Modern rifles cartridges have an intricate history. You’ll find each of the cartridges listed here has a number of unique features, and the particular design of each imparts its distinctive performance in the field.
22 Long Rifle
Horace Smith and Daniel Wesson designed the first successful 22 rimfire cartridge in 1857, after trying to adapt the French Flobert round to the Hunt-Jennings rifle, forerunner of the Henry. Essentially the 22 Short, Smith and Wesson’s 22 was made then much as it is now. A disc punched from sheet metal was drawn into a tube with a closed end. A rim was “bumped” onto that end and filled with fulminate of mercury. When the firing pin or hammer crushed the rim against the rear of the barrel, this priming ignited four grains of black powder.
Flobert’s round became the BB (Bullet Breech) Cap, with a 16-grain bullet for indoor shooting. The CB (Conical Bullet) Cap, circa 1888, had a pinch of powder and the 22 Short’s 29-grain bullet. The J. Stevens Arms & Tool Company introduced the 22 Long Rifle in 1887, its 40-grain bullet with over 5 grains of powder. The 22 Long is often assumed to be a hybrid: the Short bullet with the LR case. But the Long had appeared in 1871, much earlier than the LR and nine years before the 22 Extra Long, which held a grain more powder than the LR but would expire in 1935.
Semi-smokeless powder fueled 22 cartridges in the late 1880s, before giving way to smokeless. In 1914, the 22 Remington Automatic with a 45-grain inside-lubricated bullet (smaller than case diameter) fit Remington’s Model 16 rifle. The 22 Winchester Automatic for that company’s 1903 self-loader was similar. These rifles and cartridges faded during the Depression. The 22 Winchester Rimfire (WRF) and Remington’s interchangeable 22 Special were more powerful. In 1959, the 22 Winchester Magnum Rimfire (WMR) appeared, in a longer, stronger case than the 22 LR’s, and with jacketed 40-grain bullets loaded to 1,900 fps.
By far the most popular and useful .22 rimfire is the Long Rifle. High-speed loads, first made by Remington in 1930, now clock over 1,335 fps, to yield twice the punch of the Short’s and 60 percent more than the Long’s. Hunters favor hollowpoint loads for small game. Subsonic 22 Long Rifle match loads are very accurate, printing sub-1/4-inch groups at 50 meters.
Exhibition shooters have worked magic with ordinary 22 ammo. Ohio-born Phoebe Ann Moses was a prodigy, and at age 15 outshot visiting marksman Frank Butler. They wed. Later, as Annie Oakley in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, she shattered airborne glass balls, sent 25 bullets into one hole in 25 seconds, and shot cigarettes from the lips of volunteers.
Shooting for Winchester, Texan Ad Topperwein focused on aerial targets. Tilting a Model 63 22 autoloader ejection port up, he would fire, then hit the airborne case. In 1907, in San Antonio, he shot for 120 hours with Model 1903s at 72,000 tossed 2¼-inch wood blocks. He missed nine. That record stood until 1959, when Remington’s Tom Frye used Nylon 66 autos to hit 100,004 of 100,010 blocks.
223/5.56 NATO
In 1957, James Sullivan, ArmaLite’s Gene Stoner, and Bob Hutton at Guns & Ammo collaborated on a cartridge for a new ArmaLite combat rifle. Its case was slightly longer than that of Remington’s 222, a Benchrest champ since 1950. But the 223’s short neck gave it 20 percent more powder capacity. Its 55-grain bullet at 3,250 fps met the military spec for supersonic flight to 500 yards. Adopted in 1964 as the Army’s 5.56mm ball cartridge, M193, it served U.S. forces in Vietnam. NATO approval came in 1980, after the creation of a 62.5-grain SS109 boattail bullet by FN. Fast 1:7 rifling maintained accuracy. The U.S. Army called this load the M855. The 5.56x45 NATO has a 45mm case and a Small Rifle primer.
Case dimensions for 223 and 5.56 ammo are identical—each cartridge functions in barrels marked for the other. But the 223 is loaded to SAAMI (Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers Institute) pressure of 55,400 CUP (copper units of pressure). Service loads in 5.56x45 NATO generate 58,500.
Remington was first to offer sporting rifles in 223. For top accuracy with 50-grain bullets, these had 1:12 rifling, a short throat (free-bore), and a steep leade (land angle, groove to bore diameter) ahead of the chamber. Soldiers, however, prize reliability in harsh environs with dirty ammo and tracer bullets. Service-rifle chambers are forgiving, to keep 5.56 NATO loads from red-lining pressure during hot-barrel volleys. Bores for the 5.56 can have .125 more free-bore than those in 223.
