.300 Winchester Short Magnum, Specifications
WSM has a case capacity of 80 grains of H2O. The .30-06 Springfield holds 69 grains of H2O; .308 Winchester holds 56 grains of H2O; 30-30 Winchester holds 45 grains of H2O. The .300 Winchester Magnum has a case capacity of 93.8 grains of H2O. While providing ballistic performance nearly identical to that of the .300 Winchester Magnum, 300 WSM does this with about 14 grains less powder. The .300 WSM also head-spaces off of the case shoulder, versus the older .300 Winchester Magnum's belted head space design.


.300 Winchester Short Magnum, Specifications
The advantage to this round is ballistic performance nearly identical to the .300 Winchester Magnum in a lighter rifle with a shorter action burning 8 - 10% less gunpowder. A disadvantage of cartridge case designs with relatively large case head diameters lies in relatively high bolt thrust levels exerted on the locking mechanism of the employed firearm. Also, in small ring actions the larger chamber diameter removes more steel from the barrel tenon, making it weaker radially.


.300 Winchester Short Magnum, Use
The .300 WSM is adequate for hunting all big game including (but not limited to): moose, black bear, brown bear, elk, mule deer, and white-tailed deer in forests and plains where long range, flat shots are necessary. The .300 WSM is also used in benchrest shooting.


.300 Winchester Short Magnum, Use
The .300 WSM has a standard bullet diameter of .308 or 7.62mm and takes advantage of the numerous bullet options available in that caliber.


.300 Winchester Short Magnum, Warnings
The 300 WSM is a Delta L problem cartridge, meaning it can present unexpected chambering and/or feeding problems. The Delta L problem article explains this problem in more detail. The .300 Remington Short Action Ultra Magnum has very similar cartridge dimensions but is not interchangeable.


.303 (film)
.303 is a 2009 short film directed by David Serge and produced by The Bigger Picture Malta.


.303 (film)
The short film's title comes from the .303 British cartridge that was the United Kingdom's calibre until the 1950s. It was also what the British Lee-Enfield rifles were chambered for. A custom engraved .303 round is an important plot point in the film.


.303 (film), Plot
In spring or summer of 1943, a plane full of allied soldiers from the United Kingdom comes to invade Axis-controlled Sicily, Italy. One of them, Private Atkins, is given a custom engraved .303 calibre cartridge by his friend, Private Mattocks, which is supposed to bring him luck. The brass casing seems to be engraved with the name "EMMA", who is, apparently, a sweetheart of Atkins or Mattocks. They parachute into the streets, which are deserted with the exception of a child and Nazi German soldiers.


.303 (film), Plot
Atkins' parachute is tangled on a bridge and he is left dangling on the ground, with his No. 4 Mk. 1 SMLE rifle with extra magazines and clips of ammunition lying on the ground below. Atkins is able to cut himself free, but only has enough time to collect his rifle and hide before a vehicle filled with Nazi soldiers arrives. Seeing the remains of his parachute and sensing that he is still around, they seize his ammunition and split up to go find Atkins.


.303 (film), Plot
Terrified and confused, Atkins explores the town square and finds the corpse of another British soldier on a staircase, taking a few clips of .303-calibre ammunition for his own rifle. However, before he can grab more, he is surprised by a German soldier with a Mauser Kar 98k. The two soldiers have a brief but intense shootout that ends with Atkins running out of ammunition. However, he remembers the engraved .303 round given to him by Private Mattocks, his good luck charm.


.303 (film), Plot
Atkins loads the cartridge into his rifle and aims at the landing, as soon as he sees movement, shoots and kills the other soldier. He goes over to the landing and finds that his friend Private Mattocks had really shot the German, and that he had just shot his friend with the very round that was supposed to bring him luck. Private Mattocks dies in agony from a gunshot wound to his throat as a heartbroken Atkins watches and attempts to stop the bleeding. He takes off his helmet to mourn his dead friend, unsure of what to do next. While he is doing this, another German soldier comes up from behind him and shoots him in the back repeatedly with an MP40 submachine gun. The same Sicilian boy seen at the beginning of the short film witnesses the act, and the German soldier gives him a chocolate bar.


.303 (film), Accolades
It has won the award for Best Overall Production, Best Cinematography and the Local Jury Award at the Malta International TV Short Film Festival. It also made the Official Selection at the Palm Springs International Short Fest, California as well as the Bodega Bay International Film Festival.


.303 British
The .303 British (designated as the 303 British by the C.I.P. and SAAMI) or 7.7×56mmR, is a .303-inch (7.7 mm) calibre (with the bore diameter measured between the lands as is common practice in Europe) rimmed rifle cartridge.


.303 British
It was first developed in Britain as a black powder round put into service in December 1888 for the Lee–Metford rifle. In 1891 the cartridge was adapted to use smokeless powder. It was the standard British and Commonwealth military cartridge from 1889 until the 1950s for rifles and machine guns when it was replaced by the 7.62×51mm NATO.


.303 British, Cartridge specifications
The .303 British has 3.64 ml (56 grains H2O) cartridge case capacity. The pronounced tapering exterior shape of the case was designed to promote reliable case feeding and extraction in bolt action rifles and machine guns alike, under challenging conditions.


.303 British, Cartridge specifications
.303 British maximum C.I.P. cartridge dimensions. All sizes in millimeters (mm).


.303 British, Cartridge specifications
Americans would define the shoulder angle at alpha/2 ≈ 17 degrees. The common rifling twist rate for this cartridge is 254 mm (10.0 in) 10 in), 5 grooves, Ø lands = 7.70 millimetres (0.303 in), Ø grooves = 7.92 millimetres (0.312 in), land width = 2.12 millimetres (0.083 in) and the primer type is Berdan or Boxer (in large rifle size).


.303 British, Cartridge specifications
According to the official C.I.P. (Commission Internationale Permanente pour l'Epreuve des Armes à Feu Portatives) rulings the .303 British can handle up to 365.00 MPa (52,939 psi) Pmax piezo pressure. In C.I.P. regulated countries every rifle cartridge combo has to be proofed at 125% of this maximum C.I.P. pressure to certify for sale to consumers. This means that .303 British chambered arms in C.I.P. regulated countries are currently (2014) proof tested at 456.00 MPa (66,137 psi) PE piezo pressure.


.303 British, Cartridge specifications
The SAAMI (Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers' Institute) Maximum Average Pressure (MAP) for this cartridge is 49,000 psi (337.84 MPa) piezo pressure (45,000 CUP).


.303 British, Cartridge specifications
The measurement .303-inch (7.70 mm) is the nominal size of the bore measured between the lands which follows the older black powder nomenclature. Measured between the grooves, the nominal size of the bore is .311-inch (7.90 mm). Bores for many .303 military surplus rifles are often found ranging from around .309-inch (7.85 mm) up to .318-inch (8.08 mm). Recommended bullet diameter for standard .303 British cartridges is .312-inch (7.92 mm).


