I'm just getting back into a 308 after years of shooting anything else. For years I shot 308 sniper rifles and developed a really poor opinion about the round. When I came back to the states in 2006 after a 5yr overseas tour to be a sniper instructor I immediately went out and bought a 300WM. We had a few in my previous unit and I thought it's what we should have mainstream. I shot that barrel out pretty quickly, sold it, and bought my first custom. It was a trued R700 6.5x47 by RW Snyder and it was amazing compared to what I was used to shooting. Light recoil, laser beam ballistics, and I was loading and shooting groups in the .1's. I went back overseas for another 6 years and after returning went full bore into 6mms. I tried the tricked out R700/ 6.5x47 thing once more but very quickly switched to custom actions and 6mm's. I now have a dozen barrels in 6BR, Dasher, 6SLR, 6Creed, etc. I did have one 29", 1:13", zero freebore, 308Palma barrel done for my TL3 for one particular competition but I almost don't consider that a 308W. More like a 308WM. For the last 12 years I couldn't be bothered with a 308. Shake my head at people who want to get into long range with a 308. Now when I look at a 308 case it looks bloated and misshapen compared to a 243 or 6 Creed case; like the neck is oversized and wrung out like a worn tube sock. In the last 5 years of being back in America I've also gotten my kicks from large batch reloading. I've invested a lot of money in bullet feeders, AmpMates, and developing loads on a 650 that have wide nodes I can drop powder for. I get a kick out of being able to load 500rds of 6BR for $40 a hundred and have bulk, but high quality ammo on the shelf.
For some unknown reason I bought a Proof CF prefit in 308W for my AI. It walked when it got hot. It took me a couple of months to confirm it bc I wanted to be sure and I sent it back to Proof. It took them 4 mo but they replaced it and I have taken it out shooting this last week. It hammers. Shooting this 308 Proof barrel on my AI has gotten me unexpectedly enthused with both the AI and 308. It shoots very well with production ammo. The heavy recoil, spongy, two stage trigger and heavy bolt lift give the rifle a definitively different feel. I'm not reloading boutique, high BC, small batch, organic, grain-fed, competition ammo for it. Just load a mag of production ammo and shoot. It's kind of enjoyable just shooting nothing- special industrial grade ammo and it's surprising how well it can do. The last couple of nights I got a hair up my ass and washed, annealed, resized about 600pcs of once fired brass on the 650. I ordered 1K 178 BTHPs and plan on loading a bulk stash of production-like ammo. 178's at 2700 is my goal. Production 175's are doing 2730 in my 24" barrel now. I have tons of RL17 I no longer shoot, an 8lb'r of H4895, 16lbs of RamShot TAC, a jug of BLC2.. I'll find something. Preferably something I can mass reload in the 650 that I don't have to use the Auto Trickler and funnel for. I don't care if it's a little temp sensitive, I don't care if it's not the fastest or highest BC, just that it shoots an industrial half-moa.
So here's the 308W I'm keeping around for general purposes. No idea what I am going use it for. I have better hunting and competition rifles. As fun as the movie Red Dawn was, I have no dissolutions of shooting a rifle for any reason other than those two when I retire. Maybe I'll take it antelope hunting this year. We don't walk that much hunting them.
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And FWIW, despite CrabsandFootballs tact, I do agree the US has needed to up-gun for many years. Besides the obvious in payload and ballistics, it's embarrassing to work with the 5 Eyes and European SOF and they all have more competent rifles and ammo. We're just so big and slow we can't get it together. Technology moves faster than our procurement system and we're fractured in the DOD between branches of service and SOCOM vs the Maneuver Warefare Center.