.308 / 7.62mm

.308 Winchester / 7.62×51mm NATO

History & Design Intent

Winchester introduced the .308 commercially in 1952, just ahead of its military sibling, the 7.62×51mm NATO, adopted in 1954. The pair shortened the long-action .30-06 case while retaining nearly its full performance, enabling more compact actions and reliable function in the new generation of self-loading battle rifles.

Operational Profile

A 150–180 grain bullet at roughly 2,600–2,800 fps makes the .308 a true all-rounder: accurate enough for designated-marksman and precision work, powerful enough for most North American big game, and ubiquitous enough to feed countless bolt-action and semi-auto platforms worldwide.