Strong civilian demand for AR-15 rifles with 1:7 to 1:14 rifling has multiplied 223 and 5.56 loads—they’re not just for distant rodents and coyotes. Nosler’s 60-grain Partition and Federal’s 62-grain Trophy Bonded excel on deer. Black Hills Ammunition, which supplies troops with mil-spec 5.56, catalogs 15 .223 loads and eight 5.56. No centerfire 22 is more popular.
243 Winchester
Of 6mms, Field & Stream shooting editor Warren Page wrote in 1953 that he “wouldn’t fall over dead if sometime there were a commercial cartridge using that bullet.” There had been none stateside since the 6mm Lee Navy of 1895. Its stodgy 112-grain .236 bullets excited no one. Winchester’s 15,000 Lee rifles had been built under military contract.
After WWII, wildcatters designed better. Fred Huntington’s 243 Rockchucker on 257 Roberts brass pre-dated the sharp-shouldered 243 Page Pooper, fashioned with Remington’s Mike Walker on the 308 Winchester case.
The 243 Winchester, announced in 1955, was much like the Pooper, but with the 308’s original shoulder. Remington’s concurrent 244 on the Roberts case held a bit more powder, but in short actions required deeper bullet seating, erasing that edge. (As the tale goes, 243 loads were initially tested in 22-inch barrels, 6mms in 26-inch, and pressures held to 47,900 psi for the .243, versus 51,000 for the 6mm. Velocity spreads were thus exaggerated.) When loaded to 50,000 psi, these cartridges are peas in a pod.
An important early distinction: Factory-loaded 100-grain bullets were spun by 1:10 rifling in 243 barrels. The heaviest bullet in 244 loads weighed 90 grains, and the 1:12 rifling of 244 barrels was thought too slow for weightier missiles. Deer hunters chose the 243. In 1963, the 244 was renamed the 6mm Remington. Model 700 Remington rifles in 6mm had 1:9 twist.
During the 243’s first trials afield, it took 83 animals, mostly deer. Sixty dropped to the shot; 13 died within 200 yards. Now factory-loaded with bullets of 55 to 105 grains, the 243 is a civil cartridge that hurls bullets in flat arcs and can bring 1,000 foot-pounds out to 400 yards. In “walking varminters” and deer rifles, it’s a champ.
6.5mm Creedmoor
Since its 2008 debut, the 6.5mm Creedmoor, named after New York’s famous long-range rifle venue, has become the most popular rifle cartridge of its time. Hornady engineer Dave Emary collaborated with ace High Power shooter Dennis Demille to develop a round that, commercially loaded, would be “match-accurate and shoot as flat as the 308 but with less recoil.” They settled on a necked-down 30 T/C case, as it was shorter than the 308’s, and its shoulder set farther back. So designed, it would accept long, ballistically efficient bullets without deep seating in actions and magazines for the 308. Hornady’s Joe Thielen helped with the project. “Initially, the 6.5 Creedmoor drew tepid response,” said Emary “But hunting loads jump-started sales.” They’ve yet to level off.
At normal hunting ranges, the 6.5mm Creedmoor performs like the taller 270 Winchester. Hornady’s frothy Superformance loads bring 129-grain bullets within 50 fps of the 3,000 fps mark. At distance, the high ballistic coefficients of drift-resistant, Doppler-designed 140- to 143-grain 6.5mm bullets pull them past 130-grain 270 bullets that started faster. The 6.5mm Creedmoor fits short actions better than does the 6.5x55 Swedish, and handles long hunting and match bullets better than does Remington’s 260 on the 308 case. Modest recoil, even in lightweight rifles, and the accuracy and wind-bucking ability of Hornady (and now other) match loads impress Precision Rifles Series (PRS) shooters at ranges beyond 1,000 yards. Commercial hunting loads print match-worthy groups, send more than 1,400 foot-pounds past 400 yards, and take game as tough as elk.
The cartridge feeds smoothly from ordinary magazines in short actions. Even inexpensive rifles in 6.5mm Creedmoor have shot exceptional groups with standard 1:10 rifling.
270 Winchester
“Whoopee!” said Zefarino. “That’s the kind of rifle I like! One shot! How do you call it?”
“The .270,” I said.
So wrote Jack O’Connor after a Sonoran whitetail had “turned clear over in the air and hit like a bag of potatoes.” O’Connor’s tenure as Outdoor Life’s Shooting Editor gave his opinions great sway. But the 270 already had a lot going for it.
