308 vs 30-06 vs 300 Win Mag: Did Not Expect This 

This is like watching engine dyno testing… don’t know why I watch it, but I keep doing it! Lol

Where 30-06 steps away from 308 is when throwing heavier bullets. The 308 loses powder volume to accomodate longer bullets, where 30-06 has ample room for the slug and the extra powder starts to really pull its weight.

That round sticking through the steel was amazing. It wasn't even deformed.

The beauty of the .06 is the variety of bullet weights 110g to 220g give lots of options

The old 30-06 is still a great round even in modern time .

I think it’s really cool that you shot the same projectile from the same length of rifle, with only the cartridges being different. That really helps narrow down their true differences.

I love the fact that you used the same bullet in all 3 calibers to make the test much more scientific.

Another thing to consider that if you don't hand load, at current year (late March 2024) .308 is 65-70 cents a round, 30-06 is 90cents to a buck a round and 300 win mag is $1 - $.125 a round. So unless you really need that range or penetration (long distance open field shots against large animals) .308 is the best bang for the buck. 30-06 is just 30 extra cents worth of shoulder pain, apparently.

The split between 308 and oht 6 isn't a surprise for me. My grampa ( WW2 vet, tail gunner and all around gun nerd ) told me that 308 was the replacement for 30/06 . Grampa and I would read ballistic charts and bench race ammo...I know nerd stuff. It was the fun part about learning to shoot with him and my uncle.

Once again the 308 demonstrates how it is one of the most efficient cartridges available.

@02:00 "I can't guarantee what the bullets are gonna do, but, ahh, I think we're good to go." I say this all the time at the range, great party trick.

Years ago, we had a dump truck leaf spring as a gong at 100 yards at our outdoor range. It was hit with 30 06 and everything below. Just blew the paint or rust off it. I bought a 300 win magTikka m65 deluxe left hand bolt rifle and tried it 3 times on the leaf spring. When we walked up to it, there were 3 jagged holes through it. I was quite surprised. It was removed after that. I’m of the belief that the hardness of the spring steel was great up to a certain point but the extra foot pounds of the 300 was enough to cause the fractured holes. Note they were a little jagged, not as clean as the holes in this video. Ar500 is a whole different ball game of course.

Factory 308 out of the box being almost equal to 30-06 is the best it will ever get. The 30-06 has the extra case capacity to push deep-seated heavier bullets without decreasing the powder charge or push lighter bullets with increased powder charge. Much better versatility when you handload or with specialty ammo.

Great test! That 300WM stuck in the 1 inch was CRAZY!!!

One idea you could use for the sand penetration is multiple cereal boxes. It would at least let you see what travels the farthest in sand a little easier.

I loaded 30-06 AP projectiles (174 gr) into .308 cases. I think I used Hornady's minimum powder load, don't remember the powder. Shot AR500 plates at 200 yards with the loads. I found no apparent damage on the AR500 plates from the AP projectiles, but they made spectacular bright, flashes of sparks when the projectiles hit!

Hunters tip. Buy expensive tough and light boots over a expensive and light rifle. Every pound on your foot is equal to 5 on your back. You will appreciate it if you hunt in Rockies or other true mountainous areas.

Reloaders know that the 308 gives you the best bang for the buck of almost any round out there.

My understanding is that the 308 was developed to try to mimic 30-06 ballistics while utilizing a shorter action. To accomplish this, a faster burning powder is necessary. With that in mind, seeing little difference in the results between the two isn't surprising in the slightest. As others I seen here mention, the 30-06 is superior to 308 when it comes to loading heavier bullets such as 200 or 220 grain due to the greater internal volume of the case.

The mild steel he is using is probably A36 steel for those of you that may want to purchase it. There is a huge difference between A36 steel and AR 500 steel. Where A36 steel will be penetrated, AR 500 steel will barely be dented. AR 500 steel is INSANE. Its also not readily available, has to be special ordered and is very expensive. If your going to bullet proof a car, AR500 steel is the way to go.

That's awesome how it caught the bullet! I've got a 556 bullet souvenir that I found like that on the back side of a stump I was shooting at last year.

Thanks. I like my 300wm. Excellent cartridge.

Getting through inch plate is impressive

7.62×51 , 308 win💪!!!

I like this episode, I know we are all remembering these are fmj and Not apfmj, but impressive performance on all 3 test subjects. I'm a US Marine, I am partial to the 7.62x51, my M14 performance was astounding , my M1A and my M1 shoot identically, 300 win mag is not on my menu, but I love all 3 of these rounds, thank you for your efforts, very well done😮😊❤

.30 cal - turning cover into concealment for over 125 years.

