This cartridge was developed by the Ordnance 
Dept. of the U.S. Army in the 1940's through 50's 
under the name T-65.  After extensive testing, it 
was to become the first NATO-adopted standard 
cartridge, the 7.62mm NATO, or 7.62x51mm NATO 
cartridge.

    Winchester requested and received permission 
to introduce the cartridge commercially as the 
.308 Winchester.  The result has been worldwide 
acceptance in a range of sporting firearms.

    The military endeavor was to improve upon 
the .30-06 Springfield round, which had been in 
service since 1906 (or 1903 if one considers it's 
real origin as the .30-03).  The result was a 
round of substantially less weight and size, 
while retaining the same bore diameter as well as 
only a negligible drop in ballistics (muzzle
velocity was within 100 fps of the larger round).

    The .308 has been neck-sized successfully to 
a variety of commercial calibers.  These include 
the .243 Winchester, the 7mm-08 Remington and the 
.358 Winchester.  All are excellent choices for 
short-action rifles, covering a wide-range of 
applications.