.303 British, Military use, History and development
During a service life of over 70 years with the British Commonwealth armed forces the .303-inch (7.7 mm) cartridge in its ball pattern progressed through ten marks which eventually extended to a total of about 26 variations. The bolt thrust of the .303 British is relatively low compared to many other service rounds used in the early 20th century.


.303 British, Military use, Propellant
The original .303 British service cartridge employed black powder as a propellant, and was adopted for the Lee–Metford rifle, which had rifling designed to lessen fouling from this propellant, which replaced the Martini-Henry rifle in 1888. Some Martini-Henrys were rebarrelled to use the new .303 as the "Martini–Metford"


.303 British, Military use, Propellant
The Lee–Metford was used as a trial platform by the British Committee on Explosives to experiment with many different smokeless powders then coming to market, including Ballistite, Cordite, and Rifleite. Ballistite was a stick-type smokeless powder composed of soluble nitrocellulose and nitroglycerine. Cordite was a stick-type or 'chopped' smokeless gunpowder composed of nitroglycerine, gun-cotton, and mineral jelly, while Rifleite was a true nitrocellulose powder, composed of soluble and insoluble nitrocellulose, phenyl amidazobense, and volatiles similar to French smokeless powders. Unlike Cordite, Rifleite was a flake powder, and contained no nitroglycerine.


.303 British, Military use, Propellant
Excessive wear of the shallow Lee–Metford rifling with all smokeless powders then available caused ordnance authorities to institute a new type of barrel rifling designed by the Royal Small Arms Factory at Enfield, to increase barrel life; the redesigned rifle introduced in 1895 as the Lee–Enfield. After extensive testing, the Committee on Explosives selected Cordite for use in the Mark II .303 British service cartridge.


.303 British, Military use, Projectile
The initial .303 Mark I and Mk II service cartridges used a 215-grain (13.9 g), round-nosed, copper-nickel full metal jacketed bullet with a lead core. After tests determined that the service bullet had too thin a jacket when used with cordite, the Mk II bullet was introduced, with a flat base and thicker copper-nickel jacket.


.303 British, Military use, Mark II – Mark VI
The Mk II round-nosed bullet was found to be unsatisfactory when used in combat, particularly when compared to the "dum-dum" expanding bullet rounds issued in limited numbers in 1897 during the Chitral and Tirah expeditions of 1897/98 on the North West Frontier of India. This led to the 1898 introduction of the Cartridge S.A. Ball .303 inch Cordite Mark III, basically the original 215-grain (13.9 g) bullet with the jacketing cut back to expose the lead in the nose.


.303 British, Military use, Mark II – Mark VI
The Mk III load, however, was almost immediately withdrawn as a result of production issues leading to the introduction of the similar Mk IV hollow-point loading in February of the next year, which was put into mass production in Britain, Canada and New Zealand. Following the pivotal Battle of Omdurman of the Mahdist War,  Major Mathias of the Royal Army Medical Corps observed  a young man who had been struck twice by a Mark IV bullet:


.303 British, Military use, Mark II – Mark VI
"He had a bullet wound of the left leg above the knee. The wound entrance was clean cut and very small. The projectile had struck the Femur, just above the internal condyle; the whole of the lower end of this bone, and upper end of the Tibia, were shattered to pieces, the knee joint being completely disorganised. He had also been wounded in the right shoulder... The whole of the shoulder joint and scapular were shattered to pieces. In neither case was there any sign of a wound of exit."


.303 British, Military use, Mark II – Mark VI
The design of the Mk IV hollow-point bullet shifted bullet weight rearwards, improving stability and accuracy over the regular round-nose bullet. These soft-nosed and hollow-point bullets, while effective against human targets, had a tendency to shed the outer metal jacket upon firing; the latter occasionally stuck in the bore, causing a dangerous obstruction.


.303 British, Military use, Mark II – Mark VI
This was addressed by the introduction of a revised Mk V loading later in October (controversially so, as by August the Hague Convention had already made the military implementation of such expanding bullets illegal) identical to the Mark IV round apart from the addition of 2% antimony to the lead core and an additional 1.3 mm in length.


.303 British, Military use, Mark II – Mark VI
The concern about expanding bullets was brought up at the Hague Convention of 1899 by Swiss and Dutch representatives. The Swiss were concerned about small arms ammunition that "increased suffering", and the Dutch focused on the British Mark III .303 loading in response to their treatment of Boer settlers in South Africa. The British and American defence was that they should not focus on specific bullet designs, like hollow-points, but instead on rounds that caused "superfluous injury". The parties in the end agreed to abstain from using expanding bullets.


.303 British, Military use, Mark II – Mark VI
With the use of expanding bullets against signatories of the convention deemed inhumane, the Mk III, Mk IV, and Mk V were withdrawn from active service. The remaining stocks (over 45 million rounds) were used for target practice. The Mark III and other expanding versions of the .303 were not issued during the Second Boer War (1899–1902). Boer guerrillas allegedly used expanding hunting ammunition against the British during the war, and New Zealand Commonwealth troops may have brought Mark III rounds with them privately after the Hague Convention without authorization.


.303 British, Military use, Mark II – Mark VI
To replace the Mk III, IV, and V, the Mark VI round was introduced in 1904, using a round nose bullet similar to the Mk II, but with a thinner jacket designed to produce some expansion, though this proved not to be the case.


.303 British, Military use, Mark VII
In 1898, Atelier de Construction de Puteaux (APX), with their "Balle D" design for the 8mm Lebel cartridge, revolutionised bullet design with the introduction of pointed "spitzer" rounds. In addition to being pointed, the bullet was also much lighter in order to deliver a higher muzzle velocity. It was found that as velocity increased the bullets suddenly became much more deadly.


.303 British, Military use, Mark VII
In 1910, the British took the opportunity to replace their Mk VI cartridge with a more modern design. The Mark VII loading used a 174 gr (11.28 g) pointed bullet with a flat-base. The .303 British Mark VII cartridge was loaded with 37 gr (2.40 g) of Cordite MDT 5-2 (cordite MD pressed into tubes) and had a muzzle velocity of 2,440 ft/s (744 m/s) and a maximum range of approximately 3,000 yd (2,743 m). The Mk VII was different from earlier .303 bullet designs or spitzer projectiles in general.


.303 British, Military use, Mark VII
Although it appears to be a conventional spitzer-shape full metal jacket bullet, this appearance is deceptive: its designers made the front third of the interior of the Mk 7 bullets out of aluminium (from Canada) or tenite (cellulosic plastic), wood pulp or compressed paper, instead of lead and they were autoclaved to prevent wound infection. This lighter nose shifted the centre of gravity of the bullet towards the rear, making it tail heavy.


