Any practical reason to have a .308/7.62 X 51?

[Dr.Dre]

Dude, don't listen to any of this BS. Buy what you want and have fun with it. Look at all these folks buying $6000-$8000, 2011's. At the end of the day it still only shots a 9mm projectile. Buying an Atlas is just a flex, however if you can afford it, why not.

 

[gunsgunsguns]

Dude, don't listen to any of this BS. Buy what you want and have fun with it. Look at all these folks buying $6000-$8000, 2011's. At the end of the day it still only shots a 9mm projectile. Buying an Atlas is just a flex, however if you can afford it, why not.

Straw man.

 

[5.56Geo]

A couple thing to consider...

1. The cost of buying a .308 AR or bolt action rifle will only go up as time passes.
2. Life has a way of taking hard right and left hand turns, for the good and for the bad.
3. Laws change, what is available now my not be available tomorrow or in a year.

If you have the money now I'd buy a .308 rifle now. you can sell/trade it later if you find you don't use it or loose interest. Your current life situation can change, where all of a sudden you have more time, live closer to an outdoor range, etc. Laws can change where you find it becomes very hard to buy a larger caliber rifle.

My thoughts...

 

[Dr.Dre]

St

Straw man.

That's the best you can do??

 

[lilkidx]

Sounds like you want to buy it, then buy it.

308 is a great caliber regardless of California or not. If you're waiting for SHTF, 556 is sufficient in probably 99% of practical cases.

Based on what you said, I would not get it, since you already have all the stuff for 556 and you don't want a safe queen or collectors purposes.

But I feel like you want it, and since you stated you're already stocking on 308 ammo, just pull the trigger and buy the gun. Sell it later if you change your mind or get the SCAR you wanted.

Personally, I recently got into 308 and it's much more costly than 556 and another platform/mags, etc. But I like what I got, so I'm happy. At the end of the day, if you're happy with what you got and can afford it, who cares.

 

[RustVendor]

A couple thing to consider...

1. The cost of buying a .308 AR or bolt action rifle will only go up as time passes.
2. Life has a way of taking hard right and left hand turns, for the good and for the bad.
3. Laws change, what is available now my not be available tomorrow or in a year.

If you have the money now I'd buy a .308 rifle now. you can sell/trade it later if you find you don't use it or loose interest. Your current life situation can change, where all of a sudden you have more time, live closer to an outdoor range, etc. Laws can change where you find it becomes very hard to buy a larger caliber rifle.

My thoughts...

considering even SOCOM considers 7.62 obsolete it seems 308 rifles will only decrease in price due to unpopularity. It will be a lot easier to pick up a used large frame 308 in 5 years when everyone has moved on

 

[Brandon Breeze]

Fortunately, you don't need reasons for why you will own one platform or another. If you like it, buy it. No need to justify it . You'll likely never need something like this or an AR for any reason through your entire life, but the chances are never zero.

 

[john_marsten_1873]

So what do you mean by “practical”? What scenarios are you considering?

 

[joefrank64k]

A couple thing to consider...

1. The cost of buying a .308 AR or bolt action rifle will only go up as time passes.
2. Life has a way of taking hard right and left hand turns, for the good and for the bad.
3. Laws change, what is available now my not be available tomorrow or in a year.

If you have the money now I'd buy a .308 rifle now. you can sell/trade it later if you find you don't use it or loose interest. Your current life situation can change, where all of a sudden you have more time, live closer to an outdoor range, etc. Laws can change where you find it becomes very hard to buy a larger caliber rifle.

My thoughts...

Great advice here ^ OP

The old saying ‘you can’t see what’s coming’ is never far from my mind.

When I see something I want (especially if it’s a good deal, haha!!) I get it. If it turns out it wasn’t for me, I sell it. I have many guns in my collection now that would currently be very hard (and/or expensive) to source in CA.

Also, I now have my own range on my property. That wasn’t something that I thought was a possibility, but it was a welcome bonus when my wife and I bought our retirement house/property. I’m breaking out guns I haven’t shot in years, and finally working through the pile of unfired acquisitions as time allows.

Tl;dr: If you want a 308 AR, get one. Get one that uses SR-25 pattern mags if you’re worried about mags, or get your SCAR and be happy with that.

 

[john_marsten_1873]

Most of what I own has or had purpose. When it no longer serves that I try to get rid of it. But I do have a few pieces that are collection/hobby.

SCAR platform doesn’t fit into my practical use cases. It’s a full-powered battle rifle; more difficult to manage recoil, ammo is heavier, proprietary parts ecosystem.

I have an AR-10 that’s setup as a PRS with a .308 upper and a 6.5cr upper.

Use cases:
- long distance training
- big game hunting (eventually)
- heavy metal competition
- perimeter defense (in SHTF) scenarios

Anything chambered in those cartridges would be stationary for me and I wouldn’t bug out with it.

AR-15 is my battle rifle and even then, I keep most parts mil spec for my defense rifles; CQB out to mid-range engagements, most readily available ammo and parts.

 

[AR15barrels]

That brings me to the .308/7.62 platform. I do not have a rifle chambered in this or anything besides my 223/556.

