The .308 Winchester is one of the most popular 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 large-sized class.
In North America it is used extensively on whitetail deer, pronghorn and even the occasional caribou or black bear.

Clay Harvey, an American gun writer, said it is usable on moose and elk.
Layne Simpson, an American who has hunted in Sweden, said he is surprised how many hunters there used the cartridge.
Craig Boddington was told by a Norma Precision executive that the .308 Winchester was one of Norma's best-selling calibers.

In Africa the .308 Winchester 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 sufficient energy to impart hydrostatic shock to living targets when rapidly expanding bullets deliver a high rate of energy transfer.

While .308 Winchester has traditionally been the most popular cartridge in the past, the development of lighter recoil chamberings with sufficient downrange energy, like the 7mm-08 Remington, .260 Remington, and 6.5 Creedmoor, is becoming more common for metallic silhouette shooting.

PALMA shooting is a variant of full bore target shooting done with a bolt action rifle chambered in 7.62x51mm NATO/.308 Winchester firing match grade 155 grain bullets and using micrometer aperture iron sights out to 1,000 yards.

F-class is a variant of fullbore target rifle which permits optical telescopic sights and shooting rests at the front and rear, such as a bipod or bags.
Competitions are fired at distances between 300 and 1,200 meters (or yards), and the targets are half the size of those used in traditional Palma shooting.
Based on equipment, competitors can choose to compete in one of the two classes, open and standard:
F-TR ("target", standard class): A restricted class which permits a scope, bipod, backpack and rear bag (no front rest), the caliber has to be either .223 Remington or .308 Winchester.
In addition, the weight limit including optics is 8.25 kg (18.15 lbs).

The .308 Winchester has slightly more drop at long range than the .30-06 Springfield, owing to its slightly lower (around 30 metres per second (100 ft/s)) muzzle velocity with most bullet weights.
 Cartridges with significantly higher muzzle velocities, such as the .300 Winchester Magnum can have significantly less drop at long range, but much higher recoil.
The .308 Winchester is one of the most popular 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 large-sized class. In North America it is used extensively on whitetail deer, pronghorn and even the occasional caribou or black bear.
Clay Harvey, an American gun writer, said it is usable on moose and elk. Layne Simpson, an American who has hunted in Sweden, said he is surprised how many hunters there used the cartridge. Craig Boddington was told by a Norma Precision executive that the .308 Winchester was one of Norma's best-selling calibers.
In Africa the .308 Winchester 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 sufficient energy to impart hydrostatic shock to living targets when rapidly expanding bullets deliver a high rate of energy transfer.
While .308 Winchester has traditionally been the most popular cartridge in the past, the development of lighter recoil chamberings with sufficient downrange energy, like the 7mm-08 Remington, .260 Remington, and 6.5 Creedmoor, is becoming more common for metallic silhouette shooting.
PALMA shooting is a variant of full bore target shooting done with a bolt action rifle chambered in 7.62x51mm NATO/.308 Winchester firing match grade 155 grain bullets and using micrometer aperture iron sights out to 1,000 yards.
F-class is a variant of fullbore target rifle which permits optical telescopic sights and shooting rests at the front and rear, such as a bipod or bags. Competitions are fired at distances between 300 and 1,200 meters (or yards), and the targets are half the size of those used in traditional Palma shooting. Based on equipment, competitors can choose to compete in one of the two classes, open and standard:
F-TR ("target", standard class): A restricted class which permits a scope, bipod, backpack and rear bag (no front rest), the caliber has to be either .223 Remington or .308 Winchester. In addition, the weight limit including optics is 8.25 kg (18.15 lbs).
The .308 Winchester has slightly more drop at long range than the .30-06 Springfield, owing to its slightly lower (around 30 metres per second (100 ft/s)) muzzle velocity with most bullet weights.  Cartridges with significantly higher muzzle velocities, such as the .300 Winchester Magnum can have significantly less drop at long range, but much higher recoil.
.308 Winchester