Page 18 .9"~p("~l~t.%/~"~l ITB('~'~I~ - December 26, 2012
Military cartridges inevitably
turn into favorites of sportsmen;
police and civilians.
In the U.S. this has always
been the case. Examples range
from the 45/70 Government, that
I currently elk hunt with, to the
lesser known 30-40 Krag that took
our armed forces into the modern
smokeless powder era, on to the
30-'03 which begat the improved
30-'06 that virtually every Ameri-
can is familiar with today.
As I stated in my piece last
month; the .308 Winchester
(7.62x5 lmm NATO in its military
guise) is basically a shortened 30-
06 Springfield.
Jeff Hutchins
This shortened aspect of the
case gives it certain advantages.
For one, it can be chambered in
QUALITY. PRECISION. SERVIC!
AH Work 100% Guaranteed
Jeff Hutchins, Owner
Read my articles in The New Era outdoors section.
29352 HWY 34, CORVALLIS
Open: Tues & Fri 11.6 • Sat 11-5 Closed Sun & Monday
Closed Wed & Thursday for Gunsmithing
New & Used Firearms - Quality Gunsmithing . Hot Bluing
shorter and lighter dries, which is cussed, the caliber is available in military and world-wide use, there
a boon to hunters traversing steep light, short, handy dries that are is plenty of surplus ammunition
country, easy for shooters of slight stature available for practice or varmint
With its lighter powderto handle efficiently. They can start hunting. There is hardly a mili-
charge, it produces less recoil, off with the light recoil loads that tary in the world that still uses any
This is somewhat negated by the are completely adequate on deer- ann chambered for 30-06 and the
fact that it is usually housed in sized animals and later move up to surplus ammo supply has mostly
lighter rifles, the full-power ammo that can dis- dried up.
The lighter the firearm, the patch anything in North America if As an aside, the .308 seems to
less weight the recoil impulse has plaeed correctly, work better in the sporting semi-
to move before it starts moving the The reloader has had this ad- auto rifles like the Remington 740,
shooter. Some would say that put- vantage available all along and 742, 7400, FOUR and 750 which
ting a muzzle brake on the ~rger " since the .30 caliber is the darling is strange, because these dries
calibers will accomplish the same of America, the bullet selection is were specifically designed around
goal of reducing recoil and that is second to none. To this aspect the the 30-06 Springfield cartridge.
absolutely true, but with some se- highly powder efficient .308 loses If I lived in the East and only
rious trade-offs, nothing to the longer 30-06 on pursued whitetail deer, I would use
The brake adds length to the deer-sized animals at all. a .260 Remington, or more likely
rifle - but worse, it adds signifi- There is an advantage to thethe Ackley Improved version, but
cant muzzle blast and noise. Many '06 on elk and bear as the .308 is as a Northwest hunter I am starting
shooters think they are bothered by maxed out in its efficiency with all of my children off with the ef-
the recoil, only to find out after the 165-grain bullets, as far as powder ficient .308 Winchester.
muzzle brake install that it was the capacity goes. The twist in the ri- If they turn out to be hunters
noise that actually was the culprit fling of most .308s is one turn in only and not necessarily "gun nuts"
and they have just Paid a gunsmith 12 inches. This is a little too slow like their Dad, they will always be
to make it much worse, to properly stabilize 180-grain bul- well served by this cartridge that
Remington and Federal now lets and up in flight, has also well served our men and
manufacture "lighter recoil" load- The 30-06 almost always has women in uniform.
ings for many popular calibers, the a one in 10-inch twist that can eas-
308 being one of them. AS far as ily handle 180- and 200-grain bul- Jeff Hutchins writes occasionally
I'm concerned, this makes the ven- lets, whictf are better suited for elk, about firearms-related topics for
erable 308 the perfect rifle for a moose and large bear. The New Era. He operates Range-
beginning hunter. Another advantage to the .308 master Gunworks at 29352 Hwy
As we've previously dis- is that because of its origins in 34, outside Corvallis.
,'lb
~.IB.
I
The Sweet Home Junior High girls soccer team experienced its first season of middle school competition,
finishing 10-2-1, coach Scott McKee said. "It was a fairly good season," he said. "The junior high was more
competitive than AYSO and it took a lot of adjusting and getting used to it." Team members are, in front from
left, Kendyl Stutzman, Kristen Morehead, Milah Weld, Hannah Graham, Alexis Virtue and Cora McKee. In the
second row, from left, are Miya Claborn, Kaylee Lewis, Jade Holmes, Hannah Jewett, Jessi Thomas and Kenzi
Adams. In the rear, from left, are Hailey Carr. Hannah Ramsey, Coach Huck Thomas, Coach Scott McKee,
Adrionna Davis and Kristin Adams.
Find football on page 15.
Next week: SHJH boys
soccer, seventh and.
eighth-grade volleyball
610 MAIN STREET
SWEET HOME, OR 97386
541.367.5544
WWW.DANDEESALES~COM
MON.- SAT. 9 - 6 I SUN. 10 - 4
Junior high cross-country club members are, from left, Isaac Justham, Noah
Taraski, Coach John Mithen and Dana Hiett. Mithen said the three were "a
dedicated trio. It was a new sport for the three of them." He said one of the
"key" challenges for the young runners was learning how to pace themselves
in a distance race over 5,000- and 3,000-meter distances. Hiett's best 3K time
for the season was 13:58;, Isaac ran a 12:48 and Noah a 13:12. The weather
Was kind to us this year and, all in all, we had an enjoyable season.
