[Wonder Warthog]

"......270 ft-lbs of energy at 1700 yds."

Yup, just 270 ft-lbs. Concentrated into an area probably no more than 0.3" dia. Think about a pin punch and a 5 pound hammer stroked through a distance of a foot. Then multiply that by fifty. How big a hole do you think that would punch into a fiberglass tank, or instrument junction?? And if you were going to make a shot at 1700 yards, I suspect one would re-zero for that distance, don't you.

[Yo-Yo]

You are focused on energy. Yes, 270 ft-lbs is about double the muzzle energy of a .22LR, but you neglect to take into account that low terminal energy is due to low terminal velocity, and low terminal velocity equals longer flight time, which means more wind drift. Not to mention the 166 FEET of holdover.

The .308 is not a 1700 yard cartridge, no matter how you slice it. It loses too much velocity.