Long range to me is usually a couple three hundred yards. That’s about all the clearance I can see for a free shot around where I live.
So many different loads and weights, and depends on game. This could require an essay to answer.
Short answer: yes 308 can do many things at many ranges.
It’s good enough for our snipers.
H&ll, yeah.
Works for Marine snipers, out to 1400 yds plus.
I highly recommend the .380 for long range. Not the 308. I’m talking 1000 meters.
Works fine an human size game out to over 600 yards.
How far is “long range” and is it really worth it to have to hoof more than half a mile just to get to the place where your quarry was shot, to say nothing of how much farther you’ll then have to track the thing to find where it finally went down?
In my neck of the woods the common round is either 7mm mag or .300win mag.
Effectiveness against blue Kevlar is important.
.308 is a fine cartridge.
30-06 shares the same heritage, but with a larger case capacity and the ability to have a lot more flexibility with loads.
I have both, and if I could only have one I’d go with 30-06 unless I found a cheap cache of .308 ammo somewhere.
It took out Germans at long range...why not deer?
“Is the .308 ammo viable for long range hunting?”
There’s more than a few coyotes hanging on our fenceline who thought otherwise.
If I’m hunting to get some dinner, I damned sure ain’t gonna shoot something hundreds of yards out and drag the carcass back. In my area, you just hit deer with the bumper and throw them in the back.
when the SHTF there will be no ‘ethical limits’ on food hunting
I have a Israeli Mauser K98k - 7.62 conversion and I loves it
If for some reason I felt obligated to take a shot at out to 400 yards, and I had practiced such shots, AND I was using a rangefinder, I would still trust the cartridge to get the job done provided I could properly place the bullet.
Beyond that, forget it. I can get closer, or go home.
Long Range Elk with .308 Winchester:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrQqPdRgw_w
My first hunting rifle was a .308 and I recently got a new Savage .308 with bull barrel and scope to shoot out to 1,000 years.
Most standard Rifles above a .223/5.56 are plenty to hunt Big game with Out to 3-4 hundred yards.
Myself, I prefer a belted Magnum cartridge when going for big game for both leakage and distance. Know your Rifle, the trajectory and the Energy at longer distances of target. I handload my cartidges so that the FPS of the Bullet leaving the Rifle is around 3200 fps. A 30 cal. 180 gr. bullet under those conditions is gonna leave a mark.
I have carried a .300 Win. Mag for 25 years for Elk, Whitetail, Mulies. Never left a bullet in any of them out to 375 yards. A .30 cal. entry hole/ 50 cent hole leaving. Easy to track. But they don’t go far anyhow. :)
Pick up a handloading manual or visit one of the Bullet Manufacturers websites. A lot of very interesting information can be gleened from reading thru them.