Out of the 4 recording I made, only two frames contained muzzle flash. Using one of the many bullet drop calculators available on various ammunition manufacturer websites, we can measure different bullets and distances easily. .32 Winchester Special, .308 Winchester (7.62mm NATO), .38-55 Winchester, .243 Winchester, .300 Remington Short Action Ultra Magnum, .25-35 Winchester, 7.82mm (.308) Lazzeroni Patriot, .260 Remington, .307 Winchester, 6.17mm (.243) Lazzeroni Spitfire, .356 Winchester, 6.71mm (.264) Lazzeroni Phantom, .30-30 Winchester, 7mm-08 Remington, 7mm Remington Short Action Ultra Magnum. I only had enough ammunition and time to test five rounds at each barrel length. Cartridge casings are most often made of brass due to its elasticity and plasticity. I bought a quart. ALL Bulletin content is copyrighted, 2023 AccurateShooter.com. The latter has nearly twice the propellant, and is therefore better able to fell very distant game. I offered to let him shoot it. Its global proliferation in big game hunting rifles is matched by few other cartridges. Test Barrel Lost 22.7 FPS Per Inch (.308 Win Chambering) 7.62 NATO (a.k.a., 7.62x51mm) and .308 Winchester are two very common rifle cartridges commonly used by U.S. service members and civilians. The following is a 1000 yard .308 ballistic chart that was created using our free online ballistic calculator and details all aspects of the bullets trajectory from the millisecond it leaves the barrel until the time it reaches the 1,000 yd mark. _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); I did not control for barrel temperature. DPX: Federal 240 gr. By ammo type, the average loss per inch was: 24.6 (Win 147 FMJ), 22.8 (IMI 150 FMJ), 20.9 (Fed GMM 168gr), and 22.5 (Win 180PP). The most significant decrease in barrel length occurred when the barrel was cut from 8 to 7. which was specifically designed for long-range target shooting. This allows it to keep a supersonic muzzle velocity at 1,000 yards. This weight is more appropriate for whitetail deer and other small-medium sized game. This project, and all of its results, is only our fault. The accuracy of the predicted MVs is more than 99% accurate without tuning the simulator for a given rifle. The .308 Winchester round shoots pretty flat out to 200 yards when it starts to drop. In the spirit of my last two posts on empirical data of barrel length and velocity,223 Remington/5.56 NATO, velocity versus barrel length: A man, his chop box and his friends rifleand300 Winchester Magnum: How Does Barrel Length Change Velocity- A 16 300 Win Mag?, I built a custom rifle on a Remington 700 short action to cut back its barrel one inch at a time and measure the velocity with four different types of ammunition. Compare the above rates of loss to those found in308 Winchester / 7.62x51mm NATO: Barrel Length versus Velocity (28 to 16.5), where the Winchester 147 grain FMJ averaged 24.6 feet/second per inch of barrel, IMI 150 grain FMJ averaged 22.8 feet/second per inch of barrel, Federal 168 grain Gold Medal averaged 20.9 feet/second per inch of barrel and the Winchester 180 grain Power-Point 22.5 feet/second per inch of barrel. Ive found this makes cutting the barrel and mounting the MagnetoSpeed easier. He provides Task & Purpose readers with coverage of the best EDC and outdoor gear, although he has been known to write how-to articles and a few other goodies from time to time. rifle, you should be fine firing any modern commercial .308 Win. When we cut our 6mmBR barrel down from 33 to 28, we only lost about 8 FPS per inch. 300 Winchester Magnum: How Does Barrel Length Change Velocity- A 16 300 Win Mag? The small sample size is always an issue. Velocity loss can be more extreme with shorter barrel lengths (and bigger cartridges). We did all the work. data page, and a link to a muzzle energy graph on each caliber page. In the second post below, youll see some outstanding 500 yard targets that I shot with the rifle. The rifle was chambered with a SAAMI specification 308 Winchester reamer made by Dave Manson. For another measure of bullet power, some people prefer to use Muzzle Energy . With modern materials and powders, it would be great to see whether a 300 Win Mag on a short barrel could be made to group out to 1000 yards. Anyone who uses our data owes him They were fairly close. Take this into consideration when comparing calibers using our This explains why most civilian firearms skip the NATO rounds in favor of Winchesters big moneymaker. Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Service. If the stop mechanism binds in the narrow [], Precision rifle competitions seem to be rapidly expanding in popularity. The testers observed: "The Berger Reloading manual says for the 308 Winchester, 'muzzle velocity will increase (or decrease) by approximately 20 fps per inch from a standard 24 barrel'." How the Test Was Done The testers described their procedure as follows: "Ballistic data was gathered using a Magnetospeed barrel mounted ballistic chronograph. He declined. For instance, the Berger Reloading manual says for the 308 Winchester, muzzle velocity will increase (or decrease) by approximately 20 fps per inch from a standard 24 barrel. I had a 34 Border on my Palma rifle for a time. Barrel length in inches versus Muzzle velocity for Winchester 147 Grain FMJ, Barrel length in inches versus Muzzle velocity forIMI Samson 7.62mm 150 Grain FMJ, Barrel length in inches versus Muzzle velocity for Federal Gold Medal 168 Grain Match BTHP, Barrel length in inches versus Muzzle velocity for Winchester 180 Grain Power-Point Ammunition. Create Your Free Custom Ballistic Report Liked this? Average velocity loss from 28 to 16.5, was 24.6 ft/sec per inch for the Winchester 147 grain FMJ, 22.8 ft/sec per inch for the IMI Samson 150 grain FMJ, 20.9 ft/sec for the Federal Gold Medal 168 grain BTHP per inch, and 22.5 ft/sec per inch for the Winchester Super-X 180 grain Power-Point. 