Ammunition: caliber .300 Win. Mag.

Caliber .300 Win. Mag. - cartridge for military and hunting rifles. It is very popular nowadays. The name is a shorthand version of the .300 Winchester Magnum.

Creature

The American company "Winchester" developed this cartridge for hunting purposes as early as 1963. Based on the British analogue of H & H. This munition has already become the fourth creation of a characteristic form: with a small gusset-like thickening of the sleeve in the region of the bottom.

In general, the very idea of creating hunting cartridges of a powerful caliber for aimed shooting was developed thanks to the appearance of ammunition for a safari in Africa. A special place in the evolutionary chain was the .300 Win caliber. Mag. Along with .223 Remington, 3 0-06 Springfield and .308 Winchester.

Market battles

The Western world of the 1960s and 1970s can be described as an arms race among medium calibers. At first the already well-established Magnum cartridges of Remington managed to maintain a stable leading position in the market, until they were replaced by the two Magnum class developed by Roy Wetherby: 338-378 Weatherby Magnum and 224 Weatherby Varmintmaster.

The race continues the already mentioned company "Winchester" with the caliber displayed for sale. 300 Winchester Magnum. This is where the same ammunition, which has gained worldwide popularity, appears.

After five years, Remington Arms Company will try to outdo it with a .350 Remington Magnum cartridge, due to the commercial activity of which the interest to Magnum-type belt cartridges has slightly decreased.

But this again increased with the appearance in the 70's of A-Square, which introduced new bullets and calibers to the world: 500, 416, 495 and 460. The company remained the leader on the international market for three decades. Their ammunition was characterized by a specific form: a bullet with a blunt (almost rounded) end and a large mass of 32 grams. It was intended for a very large African game. The hunting cartridge was named Triad.

Weapons for hunting: smoothbore and not only

The famous "three hundred" got popularity also thanks to rifles, which were produced specially for him. Such as the "Winchester Gun" of the 70th and 700th models. This cartridge was used mainly in hunting animals weighing up to 300-500 kg (deer, wild boar, elk or bear).

As for African safaris, it was mainly used for antelopes and large predators like crocodiles and leopards. And also the caliber .300 Win. Mag. Has proven itself in the mountains, where mostly shots are produced over long distances.

A bullet of 7.62 caliber and a large-size cartridge shell together constitute the mentioned "Magnum" ammunition. This combination helps achieve an initial velocity of about 1000 m / s. If to compare with classical analogues of the same caliber, Win. Mag. Has a number of advantages: a large indicator of accuracy of shooting and with a direct shot the bullet flies much further.

Any modern weapon for hunting (smooth-bore or not) produced by such well-known firms as Mauser, Winchester, Remington, Browning (and not only) is suitable for using the .300 Win caliber. Mag.

.300 Winchester Magnum for the Navy

Despite the obvious commercial orientation in the production of ammunition, the cartridge has gained popularity in the sniper units of the army, internal troops and special services of the United States of America and many other countries.

Initially, the out-of-date caliber of 7 mm from Remington smoothly came out of service. Around the 1980s, the US Navy aimed to supply a new caliber of ammunition, which could be used for both combat operations and sporting events. It was necessary to replace the irrelevant samples with a more powerful and modern ammunition meeting all the requirements and needs of the customer.

Since the cartridge already had a wide distribution at that time (which means it was not difficult to get it), the rifles of the necessary caliber could easily be used for combat purposes, the .300 Win caliber was chosen . Mag. (In mm is 7.62 x 66 according to the European Cartrige Research Association). Also, a significant role played by the fact that the samples were already used in competitions and well-proven.

In view of the above, at the same time, two military departments of the Navy (special detachments of the Marine Corps and teams participating in shooting competitions) had an interest in a new patron.

"Bullet" experiments

In order to save money, rifle cartridges were developed by the same model for both departments. » и М86, а также «Ремингтон 700». As weapons were selected rifles "McMillan M83 " and M86, as well as "Remington 700".

It was decided to make a round of cartridges. 300 Win. Mag. With sports bullets such as HPBT weighing 11 grams and gunpowder Rp15. The task was undertaken by the Federal Cartridge Company. In 1988, tests showed unsatisfactory results: at long distances, ammunition did not behave very stably.

Then they decided to re-equip a part of the supplies with bullets a little heavier - almost 12 grams (185 grams, to be more exact, the gran is an out-of-date term denoting a mass equal to the average barley grain). The results were encouraging. But later, when more extensive tests were carried out, the accuracy indicators did not satisfy the evaluation commission, despite the high initial speed and range of the shot.

Further research

By the late 1980s, specialists from the US Navy came to the conclusion that a small cavity in the nose of the HPBT bullet does not lead to an increase in the inlet and changes the ballistic indicators for the better. And already in the early nineties sports cartridges 7.62 with a 10-gram bullet were officially admitted to use by snipers in combat operations.

Further development of the cartridge was already based on the accepted sports model, but with a 12-gram bullet. The types of propellant mixtures that have most successfully manifested themselves are Re22 and Re19. New experimental rifle cartridges. 300 Win. Mag. Successfully passed the tests, and the requirements for them became the basis for the new weapons specification.

