.

308 Winchester
".308 redirects here. For other uses, see .308 (disambiguation).
The .308 Winchester (pronounced: three-oh-eight
or three-aught-eight) is a rimless, bottlenecked, rie
cartridge and is the commercial cartridge from which
the 7.6251mm NATO round was derived. The .308
Winchester was introduced in 1952, two years prior to
the NATO adoption of the 7.6251mm NATO T65.
Winchester (a subsidiary of Olin Corporation) branded
the cartridge and introduced it to the commercial hunting market as the .308 Winchester. Winchesters Model
70 and Model 88 ries were subsequently chambered
for the new cartridge. Since then, the .308 Winchester has become the most popular short-action, big-game
hunting cartridge worldwide.[1] It is also commonly used
for civilian target shooting, military sniping, and police
sharpshooting. The relatively short case makes the .308
Winchester especially well-adapted for short-action ries.
When loaded with a bullet that expands, tumbles, or fragments in tissue, this cartridge is capable of high terminal
performance.[2][3][4]
Although very similar to the military 7.6251mm NATO
specications, the .308 cartridge is not identical, and
there are special considerations that may apply when
mixing these cartridges with 7.6251mm NATO, and
.308 Winchester chambered arms.[5] Their interchange
is, however, considered safe by the Sporting Arms and
Ammunition Manufacturers Institute (SAAMI).[6]

.308 Winchester maximum C.I.P. cartridge dimensions. All dimensions in millimeters (mm) and inches.
Americans would dene the shoulder angle at alpha/2 =
20 degrees. The common riing twist rate for this cartridge is 305 mm (1 in 12 in), 4 grooves, lands = 7.62
mm, grooves = 7.82 mm, land width = 4.47 mm and
the primer type is large rie.[8]
According to the ocial C.I.P. (Commission Internationale Permanente pour l'Epreuve des Armes Feu Portatives) rulings the .308 Winchester can handle up to
415.00 MPa (60,191 psi) P piezo pressure. In C.I.P.
regulated countries every rie cartridge combo has to be
proofed at 125% of this maximum C.I.P. pressure to certify for sale to consumers. This means that .308 Winchester chambered arms in C.I.P. regulated countries are
currently (2014) proof tested at 519.00 MPa (75,275 psi)
PE piezo pressure.[9]

Cartridge dimensions
2 Usage and performance
The .308 Winchester is one of the most successful hunting cartridges in the United States, and possibly the world.
It has gained popularity in many countries as an exceptional cartridge for game in the medium- to largesized class.[10] In North America it is used extensively

The .308 Winchester has 3.64 ml (56.0 grains) cartridge

case capacity.[7] The exterior shape of the case was designed to promote reliable case feeding and extraction in
bolt action ries and machine guns alike, under extreme
conditions.
1

REFERENCES

on Whitetail deer, Pronghorn and even the occasional popular for hunting, particularly in North America.[8]
Caribou or Black Bear.
These are the .243 Winchester, the .260 Remington (aka
6.5-08
A-Square), the 7 mm-08 Remington, the .338
Clay Harvey, an American gun writer, says it is usable
Federal,
and the .358 Winchester (aka 8.851mm). In
[11]
on moose and elk. Layne Simpson, an American who
1980,
two
rimmed cartridges based on the .308 Winchhas hunted in Sweden, says he is surprised how many
ester
were
introduced
for use in the Winchester Model 94
[12]
hunters there use the cartridge. Craig Boddington was
XTR
Angle
Eject
rie:
the .307 Winchester and the .356
told by a Norma Precision executive that the .308 is one
Winchester.
[13]
of Normas best-selling calibers.
In Africa the .308 Win is one of the most popular calibers among Bushveld hunters and is used on anything
from Duiker right up to the massive Eland (a small and
large African antelope respectively). Proponents of the
hydrostatic shock theory contend that the .308 Winchester has sucient energy to impart hydrostatic shock
to living targets when rapidly expanding bullets deliver
a high rate of energy transfer.[2][4][14][15]

.243 Winchester

The .308 Winchester has slightly more drop at long range

than the .30-06 Springeld, owing to its slightly lower
(100 ft/s) muzzle velocity with most bullet weights. Cartridges with signicantly higher muzzle velocities, such
as the .300 Winchester Magnum can have signicantly
less drop at long range.

