org...

If you plan to reload.
If you are going to shoot a lighter bullet the 30.06 is a little better because you can load it with more of a slower burning powder.

If you plan to use surplus military ammo a .308 is better because they is little 30.06 military surplus ammo left.

Originally posted by Oaktree

30.06 tends to have more drop after 200 yds than the .308.

Uh, both the 308 and .06 are 30 caliber. The .06 is a larger round but I think they have the same performace.

[edit on 21-3-2009 by Donkey_Dean]