Thread: .30 Cal. question

This may seem like dumb question but until recently I haven't loaded much but 270,308 and 223. My question is this. I just bought a 30-06. I was given about 800 Hornady .30 cal.150 GR SP Interlock. It also says .308. I thought .30 cal was .30 cal. Can I load these into my 30-06?

yes

uummm the .30 in .30-06 IS .30 cal. .308" is US .30 caliber.

uummmm,Thanks, still learning

some of this ammo nomenclature is very confusing. 30-30's also use .308 jacketed bullets. The ammo we know as .223 Remington..the bullet measures .224

etc,etc

Originally Posted by Throckmorton

some of this ammo nomenclature is very confusing. 30-30's also use .308 jacketed bullets. The ammo we know as .223 Remington..the bullet measures .224

etc,etc

What's really interesting is how .38 cal is really .357". Why didn't they just call it a "35"?

Because .38 was the the diameter of the loaded case. It was a naming thing to make it seem bigger than the .36 caliber navy it really is....

Originally Posted by One-Eyed Ross

Because .38 was the the diameter of the loaded case. It was a naming thing to make it seem bigger than the .36 caliber navy it really is....

So there was a "size game" back then too

Using that logic those who are "carrying .45's because there is no .46 could really say they are carrying .47's as the finished case diameter is .476"

I know it's kinda odd the way cartridges and whatnot are named, but here's kinda've a basic primer on it:

cartridges, generally (from 1890-1950) were all classified by their bore diameter. So if it has a .30" on it, it's a .300 bore diameter. However, bullets are sized so they will both fit in the bore, but are larger so they will engage the grooves of the rifling. Typically, this is about a .004" addition to the radius, but this dimension is also dependent on bore diameter.

This is true for .30-30, .30-06, .30-40 krag etc.

An interesting side note, the .303 british, and many other rifles that were made outside the US use a .303 diameter bore, and use a .311" diameter bullet, thus, they maintain that .004" groove dimension.

In later nomenclature, bullet diameter became a more standard identifier for the cartridge, thus .308 winchester, and .223 remington. However, the military names of 7.62x51 and 5.56x45 were based on bore diameter. To make it more confusing, some manufacturers have chosen to use still other naming schemas, an interesting example is lazzeroni, which makes cartridges such as the 7.82 warbird, which uses a .308" bullet.

If you arn't confused enough already, generally speaking most reloader bullets you find will say both the caliber and the bullet diameter, I think hornady does this, as well as sierra and barnes. They will typically say ".30 caliber" and then give the bullet diameter of .308". There are also ".303 caliber" which will then give a bullet dimension of .311 or .310. These bullets are not safe to load in .30 caliber at full pressure and should be avoided as injury and damage to the firearm may result.

Originally Posted by AMProducts

I
An interesting side note, the .303 british, and many other rifles that were made outside the US use a .303 diameter bore, and use a .311" diameter bullet, thus, they maintain that .004" groove dimension.

Such as the non-Finn versions of the Mosin-Nagant. Which makes reloading for them a bit of a pain.