308 vs 7mm-08

I will be purchasing a short action rifle in either 308 or 7mm-08. It will have a 22' barrel (probably the Savage 11G).

My problem is making the caliber choice. I know that the 7mm-08 is simply a necked down 308.

I expect to do mostly target shooting and deer hunting; but I don't want to absolutely preclude larger game.

Some comments on this forum, seem to indicate that many hunters would be very reluctant to use the 7mm-08 on larger game (while presumably the 308 could more likely do the job). Another advantage of the 308 is that ammo is obviously more available.

On the other hand, I have seen comments which infer that the 7mm-08 is far superior to the 308 in target and even long range hunting.

My review of ballistics on the Winchester site seems to indicate that these two are almost identical ballistically (the 308 having slightly better energy at some distances).

I would appreciate any comments from users of either or both of these calibers.

Thanks,

gda

Actually, the best short-action cartridge is the 6mm Remington. It's a necked down version of the 257 Roberts with the 'long throat/short throat' problem solved. A 6mm cartridge won't fit in a 308 clip because the case shoulder is much farther forward. It has more case capacity than the 308, I get 3,300 fps with Reloader 22 and Nosler 100 grain partition bullets. It's amazingly accurate, and the ballistics are better than a 270 Winchester (100 gr bullets). Some reloading manuals load the 6mm down to 243 Winchester velocities, so look in the manual before you buy it. Finally, I harvested a huge trophy four point mule deer with a 6mm, so I'm confident it will work on big hulking specimens. If you have to choose between the 308 and the 7mm-08, well, I'd recommend the 308 because big slow bullets make bigger holes than small slow bullets.

6mm Rem. for larger-than-deer animals? It might work, but best? No way - the .308/7mm-08 would be a much mo' better choice for big critters.