.303 British, Military use, Mark VII
Although the bullet was stable in flight due to the gyroscopic forces imposed on it by the rifling of the barrel, it behaved very differently upon hitting the target. As soon as the bullet hit the target and decelerated, its heavier lead base caused it to pitch violently and deform, thereby inflicting more severe gunshot wounds than a standard single-core spitzer design. In spite of this, the Mk VII bullet was legal due to the full metal jacket used according to the terms of the Hague Convention.


.303 British, Military use, Mark VII
The Mk VIIz (and later Mk VIIIz) rounds have versions utilizing 41 gr (2.66 g) Dupont No. 16 single-base smokeless powder based on nitrocellulose flake shaped propellants. The nitrocellulose versions—first introduced in World War I—were designated with a "z" postfix indicated after the type (e.g. Mark VIIz, with a bullet weight of 175 gr (11.34 g)) and in headstamps.


.303 British, Military use, Mark VII, .276 Enfield
.303 British cartridges, along with the Lee–Enfield rifle, were heavily criticized after the Second Boer War. Their heavy round-nosed bullets had low muzzle velocities and suffered compared to the 7×57mm rounds fired from the Mauser Model 1895. The high-velocity 7×57mm had a flatter trajectory and longer range that excelled on the open country of the South African plains. In 1910, work began on a long-range replacement cartridge, which emerged in 1912 as the .276 Enfield. The British also sought to replace the Lee–Enfield rifle with the Pattern 1913 Enfield rifle, based on the Mauser M98 bolt action design.


.303 British, Military use, Mark VII, .276 Enfield
Although the round had better ballistics, troop trials in 1913 revealed problems including excessive recoil, muzzle flash, barrel wear and overheating. Attempts were made to find a cooler-burning propellant, but further trials were halted in 1914 by the onset of World War I. As a result, the Lee–Enfield rifle was retained, and the .303 British cartridge (with the improved Mark VII loading) was kept in service.


.303 British, Military use, Mark VIIIz
In 1938 the Mark VIIIz "streamline ammunition" round was approved to obtain greater range from the Vickers machine gun. The streamlined bullet was based on the 7.5×55mm Swiss GP11 projectiles and slightly longer and heavier than the Mk VII bullet at 175 gr (11.34 g), the primary difference was the addition of a boat-tail at the end of the bullet and using 37 to 41 gr (2.40 to 2.66 g) of nitrocellulose smokeless powder as propellant in the case of the Mk VIIIz, giving a muzzle velocity of 2,525 ft/s (770 m/s).


.303 British, Military use, Mark VIIIz
As a result, the chamber pressure was higher, at 40,000 to 42,000 psi (275.8 to 289.6 MPa), depending upon loading, compared to the 39,000 psi (268.9 MPa) of the Mark VII(z) round. The Mark VIIIz streamline ammunition had a maximum range of approximately 4,500 yd (4,115 m). Mk VIIIz ammunition was described as being for "All suitably-sighted .303-inch small arms and machine guns" – rifles and Bren guns were proofed at 50,000 psi (344.7 MPa) – but caused significant bore erosion in weapons formerly using Mk VII ammunition, ascribed to the channelling effect of the boat-tail projectile.


.303 British, Military use, Mark VIIIz
As a result, it was prohibited from general use with rifles and light machine guns except when low flash was important and in emergencies As a consequence of the official prohibition, ordnance personnel reported that every man that could get his hands on Mk VIIIz ammunition promptly used it in his own rifle.


.303 British, Military use, Tracer, armour-piercing and incendiary
Tracer and armour-piercing cartridges were introduced during 1915, with explosive Pomeroy bullets introduced as the Mark VII.Y in 1916.


.303 British, Military use, Tracer, armour-piercing and incendiary
Several incendiaries were privately developed from 1914 to counter the Zeppelin threat but none were approved until the Brock design late in 1916 as BIK Mark VII.K Wing Commander Frank Brock RNVR, its inventor, was a member of the Brock fireworks-making family. Anti -zeppelin missions typically used machine guns loaded with a mixture of Brock bullets containing potassium chlorate, Pomeroy bullets containing dynamite, and Buckingham bullets containing pyrophoric yellow phosphorus. A later incendiary was known as the de Wilde, which had the advantage of leaving no visible trail when fired. The de Wilde was later used in some numbers in fighter guns during the 1940 Battle of Britain.


.303 British, Military use, Tracer, armour-piercing and incendiary
These rounds were extensively developed over the years and saw several Mark numbers. The last tracer round introduced into British service was the G Mark 8 in 1945, the last armour-piercing round was the W Mark 1Z in 1945 and the last incendiary round was the B Mark 7 in 1942. Explosive bullets were not produced in the UK after 1933 due to the relatively small amount of explosive that could be contained in the bullet, limiting their effectiveness, their role being taken by the use of Mark 6 and 7 incendiary bullets.


.303 British, Military use, Tracer, armour-piercing and incendiary
In 1935 the .303 O Mark 1 Observing round was introduced for use in machine guns. The bullet to this round was designed to break up with a puff of smoke on impact. The later Mark 6 and 7 incendiary rounds could also be used in this role.


.303 British, Military use, Tracer, armour-piercing and incendiary
During World War I British factories alone produced 7,000,000,000 rounds of .303 ammunition. Factories in other countries added greatly to this total.


.303 British, Military surplus ammunition
Military surplus .303 British ammunition that may be available often has corrosive primers, given the mass manufacture of the cartridge predates Commonwealth adoption of non-corrosive primers concurrent with the adoption of 7.62 NATO in 1954. There is no problem with using ammunition loaded with corrosive primers, providing that the gun is thoroughly cleaned after use to remove the corrosive salts. The safe method for all shooters of military surplus ammunition is to assume the cartridge is corrosively primed unless certain otherwise.


.303 British, Military surplus ammunition
Care must be taken to identify the round properly before purchase or loading into weapons. Cartridges with the Roman numeral VIII on the headstamp are the Mark 8 round, specifically designed for use in Vickers machine guns. Although Mark 8 ammunition works well in a Vickers gun, it should not be used in rifles because the cordite powder causes increased barrel wear. The boat-tailed bullet design of Mk 8 ammunition is not in itself a problem.


.303 British, Military surplus ammunition
However, when combined with the cordite propellant used in Mk 8 cartridges, which burns at a much higher temperature than nitrocellulose, there is increased barrel erosion. The cumulative effects of firing Mk 8 ammunition through rifles were known during the Second World War, and British riflemen were ordered to avoid using it, except in emergencies. The best general-purpose ammunition for any .303 military rifle is the Mark 7 design because it provides the best combination of accuracy and stopping power.