.358 Winchester

Trajectory comparisons between .308 Winchester,

.30-06 Springeld, and .300 Winchester Magnum[1]
Ultra-high speed photo of a 150 grain FMJ .308
Winchester bullet photographed with an air-gap
ash.
1. ^ Litz, Brian.

.260 Remington
7mm-08 Remington
7.6251mm NATO
.338 Federal

4 See also
.30 RAR
Delta L problem
Hydrostatic shock
List of rearms
List of rie cartridges
Table of handgun and rie cartridges
Sectional density

As a parent case
5 References
[1] Simpson, Layne (February 2000). The 20th Centurys
Top Rie Cartridge. Archived from the original on 14
May 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-06.
[2] Chamberlin FT, Gun Shot Wounds, in Handbook for
Shooters and Reloaders, Vol. II, Ackley PO, ed., Plaza
Publishing, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1966.
[3] Courtney A, Courtney M: Links between traumatic brain
injury and ballistic pressure waves originating in the thoracic cavity and extremities. Brain Injury 21(7): 657-662,
2007. arXiv:0808.1443
[4] Scientic
Evidence
arXiv:0803.3051

From left to right 9.362mm, .30-06 Springeld, 7.9257mm

Mauser, 6.555mm and .308 Winchester cartridges. The
7.6251mm NATO (not pictured) is similar in appearance to the
.308 Winchester.

Several more cartridges have been developed using the

.308 Winchester as a parent case, some becoming very

for

Hydrostatic

Shock

[5] 7.6251mm NATO or 308 Winchester?

[6] SAAMI Unsafe Arms and Ammunition Combinations
[7] Hornady Handbook of Cartridge Reloading, Fourth Edition, 1991, Hornady Manufacturing Company, Grand Island, NE.

[8] Nosler Reloading Guide Number Four, 1996, Nosler, Inc.,

Bend OR.
[9] C.I.P. TDCC sheet .308 Winchester
[10] Speer Reloading Manual Number 12, 1994, Blount, Inc.,
Lewiston, ID.
[11] Popular Sporting Rie Cartridges DBI Books, 1984.
[12] The 20th Centurys Top Rie Cartridge, Shooting Times,
Feb. 2000. Accessed online Dec. 31, 2012. The top
rie cartridge in the century, he says, is the .30-06.
[13] Best Sellers, RieShooter, Jan.Feb. 2013.
[14] Sturtevant B, Shock Wave Eects in Biomechanics, Sadhana, 23: 579-596, 1998.
[15] Suneson A, Hansson HA, Seeman T: Pressure Wave Injuries to the Nervous System Caused by High Energy Missile Extremity Impact: Part I. Local and Distant Eects
on the Peripheral Nervous System. A Light and Electron Microscopic Study on Pigs. The Journal of Trauma.
30(3):281294; 1990.

C.I.P. decisions, texts and tables (free current C.I.P.

CD-ROM version download (ZIP and RAR format))

External links
Ultra-high speed .308 photos amateur high speed
photography
.308 Winchester Cartridge Guide by AccurateShooter.com
.308 Videos by StoppingPower.Info

7 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

7.1

Text

.308 Winchester Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.308_Winchester?oldid=665761740 Contributors: William Avery, Riddley, Alan

