.30-06 vs. .308 Win.: Cartridge Clash

.30-06 Origins

In 1906 the military officially adopted the Ball Cartridge, Caliber .30, Model of 1906, the cartridge that would later become known as the .30-06 Springfield or, more simply, the .30-06. The ’06 saw use in both world wars and Korea, and aside from its long, distinguished military service career, the ’06 also became the darling of sportsmen.

The cartridge arrived at precisely the right time. Bolt-action rifles with telescopic sights were coming into vogue, and bottleneck cartridges using smokeless powder provided hunters and target shooters with weapons far more capable than the guns their fathers carried. The .30-06 was well-positioned to become the universal standard for big game hunting, and that’s precisely what happened.

.308 Win. Beginnings

After World War II, the U.S. military was again in search of a cartridge for use in machine guns and automatic firearms, and it settled on the 7.62x51 NATO. Winchester recognized the benefits of offering a commercial version of the round and launched the .308 Win. in 1952.

For more than seven decades, hunters and shooters have been arguing about which of these cartridges is better for big game hunting. The .30-06 case has a max case length of 2.494 inches while the .308 boasts a max case length of 2.015 inches. Not surprisingly, you can stuff more powder in a .30-06 case and can subsequently push a bullet at a faster velocity.

The .308 nips closely on the ‘06’s heels, however. The standard for .30-06 loads has been roughly 2,900 fps for 150-grain bullets, 2,800 fps for 165-grainers and 2,700 fps for 180s. Traditional .308 Win. factory loads have run about 100 fps slower than the ’06 with similar bullet weights.

Fans of the .30-06 are quick to point out that anything the .308 can do the .30-06 can do better. The ’06 shoots flatter. It drops about three inches less at 400 yards than the .308 when zeroed at 200 yards using standard hunting bullets at factory velocities. Further, the .30-06 carries about 250 additional foot-pounds of energy at 400 yards—without a substantial increase in recoil.

Popularity

Both rounds are easy to reload and offer volumes of load data, and both use widely available bullets. The .30-06 requires a standard length action while the .308 fits in a short action so .308 guns can be built a bit lighter for mountain hunting.

The fortunes of these two cartridges have changed dramatically in recent years. The .308—always seen as the ’06’s less popular little brother—has grown in popularity in recent years. In our 2024 big game rifle roundup in this issue, there are more than 40 new rifles chambered in .308, more than twice as many as in .30-06.

When I began my career as a gun writer, badmouthing the .30-06 was tantamount to career suicide, but it has become popular today to bash the ’06. What on earth happened? For starters, hunters and shooters have changed, and more people are interested in shooting farther. Because the M40 family of bolt-action sniper rifles were in use by the military, the .308 became the popular choice for target guns on the civilian side. Simultaneously, ultra-light mountain rifles came into vogue, and the short-action .308 was a better choice when building a barely-there mountain gun than the .30-06.

Let’s not write an obituary for the .30-06 quite yet, though. There are still lots of rifles out there, lots of load data, and many factory cartridge offerings. Animals are no tougher than they were a century ago, and a .30-06 is still a viable round for darn near anything you want to hunt on the planet.

The future favors the .308, but the ’06 won’t disappear. Both cartridges will work for just about any big game animal in the world. There’s no wrong option between these two rounds.

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