The 270 is essentially a necked-down 30-06, introduced in 1925 with Winchester’s Model 54 rifle. Hunters switching from lever- to bolt-actions were keen to extend their reach—without the recoil of the 30-06. A lighter, slimmer bullet with the ‘06’s tall fuel column made sense. But why .277-diameter? The .264 bullets of the 6.5x54 Mannlicher-Schoenauer excelled on game. So, too, .284s in the 7x57. Either option would have absolved Winchester of tooling up to make new barrels and bullets for one cartridge.
Perhaps, in the wake of WWI, the company wished to avoid Teutonic standbys.
Oddly, the 270 drew only modest mention from gurus of the gun rags. A full review in American Rifleman didn’t appear until 1927. O’Connor said his predecessor at Outdoor Life never wrote about it.
At a listed pressure of 65,000 psi, the 270 had spunk. Winchester’s 130-grain bullet at 3,140 fps sent a ton of smash to 200 yards. A 150-grain bullet followed in 1933. To mollify hunters whining of meat damage, Winchester throttled it to 2,675 fps. That load didn’t sell. A 100-grain bullet appeared in 1937.
That year, the 270 became a charter entry in the Model 54’s successor, the Model 70. Of 581,471 M70s in 18 chamberings before 1963, 122,323 were 270s. Only the 30-06 sold better. Since then, most sporting rifles in 30-06 have been listed in 270 as well. It’s still hugely popular. Standard rifling twist is 1:10.
30-30 Winchester
The advent of smokeless powders at the end of the 19th century inspired new rifle cartridges. The 30 WCF (Winchester Center Fire) was a four-year project. It and the 25-35 Winchester were the first smokeless hunting rounds factory-loaded in the U.S. In 1895, they debuted in the Model 1894 lever rifle announced a year earlier for the blackpowder 32-40 and 38-55. The 30 WCF’s 30 grains of powder drove a 160-grain “metal patch” bullet at 1,970 fps. Hence, its 30-30 moniker. Oddly, that label wouldn’t become official until after WWII—and a million and a half Model 1894 and 94 rifles.
To bottle the pressures of smokeless powder, Winchester paired its new 30 and 25 with its first nickel-steel barrels. From the start, 30 WCF bullets had metal jackets to prevent lead fouling in bores.
Marlin saw potential in the 30 WCF and within months chambered its Hepburn-designed 1893 rifle for it. The Union Metallic Cartridge Co. loaded ammo for Marlin, head-stamping it U.M.C./.30-30 S. Savage listed its 1895 and 1899 rifles in 30-30 too. After Winchester’s 1894 became the 94, Marlin’s 336 and Savage’s 99 also retained the 30-30. It became America’s deer cartridge.
U.M.C. offered a 170-grain 30-30 load in 1896. Late that year, Winchester fielded a Short Range 30 WCF load, the .30-6-100. Its 6-grain charge behind a 100-grain lead bullet killed small game neatly. Winchester upped that bullet weight to 117 grains in 1904, a year after it added a 170-grain soft-point load.
Initially, the .30 WCF used Small Rifle primers. The change to Large Rifle primers came in 1910.
Improved bullets and powders have given the 30-30 more punch and reach. The most significant advance came in 2006, when Hornady unveiled LeverEvolution loads with FlexTip (FTX) bullets. Tube-fed lever rifles had until then been limited to round- or flat-nose bullets, as pointed bullets resting nose-to-tail against primers in magazines could act like firing pins during the bounce of recoil. The FlexTip polymer is spongy and resilient. It flattens under sudden pressure but returns quickly to its aerodynamic shape. Powders in LeverEvolution ammo hiked velocities, too. Hornady’s 160-grain FTX bullet clocks 2,400 fps, roughly 200 fps faster than a 170-grain flat-nose. Downrange, that ballistic gap widens. At 250 yards, the FTX has half again as much energy as the flat-nose bullet.
300 Blackout
Introduced in 2011 by Advanced Armament Corp. (AAC), the 300 Blackout is known as the 300 BLK by SAAMI and 300 AAC Blackout by CIP, its European counterpart. It was developed for AR15-pattern rifles, and to fit M-16 magazines without reducing capacity. It met two other objectives: subsonic performance superior to that of the 9mm Luger, and a supersonic load that at least matches that of the 7.62x3. At 1.368 inches, the 300 Blackout case is nearly .4-inch shorter than the 223’s, but the two share a .378 rim and 2.260 overall length. Both use Small Rifle primers.
The 300 Whisper, designed by SSK’s J.D. Jones on the 221 Fireball case, is similar. Some 300 Whisper loads have been made to 300 Blackout specs. Loading dies can be identical. But 300 Blackout-labeled ammo must meet SAAMI specs in function as well as dimensions to earn service credentials for law enforcement and military arms, including M4 Carbines.
