#7.62X51

We’ve covered a little bit of the AR-18 here before, and in passing mentioned its ancestor, the 7.62mm AR-16. For those uninitiated to this relatively unknown rifle, there is a brief but instructive article on the rifle at Wikipedia. GunLab’s Chuck has posted before about the AR-16, which he got to examine in Reed Knight’s collection last year. On Friday, though, he mentioned his intentions to replicate the rifle:

TriggerTimeTV shared a fantastic graphic showcasing the difference between the .308 and military-standard 7.62×51 cartridges. While some shooters understand that .308 (the civilian standard) is actually more powerful than its military cousin, few likely know the actual differences between the cartirdges.

TFB’s IWA coverage comes courtesy of Troubleshooter Berlin, who made it out to Nürnberg for the show. Many thanks to him for providing the pictures and information.

Wilson Combat, maker of custom AR-15s and 1911s, has announced another entry into the .308 caliber AR world, the “Super Sniper”. From the press release:

Following up on their test of 5.56mm and .300 Winchester Magnum ammunition velocities through different barrel lengths, Rifleshooter.com has posted a velocity vs. barrel length examination of .308 Winchester. One of the most well-balanced and versatile .30 caliber rounds in history, the .308 Winchester proved surprisingly well suited to almost all barrel lengths tested, with Winchester 147gr ammunition ranging from almost 3,000 ft/s from a 28″ barrel to just under 2,700 ft/s from a 16.5″ barrel:

DTIC is a wonderful resource for finding documents that are important records in firearms history. One such article, which we will be looking at today, entitled “A Comparison Test Between United Kingdom And United States Lightweight Rifles” documents the 1950 test between the .280 caliber EM-2 (Janson Rifle, later Rifle No. 9), .280 caliber FN automatic carbine (later FN FAL, after a caliber change to the American .30 Light Rifle cartridge), and .30 caliber T25 rifle.

I was initially unsure about UTM’s decision to bring to market a civilian derivative of its training marker ammunition; it seemed to me that most would rather shoot regular ammunition through their rifles on a range than buy a multi-hundred-dollar conversion kit and $0.60/round ammunition to do nonlethal training.

Controversy over small arms is nothing new. Back in the early 1950s, when the 7.62x51mm was called the “.30 Light Rifle” and NATO still believed it could achieve the goal of a universal standard rifle, there was (quite naturally, given the large number of parties involved) what was called more than once “The Great Rifle Controversy”. An apt name, I think.

Bob Holloway, then of Fort Worth, Texas, in the 1980s built on his experiences in Southeast Asia and Rhodesia to design a .308 caliber military rifle, what eventually became the HAC-7. His rifle was an amalgamation of Armalite, FN, and Kalashnikov designs, with a considerable amount of his own ingenuity thrown in. The result is now one of the most interesting “might-have-beens” of the 20th Century: A lightweight .308 infantry rifle two decades older than the FN SCAR-H.

An old video that I discovered, a soldier was having issues with his HP Printer. HP wanted him to pay for their tech support. So he “fixes” the problem with his FN MAG.

Lancer Systems recently debuted their new L7AWM .308/7.62x51mm magazine. It’s designed to be used in multiple rifle platforms such as the SR25, SIG716, DPMS 308 and LM308. Their new hybrid magazine features both a polymer magazine body and steel reinforced lips. It also features a switchable drain on the floor plate lock as well as drain channels for use in sandy or wet environments. It will be available in either opaque or translucent polymer bodies in 5, 10 or 20-round capacities.