308 Winchester History and General Information.  The 308 Winchester was introduced to the public as a sporting cartridge by Winchester in September 1952, this same cartridge was accepted by the U.S. military known as the T-65 cartridge in 1954 and began chambering M-14 rifles for the round in 1957, this cartridge is also known as the 7.62 NATO cartridge.  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.  The 308 Winchester 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.  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.   308 Winchester Barrel Specifications. Common Barrel Twist Rate - 1/12 Bore Groove Diameter - .308"   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 i.m.r. powders such as 4895 and 3031 ignited by remington 9 1/2 primers in 150 grain bullets, very accurate. 308 Winchester Reloading Data. Hodgdon Reloading Data Center. 308 Winchester Rifles. New Browning, Remington & Winchester 308 Winchester rifles here.  Sponsor - Impact Guns. 308 Winchester Trajectory and Hunting Applications.  This is a down range trajectory chart for the 308 Winchester cartridge with the scope mounted 1.5 inches above the bore center line plus if you were using this load, its effective hunting bullet energy range with well placed shots on, Varmint / Predator size game, such as Bobcat, Cougar, Coyote. Deer size game, such as Antelope, Blacktail, Hogs, Javelina, Mule, Whitetail. Elk size game, such as Caribou, Black Bear, Sheep. Moose size game, such as Brown Bear. Bullet diameter .308" Bullet weight 150 grains Bullet ballistic coeffecient .359 Bullet velocity 2,900 feet per second Range 100 yds. 200 yds. 300 yds. 400 yds. 500 yds. + + 1.8 0 - 8.0 - 23.9 - 48.9 2313 1896 1545 1251 1006  Varmint + + + + + +  Deer + + + + - -  Elk + + - - - -  Moose - - - - - - Copyright 2001 - 2010