.303 British, Japanese 7.7 mm ammunition
Japan produced a number of machine guns that were direct copies of the British Lewis (Japanese Type 92 machine gun) and Vickers machine guns including the ammunition. These were primarily used in Navy aircraft. The 7.7mm cartridge used by the Japanese versions of the British guns is a direct copy of the .303 British (7.7×56mmR) rimmed cartridge and is distinctly different from the 7.7×58mm Arisaka rimless and 7.7×58mm Type 92 semi-rimmed cartridges used in other Japanese machine guns and rifles.


.303 British, Japanese 7.7 mm ammunition
Note: standard Japanese ball ammunition was very similar to the British Mk 7 cartridge. The two had identical bullet weights and a "tail-heavy" design, as can be seen in the cut-away diagram.


.303 British, Civilian use
The .303 cartridge has seen much sporting use with surplus military rifles, especially in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and to a lesser extent, in the United States and South Africa. In Canada, it was found to be adequate for any game. In Australia, it was common for military rifles to be re-barreled in .303/25 and .303/22. However the .303 round still retains a considerable following as a game cartridge for all game species, especially Sambar deer in wooded country.


.303 British, Civilian use
A recent change.org petition seeking Lithgow Arms to chamber the LA102 centerfires rifle in .303 as a special edition release has attracted considerable attention both in Australia and worldwide. In South Africa .303 British Lee–Enfield rifles captured by the Boers during the Boer War were adapted for sporting purposes and became popular with many hunters of non-dangerous game, being regarded as adequate for anything from the relatively small impala, to the massive eland and kudu.


.303 British, Civilian use, Commercial ammunition and reloading
The .303 British is one of the few (along with the .22 Hornet, .30-30 Winchester, and 7.62×54mmR) bottlenecked, rimmed centerfire rifle cartridges still in common use today. Most of the bottleneck rimmed cartridges of the late 1880s and 1890s fell into disuse by the end of the First World War.


.303 British, Civilian use, Commercial ammunition and reloading
Commercial ammunition for weapons chambered in .303 British is readily available, as the cartridge is still manufactured by major producers such as Remington, Federal, Winchester, Sellier & Bellot, Denel-PMP, Prvi Partizan and Wolf. Commercially produced ammunition is widely available in various full metal jacket bullet, soft point, hollow point, flat-based and boat tail designs—both spitzer and round-nosed.


.303 British, Civilian use, Commercial ammunition and reloading
Reloading equipment and ammunition components are also manufactured by several companies. Dies and other tools for the reloading of .303 British are produced by Forster, Hornady, Lee, Lyman, RCBS, and Redding. Depending on the bore and bore erosion a reloader may choose to utilize bullet diameters of .308–.312 in (7.8–7.9 mm) with .311 in (7.9 mm) or .312 in (7.92 mm) diameter bullets being the most common. Bullets specifically produced and sold for reloading .303 British are made by Sierra, Hornady, Speer, Woodleigh, Barnes, and Remington.


.303 British, Civilian use, Commercial ammunition and reloading
Where extreme accuracy is required, the Sierra Matchking 174-grain (11.3 g) HPBT bullet is a popular choice. Sierra does not advocate use of Matchking brand bullets for hunting applications. For hunting applications, Sierra produces the ProHunter in .311 in (7.9 mm) diameter. The increasingly popular all-copper Barnes TSX is now available in the .311 in (7.9 mm) diameter as a 150 gr (9.7 g) projectile which is recommended by Barnes for hunting applications.


.303 British, Civilian use, Commercial ammunition and reloading
With most rifles chambered in .303 British being of military origin, success in reloading the calibre depends on the reloader's ability to compensate for the often loose chamber of the rifle. Reduced charge loads and neck sizing are two unanimous recommendations from experienced loaders of .303 British to newcomers to the calibre. The classic 174-grain (11.3 g) FMJ bullets are widely available, though purchasers may wish to check whether or not these feature the tail-heavy Mk 7 design. In any case other bullet weights are available, e.g. 150, 160, 170, 180 and 200 gr (9.7, 10.4, 11.0, 11.7 and 13.0 g), both for hunting and target purposes.


.303 British, Civilian use, Hunting use
The .303 British cartridge is suitable for all medium-sized game and is an excellent choice for whitetail deer and black bear hunting. In Canada it was a popular moose and deer cartridge when military surplus rifles were available and cheap; it is still used. The .303 British can offer very good penetrating ability due to a fast twist rate that enables it to fire long, heavy bullets with a high sectional density. Canadian Rangers use it for survival and polar bear protection. In 2015, the Canadian Rangers began the process to evaluate rifles chambered for .308 Winchester. The Canadian Department of National Defence has since replaced the previously issued Lee–Enfield No. 4 rifles with the Colt Canada C19 chambered as evaluated in 7.62×51mm NATO/.308 Winchester.


.303 British, The .303 British as parent case, .303 Epps
Canadian Ellwood Epps, founder of Epps Sporting Goods, created an improved version of the .303 British. It has better ballistic performance than the standard .303 British cartridge. This is accomplished by increasing the shoulder angle from 16 to 35 degrees, and reducing the case taper from .062 inches (1.6 mm) to .009 inches (0.23 mm). These changes increase the case's internal volume by approximately 9%. The increased shoulder angle and reduced case taper eliminate the drooping shoulders of the original .303 British case, which, combined with reaming the chamber to .303 Epps, improves case life. The .303 British case was also used as a parent case for the South African designed 6mm Musgrave cartridge that was billed as a cheap surplus alternative to the popular .243 (6.2 mm) Winchester.


.303 Magnum
The .303 Magnum is an obsolete medium bore rifle cartridge.


.303 Magnum, Overview
The .303 Magnum was a bottlenecked centerfire rifle cartridge that was produced in both semi-rimmed and rimless versions. The cartridge fired a projectile of 174 grains (11.3 g) at 2,850 feet per second (870 m/s). The cartridge's case capacity was the same as the .30-06 Springfield, although performance was considered to favour the .303 Magnum.


.303 Magnum, Overview
The .303 Magnum was developed by W.J. Jeffery & Co by necking up the experimental .276 Enfield to .312 inches (7.9 mm), it was introduced in 1919 for target shooting and was used for some time by the British Match Rifle Committee. The cartridge had a brief life, only appearing in the Kynoch catalogue until 1930 and it appears to have become obsolete by 1932.


.303 Savage
The .303 Savage is a rimmed, .30 caliber rifle cartridge developed by the Savage Arms Company in 1894 which was designed as a short action cartridge for their Savage Model 1895 later 1899 hammerless lever-action rifle. The cartridge was designed for smokeless powder at a time when black-powder cartridges were still popular. The .303 Savage round was ballistically superior to the .30-30 Winchester, but only marginally. The .303 Savage remained popular through the 1930s. Savage produced a half dozen loads for it. With its 190-grain loading, it was used on such animals as deer and moose.