In supersonic form, the 300 Blackout can send 78-grain bullets at 2,960 fps and 90-grain bullets at 2,710 from 16-inch barrels. More common are 110-, 115-, and 125-grain loads. Subsonic 208- and 220-grain bullets clock about 1,000 fps. But they have a miser’s grip on velocity. A 220-grain Remington load leaving the muzzle at 940 fps is still moving 877 fps at 300 yards. The 300 Blackout is a champ in short barrels (down to 4½ inches) and likes 1:7 rifling.
Some bullets seated deep in a 300 Blackout case may allow the cartridge to enter a 223 chamber. Crimping, and attention to seating depth, can prevent this perilous condition. An ammunition mixup that brings a 30-caliber bullet into a 22 bore at 55,000 psi can leave the rifle and shooter in pieces.
Growing interest in suppressors (including AAC’s) and short AR rifles promises a bright future for the 300 Blackout.
308 Winchester
The idea for a short infantry cartridge with 30-06 punch resurfaced after the M1 Garand carried the U.S. through World War II. Dubbed the T-65 in development, the 308 leap-frogged military protocol to debut in Winchester hunting ammunition in 1952. Two years later, the Army adopted it as the 7.62x51 NATO for M-14 rifles. It soon appeared in military arms abroad. After the M-16 supplanted the M-14 in Vietnam during the 1960s, production of 7.62x51 Match ammunition continued.
Light weight, low case cost, and adaptability to machine guns were military priorities. Hunters in the late 1950s and early ‘60s were most impressed by belted magnums from Winchester and Remington. But the 308’s modest recoil, perfect fit in short rifle actions, and 30-06-like effect on game soon earned it plaudits. It was a hit in lever-actions, upstaging the 300 Savage in Savage’s 99. Winchester’s Model 88, new in 1955, chambered the 308. So did the later Sako Finnwolf and Browning’s BLR. Remington 740- and 760-series autoloader and pump rifles offered it, as did Winchester’s Model 100 autoloader.
With a case .48 inch shorter than the 30-06’s, the 308 holds about 20 percent less powder. But 165- and 180-grain bullets exit only 100 fps behind those from an ’06.
The 308 soon appeared on the competitive circuits. In 1967, Dave Hall topped the Sporter class at the National Bench Rest Matches with a .4612 group from his 308. The next year, Ferris Pindell won that event with a .3594 knot from his 308.
Now the 308 is the most widely chambered hunting cartridge in the world. It counts many useful offspring too: the 243 and 358 Winchester (1955), the 7mm-08 Remington and 260 Remington (1980 and 2002), and the 358 Federal (2005).
30-06 Springfield
It pre-dates Ford’s Model T, curtain rods and paper towels, Idaho’s Big Burn, and San Francisco’s earthquake. It went to Alaska when miners were plodding the Chilkoot trail. The Titanic hadn’t yet been built when in 1900 Springfield Armory started work on a battle rifle to replace the .30-40 Krag-Jorgensen. The 1903 Springfield emerged just a year later. Hurling a 220-grain bullet at 2,300 fps, its rimless 30-03 cartridge was a ballistic match for Germany’s 8x57, and its 236-grain bullet sped along at 2,125 fps.
Shortly thereafter, the 8x57 got a flat-flying 154-grain spitzer (pointed) bullet that clocked 2,800 fps. The U.S. countered with the Ball Cartridge, Caliber .30, Model 1906. To suit its 150-grain bullet at 2,700 fps, the case was trimmed .07 inch. All 30-03 rifles were recalled and re-chambered. In 1908, the 30-06 began a 32-year run at the National Matches.
P14 Enfield actions, built by Remington and Winchester to aid Great Britain in WWI, were later re-barreled from 303 British and modified to become the 1917 Enfield. After the war, the Army gave the 30-06 a 173-grain spitzer at 2,646 fps. This M1 load reached far, but also kicked hard. In 1939, the Army adopted the M2 with a 152-grain spitzer at 2,805 fps. It excelled in the self-loading Garand issued to U.S. troops throughout WWII.
Soft-nose game bullets made the 30-06 versatile and popular afield. By 1937, when it appeared as a charter chambering in Winchester’s Model 70, it was hailed as the best all-round hunting cartridge. During its first 25 years, a third of Model 70s shipped were in 30-06. Still a favorite in bolt-actions, the 30-06 has appeared in lever-action and self-loading rifles too, in single-shots, and in Remington’s 760 pump rifle. It is generally paired with 1:10 rifling. Maximum average breech pressure is 60,000 psi.