I'm a huge fan of the .308. I have a Kel-Tec RFB in .380 that is quite a bit in a small package. A 300 yard shot is easy for a .308 in an 18" barrel, on that style rifle it isn't scoped for more than that. It's really a well suited combination for a truck/farm rifle.

I love this channel. Thanks for doing the relevant testing that your viewers would like to do for themselves. Keep up the good work!

You should try some .303 Mk7 ball ammo with the aluminium nose-cone under the jacket. This will go through 1/2” mild steel and leaves a prodigious sized hole. I tested all this stuff in the 1970’s. New Zealand made CAC Mk7 ball, 1958 headstamp was more effective than Lake City 30/06 M2 ball ammo at penetrating steel plate. I am not sure why but maybe an artefact of the bullet design, I only know what actually happened when we tested them. The 30/06 Black-Tip AP was a different story - the tungsten penetrator seemed like it hardly slowed down and left a small, clean hole. Whereas the M2 ball just heavily cratered the surface. All tests at 100 yards. That’s what happens when 16 year old spends all his spare cash on surplus rifles and ammo, before girls and motorcycles changed it all! 198gr military 8x57 spitzer FMJ was very penetrative against tree stumps. Never did try it on the steel. Much later on I found a .308 with 168gr Hornady match pills reliably penetrates 10mm mild steel plate. The “pissant” .303 was the real surprise, but when you consider the real performance 174gr @ 2440 fps vs the M2 150gr @ around 2740 fps there’s not much between them. Norma used to advertise their commercial .303 150gr ammo as doing 2700fps. The .303 Mk8Z ammo was more than equivalent to the WW2 30/06 in any practical scenario. Bullet efficiency with a heavier but streamlined profile starting out slightly slower usually trumps light, faster loads at distance. BC is king. But you can get a lot more out of the 30/06 than the military loads then in common use, with careful handloading. All these cartridges were loaded for reliability in varying climates and conditions so hot-rodding was less than desirable. There’s no hiding behind upturned tables or cars with any of them!

I was literally out of my chair cheering for that last shot! What are the odds of capturing that??

Quickly becoming my favourite gun channel.

30/06 is actually a REALLY GOOD round for ap

I experimented with pulled M2 163 gain AP bullets loaded for the 300 Win Mag several years ago. My load consist of 74.0 gr. of Nobel Sport's Vectan Tubal 8000 powder, Federal Cases and Winchester LRM primers. Shot from by 26 inch heavy barrel Remington 700 Long Range rifle, that round has an average muzzle velocity of 3,344 fps +/- 20 fps. Based on your 300 Win Mag test result, I believe my round would have went through the 1 inch steel plate.

It caught the bullet perfectly!!! That is so freaking cool 🤣

Mr. Banana, please do 9mm vs 30 Super Carry!

Your videos are freaking awesome! Keep up the good entertaining work

GREAT VID AND INFO AS ALWAYS!!

You really do so awesome comparison's. Keep up the good work

Wow I've never seen a round get stuck like that. That was crazy, great video!

I'd really like to see what an M1917 would do with those black tips. That's a 26" barrel. I think it would get views. I got one if you need it, plenty others do too. There is actually a way to mount scopes to them as well without cutting anything on the rifle.

This really throws shade on the 30-06 in a tangible, hard-data kinda way. Even if the performance were more significant, it wouldn't justify the added powder and recoil.

Love your stuff! Especially, the music. Haha. This was a true apples to apples comparison. Excellent. I still hunt with the ol' OT 6 so this test was especially interesting to me. The 300wm projectile sticking out of the plate was trippy.

Caught a projectile. Cool.

Awesome video as always, keep up the great work, I also give a thumbs up to Terry, he's taking those chest shots like a champ!!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Good info, really enjoy, thanks

Cool test 🤩👍🏼

That was awesome. Hard hitting cartridges. The white tail here in middle TN won’t know the difference between them. They would just know the freezer. Of course, I get mine here with my 6.5 Grendel 20 inch MSR.

Thanks, you made my day!

Great test!

Great video brother.

Great video 👍

Fascinating. I’m an 06 fan. Two Garands plus a Winchester 740. Good for anything on the North American continent.

I was just wishing last week you'd do 30-06 vs 300 Wing Mag. Thank you!

You seem to like to pat and shake your box.🤣🤣

Great video! Would love to see what happens if you added the 300 prc (and the 7mm prc) to see if new cartridges are worth the hype versus the old school tried and true ones we already love.