.303 Savage, History
Savage Arms created the .303 Savage as part of an unsuccessful attempt at creating a cartridge for the military. Although the cartridge was never popular with the military, it did become a popular round for civilian hunters. Being a pointed-tip rimmed cartridge, it worked well in the Model 99 rifles that Savage produced because of their rotary magazine. It wasn't as successful in other lever-action rifles because of their tubular magazines. However, the pointed-tip bullets gave it a ballistic advantage over other traditional lever-action cartridges such as the .30-30 Winchester.


.303 Savage, Reloading
The .303 Savage has a small, but loyal fraternity of shooters who reload this cartridge. While major ammunition manufacturers have long since halted production of ammo, dedicated followers can procure loaded ammunition and brass cases through smaller enterprises. The brass cases can be formed from .30-30 Winchester,  .32 Winchester Special,  and .38-55 Winchester casings.


.303 Savage, Non-compatibility with .303 British
The .303 Savage and the .303 British cartridge are not interchangeable with each other. Neither the bullet diameter nor the cartridge dimensions are compatible.


.303/22
The .303/22, sometimes known as the .22/303, is a wildcat centrefire rifle cartridge based on the .303 British, necked down to fire a .224 projectile, originating in Australia in the 1930s as a cartridge for sporterised rifles, particularly on the Lee–Enfield action. Similar versions also appeared in Canada around the same time.


.303/22
The .303/22 was very popular for a number of reasons, one being that the .22 caliber was better suited to small game than the .303, the rifles were cheap and plentiful, and in New South Wales ownership of military cartridges was severely restricted. Several versions existed, including the full length Falcon, the shortened Sprinter, the even shorter Wasp, the Varmint-R, and many others. Although Lee–Enfields were the most common, conversion of other rifles mostly suited to rimmed cartridges such as P14 Enfield, Martini–Enfield, 1885 and 1895 Winchesters were often seen, as well as 98 and 96 Mausers.


.303/22
Loaded ammunition and brass was produced by the Super Cartridge Company, Riverbrand, ICI and Sportco, some using new Boxer primed cases, others using military Berdan primed cases. Cases can be formed simply by necking down .303 British brass available from Remington, Federal, Winchester, Sellier & Bellot and others. Reloading dies are made by most larger manufacturers, like RCBS, CH and Simplex.


.303/22, Variants
303/22 Wasp 1.97",  303/22 Varment R. 2.031", 303/22 Sprinter 2.100", 303/22 2.185", 303/22 Shannon 2.222", 303/22 Rocket (aka. 22/4000) unknown case length.


.303/25
The .303/25, sometimes known as the .25/303 is a wildcat centrefire rifle cartridge, based on the .303 British, necked down to fire a .257 projectile, originating in Australia in the 1940s as a cartridge for sporterised rifles, particularly on the Lee–Enfield action; similar versions also appeared in Canada around the same time.


.303/25, History
In the 1940s the 303/25 filled a void for Australian hunters and farmers, because at the time there was not a wide variety of choice in firearms or calibers and civilians were prohibited from owning any military calibers. Once developed, the popularity of the cartridge increased rapidly for several reasons. The necked down wildcat version of the .303 was found to be quite accurate and suitable for small to medium/large game, and also because of the huge surplus of cheap ex-military firearms available for conversion.


.303/25, History
Factory ammunition was available from the mid to late 1940s until the mid 1980s until the popularity of the cartridge had finally been superseded by other popular calibers.


.303/25, History
Today the 303/25 still has a small following in Australia, but mostly it is considered an important piece of Australian firearm and hunting history.


.303/25, Overview
The .303/25 was very popular for a number of reasons, one being that the .25 caliber was better suited to small game than the .303, the rifles were cheap and plentiful and in New South Wales ownership of military cartridges was severely restricted. Several versions existed but most were simply necked down and slightly trimmed.


.303/25, Overview
Although Lee–Enfields were the most common, conversion of other rifles mostly suited to rimmed cartridges such as P14 Enfield, Martini–Enfield, 1885 and 1895 Winchesters were often seen, as well as 98 and 96 Mausers.


.303/25, Overview
In Australia the 303/25 built on a Lee–Enfield action was by far the most popular model, not only because of its easy availability from military surplus stocks, but also because of the Lee–Enfield 10-round magazine, which almost all modern centerfire rifles still have not matched.


.303/25, Overview
Factory ammunition was produced by the Super Cartridge Company, Riverbrand, IMI and Sportco, some using new Boxer primed cases (single flash hole and primer has anvil), others using military Berdan primed cases (double flash hole cartridge and primer has no anvil). Factory cartridges are far easier to reload once fired in comparison to military cartridges, because military cartridges have a crimped in Berdan primer. Berden primed cartridges also have a double flash hole, making their removal difficult because the standard decapping die only has a single decapping pin.


.303/25, Overview
Cases are formed by necking down standard .303 British brass with a full length 303/25 sizing die. 303 British brass is available from Remington, Federal, Winchester, Sellier & Bellot, Prvi Partisan amongst others. Reloading dies are still available from Australian company Simplex, in single, two and three die sets.


.303/25, Overview
A wide variety of projectiles in .257 are available from 75gr - 120grain weight by quite a few manufacturers such as Hornady, Speer, Sierra, Nosler and Remington in hollow point, soft point, and ballistic tip, however due to the standard 1:12 twist ratio of the rifling, projectile weights are limited before accuracy and stability of the projectile are reduced. Generally most shooters of the 303/25 will not use anything over 100grains, however 87 and 90 grain projectiles seem to have the best performance on paper and in the field.


.303/25, Overview
Until recently factory ammunition was no longer commercially available(Check with your preferred gun shop in Australia for availability), so all ammunition for the 303/25 was hand loaded. Load data is available from ADI's website or load data booklet, or Nick Harvey's reloading manual (9th edition for current propellants).


.303/25, Terminal Ballistics
The 303/25 ranks slightly ahead of the .257 Roberts for its velocities and less than .257 Weatherby Magnum. The below data is rated as a maximum load in ADI's reload data, however Nick Harveys reloading manual suggests these as starting loads to be worked up from. ADI has more than likely covered themselves from possible liability by giving conservative loads as a maximum. Less pressure = longer life for the rifle. It is a good idea to use a chronograph when developing a new load and to shoot five shot groups of each test loading to the same aim point looking for which powder amount gives the smallest group over 100m or 200m distance from a bench rest.


.303/25, Terminal Ballistics
It is strongly recommended that loads begin at 10% less and worked up in 0.2 grain increments, stopping when signs of excessive pressure or 'hot' loads such as difficult extraction, flattened primers and cupped firing pin indentations occur. For any given rifle an accurate load may not necessarily be the quickest.


.303/25, Terminal Ballistics
There are conversion charts online that will also help if you do not use ADI powders.


