by I admit to being divided on the topic. Looking at my gun collection I have equal numbers of rifles in both calibers. Those in .30-06 are all US military rifles (1903, 1917, and M1 Garand) while the rifles in .308 are a couple of hunting rifles as well as a FAL assembled from a parts kit. I did have a couple of .30-06 hunting rifles but they have been converted into other calibers (9.3×62 and .338-06).
Vortex Optics through their Vortex Nation Podcast did a video comparing the two rounds including testing them on blocks of ballistic gel.
I do have some criticisms of the comparisons. For example, when comparing rounds for penetration they should have used the same grain weight bullets. In their first penetration tests they compared a 180 grain .30-06 to a 150 grain .308. To me, this is an invalid comparison given the 30 grain weight difference.
With regard to accessibility, 96 factory loadings in .308 versus 94 factory loadings in .30-06 is a statistical tie in my book. One loading not mentioned was the Remington Accelerator round in .30-06 which used a plastic sabot to hold a 55 grain bullet. Turns out Remington made these in .30-06, .308, and .30-30. While not currently being manufactured in factory ammo, hand reloaders can still make these cartridges. E. Arthur Brown Company offers the plastic sabots along with a seater die to allow you to load your own. While still kind of a gimmick given their accuracy, there was a thought they could penetrate Level IV body armor. According to this test, it didn’t despite speeds of 3800+ ft/sec.
In the end, there really is so little real difference between the two that you can’t go wrong with either cartridge. I would feel comfortable using them on anything from deer to moose to most African plains game.
I’ve had hunting rifles in both. I found I preferred the recoil impulse of the 308 over 30-06. IMO, for most North American game animals, both are valid choices.
I think that Timothy is pretty much right on the money. Of course, the fact that Timothy is my given name could have something to do with it.
I suspect that using the exact same bullet, the difference is so slight as to be a mute point, unless fired at extreme range, in a very narrow circumstance, such as possibly goat hunting in the mountains or possibly a long shot at a western antelope? Not being a very good rifle shot myself, I cannot give the best information, other than what I know from friends and family and watching them. And living in Michigan my entire life, the only big game animal that I myself have hunted is white tail deer. 90% of the time I used a 12 ga. shotgun, loaded with 00 buckshot or the old Forstner slugs, or the last time hunting, the 1 oz. sabot rifled slugs.
I mention the lighter sabot rifled slugs only because fired from my 18″ straight choke, home defense pump shotgun, a Remington 870 clone that I paid $118 for, hunting from a tree stand, I killed a spike horn buck from about 60 yards or so with one shot, knocking it down where it was slowly walking. The slugs are right on out to 100 yards from my gun.
I do have a centerfire rifle, a 1916 Spanish Mauser converted to .308 Winchester. To be honest, in all of my years of hunting, from age 14 to about 33, then a few years in my 50’s and 60’s, I carried a rifle maybe a dozen times. The only deer that I killed with a rifle was again a spike horn, with my dad’s .30/.40 Krag sporterized carbine. It had been cut down and had a set of Marbel cloverleaf sights installed. If I was carrying a rifle, that one was the one that I usually carried, unless my dad was not going out and then I used his Remington 721 in .30-06, with a straight 2.5 Weaver scope with unusual scope mounts, that were tip over, hinged that allowed you to fold the scope over on the side, to use the iron sights. The gun was nothing to look at, but the trigger was special. The Krag was old, it had model 1898 on it, and the trigger was nothing to writer home about, but the bolt was what everyone talks about when they say buttery smooth. Whether loading a cartridge or just cycling with nothing at all, the bolt felt the same, as long as you kept it relatively clean and a bit of oil on things.
One of my brothers has the 721, but one of my sons has the Krag. The son with the Krag is into guns, so that is a good thing.
I have always favored the 30-06, but for the history. Sadly, all my rifles (M1 Garand, 03A3, and 03) were destroyed in a house fire. No seriously, not talking about a boating accident.
The most significant difference to me is cartridge length, giving a shorter action length for the .308.
With only around 100 feet per second difference in muzzle velocity there will not be much difference at the other end in bullet drop with a 150gr round. The .30-06 in a hunting situation may shoot a little flatter than a .308 if the range is not perfectly known and this might help. Probably the biggest advantage a .30-06 has is with bullets over 200gr. when trying to get a flatter long range shot.
If you know the general G1 B.C. rating you can use the Hornady ballistic calculator to see a pattern of any particular bullets at different ranges. Naturally, actual shooting is needed to back this up.
The .308 family 260 Remington and 7-08 Winchester are better long range calibers than a .308.
The .30-06 family 6.5-06 and 280 Remington are better than the .30-06. The .270 Winchester has always been a great long range gun and companies are finally developing higher B.C. bullets for it.
I like the .30-06 because that is the caliber rifle I first owned.