Maybe a Sharpie to ID the impacts? Just a thought, the videos are awesome!

thank you

Talking about powder use at the end, .308 is probably one of the most efficient rounds to reload for bang for the buck. One thing I learned researching .300 win mag is eventually you won't get any more velocity out of it past 3200 FPS... BUT you can keep upping bullet weight and get some pretty wild velocities vs .30 and .30-06

A .30 Carbine should be interesting.

Good tests Double B ❤ I think this is the year crap hits the fan in the USA. We'll all being seeing these results.

300 Win Mag for the win...great video. Thanks a bunch.

The pinky test is so important!

I'd really like to see the two OG Calibres .303 BRIT & 30-06 up against the "newcomer" 762.51 in a classic military calibres Banana Ballistics challenge... 😊

Missed opportunity... That wedge got Napoleon Blownapart.

Hello from Sweden 🇸🇪

M2AP is pretty decent. There is a version of 7.62x51 AP made by FN called P80 or also M61. That has a harder steel core than M2AP and has been known to penetrate better. Edit: might be wrong - see Buffman Range's reply below

Anyone else here just for the awesome modern Jazz melody in the background? ;-)

Cool review

I got the same Savage. Mine came with a muzzle break which is nice. The velocities between the 308 and 30-06 seemed very similar. I guess that's why we don't use it anymore.

I remember the 1st time I shot a 300 Win Mag (1997). That's one Spicy 🔥 308! It's also why I bought a 7mm STW the same year. Spicy, but kicks a lot less. 🤠

good shit man!

Thanks for putting in the level of effort you do for accurate testing.

Find some old school mil spec AP 30-06 rounds with the original powder. It'll go through that plate. I've done it. Year ago at a gun show I bought like 20rds of that stuff from WWII (M2 AP) and man it hits. So does the AP rounds for the German 8mm Mauser. Just wicked stuff.

Have you done 308 vs 762x54r? If not that would be a great video!

Love the video of cartridge comparisons. Would love to see the .270 WSM vs .308.

The best yet

Thank you for the data

My favorites are in the 7mm bullets.. 7-08, 7-06 (280), 7mm Rem Mag.

Had an army field manual years ago. That had a chart for barrier material stopping abilities. They had wood and sand covered. While I dont recall all of the exact numbers. I do remember that sand did an excellent job of absorbing projectiles.

I really enjoy your videos

If you Captain Planet combine the above three calibers you get a new ammo round called 30-08 Win Mag!

This test reaffirms my choice of the 7.62 for home defense in an AR platform.

Great video mate! Australia

Love my win mag, 215 berger....and a damn fine brake!

Winchester came up with .308/7.62x51 by improving powders to the point where they could shorten the .30-06 by about 1/2" without losing velocity with the bullets that they'd used with '06 military loads up to that point. Bearing that in mind, it's not a big surprise that the .308 and the '06 had comparable performance.

Great channel!

Fascinating!!!!

Those M2 black tips are great. I buy them when I can at gun shows,

This voice is so baritone I could sleep all day listening to him😊😊😊😊😊

Nice work.

So it will definitely go through a Cyber Truck!

I’m surprised how close the testing was. In all honesty, the only time a .30-06 will beat a .308 is when bullet weight is 180gr or heavier, otherwise they are pretty much the same.

i love the 30-06. the amount of load data is huge with loads from 110grn to 220grn..and even a 50grn 22cal in a sabot exiting the bore at around 4100fps! the 308 is not as versatile. the 300mag is a pretty impressive cartridge but if i was going for mag level performance ide chose the 30-378 Weatherby Magnum. yup..mmmhmmm

A slowmo cam would be SICK for these steel shots!

I'm happy for the 300 WSM. Congrats to my little friend.

I think it would be cool to see the copper monolithic hunting rounds vs mild steal. Love the videos

Ok, ok. I finally subscribed to "Ray Romano shoots stuff" because it is quite entertaining. 😂

Good job Banana

Is there the possibility for a 9mm vs .357 sig vs 10mm video in the future? I'd be extra interested to see if you used xtreme defender from underwood for all of them too

For your tikka 300wm id recomend getting a three chamber lateral, or swept back muzzlebrake(as long as it doesnt impart a moment of inertia on the barrel) and extend the length of pull with a slip on limbsaver recoil pad. If your feeling fancy get a stock spacer. It also helps if your scope has a good amount of eye relief. I heard something about bavkfiretv's recoil pad lookin pretty sweet though