.307 Winchester
The .307 Winchester cartridge was introduced by Winchester in 1982 to meet the demand of .300 Savage performance in a lever-action rifle equipped with a tubular magazine. It is nearly dimensionally identical to the more common .308 Winchester cartridge, the only differences being a rimmed base and thicker case walls.


.307 Winchester, Overview
The Winchester Big Bore Model 94 Angle Eject rifle was the only rifle produced to fire the cartridge, though competitor Marlin Firearms created some prototype model 336 rifles chambered in .307 Win. It is still commercially loaded today, but many handload to gain better performance and accuracy. Because of safety concerns owing to the rifle's tubular magazine, flat-nosed bullets are normally used.


.307 Winchester, Specifications
180 gr (12 g) Super-X Power-Point bullet. Ballistic Coefficient: 0.251


.307 Winchester, Child cartridges
The .307 Winchester is the parent case for the .356 Winchester, and the proprietary round 6.5 JDJ #2.


.307 Winchester, Child cartridges
It is also the parent case for the 7mm STE (Shooting Times Eastern).


.308 Marlin Express
The .308 Marlin Express is a cartridge developed in 2007 by Marlin Firearms and Hornady. It is based on the .307 Winchester with a goal to duplicate .308 Winchester performance. The cartridge uses a slightly shorter, semi-rimmed case similar to that of the .220 Swift to function in lever action rifles. As introduced in Hornady's LEVERevolution line of cartridges, it is the highest velocity production cartridge designed for lever action rifles with tubular magazines. It is chambered in Marlin's Model 308MX and 308MXLR rifles using the Marlin Model 336 action.


.308 Marlin Express, Comparison
The .308 Marlin Express was designed to produce performance similar to the .308 Winchester. This would give lever-action hunters improved performance over their .30-30 Winchester rounds. The table below shows how the rounds compare. Note that reloading data for 160-grain (10 g) bullets for some of the cartridges is not available. Extensive loading data for the .308 Marlin Express is available at (). This round was designed with an elastomer tip, so that the .308 designed would be safe for the tubular magazine of lever action rifles. This softer tip eliminates the hazards of stacking pointed rounds end to end in a tubular magazine.


.308 Marlin Express, Ammunition availability
As of 2010, Hornady and Remington remain the only two manufacturers of loaded ammunition in .308 Marlin Express.


.308 Norma Magnum
The .308 Norma Magnum (7.62×65mmBR) cartridge was created by Nils Kvale at Norma, Sweden. Like the larger .358 Norma Magnum it is based on the .300 H&H Magnum. The length of the case is the longest that would fit in a standard Mauser action. While it appeared to have a bright future initially, it was soon superseded in popularity by the .300 Winchester Magnum. The first, and one of the few, manufacturers to offer rifles in .308 Norma Magnum was Schultz & Larsen of Denmark and they still are.


.308 Norma Magnum
In the late 1940s, Kvale designed a wildcat called 8mm Kvale. It was intended for use in the German surplus 8mm Mauser M98 that flooded the American market after the war and was therefore nicknamed 'Poor Man's Magnum'. Kvale used the case from the .300 H&H Magnum and reduced the rim diameter so it would fit the bolt of a Mauser M98. The lessons learned from this cartridge were put into the .308 and .358 Norma Magnum.


.308 Norma Magnum
Cases for the cartridge can be purchased from Norma or made in three ways:Necking up a 7 mm Remington Magnum case, necking down a .338 Winchester Magnum case, or running .300 Winchester Magnum cases through a full-length sizing die. Since the first two options leave the brass a bit short, the third is generally considered to be the best option. Ammunition for this caliber is not cheap (typically US$50–60 for 20 cartridges) and as such it is mainly of interest only to handloaders who own a rifle chambered in this caliber. The cartridge makes use of a belted case for headspacing.


.308 Norma Magnum
Its short powder column give it an edge in efficiency over most of the older .30 cal magnums, not including ultra magnums or wsm caliber. the longer neck helps with seating longer/heavier projectiles better than the shorter necked 300 Win Mag. The shorter neck means that the projectile in certain rifles has to go deeper into the case whereby taking up more powder space.


.308 Norma Magnum
The demise of the Norma Magnum case can be summed up as a marketing failure on Norma's part. Although rifles were available in this caliber, only brass for reloading was available in large quantities,  with Norma the only manufacturer of ready-made ammo. Winchester, however, was able to produce the popular model 70 rifles in their caliber and mass-produced ready-made ammo to the American public. This was the main reason of the 300 Winchester Magnum's popularity over the 308 Norma Mag. The 308 Norma Magnum is considered by many reloaders as a better caliber compared to the 300 Winchester Magnum that essentially replaced it.


.308 Winchester
The .308 Winchester is a smokeless powder rimless bottlenecked rifle cartridge.


.308 Winchester, History
During the 1940s, the .300 Savage became the basis for experiments on behalf of the U.S. Military that resulted in the development of the T65 series of experimental cartridges. The original experimental case design by the Frankford Arsenal was designated the T65 and was similar to the .300 Savage case, but with less taper. The experimental cases were made from standard .30-06 Springfield cases which gave a little less capacity than standard .300 Savage cases because the Frankford Arsenal cases had slightly thicker case walls.


.308 Winchester, History
The later T65 iterations were lengthened compared to the original T65 case and provided a ballistic performance roughly equal to the U.S. military .30-06 Springfield service cartridge. Over forty years of technical progress in the field of propellants allowed for similar service cartridge performance from a significantly shorter, smaller case with less case capacity.


.308 Winchester, History
Winchester saw a market for a civilian model of the late T65 series designs and introduced it in 1952, two years prior to the NATO adoption of the T65E5 experimental cartridge iteration under the 7.62×51mm NATO designation in 1954. Winchester branded the cartridge and introduced it to the commercial hunting market as the .308 Winchester. Winchester's Model 70, Model 88 and Model 100 rifles were subsequently chambered for the new cartridge. Since then, the .308 Winchester has become the most popular short-action, big-game hunting cartridge worldwide.


.308 Winchester, History
It is also commonly used for hunting, target shooting, metallic silhouette, bench rest target shooting, palma, metal matches, military sniping, and police sharpshooting. The relatively short case makes the .308 Winchester especially well-adapted for short-action rifles. When loaded with a bullet that expands, tumbles, or fragments in tissue, this cartridge is capable of high terminal performance.


.308 Winchester, Cartridge dimensions
The .308 Winchester has 3.64 ml (56.0 grains) cartridge case capacity. The exterior shape of the case was designed to promote reliable case feeding and extraction in bolt action rifles and machine guns alike, under extreme conditions.


.308 Winchester, Cartridge dimensions
.308 Winchester maximum C.I.P. cartridge dimensions. All dimensions in millimeters (mm) and inches.


