Rifle calibers - List them with pros/cons, facts about them.

[surprise_i'm_armed]

When I look for pistol ammo at Wally's or wherever,
I glance at the whole case and notice the rifle ammo,
but I'm not sure of what caliber is used for what.

Is bigger always better in rifle ammo?

.177 HMR - I believe these are real rounds and not
pellet gun ammo, but aren't pellet gun rounds also .17?

.22 Long Rifle - A known and common round.

.22-250 What does the "250" signify? It would seem if this
was only a .22 round + 1/4 of something, it wouldn't be that
different from a .22 LR.

.223 - For AR-15's.

7MM, .270, .30-06, .308 - I'm sure there's more than these.

7.62 x 39, 7.62 x 51 - Are these for various AK's?

Feel free to jump in with any comments on rifle calibers.

Thanks in advance.

SIA

[Carry-a-Kimber]

This might help.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_rifle_cartridges" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[MechAg94]

17 HMR is a newer "varmint" round. It is 22 Magnum necked down to 17 caliber with a lightweight bullet. You get somewhere around 2500 feet/sec velocities and get a flat shooting round out to 150 to 200 yards. My Dad has one and they are pretty accurate. He has hit crows at 150 to 200 yards. The lightweight bullet means they are good for only small stuff or targets and they can be more susceptible to getting thrown off by wind. IMO, the benefit is you get small bore rifle performance with a small lightweight and fast bullet, yet the cost of the rifle and ammo is still a good bit cheaper than alternatives like .223 or 22-250. $14 per 50 rounds isn't cheap, but still cheaper than other ammo.

There is also a 17 HM2 that is a 22 L.R. necked down to 17 caliber to get about 2100 feet/sec speeds. The benefit is you can convert a Ruger 10/22 with a barrel change and convert it from a 22 cal 50 yard rifle to a 100 yard or more target rifle. It isn't as cheap conversion, but the ammo is cheaper than the HMR. The cheapest ammo is $50/500. I have not seen this for sales at most stores, but a lot of gun shops carry it.

I believe you can get air rifles in .177 or .22 calibers. I don't have one though. A really nice air rifle is something I wouldn't mind getting one of these days. I've heard that some air rifle types are much quieter than others as well.

[A-R]

Certainly a .22LR, .223/5.56mm, and .22-250 all fire a projectile that is roughly .22 .... but it's the size of the cases (and the amount of powder they hold) that makes all the difference. You can see this difference quantitatively with ballistics charts like the one linked below:

http://www.hornady.com/assets/files/bal ... charts.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

.22LR (not in chart) = approximately 1,000 to 1,500 feet per second and approximately 100 to 200 foot-pounds of energy

.223 = more than 3,000 fps and 1,000 ft. lbs. of energy

.22-250 = more than 3,500 fps and 1,500 ft. lbs. of energy

But I find the old ammo cartridge reference posters that you used to see in every Mom & Pop gun store were a great way to learn visually the relative differences of calibers. Easy to see with one look why a .22-250 is a more powerful round than a .223. It's hard to find these anymore even with some Google Foo ... but I have one saved, see below:

http://i850.photobucket.com/albums/ab70 ... _photo.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

As you'll see if you download the photo from above link and zoom in close enough to actually read the names of each cartridge, a .22-250 is a significantly larger overall cartridge than a .223 and thus packs more gun powder (not always the case, but usually works out that way).

I'm by no means a vetern or expert hunter (only been once) but I'm told that .223 is a borderline hunting round for deer (better hit them just right for a clean kill). But a .22-250 is probably enough for a Texas white tail. The .22-250 is meant more as a large varmint round, to hit hogs, coyotes, and other nuisance animals at a great distance. But can be used effectively on deer.

Then of course compare those two rounds to a "true" deer rifle round like a .243, .270, .30-06, .308 etc and you'll see the latter "deer calibers" are MUCH larger and fire a much larger/heavier projectile as well.

You'll find that many hunting rounds are much longer than military rifle rounds because military wants to keep the gun actions shorter (and thus lighter). The .308 is a perfect example of this "short action" vs. "long action" trade-off - it's basically a cut down .30-06 round so that it fits into short box magazines like the FAL, AR-10 etc, and also feeds into belt-fed machine guns. Weighs considerably less when carrying hundreds of rounds.

Of course, hunters aren't likely to carry 500 rounds of ammo. So long-action rounds are fine for them and pack more power.

But some "short action" military rounds like the .308/7.62x51mm are still good hunting rounds. As someone once told me when I was selecting the caliber for my deer rifle (.308), "a .308 will drop anything that moves on land in north America."

... I'm told the much larger rounds like the 7mm magnums and .300 magnums are almost overkill for most north American hunting situations unless you're shooting at large game at a great distance (something like moose or elk).

[kragluver]

I recommend you purchase or download one of the many ballistics programs that are out there -- here's a very good free one --
http://www.huntingnut.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Play around with the ballistics of various rifle cartridges and you will learn a lot regarding max point blank range, muzzle energy, downrange energy, effects of wind, etc.

If you're asking more about the naming conventions of cartridges, then the previous responses are a good start. Wikipedia actually has a pretty decent discussion. Unfortunately, US cartridge naming conventions are, well - there is no convention. The European nomenclature actually makes the most sense. US nomenclature is driven more by marketing trends than anything else. Most good reloading manuals (I like the Lyman books) have good historical discussions of the various cartridges. Phil Sharpe's book The Rifle in America contains a wealth of information. See also Cartridges of the World.

[surprise_i'm_armed]

Above responders:

Thanks for all the great information and the links.

The world of pistol calibers seems positively compact
when contrasted with the wide, wide world of rifle ammo.

So, a .30-06 is just a .30 that was accepted by the US Army in 1906?

By the way, IIRC, .30-06 was used in WWII era M1Garands,
but what was the round used in M1 carbines?

And does anyone know why most soldiers got M1's but some
got Thompsons? Did the NCO's always get the Thompsons?

SIA

[Keith B]

By the way, IIRC, .30-06 was used in WWII era M1Garands,
but what was the round used in M1 carbines?

And does anyone know why most soldiers got M1's but some
got Thompsons? Did the NCO's always get the Thompsons?

SIA

That round is the .30 carbine round http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.30_Carbine" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;, which is a way smaller and less powerful round.

The Thompson was usually issued to scouts, non-commissioned officers (corporal, sergeant and higher ranking), and patrol leaders depending on their duties. Most of the regular infantry troops were issued the M1 Garand.

[PJK]

This website has been one of the most informative for me.

http://www.internetarmory.com/rifle_hunting.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It lists all types of ammunition, history and what it is used for. The specific link is to their grid of types of rifle ammunition and what it is used for. This link http://www.internetarmory.com/handgunammo.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; is a detail of all handgun ammunition.

[wheelgun1958]

No mention yet of 243 Winchester. I can't overlook my 303 British or my 7.5x55 Swiss.

Chuchhawks