Both are short action, which makes them great for hauling around in thick wooded areas. The first is obvious that both of these cartridges feature near equivalent sectional densities. In this section, we will take a look at several ballistic categories for cartridge comparison. Finally, if both are zeroed for 125 yards, the 270 WSM will hit 2.5 inches low at 300 yards while the 308 will hit 4 inches low. Up to 150-200 yards, both of these rounds perform nearly identically. Higher sectional densities let us know that the bullet will be able to penetrate deeper. While that can certainly make a difference, factory loads of these two cartridges are not often used for such extreme ranges, though there are factory loads developed specifically for that application. As a general rule, you want at a minimum of 1,000 ft.lb force when trying to take down larger game such as deer, and probably more than that when talking about bear, elk, and moose which these cartridges are often used for. Deep penetration is not always wanted for every situation, but for larger game with thick tissue and bones, you need deep penetration to reach and damage vital organs. Not only does it give us some insights into how these two cartridges might behave, but we also have a sense of why they are similar or different when we look at the various ballistic and other performance characteristics. Let’s look at the pros and cons of both cartridges, to see what they do and don’t have to offer. One method used to compare a cartridges penetration is to use the sectional density of the bullets. Larger retail stores that carry ammunition will most often have it in stock, but there are fewer options for bullet styles and weights available when compared to the .308. Gonna shoot 143smk and up in your 6.5-284 you gotta go long action. Even out at 700 yards, there is only 12 inches of difference. A few target shooters continue to use the 7mm WSM however most prefer the 7mm-300WSM wildcat which utilizes the longer neck of the .300 WSM case design. Re: 7mm short mag recoil vs. 30-06 I have extensive experience with the 30-06, 7mm mag, and 7mm WSM/SAUM. Having drastic differences in cartridge performance is not always the case as we have shown here. So, given all this, we don’t think that anyone can come out and say with certainty which of these are more accurate. For the .308 Win, we like the Nosler Ballistic Tip 165gr. When you get out past 300 yards, the stopping power is still there, but the changes in trajectory make putting a shot on target more difficult but is still manageable depending on the user. If we take it out to the 300-yard mark, there are more distinct differences in bullet drop, and we do see more of the .308 rounds showing slightly more bullet drop than the 7mm-08 rounds. It was devised by necking down the .308 Winchester caliber’s neck, in order for the overall bullet to have a smaller diameter. I’ve also acquired a sweet Tikka T3 Lite in 7mm-08 Remington, and have spent a considerable amount of time with that rifle, with both factory loads and handloads. The data was collected from the manufacturer, when available, and generated with a ballistics calculator using the bullets weight, the muzzle velocity, and the ballistic coefficient (Graph 5). Again, a lot depends on the round you are using rather than the cartridge. The .308 Win rounds do tend to generate a decent amount more momentum at the muzzle than the 7mm-08 rounds and this continues through the 500 yard mark, but at that distance, the difference between the two cartridges has closed by several lbs/ft.s. Neither of these cartridges, at least the rounds we have selected, have ballistic coefficients that are similar to cartridges used for long range shooting competitions where there are shots coming at 500+ yards, but they are both high enough for normal shooting applications. In this section, we will take a look at the actual force that is produced when firing these two cartridges in ft.lb. With that being said, there are .308 rounds that outperform some 7mm-08 rounds in flat trajectory. We will take a look at how both of these cartridges perform at short and long range with the rifle sighted in at a specific yardage. Receive our newsletter with the best articles covering guides, guns & gear. With modern bullet construction, the premium 160-grain 7mm bullets and 180-grain .30-caliber bullets are no joke at all, and will probably handle any game animal you’d hunt using either bore diameter. I’ll be primarily writing this article in mind of new hunters looking at rifles chambered in each of these cartridges, […] Do you feel there would be any difference between the 160 grain partition in the 7 vs. the 180 grain in the 06? Unlike my 308 vs 30-06 article, this one is NOT splitting hairs. .308 Federal Vital-Shok Ballistic Tip 150gr, .308 Federal Gold Medal Sierra Matchking 175gr, 7mm-08 Nosler Trophy Grade AccuBond 140gr, 7mm-08 Federal Vital Shok Nosler Partition 140gr, 7mm-08 Winchester Ballistic Silvertip 140gr, Federal Gold Medal Sierra MatchKing 175gr, Federal Gold Medal Sierra MatchKing 168gr, Hornady American Whitetail SP InterLock 150gr, Federal Vital Shok Nosler Partition 140gr, Barnes VOR-TX TTSX Polymer Spitzer Boattail 120gr, Hornady American Whitetail InterLock SP 139gr, Winchester Deer Season XP Extreme Point Polymer Tip 140gr, Winchester Power Max Bonded Protected Hollow Point 140gr. If we compare these rounds from the two cartridges in the short range, zeroed in at 100 yards. The overall length of the cartridges are the same though the base diameter is slightly, and we mean slightly, wider for the .308 Win. This is important for both hunters and tactical shooters. As far as the BC comparison goes, there were some better options with the .308, but you have to weight it with trajectory. The velocity of a bullet is an important factor when deciding on which cartridge you want to take out into the field. Hi all - I know I'll get several opinions here, but I'm just researching ballistics and calibers for my next rifle purchase. While handloading and the max specs of these cartridges is important and warrants discussion, it is beyond the scope of this article. The 140-grain loads—the most popular among the factory loads for the 7mm-08—leave the muzzle at right around 2800 fps, and with a 200-yard zero, will drop 8 inches at 300 yards, and 24 inches at 400 yards. One was bred for war, and the other was a target cartridge, but both serve the hunter well, especially as an all-around rifle. I dont know if the WSM offers that much more ballistic performance over the standard 270 to justify the extra recoil the magnum puts out. 7mm Bullets . In this case, we still see the two cartridges have pretty similar averages, which tells us that we will see a lot of overlap between the two with rounds for both cartridges having options with higher sectional densities. There is not a very noticeable difference in velocity between these two cartridges. All of these categories including the categories outside of ballistics all go hand in hand and influence each other. We’re not too sure. It has well over 1,000ft.lb of energy at 500 yards, so you don’t have to worry about having the energy to drop game at any reasonable distance. We also saw that both of these cartridges have pretty similar momentum numbers though the .308 Win, on average, carries several more lbs/ft.s of momentum than the 7mm-08 Remington rounds. There was a slight advantage for the 7mm-08 rounds which might bring them up in potential penetration and make up a little for the lack of momentum. The .308 is the more popular of the two cartridges, based on the availability of surplus ammunition, and its military background. We do see the average KE for the .308 Win rounds increase slightly compared to our smaller sample size. We always like to take a brief look at the case and bullet specs of the two cartridges that we are going to be comparing. And again, these are just averages, but if you are wanting a round with the more kinetic energy, there are going to be more options in the upper end of the energy range with the .308 Win. With 18ft.lb or recoil energy, you can shoot all day with some gun support at the range without getting fatigued. 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