There are many “great gun debates” but perhaps there isn’t one more controversial or pointless than the .308 vs .30-06 caliber debate. I’m telling you, people are passionate about many things but the gun nuts involved in the .308 vs .30-06 caliber are on a different level of passion that you’ve probably never seen in your life. Today we are going to cover the differences between the two rounds and finally settle, for once and for all, which one is better.
History
In order to really understand the differences between these two rounds we are going to first go over how they came to be. In 1906, the .30-06 Springfield was created by Springfield Armory for use by the United States Miliary. The “.30” refers to the caliber of the bullet in inches and the “06” refers to the year it was adopted, which was 1906. At the time, many European militaries were going towards lighter-weight rounds that had a higher velocity and were thus more effective. At the time, the US military was using the .03-03 rounds which were falling well behind their European counterparts. That is when Springfield Armory came up with the .30-06 which was designed to reach the higher muzzle velocity and range desired.
In the 1940s, Winchester was seeing success with experiments on the .300 Savage rounds which were being used as the development for the T65 series. This resulted in the creation of the .308 round which in turn was a shorter version of the .30-06. Essentially, Winchester wanted to use a more modern and effective powder to get as good or better of a result as the .30-06. Originally, the round did not see much military use past the initial experimentation however, in terms of civilians the round was quite popular for the hunting crowd.
Which is better?
This would have been an easier question to answer in the 60s or 70s but now, it really does come down to personal preferences and end use. Both the .308 and .30-06 are good as a multi-purpose round with both of them being good at long ranges and readily available.
That being said, there are some minor details that might impact your choice. One of those things is going to be recoil and how sensitive to recoil you are as a shooter. It should be noted that due to the different weights of these rounds, and of course the different powders, the .308 has less recoil. It is hard to put an exact number on it, but it is believed to be about 10-15% less recoil.
The other thing to consider would be the weight of the projectile. For some, the lighter weight might be more effective if you are looking to do competitive shooting while those looking to hunt or defend themselves are going to want a heavier projectile. In this case, the ,308 is lighter than the 30.06 so let that effect you as it may.
Which brings me down to my final point, the bullet’s velocity. This might not be important to you if you aren’t hunting or looking for long-range shooting. However, if you are than you should know that the .30-06 generally has a higher velocity than the 3.308. It is not by much, but it definitely does exceed it.
Hopefully that helps you in settling this debate!
Ben