What Was the Best WW2 Rifle Cartridge?

[Dr Prepper]

He felt bad that the guy ended up with a felony at 18, but he had been warned (that, and it could have easily been one of his kids instead of the horse).

I wouldn't feel bad at all, I'd be pretty pissed harming a horse or any other animal let alone a person. Especially if I warned him several times. Age might factor in slightly but not really you should be old enough at 18 (or driving age) especially with a higher caliber rifle to know better.
Personally I'm for loosed penalties (for lack of a better term, don't take that too literal) but stiffer penalties.

Anyway. Sorry to divert

To get back on track what I was saying is if you track the kills ratio per use ratio I bet you will find they are all fairly equal and what variance exists comes down to weapons platforms and how they were deployed. I went with 30-06 because its rimless feature is clearly superior to rimmed for several reason. Yeah I know rimmed CAN be made to work but rimless is just a better design out the gate.

 

[Dr Prepper]

OK, I have 2 Garands, a Mauser, a dozen Mosins and a 1911 .45
which one you want to discuss?
I'll all for it!!

How about I bring the ammo for a deep dive? I wish.. I had some vintage ww2 era 8mm my buddy gave me when I bought my mosin as well as a bag full of what looks like legit mil spec 54R tracer ammo. actually im betting I still have a few loose eagle crested kicking around in the cartridge collections.

 

[rjmt]

How about I bring the ammo for a deep dive? I wish.. I had some vintage ww2 era 8mm my buddy gave me when I bought my mosin as well as a bag full of what looks like legit mil spec 54R tracer ammo. actually im betting I still have a few loose eagle crested kicking around in the cartridge collections.

and I have one of these to impress the non-believers in Mosin accuracy

 

[nehalemguy]

I also owned (and sold) a 1944 M44 that would not group past 50 yards. As in I have no idea where the bullets landed. That one was TERRIBLE. Lol.

Hmmmm........

Have you been in Henderson Nevada lately?

-E-

 

[rjmt]

Hmmmm........

Have you been in Henderson Nevada lately?

-E-

for me, it's been 5 years

 

[Dr Prepper]

and I have one of these to impress the non-believers in Mosin accuracy

View attachment 1257262

Do you hand load too? If so what kind of groups? I'm actually thinking about bubba-ing my mosin all out.
I used to have one of them UK59 machine gun barrels i wanted to install but gave up and needed money at one time in my life. Woulda been a fun project with a lathe. I Need to go shoot mine finally and even see if it groups at all. It is counter bored, I want to say its a 43 or 42? Admittedly I'm not too into mosins, they are cheap and fun, ammo was cheap once upon a time. Not a fan of the steel butt plate on those though. Great for smashing skulls not for old shoulders. Hence why I wouldn't mind the fuddening. Would be nice to make it a more pleasant shooter who knows a barrel might even be in order down the road sometime.

 

[rjmt]

Do you hand load too? If so what kind of groups? I'm actually thinking about bubba-ing my mosin all out.
I used to have one of them UK59 machine gun barrels i wanted to install but gave up and needed money at one time in my life. Woulda been a fun project with a lathe. I Need to go shoot mine finally and even see if it groups at all. It is counter bored, I want to say its a 43 or 42? Admittedly I'm not too into mosins, they are cheap and fun, ammo was cheap once upon a time. Not a fan of the steel butt plate on those though. Great for smashing skulls not for old shoulders. Hence why I wouldn't mind the fuddening. Would be nice to make it a more pleasant shooter who knows a barrel might even be in order down the road sometime.

I use only factory ammo - wife won't let me reload in the house
the base rifle is a 1936 sniper select hex receiver - so one of the more accurate Mosins to come off the assembly line
the photo is a file photo from a Mosin reference site with the same markings as mine
I found this rifle at a Big 5 - they let me inspect all the Mosins in a shipment and I found this one
this rifle has been shimmed and relived - barrel is free floated to the end of the stock, receiver is shimmed, so no contact with the stock
Jim the Bolt man in Pennsylvania reworked the bolt with a reproduction sniper bolt handle he makes
bolt was lapped into the receiver
receiver screws are torqued for the best accuracy, I think 46 inch pounds - but each rifle and stock will differ
I found Brown Bear 174 grn ammo is the most accurate in mine - but each mosin will be different
there is a Timney trigger in it's belly and a lightened firing pin spring- add all that up and it shoots just at 1 MOA 100 YRDS - with factory ammo
now, Mosin will get hot quickly and start vertical strings in hits - I wait 1 min between shots
steel butt plate never bothered me, but I have a padded shooting coat I wear if it's going to be a long day of shooting

 

[moroza]

Mosin will get hot quickly and start vertical strings in hits - I wait 1 min between shots

I've had a sneaking feeling that my accuracy with the Mosin got steadily worse throughout a shooting session no matter how I felt. I don't think I've noticed this with other guns, though I consider myself still a beginner as far as overall experience. Could this be the reason?