I would like to hear your thoughts.... Do you feel like a rifle chambered in .308/7.62 would be a practical purchase living in the city in good 'ol California with my concerns above? Should I just focus on the 223/556 platform?

7.62x51 redefines some things that are cover for a 5.56 into only being concealment from a 7.62x51.

The Difference Between Cover and Concealment

Cover & concealment are two different things that are always being used interchangeably. Learn more about the differences in our blog post!

relentless-tactical.com

 

[jayson_b24]

interestingly 6.5 creedmoor ammo sells more now and you can get S&B ammo for about the same price as mil surp 7.62 nato and it's a lot better ammo. 762 is pretty obsolete now, would much rather run one of the ARCs in a small frame AR or 6.5 cm in a large frame. None of that is practical if you aren't shooting over 500 yards though, I'm fairly certain OP is simply trying to justify a rifle that he thinks is cool. But it's definitely not practical to get a 5k rifle that you won't ever shoot past 25 yards indoors and honestly 556 is bad enough indoors, 308 will absolutely rock you from concussion and piss off everyone next to you. There is zero practical reason to get this rifle or anything besides 556 if you aren't shooting outdoors long range.

NGL: I went with 6.5 Creedmor myself.

 

[RustVendor]

NGL: I went with 6.5 Creedmor myself.

It's just better in every way, SOCOM dropped the SCAR and is rolling out the MRGGs this year.

 

[jayson_b24]

It's just better in every way, SOCOM dropped the SCAR and is rolling out the MRGGs this year.

Yeah, when I decided I wanted a longer-distance option, it was right around the time when the military announced their plan to drop 7.62×51 for the 6.5 Cr. That sealed the deal for me and I've been thrilled with it since!

 

[Fulcrum]

No. For the use cases you described and the likelihood you that you would mostly shoot it at indoor ranges, if at all, it’s not practical for you. 5..56 is more practical for you, and even with 5.56, you should be shooting it at longer distances and in positions occasionally.

 

[Sloat]

I'm not saying that I won't train/practice at longer distances, I'm just going off of daily reality of not being able to make it out to outdoor long distance ranges more than I would like because of life. I'm just using indoor ranges because that is what I have readily available local to me.

For instance, when I purchase a scope or something to use at long range, I would have to zero it in so I would make the trip to an outdoor range. I'm just saying that I would more than likely make an indoor range trip (20 minutes away) than an outdoor range that may be over an hour+ away.

I would also say that once I got the rifle dialed in, the outdoor range trips would lessen.

Yeah, I think the thing that you keep coming back to is "practicality," which doesn't really mean anything, or rather means a bunch of different things to different people.

As others have mentioned in the thread, 5.56 is more than enough rifle for most rifle things. You want 308 or 6.5 if you're going further distances or want more power in a closer distance. You can theorycraft / LARP yourself into any sort of SHTF scenario where you'd prefer a larger caliber. There's a reason those calibers exist.

But if it's just going to sit in the safe after zeroing and you have no interest in actually shooting it? Why bother?

That said, if you just want a cool toy, go for it!

 

[RustVendor]

Yeah, when I decided I wanted a longer-distance option, it was right around the time when the military announced their plan to drop 7.62×51 for the 6.5 Cr. That sealed the deal for me and I've been thrilled with it since!

If you get into reloading the 6mm are pretty nice, I shoot 6 arc and 6 GT, hitting over 2900fps with both (out of boltguns).

 

[Fulcrum]

Dude, don't listen to any of this BS. Buy what you want and have fun with it. Look at all these folks buying $6000-$8000, 2011's. At the end of the day it still only shots a 9mm projectile. Buying an Atlas is just a flex, however if you can afford it, why not.

He’s asking if it would be practical or not. And given what he’s described for how he would use it, it’s not practical. You are telling him not to listen to any of the BS about whether it’s practical or not and just get it if he wants it. So you aren’t really answering the question he asked, but I think you probably are giving him the answer he’s looking for!

 

[Gawernator]

So you think you need a battle rifle for SHTF, but you live in the city? Dude. LARP of all LARPs.

Ha in the hood I live in near Sac you might need it more than anywhere else.

But yeah OP there’s really no practical reason for most guns these days if you want to be pedantic. Most people go their whole lives without one.

But .308 is a great cartridge and there’s many great guns like the AR-10, HK417, KAC SCAR etc.

Anything on 2 or 4 legs is what it’s practical for. SEAL’s I worked with in the Navy told me they preferred .308 to 5.56 especially at the distances of a lot of engagements back then.

Downsides are it’s expensive to shoot even compared to 5.56. If you don’t shoot animals then the real use is going to be long range shooting.

Or if you want to make sure home invaders even with body armor are cooked. lol.

 

[Gawernator]

He’s asking if it would be practical or not. And given what he’s described for how he would use it, it’s not practical. You are telling him not to listen to any of the BS about whether it’s practical or not and just get it if he wants it. So you aren’t really answering the question he asked, but I think you probably are giving him the answer he’s looking for!

It’s a hobby or passion ultimately, you could easily argue anything past one service handgun is not very practical for the majority of people. If you wanna LARP and have fun then just enjoy it.

Even in the military we are half LARPing. I mean look now we are basically back to peacetime military so everyone is just LARPing full time nearly