SPORTS
MyEagleNews.com
Wednesday, February 5, 2020
B3
SHOOTING THE BREEZE
THE .308 WINCHESTER
I
n about ’79 or ’80, my father
was looking to upgrade from
his trusty old .300 Savage to
something with a bit longer legs.
At Nydam’s (then
Coast to Coast)
Hardware, where
many legendary
gun stories seem
to begin, he found
what he was look-
ing for. My mother
Dale Valade
bought it for him
for their anniver-
sary that year. The rifle was the
best of both worlds as far as Dad
was concerned. He got more power
without having to sacrifice the han-
dling characteristics of his beloved
Savage 99 levergun. It was cham-
bered for the .308 Winchester.
In the 1950s, Army ordinance
officers began to look for an alter-
native to the .30-06 for its standard
service cartridge. The T65 experi-
mental cartridge had began life as a
.300 Savage and, after some major
alterations, became the 7.62x51mm
NATO cartridge. Winchester, see-
ing an awesome opportunity, “bor-
Contributed photo
Jared Rowberry of Boise, Idaho, with his first deer taken this fall with a
.308.
rowed” the NATO design and
released it for civilian usage with
the headstamp “.308 Winchester.”
The rest, as they say, is history.
While gun sales soared, and
a devoted cult-like following
formed nearly overnight, the .308
even today has yet to completely
replace, supplant or dethrone the
hoary .30-06 in the hearts and
minds of most American hunt-
ers. While there are unabashed fan
clubs for each cartridge that fre-
quently fling mud at each other,
I for one happen to think there
is room for both. I own, use and
admire both cartridges. And I must
admit, although my favorite rifle
is by far a .30-06, if a semi-auto,
pump or lever-action rifle are pref-
erable to a bolt action to you, then
the .308 is probably the way to go.
This is not to say there is anything
at all wrong with a pump action
.30-06 or a bolt action .308!
It’s a perfect cartridge for
shorter barrels (18-22 inches) and
short actions. It is at home in an
AR platform. Ammunition of every
kind and style is available world-
wide. The .308 case is slightly
more efficient in that it uses nearly
10 grains less powder than the .30-
06 to accomplish nearly the same
ballistics. The .30-06 can be han-
dloaded and in factory form is
loaded to outrun and outhit the
.308 with its greater case capacity
and heavier bullet range if it sports
a 24-inch or longer barrel. But the
real world difference is negligible,
and I guarantee none of the deer or
elk shot with one or the other each
year in Grant County can tell the
difference.
The .308 is not merely a hunt-
er’s cartridge. For years, it held
many long-range accuracy records,
and even when Uncle Sam decided
to arm his grunts with the M16,
the .308 survived and is still used
today as a sniper cartridge. Even
though small-case 6.5 cartridges
or ponderous magnums seem to
cast a shadow on either side of the
.308, it is still as alive and well as
ever in civilian, police and military
applications.
Dad filled our freezer with his
.308 for years and, in 1997, used it
to take his biggest bull elk. I myself
have used his rifle, now mine, to
take elk, deer and Russian hogs. It
works, simply and reliably. As the
old saying goes, “Don’t fix it if it
isn’t broke.”
Are you a .308 fan? Please write
to us at shootingthebreezebme@
gmail.com!
Dale Valade is a local country
gent with a deep love for handload-
ing, hunting and shooting.
SPORTS ROUNDUP
Dayville/Monument
girls lose two over the
weekend
The Lady Tigers faced
No. 1-ranked Crane Friday
and fell 69-10. The team lost
to Adrian 45-30 on Saturday.
“With Crane being the
No. 1 team in the state, we
knew it was going to be a
tough and physical game,”
said girls head coach Chey-
enne Perkins.
However, the girls stuck
together and played as a
team right up until the end,
Perkins said.
“They played hard to
the last quarter, and that
can be hard to do when you
are getting beat by such an
amount,” she said.
Saturday’s game went
well, and the Lady Tigers
played well, but in the end,
they came up short, Perkins
said.
“I am very proud of how
the girls played, and I can
see the improvement of
what we have been work-
ing on,” she said.
The girls are 11-6 over-
all and 3-2 in league play
as they go on the road to
face Four Rivers (10-6,
1-3) Feb. 7. Tipoff is at
6 p.m. MST.
Allen to play softball for
Mt. Hood Community College
Dayville/Monument
boys split wins over the
weekend
The
Dayville/Monu-
ment boys basketball team
won a close one Friday,
beating Crane 54-50. The
team lost 43-35 Saturday
to Adrian.
The Tigers are 12-5 over-
all and 3-2 in league play.
Four Rivers (12-7, 3-2) will
host the boys team Feb. 7 at
7:30 p.m. MST.
Head coach Jeff Schafer
Contributed photo
Grant Union senior Taylor Allen has signed a letter of
intent to play softball at Mt. Hood Community College.
could not be reached for
comment.
(0-7) will host Ukiah/Long
Creek Feb. 7 at 6 p.m.
Ukiah/Long Creek girls
lose in overtime Friday
Ukiah/Long Creek boys
win two in a row
The Ukiah/Long Creek
girls team tied up the game
against Four Rivers Friday,
but were outscored 11-4 in
the fourth quarter, losing
56-49.
“I was really proud of
how they played, consider-
ing the last time we played
Four Rivers we lost 60-24,”
said head coach Amos
Studtmann.
Studtmann said the girls
played with less energy Sat-
urday in the team’s 50-23
loss to Harper Charter,
which was more than likely
due to the previous night’s
game.
Ukiah/Long
Creek’s
overall record is 0-9.
Next up, Huntington
The Ukiah/Long Creek
boys picked up a league
win over the weekend
and improved their over-
all record to 11-5, defeating
both Four Rivers and Harper
Charter, 66-52 and 67-33,
respectively.
The boys are 4-1 in
league play as they go on
the road to face Huntington
(9-4, 1-4) Feb. 7 at 7:30 p.m.
Head coach TC Con-
nor could not be reached for
comment.
Wrestlers battling
illness
The Grant Union Wres-
tling Team bowed out of the
Heppner Tournament Satur-
day due to illness.
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