.308 vs .300 Win Mag vs 6.5 grendel sniper?

The #1 community for Gun Owners of the Northeast

Member Benefits:

  • No ad networks!
  • Discuss all aspects of firearm ownership
  • Discuss anti-gun legislation
  • Buy, sell, and trade in the classified section
  • Chat with Local gun shops, ranges, trainers & other businesses
  • Discover free outdoor shooting areas
  • View up to date on firearm-related events
  • Share photos & video with other members
  • ...and so much more!
  • mranaya

    Task Force Sunny, 2009
    Jun 19, 2011
    996
    Hanover MD
    I have been looking around for a sniper rifle and have found a lot of contradicting information out there. As a passion sport, this is understandable. What have caught my eyes so fare are the following:

    - LWRC REPR 20"
    - SAVAGE 110BA BA RFL 300 Win Mag 26 DBM" fluted
    - Alexander Arms Custom 6.5 Grendel AR-15
    - Also toyed with .50 BMG, but at $6 per round...

    What I believe I know:
    - LWRC: Possibly best piston/bolt on the market--indestructible and stays clean
    - 300 Win Mag: Better effective range than the 308
    - 6.5 Grendel: About the same range as the 308? But it might eventually be a rare and hard-to-find round

    - I prefer a semi-auto, but there are some nice bolt-actions out there

    - Yes, I know there is nowhere to shoot a .50, but it sure would be nice to look at. I'm sure that makes sense to at least a couple of you out there.

    Any input is appreciated
     

    ridethemessiah

    Ultimate Member
    Aug 27, 2012
    1,161
    Cecil County
    E.Shell schooled me on this awhile back, hopefully he pops up here. .300 mag calibers are the best for recreational sniping. .300 win mag is great and you can buy ammo most places. The faster rounds, like my .300 wby or a .300 rum can be even more precise with a good boolit and a good gun.

    If you wanna get crazy, .338 lapua ia a hoot.
     

    mranaya

    Task Force Sunny, 2009
    Jun 19, 2011
    996
    Hanover MD
    E.Shell schooled me on this awhile back, hopefully he pops up here. .300 mag calibers are the best for recreational sniping. .300 win mag is great and you can buy ammo most places. The faster rounds, like my .300 wby or a .300 rum can be even more precise with a good boolit and a good gun.

    If you wanna get crazy, .338 lapua ia a hoot.

    I've heard only good things about the .338, except the price of the ammo. And I just did a quick search and found a nice looking .300 Weatherby with a tactical stock--also pricey ammo. Here's where the pay-to-play rule comes in. But the .300 rum you mentioned has decently priced (half that of .300 Weatherby) ammo. Thanks for the info.
     
    Last edited:

    mranaya

    Task Force Sunny, 2009
    Jun 19, 2011
    996
    Hanover MD
    you can shoot .50 at Delmarva all day.

    Mapquest tells me Delmarva is around 1.5 hours from me--not bad for a gun that won't be a daily shooter. Thanks. Had no idea.

    But I also just found this on their site: "No full-auto, actual or simulated, or 50 caliber BMG, (including Bumpfire, Gatling guns, burst fire, etc.) are allowed on Club property."

    The rules page leads in with "New rules effective immediately" Bummer.
     

    AliasNeo07

    Ultimate Member
    Feb 12, 2009
    6,548
    MD
    Mapquest tells me Delmarva is around 1.5 hours from me--not bad for a gun that won't be a daily shooter. Thanks. Had no idea.

    But I also just found this on their site: "No full-auto, actual or simulated, or 50 caliber BMG, (including Bumpfire, Gatling guns, burst fire, etc.) are allowed on Club property."

    The rules page leads in with "New rules effective immediately" Bummer.

    I think you are looking at somewhere else.

    http://www.dscfff.com/
     

    INMY01TA

    Ultimate Member
    Dec 29, 2008
    5,816
    But I also just found this on their site: "No full-auto, actual or simulated, or 50 caliber BMG, (including Bumpfire, Gatling guns, burst fire, etc.) are allowed on Club property."
    Not sure where you're seeing that, you can definaetely shoot full auto and 50 bmg there.
     

    smokey

    2A TEACHER
    Jan 31, 2008
    31,412
    Just checked out FNAR--surprisingly affordable! And they aren't too bad looking, with most including rails.

    Thanks

    http://gunblast.com/FN-AR.htm

    Yup, you get lots of gun for the money. The only real downside to it is that it's more complicated to break down to clean than some other rifles. If you have any mechanical skill whatsoever, it's still just fine...but will not be one of those guns you can strip in the field in 30 seconds. It's reliable enough that for the casual shooter, you should be able to wait until you have time at home to give it a good once over.

    FN essentially uses a match barrel for the thing and the whole gun is fit very well. There's been numerous people getting .5-.75 MOA out of their fnars with good ammo.

    For long range shooting, the .308 is a good round. You can easily reach out to 1000 yards with decent ammo...and should be able to get more practice since ammo is readily found and cheaper than other loadings.

    From what I've read about the .338, it's a wonderful round if your goal is to have something to punch through heavy material down range. It carries lots of momentum and puts a good smack on what you hit at good distance. However, it's only as accurate as the load you put through it. Lots of factory ammo isn't going to really outperform a lot of other cartridges as far as paper punching goes. It's really going to require hand loading and lots of attention to detail to wring accuracy out of it.

