Note: The 308 Winchester is not identical to the 7.62x51mm NATO cartridge, there are several differences in tolerances, therefore, some commercial rifles will not handle military ammunition.

 The 308 Winchester has been chambered in at least a dozen countries as a military round in light weapons and machine guns and it has become almost as popular as the 30/06 that it replaced and is probably better known as a target round as it has been used by bench rest, NRA high power and metallic silhouette shooters quite successfully in competition events internationally.

 While much has been written about the 308 winchester cartridge it truly is a great North American, Big Game Cartridge. My own personal favorite bullet weight is 150 grains as it does offer milder recoil with a lot of down range energy for any animal walking in the woods of North America including, elk, moose and bears.

 If you were looking to buy a new rifle just to hunt in North America and you were going to hunt white-tailed deer for the most part the 308 winchester offers plenty of range and energy for that. If you were going to hunt elk and moose some of the time, well the 308 winchester offers enough bullet weight and energy for that also.

 The 308 Winchester is a very good cartridge for those wanting to make use of a 30 caliber bullet for hunting but not wanting the felt recoil of a magnum rifle or 30/06. The 308 Winchester recoil is quite tolerable when shooting 130-150 grain bullets and there is no real advantage to shooting bullets heavier than 165 grains.

308 Winchester Specifications:

308 Winchester Barrel Specifications:
Common Barrel Twist Rate - 1 in 12" - (Uncommon) - 1 In 10".
Bore Groove Diameter - .308".

308 Winchester Cartridge Specifications:
Bullet Diameter: .308 Inch.
Neck Diameter: .343 Inch.
Shoulder Diameter: .454 Inch.
Shoulder Angle: 20 Degrees.
Base Diameter: .470 Inch.
Rim Diameter: .473 Inch.
Case Body Length: 1.560 Inches.
Case Shoulder Length: .150 Inch.
Case Neck Length: .305 Inch.
Case Overall Length: 2.015 Inches.
Cartridge Overall Length: 2.800 Inches.

308 Winchester Reloading:
308 Winchester Reloading Specifications:
Bullet Diameter - .308".
Maximum Case Length - 2.015".
Trimmed Case Length - 2.005".
Primer Size - Large Rifle.
308 Winchester Loading Data Hints:
The 308 winchester responds well to IMR powders such as 4895 and 3031 ignited by remington 9 1/2 primers in 150 grain bullets, very accurate.
(110 Grain Bullets) - Varmint. (130 Grain Bullets) - Deer.
(150 Grain Bullets) - Elk. (150-165 Grain Bullets) - Moose.
308 Winchester Reloading Data:
Hodgdon Reloading Data Center.

308 Winchester Reloading For Accuracy:
 Reloading for accuracy in the 308 Winchester is not all that difficult. I have written a nice little guide for rifle cartridge reloading that will solve any issues you may have reloading your empty 308 brass into fully loaded accurate rifle cartridges.
 Some of the most important issues when reloading for the 308 Winchester is case capacity as this is a variable in reloading not a constant. Just using brass from different manufacturers will show considerable variance in case capacity and when done wrong extreme jumps in chamber pressure will occur, so read well the part on case capacity and load density of powder.
AccuracyBrassPrimersPowderBulletsLoad TestingRun-Out

308 Winchester Accuracy:
Maximizing 308 Winchester Rifle Accuracy:
To Achieve maximum accuracy from your 308 winchester Autoloading or Bolt Action rifle there are several things you need to do.
 1. Properly mount your rifle scope.
 2. Properly break-in your rifle barrel.
 3. Properly sight-in your rifle.
 4. Use this free target designed for accurate sight-ins, follow the instructions.
Note: If you follow all of the directions in the above guides that I have written, you will achieve the maximum accuracy that your 308 winchester rifle pocesses.

308 Winchester Ballistics And Hunting Applications:

.308 Winchester Trajectory and Energy Charts:
Winchesters 150 Grain 308 Winchester XP3 Factory Ammunition:
This is a down range bullet trajectory chart for the 308 Winchester cartridge with the scope mounted 1.5 inches above the bore center line. Bullet diameter .308". Bullet weight 150 grains. Bullet ballistic coeffecient .437. Bullet muzzle velocity 2,825 feet per second. Bullet muzzle energy 2,658 foot pounds.
Range	50 yds.	100 yds.	200 yds.	300 yds.	400 yds.	500 yds.	Yards
Bullet Drop	+ .6"	+ 1.5"	- .6"	- 8.6"	- 23.7"	- 47.0"	Inches
This is a down range bullet energy chart for the above 308 Winchester cartridge and its effective energy range for the following game animals. Varmint and Predator Size Game: such as Bobcat, Cougar and Coyote. Deer Size Game: such as Antelope, Black Bear, Black-Tailed Deer, Hogs, Javelina, Mule Deer and White-Tailed Deer. Elk Size Game: such as Caribou, Elk and Sheep. Moose Size Game: such as Brown Bear, Grizzly Bear and Moose.
Range	50 yds.	100 yds.	200 yds.	300 yds.	400 yds.	500 yds.	Yards
Bullet Energy	2,463	2,280	1,947	1,652	1,394	1,168	Ft. Lbs.
Varmint	+	+	+	+	+	+	-
Deer	+	+	+	+	+	-	-
Elk	+	+	+	-	-	-	-
Moose	+	+	-	-	-	-	-
The .308 Winchester Is An Excellent Cartridge For All Of North America Hunting!