Together with Federal in 1992, an agreement was concluded for the production of several batches of new ammunition, and a year later the new .300 Win caliber. Mag. Was adopted by the special forces of the US Navy. The resulting model of the ammunition was labeled Mk 248 Mod 0.

And that is all?

But the indefatigable "researchers" did not stop there. During the improvement of the model, the range of the bullet flight was increased from 1100 to 1370 meters. The best resistance to wind gusts and greater stability of the behavior of the powder charge during ignition were also provided. As a result - a smaller amount of flame when making a shot from a rifle.

As a result, a munition with a bullet of 14 grams (220 grams), caliber, was withdrawn. 300 Win. Mag., And the model was called Mk 248 Mod 1 - by analogy with the previous sample.

The sports side of the question

The development of match patrons was seriously worried in the early 1960s by President Eisenhower, since in international competitions the leading positions were occupied by arrows from the USSR. Therefore, the task was set to create a detachment of best shooters. The initiative gave the result very quickly - the US team won about six gold medals.

Time passed, and gradually the tasks of the "squad of the best shooters" changed. It was decided to train military units sniper shooting. Later, there was direct participation in the development of the strategy of combat and individual weapons.

The development of cartridges for such detachments was first carried out by Winchester and Remington. Many experimental modifications were made both officially by the companies themselves and by handicraft methods. But in the end the initiative was taken over by the already well- calibrated .300 Win caliber. Mag. With sports bullets of mass production.

Bundeswehr

For the arsenal of the German troops caliber .300 Win. Mag. Entered the year 1997 together with rifles G22 of British manufacture.

The Bundeswehr has two types of ammunition of the specified caliber:

• Cartridges ordinary with a bullet weighing 13 grams;
• Armor piercing with a bullet weighing 12.8 grams, having a tungsten core.

In the arsenal of the forces of law and order there are cartridges with an all-metal bullet of 10 grams of mass intended for firing through the glass. Due to its special form, the projectile does not lose combat properties after passing through the glass and is not deformed.

The triad from A-Square

It is necessary to dwell in more detail on this American firm, which became famous for the unusual shape of produced cartridges for both the Winchester carbine and the hunting rifle of any other company.

The main ideologist, founder and developer of the ammunition line is Lieutenant Colonel of the US Army Arthur Elfin. Being a highly skilled military specialist, Arthur decided to postpone his experimental activities to create unique ammunition from the military sphere to hunting.

Attempts to create their own exclusive cartridges for hunting began back in the late 1960s. And in ten years the officer created his own patron company.

The ruler of ammunition was called "Triad", since three types were produced:

• Blunt bullet made of solid brass (Monolithic Solid);
• Half-dead (Dead-Tough) with a thick brass coating;
• Bullets with a thin shell (Lion Load).

The main goals pursued by the developer are the creation of a heavy hunting ammunition capable of penetrating the dense muscle tissues of large prey when firing at a distance of 200 to 300 meters.

The Monolithic Solid bullet was created from the calculation of damage to vital organs located under tight muscular tissues, strong bones and thick skin, animals such as buffalo, rhinoceros or even an elephant. The Winchester gun, equipped with such bullets, was called "Elephant".

The Dead-Tough type of submunition provides both a qualitative penetration of the game's skin, as well as the opening of the bullet already inside. Designed for deer and antelope.

The name Lion Load speaks for itself - for hunting animals with a thin skin - lions, leopards and other predators from the family of felines.

The company offered a wide range of products for hunting. As the bullets are separate from the shells, and ready-made assembled ammunition. The latter, in turn, for many years underwent a number of modifications.

Soon, A-Square started to produce their own range of hunting rifles, based on the carbine and the Winchester gun. Of course, everything was produced under the company's manufacturer cartridge.

Over time, the range of cartridges has expanded to more than 40 models. The company introduced the latest novelty in 2004 - the Magnum-type cartridge .400 A-Square DPM.

Due to financial difficulties, in 2011 the company ceased to exist, leaving its indelible mark in history.

Conclusion

In general, it is worth noting that in modern mass culture, the word "Magnum" means a pistol of a revolver type from Smith & Wesson for a 500-gauge cartridge or "Colt Python" caliber 357. More rarely - Desert Eagle, which received the shortened name "Digl".

So, in the Russian TV series "SOBR", the agent sent to the warehouse for terrorists asks the warehouse manager: "Does Magnum have?", Which is answered: "Magnum is big, uncomfortable, it's hard to hide under the jacket. There is no ".

Of course, we are not talking about patrons of the "Magnum" type.

It is difficult to determine where this word was first used. It is known that the term MAGNUM labeled large containers with wine at the end of the XVIII century (from the Latin Magnus - great, large). And also in the world of music the masterpieces of composers were denoted by the term magnum opus, in order to emphasize the elevation and creative greatness of the composed work.

Only in the XIX century in the world of weapons first came up with this term for large caliber ammunition. As a consequence, the .300 Win cartridge appeared. Mag.