    The 300 win is a great cartridge, but the 260 rem and 6.5 loads(creedmore, lapua...) have lots of potential to be better long range cartridges for the casual paper puncher. They've got extremely high BC's in the heavier loads and fly pretty fast in rifles that don't beat your shoulder. If you're looking into long range precision, it'd be hard to beat a well built bolt action in .260 rem. If you're looking for incredible accuracy in something .308'ish, that fnar seems to be one of the better decisions for the money.
     

    sailskidrive

    Legalize the Constitution
    Oct 16, 2011
    5,547
    Route 27
    Don't forget about the 6.5 Creedmoor.

    The REPR is a "Rapid Engagement Precision Rifle", not a sniper rifle.

    A Remington 700 PSS in .308 with some reasonable quality glass, a trigger upgrade, and cheek rest is probably the least expensive way to enter the "sport".
     

    mranaya

    Task Force Sunny, 2009
    Jun 19, 2011
    996
    Hanover MD
    Don't forget about the 6.5 Creedmoor.

    The REPR is a "Rapid Engagement Precision Rifle", not a sniper rifle.

    A Remington 700 PSS in .308 with some reasonable quality glass, a trigger upgrade, and cheek rest is probably the least expensive way to enter the "sport".

    I have read so many assertions that the .308 is the more common "sniper" rifle used in combat today. However, your description sounds more plausible, given the often cited 800-meter effective limits of .308 rifles--especially those with less-than 24" barrels, such as the REPR.

    So now I have several longer range options to consider and enough information to go shopping. The best choice for me will likely be the most gun that I can find for the money, whether a high end .338 Lapua sharply discounted or a built-up Remington 700, also sharply discounted. I won't limit any options at this point--not even the REPR at the right price. At the same time, I will probably keep ammo prices in mind.

    Thanks for all of the great input. There is a lot of experience and knowledge on this website.
     

    Biggfoot44

    Ultimate Member
    Aug 2, 2009
    32,881
    The popularity of .308 is a cart/ horse situation . It has not only readily available match grade ammo available , but from multiple mfgs so they can bid against each other. Lets agencies avoid handloads and have ready supply of ammo. Everything else is single source or handload only. As a civialin , once you accept that you will be handloading , the only constraints are availability of parent brass and bullets.

    The various 6.5s will have similar trajectory to .300WM, both of which flatter than .308. The difference is then retained energy. What do you want your bullet to do at 1,000yd ? Paper? Small deer? Large Elk? Large Bison? Small armoured vehicles?
     

    Minuteman

    Member
    BANNED!!!
    The popularity of .308 is a cart/ horse situation . It has not only readily available match grade ammo available , but from multiple mfgs so they can bid against each other. Lets agencies avoid handloads and have ready supply of ammo. Everything else is single source or handload only. As a civialin , once you accept that you will be handloading , the only constraints are availability of parent brass and bullets.

    The various 6.5s will have similar trajectory to .300WM, both of which flatter than .308. The difference is then retained energy. What do you want your bullet to do at 1,000yd ? Paper? Small deer? Large Elk? Large Bison? Small armoured vehicles?

    Wow, very insightful advice, thanks! Few have little need for anything over the uber popular and available .308.

    I see guys using this in 3-gun matches (FNAR):

    fn.gif
     
    ok ,im new, so well take it easy on me. i personaly own and shoot a 6.5 grendel ,as far as that goes 600yrds is deadly accurate to a chipmunk, and steadily fades to 2feet at 1400 yards. yes they do go that far! my barrel and bolt are AA,18" with holland break, the rest is just a bastardized ar-15.sub moa 100yards. now my jd machine .308 chambered in 6.5creedmoor is stupid accurate, just cut everything mentioned before in half, and im not talking about distance!
    i know you want autoloader stuff, but the ar-30 in 300win mag is a beast, however its 22 pounds with all its goodies. 1000 yards 4" groups easy,if properly accurized.
    my.308 aac-sd 700 +900 yards max for any reasonable accuracy at all.
    ok, so you can tell im a 6.5 fan, but i chose the 300wm as my favorite long range(its not a sniper rifle unless your shooting people= bad term to use)rifle cuz its cheaper than 338 and shoots farther than my optics will go! but for ar style guns the grendel it a storm of awesomness!
     

    Biggfoot44

    Ultimate Member
    Aug 2, 2009
    32,881
    In regards *Sniper* , yes that is *right* . But in common usage even among gun people as quasi-generic for " long range, accurate , suitable for unknow/ field estimated distances , and light enough for one person to carry " .and to confuse things even more often LE and even Mil will call their actual Sniper rifles by some other euphanism.
     

    smokey

    2A TEACHER
    Jan 31, 2008
    31,412
    In regards *Sniper* , yes that is *right* . But in common usage even among gun people as quasi-generic for " long range, accurate , suitable for unknow/ field estimated distances , and light enough for one person to carry " .and to confuse things even more often LE and even Mil will call their actual Sniper rifles by some other euphanism.

    umm, so....I'm looking for a rifle to hunt these things...
    th.jpg
     

    Users who are viewing this thread

    Latest posts

    Forum statistics

    Threads
    274,928
    Messages
    7,259,410
    Members
    33,350
    Latest member
    Rotorboater

    Latest threads

    Top Bottom