.308 Winchester, Cartridge dimensions
Americans would define the shoulder angle at alpha/2 = 20 degrees. The common rifling twist rate for this cartridge is 305 mm (1 in 12 in), 4 grooves, Ø lands = 7.62 mm, Ø grooves = 7.82 mm, land width = 4.47 mm and the primer type is large rifle.


.308 Winchester, Cartridge dimensions
According to the official C.I.P. (Commission Internationale Permanente pour l'Epreuve des Armes à Feu Portatives) rulings the .308 Winchester can handle up to 415.00 MPa (60,191 psi) Pmax piezo pressure. In C.I.P. regulated countries every rifle cartridge combo has to be proofed at 125% of this maximum C.I.P. pressure to certify for sale to consumers. This means that .308 Winchester chambered arms in C.I.P. regulated countries are currently (2008) proof tested at 519.00 MPa (75,275 psi) PE piezo pressure.


.308 Winchester, Cartridge dimensions
North American SAAMI maximum pressure for the 308 Winchester is 427.47 MPa (62,000 psi).


.308 Winchester, .308 Winchester vs. 7.62×51mm NATO
Although not identical, the .308 Winchester and military 7.62×51mm NATO cartridges are similar enough that they can be loaded into rifles chambered for the other round, but the .308 Winchester cartridges are typically loaded to higher pressures than 7.62×51mm NATO service cartridges.


.308 Winchester, .308 Winchester vs. 7.62×51mm NATO
Even though the Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers' Institute (SAAMI) does not consider it unsafe to fire the commercial .308 Winchester rounds in weapons chambered for the military 7.62×51mm NATO round, there is significant discussion about compatible chambers and pressures between the two cartridges based on powder loads, chamber dimensions and wall thicknesses in the web area of the military compared to commercial cartridge cases. As the chambers differ accordingly the head space gauges used for the two chamberings differ.


.308 Winchester, Usage and performance
The .308 Winchester is one of the most popular hunting cartridges in the United States, and possibly the world. It has gained popularity in many countries as an exceptional cartridge for game in the medium- to large-sized class. Although in North America it is commonly thought that it is only recommended for whitetail deer, pronghorn and the occasional caribou or black bear, the .308 Winchester is among the calibers recommended for hunting brown and grizzly bears by the Alaska Department of Game and Fish. Moreover, the Canadian Arctic Rangers chose the Colt Canada C19 in .308 Winchester/7.62×51mm NATO for "polar bear defense" in 2014, demonstrating that the .308 Winchester is suitable and even preferred for taking any medium, large or dangerous game located in the Americas.


.308 Winchester, Usage and performance
Clay Harvey, an American gun writer, said it is usable on moose and elk. Layne Simpson, an American who has hunted in Sweden, said he is surprised how many hunters there used the cartridge. Craig Boddington was told by a Norma Precision executive that the .308 Winchester was one of Norma's best-selling calibers.


.308 Winchester, Usage and performance
In Africa the .308 Winchester is one of the most popular calibers among Bushveld hunters and is used on anything from duiker right up to the massive eland (a small and large African antelope respectively). Proponents of the hydrostatic shock theory contend that the .308 Winchester has sufficient energy to impart hydrostatic shock to living targets when rapidly expanding bullets deliver a high rate of energy transfer.


.308 Winchester, Usage and performance
While .308 Winchester has traditionally been the most popular cartridge in the past, the development of lighter recoil chamberings with sufficient downrange energy, like the 7mm-08 Remington, .260 Remington, and 6.5 Creedmoor, is becoming more common for metallic silhouette shooting.


.308 Winchester, Usage and performance
PALMA shooting is a variant of full bore target shooting done with a bolt action rifle chambered in 7.62x51mm NATO/.308 Winchester firing match grade 155 grain bullets and using micrometer aperture iron sights out to 1,000 yards.


.308 Winchester, Usage and performance
F-class is a variant of fullbore target rifle which permits optical telescopic sights and shooting rests at the front and rear, such as a bipod or bags. Competitions are fired at distances between 300 and 1,200 meters (or yards), and the targets are half the size of those used in traditional Palma shooting. Based on equipment, competitors can choose to compete in one of the two classes, open and standard:F-TR ("target", standard class): A restricted class which permits a scope, bipod, backpack and rear bag (no front rest), the caliber has to be either .223 Remington or .308 Winchester. In addition, the weight limit including optics is 8.25 kg (18.15 lbs).


.308 Winchester, Usage and performance
The .308 Winchester has slightly more drop at long range than the .30-06 Springfield, owing to its slightly lower (around 30 metres per second (100 ft/s)) muzzle velocity with most bullet weights. Cartridges with significantly higher muzzle velocities, such as the .300 Winchester Magnum can have significantly less drop at long range, but much higher recoil.


.308 Winchester, Usage and performance
Trajectory comparisons between .308 Winchester, .30-06 Springfield, and .300 Winchester Magnum


.308 Winchester, Usage and performance
Ultra-high speed photo of a 150 grain FMJ .308 Winchester bullet photographed with an air-gap flash


.308 Winchester, As a parent case
Several cartridges have been developed using the .308 Winchester as a parent case, some becoming very popular for hunting, particularly in North America. These are the .243 Winchester, the .260 Remington (6.5-08 A-Square), the 7 mm-08 Remington, the .338 Federal, and the .358 Winchester (8.8×51mm). In 1980, two rimmed cartridges based on the .308 Winchester were introduced for use in the Winchester Model 94 XTR Angle Eject rifle: the .307 Winchester and the .356 Winchester. In 2014, the rimless 45 Raptor was introduced to provide a big bore cartridge for the AR-10 by combining the .308 Winchester with the .460 S&W Magnum.


.308×1.5-inch Barnes
The .308×1.5" Barnes is a wildcat cartridge based on the .308 Winchester (7.62×51mm NATO). The cartridge is similar to the 7.62×39mm Russian (M43) cartridge though it outperforms the Soviet cartridge. It was designed by Frank C. Barnes in March 1961 by shortening the .308 Winchester to 1.5 in (38 mm) and giving it a shoulder angle of 20° (α=40°) similar to the parent cartridge.


.308×1.5-inch Barnes, History
The first rifles commissioned for the developmental work by Barnes for the .308×1.5" cartridge were a Swedish Model 96 Mauser with a 1 in 12 (305 mm) twist built by Les Corbet and a Remington Rolling Block with a 1 in 10 (254 mm) twist built by P.O. Ackley. Due to the weights of the bullet and the performance of the cartridge, the 1 in 12 twist became the standard by consensus.