308 Winchester Ballistics For Moose Size Game:
The 308 Winchester chambering is more than capable of taking out moose and big bears, but the best possible energy range for this round on these large game animals is 175 yards, so your shots will be up close and personal. Only broadside shots should be taken to maximize bullet effect on these animals, having said that the 308 winchester will put them down.
 The winchester XP3 cartridges in 308 winchester, 150 grain bullet weight, are rated by winchester for use on the following game animals: Antelope, White-Tailed Deer, Mule Deer, Black Bear, Caribou, Elk, Moose, Grizzly Bear and Brown Bear. The winchester XP3 308 ammunition delivers almost a ton of energy at 200 yards and it takes about a ton of energy to dispatch moose and big bears.
Note: If you ever have a chance to hunt one of the great northern bears and you connect with your 308 winchester and for some reason the bear comes after you, DO NOT RUN just wait till it is within easy second shot range, this is probably going to be under a hundred yards (most likely under fifty) and shoot for the center of its head, if you miss that shot you will most likely hit it in the spine and it will drop right there. (Big bears do stop when hit with a bullet delivering a ton of energy to their spine, hit them anywhere else, not so much, and I don't care what you shoot them with, they are just flat out tough.)
 The 308 Winchester cartridge is more than capable of taking all of the game animals that roam in North America.

308 Winchester Ballistics For Elk Size Game:
The 308 Winchester chambering is more than adequate for elk hunting in open and wooded elk country. The 308 winchester is good for elk out to about 250 yards with most factory 150 grain ammunition. The reason I say this is, it takes about 1,800 foot pounds of energy to effectively dispatch an elk with a single shot in the vitals. Winchester has been steadily improving their ammunition lines for years and one of their best loads for elk is the one I have in the above trajectory table and it is a load with only a 150 grain bullet. That same load can be used to hunt African thin skinned animals as well with the 308 winchester.
 The one important thing when hunting any big game animal is knowing you and your rifles limitation, having said that making a hero shot beyond the rifles limits is just plain foolish and should be avoided, the 308 winchester with the right factory ammunition is a very effective elk cartridge out to 250 yards.

308 Winchester Ballistics For Deer Size Game:
The 308 Winchester chambering is an excellent choice for deer in all of North Americas deer hunting. This cartridge has more to offer than most realize for deer hunting. The majority of people that use the 308 for deer use mostly 150 grain bullets for their hunt. While this is a good choice, much better performance can be readily had because of the very slow twist rate in the barrel. If you handload your own ammunition for the 308 winchester and you know that the twist rate in your barrel is 1 In 12" you can load 130 grain bullets and use them on deer with a devastating effect. For the 308 winchester handloader, 130 grain bullets can be loaded to near or at 3,000 feet per second with the right bullet, nosler makes an excellent 125 grainer that will stay together out of a 1 in 12" twist barrel in the 308 winchester without bullet blow-up when it impacts something, which extends the useful range of your deer rifle with a much flatter trajectory to 300 yards.
 The 308 Winchester has good range of about 400 yards for deer hunting just using factory ammunition as it is, handloads could extend that range a little more, it takes about 1,200 foot pounds of bullet energy to effectively anchor deer sized game.

 Hornady Superformance factory ammunition offers a little more range to the 308 winchester as well, with their SST loading.

.308 Winchester Trajectory and Energy Charts:
Hornadys 150 Grain 308 Winchester SST Factory Ammunition:
This is a down range bullet trajectory chart for the 308 Winchester cartridge with the scope mounted 1.5 inches above the bore center line. Bullet diameter .308". Bullet weight 150 grains. Bullet ballistic coeffecient .415. Bullet muzzle velocity 3,000 feet per second. Bullet muzzle energy 2,997 foot pounds.
Range	50 yds.	100 yds.	200 yds.	300 yds.	400 yds.	500 yds.	Yards
Bullet Drop	+ .5"	+ 1.5"	0"	- 6.8"	- 19.9"	- 40.6"	Inches
This is a down range bullet energy chart for the above 308 Winchester cartridge and its effective energy range for the following game animals. Varmint and Predator Size Game: such as Bobcat, Cougar and Coyote. Deer Size Game: such as Antelope, Black Bear, Black-Tailed Deer, Hogs, Javelina, Mule Deer and White-Tailed Deer. Elk Size Game: such as Caribou, Elk and Sheep. Moose Size Game: such as Brown Bear, Grizzly Bear and Moose.
Range	50 yds.	100 yds.	200 yds.	300 yds.	400 yds.	500 yds.	Yards
Bullet Energy	2,771	2,559	2,175	1,838	1,543	1,286	Ft. Lbs.
Varmint	+	+	+	+	+	+	-
Deer	+	+	+	+	+	+	-
Elk	+	+	+	+	-	-	-
Moose	+	+	+	-	-	-	-
The .308 Winchester Is An Excellent Cartridge For All Of North America Hunting!

308 Winchester Ballistics For Varmint Size Game:
The .308 Winchester was never intended to be a varmint cartridge, however with the excellent bullet selections today the 308 winchester can get the job done. Loaded with light-weight bullets the 308 winchester rifle can be put to use year round and the rifles commercially chambered for it tend to shoot light bullets very well.
 The 308 winchester probably seems to be the furthest thing from a varmint rifle there is, but do to its rifling twist rate it handles stubby bullets at a good velocity quite well which allows the owners of these rifles some extra shooting time through the summer months.
 The 308 Winchester can be used as a true dual purpose cartridge effectively.

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