Liefting, Somercet, DocWatson42, Crimson30, Tom harrison, Ds13, Karl Dickman, AliveFreeHappy, Smalljim, Merope, Alansohn,
L33th4x0rguy, Alvis, D.E. Watters, Raygun, Dmol, GregorB, Vegaswikian, SiriusB, BjKa, Jhnmdahl, Kirill Lokshin, Joel7687, Shotgunlee,
Htmlguru4242, Asams10, Curpsbot-unicodify, Ilmari Karonen, Some guy,
robot, TravisTX, SmackBot, Deon Steyn, Boris Barowski,
Droll, KnowBuddy, Swatjester, LWF, Joergens.mi, Andkore, Hga, Overmind 900, Fnlayson, Flowerpotman, Aldis90, Thijs!bot, Wikid77,
Headbomb, Marek69, JAnDbot, MER-C, Kacela, Robsavoie, Magioladitis, Thernlund, Eastsidehastings, Gregth98, Glrx, Rocketmaniac,
Kchilton, DanMP5, 2help, Hunter2506, Rantingmadhare, EcoRover, Hammersoft, Thomas.W, Alexandria, DragonLord, Cremepu222,
Scoop100, Njn, SQL, Onetruepatriot, Francis Flinch, Koalorka, Why Not A Duck, Solicitr, Koolkoolwiki, SheepNotGoats, CutOTies,
Michael Courtney, ZH Evers, Aleksandrit, Msjayhawk, ImageRemovalBot, Malis-cs, ClueBot, Phoenix-wiki, Hutcher, Alexbot, John
Nevard, NuclearWarfare, Cglabe, Good308, Cryptk, BlueDevil, Mark the hunter, Addbot, Magus732, Luckas-bot, Yobot, GB fan, GrouchoBot, GainLine, Surv1v4l1st, Uzz75, CaboverPete, Freebird85, Gene1200, 777sms, DeusImperator, ROG5728, DASHBot, Ncsr11,
Faceless Enemy, Ashley32407, ZroBot, Kyle Jewell, 3006fan, Quake44, ClueBot NG, Core10117, Tsonwiki, Sabre ball, Mark Arsten,
Ballistic studies, Lugnuthemvar, ZoomNoodle77 and Anonymous: 101

7.2

Images

File:250_Savage.JPG Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/250_Savage.JPG License: Public domain Contributors: Own work Original artist: Ryan D. Larson
File:308_Winchester.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/03/308_Winchester.jpg License: CC BY-SA 3.0
Contributors: Own work Original artist: AliveFreeHappy
File:9.3X62-30-06-8X57-6.5X55-308.JPG Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/53/9.3X62-30-06-8X57-6.
5X55-308.JPG License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: Transferred from en.wikipedia Original artist: Original uploader was Kalashnikov at
en.wikipedia
File:Cartridge_308.PNG Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/Cartridge_308.PNG License: Public domain
Contributors:
.308_Winchester.jpg Original artist: .308_Winchester.jpg: Francis Flinch at en.wikipedia
File:Commons-logo.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg License: ? Contributors: ? Original
artist: ?
File:Game_Class_vs_6_inch_Maximum_Point_Blank_Range_of_some_cartridges_in_the_308_Winchester_Family.png Source:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/Game_Class_vs_6_inch_Maximum_Point_Blank_Range_of_some_cartridges_
in_the_308_Winchester_Family.png License: CC BY-SA 4.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: ZoomNoodle Pty Ltd
File:Sectional_Density_vs_Ballistic_Coefficient_of_some_projectiles_of_the_308_Winchester_Family.png
Source:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2d/Sectional_Density_vs_Ballistic_Coefficient_of_some_projectiles_of_the_
308_Winchester_Family.png License: CC BY-SA 4.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: ZoomNoodle Pty Ltd
File:Winchester_Repeating_Arms_Company_advertisement,_1898.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/
3/3f/Winchester_Repeating_Arms_Company_advertisement%2C_1898.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: Google Books - (1898).
"Advertisements". The American Monthly Review of Reviews: p. 49. New York: The Review of Reviews Co.. Original artist: Unknown

7.3

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