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Life of a cartridge
Here is the opening sequence from the movie Lord of War showing the life of a cartridge from a Soviet factory to use in an African conflict. The movie tells the story of the fictional character Yuri...
View ArticleNew .338 Marlin Express cartridge
Hold on the heels of the Remington .30 RAR announcement, sister company Marlin have announced the .338 Marlin Express. John Snow has the scoop: These bullets will use the same soft-tip technology that...
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Trench Art
In the trenches of World War I, there was a lot of boredom, idleness, and malaise, punctuated by brief stretches of terrible violence and death. Out of the former came what’s come to be known as...
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Nosler Introduces “World’s Most Powerful” 7mm: The .28 Nosler
Nosler has announced what it calls the “most powerful commercial 7mm cartridge”: The .28 Nosler. Based on the same case as the .26 Nosler (itself based on the .404 Jeffery) , marketing literature for...
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Modern Cartridge Case Manufacturing Methods
The Firearms History blog has posted an anthology of sorts of different videos dealing with modern cartridge manufacture. The manufacture of ammunition is the critical characteristic of modern small...
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Blast From The Past: .58 Schubarth: An Egg of Brass & Lead
There are a lot of weird and wonderful kinds of ammunition out there, but a candidate for the title of “weirdest ammunition” might be the .58 Schubarth. Shaped like an egg on a diet, the .58 Schubarth...
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Kramer Defense Files Patent for Bolt Heads for Cartridges Larger Than 6.8mm...
Kramer Defense, the company that introduced the 6.8x45mm UCC cartridge based on the .378″/9.6mm diameter case head of 5.56mm, filed a patent on Aug 14, 2014 (approved Sept. 1, 2015) that has recently...
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Caliber Configuration: How It Got to Where It’s At, and Where It’s Headed
This post was written as a companion to an upcoming Gun Guy Radio podcast, hosted by Ryan Michad. The discussion below will be expanded upon in the show when it’s released later this month, but for...
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Caliber Configuration Podcast with Yours Truly at Gun Guy Radio
Back in March, I wrote a post on caliber configuration, or the effort to create and standardize effective and economical ammunition for infantry small arms. As mentioned in the post itself, it was...
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Top 4 Ballistics Myths Most People Believe
I don’t consider myself more than a hobbyist when it comes to ammunition – I reload a little, play around in SolidWorks a bit, and read dry, dusty tomes full of other people’s hard work collating every...
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The Wound Channel Tests 7.62/.308 M80A1 EPR and It Is GLORIOUS
Previously, we looked at the incredible damage and penetration caused by the US Army’s new M855A1 Enhanced Performance Round (EPR), thanks to a video published by William of the Wound Channel. What...
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Operating Systems 301: What Is Underlug?
When a firearm unlocks, even if the bullet has already left the barrel, some residual pressure remains in the chamber, forcing the cartridge case walls out against the chamber, and causing resistance...
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Hunting Tips (from a girl): Is there such a thing as a do-it-all round?
One of the common questions seen in hunting groups on social media is some variation on asking what caliber is best for X animal. It pops up everywhere and instantly results in dozens of opinions, all...
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Modern Intermediate Calibers 002: The Soviet 7.62x39mm
Perhaps the oldest rival of the 5.56mm round is its older brother in the intermediate cartridge world, the 7.62x39mm round developed by the Soviets in the late 1940s from their earlier 7.62×41 M43...
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Modern Intermediate Calibers 003: The 6.8x43mm Remington SPC
I’ve written quite a lot about the ballistics one of the first Western competitors to 5.56mm in the new millenium previously, and you can read that by following the link here. The 6.8x43mm Remington...
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Modern Intermediate Calibers 004: The 6.5 Grendel
One of the most ballistically interesting intermediate calibers ever developed is the 6.5 Grendel, developed by Arne Brennan with the assistance of Bill Alexander, and promoted heavily by the latter’s...
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Modern Intermediate Calibers 005: The .300 AAC Blackout
Previously, we talked about the Soviet 7.62x39mm caliber, which was paired with the famous Kalashnikov automatic rifle. With its much heavier bullet, larger caliber, and lower velocity, the 7.62x39mm...
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Modern Intermediate Calibers 006: The 7.62×40 Wilson Tactical
Like the .300 AAC Blackout that we discussed earlier, the 7.62×40 Wilson Tactical was intended to be a medium-performance .30 caliber cartridge that would function in standard AR-15 type rifles with...
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Modern Intermediate Calibers 007: The .25-45 Sharps
On the heels of the 7.62x40mm WT, we are now going to take a look at another former wildcat based on the 5.56mm case, the .25-45 Sharps, a round I’ve discussed before. This .25 caliber round existed...
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Modern Intermediate Calibers 008: The Soviet 5.45x39mm
In the late 1950s, after the first public demonstrations of the AR-15 and its new small caliber, high velocity cartridge, the Soviet Union took notice of the radical developments in military .22...
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