This Winchester has a 1 -12.5 inch twist. What grain / brand bullet does aldeer suggest I start out with ?

You would think 150gr and lighter. Not sure I would try anything heavier than 165gr

I would try 150 gr bullets. You may find a 165 flat base bullet that will stabilize but I doubt that any sleek boattail 165 grainers will.

I ordered some 130 barnes ttsx. We will see

Should be able to shoot 168’s and lower through it
I have a 308 with 1/11 twist and it shoots the 178 ELDX very well

Pretty slow twist. I would stay 150 and lower. Lots of guys saying good things about 120/130gr out of .308.

May try 150 ballistic tips too

edit ... i got some 125 ballistic tips on the way

Think the 147gr was the standard grain weight for the 308 NATO.

Want accuracy? Try some 155 Scenars. They do really well out of a wide variety of twist I hear.

Jason

Went to the range today. Dropped 3 150gr SST’s into a 3/8” group at 100 yards then rang the plate at 515yards. This was handloads using 44.5gr of varget with coal from the book.

The130 grain triple shocks are in. Still waiting on the 125 grain ballistic tips.

Don't discount the 125 ballistic tips outta the 308. My son and I have hunting loads with them and they perform well.

What kind of velocity are ya'll pushing ? I want good velocity but not to the point of bullet failure.

I haven't chronographed the loads. Kiss of death to quote published data rather than actual velocities, but it should be in the high 2700s. I'm not hunting anywhere to get over 150 yd shots, so it wasn't important to me to squeeze velocity. My son's 308 hunting round was a reduced load, that should've been equivalent to a hot 30-30. He killed a monster 11-pointer a couple of years ago with it. 60-ish yards, the deer fell in his tracks. Most folks I know think that 125s are strictly for varmints... but they strike like Thor's hammer.

Also, a 1:12 barrel 308 rifle I used to own shot 150s, 165s 168s, and 175s well. Especially the 168 tipped matchkings. Shot them out to 1000 yds just fine

this helps. I'm a little leary of pushing the 126 BT over 2900. But there really isn't a need in it anyhow