With 180-grain bullets, the 30-06 punches like heavy-bullet loads in the 7mm Remington Magnum. Given 200-yard zeros, it hits within 2 vertical inches of Winchester’s 300 Magnum at 300 yards. Hunters can find 30-06 ammo in outposts from the Canadian North to sub-Saharan Africa.
Because it appeared during the dawn of smokeless powder and served for half the 20th century as the U.S. service round, the 30-06 set dimensional standards. Rifle actions were designed around it. New hunting cartridges were fashioned from it, too: the 270 (1925), 280 (1957), 25-06, (1969), and 35 Whelen (1987), as well as many wildcats.
300 Winchester Magnum
In 1913, Charles Newton’s new 30-caliber cartridge packed the power of Zeus. But Newton failed to follow with rifles for it. Western Cartridge dropped the 30 Newton in 1938. Western had picked up the 300 H&H Magnum in 1925, though few actions were then long enough for it. Winchester gave it a home in Model 70s in 1937. Eight years later, Roy Weatherby reduced case taper to make his hot 300 Magnum.
As the 30-06 became America’s darling, wildcatters imagined a frothy 30 that fit 30-06 actions. Oddly, Norma of Sweden was first to field one. The 308 Norma Magnum arrived in 1960, on a shortened 300 H&H case with broader shoulders. It drove 180-grain bullets at 3,000 fps. But Norma didn’t quickly offer ammo. U.S. firms demurred. Browning’s High Power was among the few rifles listed in 308 Norma.
Twenty years earlier, Weatherby had trimmed the 300 H&H case to 2.500 to make its 257, 270, and 7mm Magnums. Winchester had followed suit in 1956 with a 458 Magnum, and in 1958 and ’59 with its 338 and 264. In 1962, Remington announced its 7mm Magnum. The 300 Winchester Magnum arrived a year later. Wildcatters who’d necked the 338 to 30 assumed Winchester would, too. But the new 300 had a 2.620-inch case and a short .264 neck over 25-degree shoulders. Factory loads fit 30-06-length actions; however, long bullets were seated deep. Maximum average pressure: 64,000 psi.
Hunter demand brought more rifles and loads. “Controlled-expansion” bullets, from Nosler’s Partition to Federal’s new Terminal Ascent, give this 300 Magnum high marks on tough game. Standard 1:10 rifling has yielded fine accuracy with 150- to 190-grain bullets. Arguably late in coming, the 300 Winchester Magnum has become one of America’s favorite cartridges for long-range matches and on hunts. It’s one of the most successful “short-belted” magnums ever.
Conclusion
Modern rifle cartridge development has a fascinating history. Some popular designs are more than a century old, but one of the hottest-selling calibers is only a teenager in terms of age. Knowing the history of the ammo you use enhances the whole experience.
FAQs
Q: If rifles are made for specific ammunition, why do shooters talk of using 308 bullets in a 30-06 or a 300 Winchester Magnum?
A: Barrels for the 308 Winchester, the 30-06, and 300 Magnums have different chambers, but the same 300 bores and 308 groove diameters (to the bottoms of the rifling grooves cut in each bore). Bullets for all 30-caliber rifles are sized 308 so the lands between the grooves grab the bullet, which seals powder gas behind it by filling the grooves. With rare exceptions, you cannot safely interchange cartridges in rifles of another chambering. But 308-diameter bullets can be loaded not only in the 308 Winchester case, but in those of all other 30s.
Q: What is a "Magnum" primer?
A: A centerfire rifle cartridge's removable primer is sized “Small Rifle” or "Large Rifle" to fit the case's primer pocket, and to suit the powder charge. A Large Rifle primer weighs 5.4 grains with .6 grain compound. In the 1940s, bigger cases and slower-burning powders begged more spark. Dick Speer and Victor Jasaitis at Speer Cartridge Works added boron and aluminum to lead styphnate in Large Rifle primers to get a spark that burned longer, generating more heat to ignite all the powder in Magnum cases before primer fade. Other companies followed.
Q: What are "controlled-expansion" bullets?
A: Hunting bullets for most big game are designed to expand (upset or mushroom) after impact to produce a big wound channel and ensure most, if not all, the bullet's energy is released in the vitals, for a quick, humane kill. Desired rate of expansion depends on the animal. Full, immediate upset may be best in small creatures. For big, tough game, such as elk, various bullet designs limit or retard upset to increase weight retention and penetration. Actually, the behavior of all expanding bullets is controlled by their design. Those for heavy beasts are commonly dubbed "controlled-expansion" bullets.