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; No, and yes. var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); When cutting a 308 Winchester barrel from 26 to 20, he claims a gunsmith found that a 20-inch barrel provides for a complete propellant burn and no velocity loss when using Federal Match 168-grain BTHP. Coming out of the muzzle, it maintains speeds around 2,750 to 2,800 fps. data for your own use. The cartridges bullet is seated inside the top rim of the case (called the neck), and the primer is seated in a recess at the bottom of the case. This chart shows velocity changes for all four ammo varieties: Summary of Findings: By using the same barrel, I controlled for bore size, chamber, and headspace- all of which will impact velocity. If your .308 isn't close to these specs, or if you are a sniper or into long range shots you may want to take this a step further and use our ballistic calculator to create a custom .308 ballistic chart to take into account variances. Furthermore, the The trigger releases the firing pin which strikes the primer on a chambered cartridge which in turn ignites the propellant. This is how semi-auto Do you see any use for a 10 308 Winchester? The chops tests ranged in barrel length from 18" down to 3". When youre at the range or in the field, always make sure to keep a tourniquet and other critical medical gear on hand. When you switch this out with a .308 Winchester round, the increased pressure, thinner walls, and extra space around the cartridge have the potential to cause the case to expand past its point of maximum elasticity. The muzzle blast from the short barrel eroded away some of the chassis! Time. Velocity loss per inch of barrel was .6 ft/sec away (22.8 ft/sec)from the value calculated with 5 shot strings. If they did, I would have noticed the first round fired for every barrel length slower then the subsequent rounds. Yes, I did for the 223 post. The chamber is the portion of the firearm which hosts the cartridge prior to the firearm being fired. The answer may surprise you. Ive shot a lot of different firearms in my life and this wasnt pleasant. This was the same pistol I used to test the short barrel 223 Remington ammunition is in223 Remington/5.56mm NATO Barrel length versus Velocity- Short Barrels- 6 to 14 inches. This calculator will produce a ballistic trajectory chart that shows the bullet drop, bullet energy, windage, and velocity. This bullet weight, in frangible form, is favored by snipers, police marksmen and long range hunters. All these details have been generated using our . While there are flatter shooting and more powerful cartridges on the market (many of which are based on the 308 Winchester), the 308 Winchester fits the bill for most applications- plus factory rifles and ammunition are readily available. 308 Winchester/ 7.62x51mm NATO Comparison of velocity data. Tolerance is the acceptable degree of variance a manufacturer will allow for a product to meet quality standards. Besides the time, I havent noticed any burrs (real or imagined) left by the saw affecting the velocity of the bullets. While you can get close estimates to anticipated velocities by examining anecdotal accounts from different shooters and looking over load manuals, the data gathered in an actual experiment provides a baseline that can help inform your decision making process. Or not. Last week I found out Cerakote has a color called USMC Red. Looking for a two-minute summary of the differences between 7.62x51mm NATO and .308 Winchester? Stir crazy, I couldnt wait to get outside. The Federal Gold Medal 168 grain BTHP is ubiquitousin match and law enforcement usearound the world (I wasnt able to get enough 175 grain Gold Medal for the test). I think he may be misquoting his source. The rifle used to record data from 26 to 16.5 inches (above). Some say they are the same caliber, while others warn of an exploding rifle if you use the wrong cartridge in the wrong chamber. If you think that you discover an error (perhaps a typo) in the data, just drop us a It is outside the scope of this post. This could have some potentially expensive consequences. In the following cases, Winchester 147 grain FMJ 12, Federal 168 grain Gold Medal 12 and 9, and Winchester 180 grain Power-Point 11, the chronograph only recorded 4 shots of the five shot string. Me on the other hand, Ive spent the last 18 years trying to find that fine line between hard and stupid my Platoon Sergeant used to talk about. calibers/cartridges + First, lets talk about pressure. The forearm was removed after the first string to allow access to the saw. This results in a 7.62 case that is ever so . For more information on headspace, check out Oleg Volks excellent write-up at Cheaper Than Dirt. The .308 Winchester as a hunting round is great for deer, mule deer, elk, black bear, and nuisance animals like wild hogs. numbers. If you were paying attention in Mr. Rentons chemistry class, youd remember that when things burn, they create heat and hot gasses. Is the reverse possible? .308 Win Barrel Cut-Down Test: Velocity vs. Barrel Length, .308 Win Barrel Chop Test: How Velocity Changes with Length, RifleShooter.com .308 Win Barrel Cut-Down Velocity Test, Surprising Results in .223 Rem Barrel Cut-Down Velocity Test, .223 Rem Velocity by Barrel Length Cut-Down Test Results. The 6.5 Grendel's common 123 grain bullet offers a muzzle velocity of 2,580 fps, muzzle energy of 1,818 ft lbs, and ballistic coefficient of 0.506. In the good old days of Precision Shooting magazine (how we miss you! . In the next frame you can see the gun recoiling (below). While the .30-06 was again proving itself in Korea, the Army experimented with a variant of the .300 Savage that is designated the T65. 0. data is provided purely for entertainment purposes - to better facilitate arguments If you have a modern .308 Win. The barrel length for a 308 can be anywhere from 16 to 24 inches, while the barrel length for a AK-47 in caliber is typically 16 inches. This was an average decrease of 60.7 feet/second per inch of barrel length. You would gain more by using a higher BC bullet like a Scenar, and/or running a little higher chamber pressure. Yards when it starts to drop USMC Red and velocity ], Precision competitions. The velocity of the differences between 7.62x51mm NATO and.308 Winchester round shoots pretty flat to. Arguments if you have a modern.308 Win 7.62 case that is so... 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