 

[rjmt]

I've had a sneaking feeling that my accuracy with the Mosin got steadily worse throughout a shooting session no matter how I felt. I don't think I've noticed this with other guns, though I consider myself still a beginner as far as overall experience. Could this be the reason?

I would say yes
the thin 28" barrel on the Mosin heats up rapidly
also, does your Mosin have a floated barrel - heat and contact with the stock will cause accuracy issues
if your going for accuracy, take your time
this doesn't happen on the short barrel of the M28 carbine, because the barrel is much thicker for it's length
the most accurate of all Mosins were the Fin M28 and M38, both had heavy 24" barrels
My Fin M28 actually has a Sig heavy barrel in it, this rifle does not suffer from heat issues

when I shot my Garand in NRA competition, I didn't use a GI barrel - have a medium weight 6 grove barrel
same on my M1A

it's not just Mosins

 

[Dr Prepper]

I've had a sneaking feeling that my accuracy with the Mosin got steadily worse throughout a shooting session no matter how I felt. I don't think I've noticed this with other guns, though I consider myself still a beginner as far as overall experience. Could this be the reason?

I'm in the same boat (sometimes) although I know I can shoot a rested group with pistols or rifles and have done it on numerous occasions, I have seen some stringing, enough yo make me wonder.. Last session I chalked it up to no rear bag and a brand new rifle I wasn't used to since the barrel was a .875" at the gas block. But I was shooting somewhat fast after sight in for 20 or so rounds @ 5 shot groups. So idk. A few things to look at but I'll iron it out.

Anyway. REALLY cool rifle. Sorry the wife won't let you reload. I blew my face off once upon a time when I was a teen, I have a new found respect for powders and stuff. (Kids are dangerous (and expensive!))

I know its heresy and I'll probably get shat on but the one gun restriction I am for is raising the age to 21 for all except .22lr types guns but also raising the age to serve in the mil to 21 as well... (And probably also the right to vote at this point!)
PS I know there's a lot of responsible kids out there, probably in the rural areas. But its seems we are on a massive brain cell decline here in the cities.

 

[rjmt]

Mosin Dragoon

how many of you can say you own a rifle carried by horse mounted dragoons?


Ok, how about camel mounted infantry?

 

[Wyo79]

Any one that wasn't being fired at you ? Would be my vote.

 

[TNThomas]

6.5x55 Swede. Still a fantastic round.

 

[rjmt]

I once worked with a retired Army Warrant Officer who won the Bronze Star during the Battle of the Bulge
he was an 18 year old private in the 101 Airborne that winter
the 101 had acquired a lot of old aviation 30-06 incendiary rounds and loaded them in clips for their Garands
the Germans send their Panzer IV in without infantry support at Bastogne, so the Airborne troops just laid low and let the Panzer pass over them
they then jumped on the back decks and fired 30-06 incendiary rounds down into the engine compartments, igniting the fuel

 

[The Heretic]

Interesting question posed on Forgotten Weapons:

What say you and why? Enjoy.

I agree with Ian, and he agreed with me (before I watched the vid I chose the 7.92x33).

 

[ilikegunspdx]

"One man army" medal of army winner dropped his m1 carbine in favor of the BAR and kicks bubblegum on 60 Germans:

 

[DunRanull]

Idk.. But now that FBI has clarified what a terrorist is suddenly I don't feel comfortable watching this "terrorists" video.

Kind of a meandering reasoning he gives. On in hand he states its for infantrymen, then he demoted one cartridge for it not being well suited for machine guns... Then kinda proceeds to talk about what ifs and non standard chamberings.

Personally I think the 30-06 was probably the undisputed king.

I think in general the major underlying question here is: who had the most stringent quality control and standards throughout their ammo plant production? Regardless of what is what, who ever has the most consistent ammo probably stands a better chance. Having the best weapons doesn't hurt either.. I have no idea for sure but I'm betting the domestic stuff ranked pretty high on the consistency especially seeing how our plants were divorced from the immediate area of operations.

And I'd say those women probably did a pretty kick bubblegum job making sure their boys got back home. Women are pretty good at attention to detail stuff. (Usually)

Attention to detail and long, loooonnnngggg elephant memories...

 

[DunRanull]

Using handloaded sniper ammo from a bolt-action rifle, I would take the 8mm Mauser.

IMO the .303 is soft shooting and pleasant, but Ian makes a good point about rimmed/vs rimless, rim lock and all of that.. That could be a problem reloading in a firefight.

Every country would have been better off with Garands & M2 Ball. That's my vote.

FWIW, I've been using several Lee-Enfield rifles over the years, with and without strippers, with both period ww2 ammo and my own handloads. Never any issues with "rimlock" or other problems. I likes me an LE even if they represent the bloody Empire I was taught to hate and despise. Best MANUALLY-operated "battle rifle" of the era, IMO, one I would choose in a pinch even today, modern sporting rifles aside.

 

[skeezix]

30.06

 

[Savage Jav]

30 carbine or 8x33 Kurtz