.308×1.5-inch Barnes, Similar cartridges
The legacy of the Barnes cartridge is found in its progeny cartridges. The .308×1.5" caused a wildcatting craze, which had individuals necking the cartridge down to .224 (5.56 mm), .243 (6 mm), .264 (6.5 mm), .284 (7 mm) and necking up to .338 (8.5 mm) and .375 (9.5 mm). Due to the cartridges’ efficiency and accuracy, many of these cartridges, such as the .22 BR, 6mm BR, 6mm BR Norma, 7mm BR, and .30 BR, went on to become popular benchrest cartridges and some of these were adopted by mainstream ammunition manufacturers. The .308×1.5" was one of the original short fat cartridge designs, having a length to width ratio of 3.17. The short fat cartridge design is considered to promote efficiency and shot to shot consistency.


.308×1.5-inch Barnes, Similar cartridges
The .308×1.5" Barnes cartridge is comparable to cartridges such as the 7.62×39mm and the .30-30 Winchester. The .308×1.5" is capable of launching a 150 gr (9.7 g) bullet at 2,500 ft/s (760 m/s). While the Barnes and 7.62×39 are similar length, the Barnes has a greater body girth, which provides a greater propellant capacity which in turn contributes to its performance advantage. While the .30-30 Winchester has about a 16% greater capacity over the Barnes cartridge, the .30-30 has a SAAMI-recommended pressure limit of 42,000 psi (2,900 bar).


.308×1.5-inch Barnes, Similar cartridges
For this reason, most factory .30-30 ammunition loaded with a 150 gr (9.7 g) bullet achieves a mere 2,390 ft/s (730 m/s). Furthermore, the Barnes cartridge is capable of launching heavier bullets than the 7.62×39 and has the advantage of using spitzer bullets and is chambered in strong bolt-action rifles, whereas the .30-30 is commonly loaded with round-nose or flat-nose bullets due to the fact that it is chambered in lever-action rifles with tubular magazines.


.308×1.5-inch Barnes, Similar cartridges
The .308×1.5" Barnes was intended as a short range deer cartridge that could also be used as a varmint and predator cartridge. Loaded with the 150 gr (9.7 g) cartridge, it is capable of taking deer-sized game out to 150 yd (140 m). For predator and varmint hunting, bullets weighing 90–125 gr (5.8–8.1 g) are commonly used.


.310 Cadet
The .310 Cadet, also known as the .310 Greener, or the .310 Martini, is a centerfire rifle cartridge, introduced in 1900 by W.W. Greener as a target round for the Martini Cadet rifle. Firing a 120 grain heeled lead projectile at 1350 ft/s the round is similar in performance to the .32-20 Winchester and some rifles may chamber both rounds with some accuracy. The full metal jacketed round was used in cadet rifles in Australia and New Zealand after early 20th-century Defence Acts.


.310 Cadet
In New Zealand, after the start of the Boer War, a cadet corps had been started; by 1901 it was recommended that membership be compulsory. 500 Westley-Richards miniature Martini–Henry rifles were available by October 1902 (Auckland Star), and 5000 by April 1903 (Star). Such rifles gained popularity in Australia, New Zealand and the United States when thousands of Martini Cadet rifles were sold by the Australian government after World War II.


.310 Cadet, Current Use
After being sold by the Australian government many were converted to sporting or target rifles, often re-barreled to calibers like .22 Hornet, .218 Bee, .25-20 Winchester, .222 Rimmed, .357 Magnum and others to .22 rimfire by gun makers like Sportco.


.310 Cadet, Current Use
Those still using the .310 Cadet have to either buy cases to reload, by Bertram Bullet Co. in Victoria, Australia, or several small independent ammunition makers in Australia and the United Kingdom. However these new .310 Cadet cases are 3-4 times as expensive as new .32-20 Winchester cases, hence shooters modify .32-20 cases, as a cheaper alternative. Modifications involve length resizing, and in most cases reducing the rim thickness. Due to the .310 using a heeled projectile, the neck thickness of the .32-20 does not have to be reamed down, after first being case length resized to 1.075" (27.3 mm).


.310 Cadet, Current Use
Most .310 cadet chambered rifles need to have the rim of the .32-20 case reduced from 0.065" to 0.045" (1.7 mm to 1.14 mm), to allow proper head spacing and operation of rifle. However, in the unusual instance of a lever action .32-20 fitted with a .310 barrel, the rifle will cycle better without the case rim thickness being reduced. As home reloading is the main option for the .310, many shooters play with different case length reduction of the .32-20, anywhere from 0.875'' to 1.185'' (22.23 mm to 30.10 mm).


.318 Westley Richards
The .318 Westley Richards, also known as the .318 Rimless Nitro Express and the .318 Accelerated Express, is a proprietary medium bore centerfire rifle cartridge developed by Westley Richards.


.318 Westley Richards, Design
Westley Richards introduced the .318, primarily for use in their M98 Mauser and later their P14 Enfield based bolt action sporting rifles.


.318 Westley Richards, Design
The .318 Westley Richards is a rimless bottlenecked cartridge primarily intended for use in Africa. The bullet diameter is actually .330", the naming is due to British nomenclature which sometimes names cartridges by their land diameter rather than the more commonly applied groove diameter.


.318 Westley Richards, Design
Westley Richards offered solid, soft-point or the revolutionary LT-capped bullets in two loadings, the more common being a 250 gr (16 g) bullet with a listed speed of 2,400 ft/s (730 m/s), whilst a lighter loading firing a 180 gr (12 g) bullet at 2,700 ft/s (820 m/s) was also offered for lighter game. The 250gr bullet possessed high sectional density and thus excellent penetration.


.318 Westley Richards, History
Most sources state the .318 Westley Richards was introduced in 1910, although a Westley Richards catalogue contains a testimonial from a satisfied customer dated March 1909 who used his rifle to take 10 elephants, indicating the cartridge must have been introduced by at least 1908. Upon the introduction of the .318 Westley Richards, Westley Richards effectively stopped marketing their .375/303 Westley Richards Accelerated Express.


.318 Westley Richards, History
The .318 Westley Richards was one of the most popular medium-bore cartridges used in Africa, even after the introduction of the .375 Holland & Holland. As with many British proprietary cartridges, the .318 Westley Richards was forced into obsolescence when Kynoch suspended ammunition manufacturing in the 1960s. Kynamco resumed manufacture of the Kynoch range of cartridges in the 1990s meaning the ammunition is again commercially available, although no firearms manufacturers make factory rifles in .318 Westley Richards today.


.318 Westley Richards, Use
While the cartridge is not intended for dangerous game, it has been used successfully on all African game species up to and including elephant. The cartridge was a contemporary of and very similar in performance to the .333 Jeffery, both were somewhat overshadowed by the arrival of the .375 Holland & Holland.


.318 Westley Richards, Use
In his African Rifles and Cartridges, John "Pondoro" Taylor wrote that the 250gr .318 Westley Richards is "fully capable of driving its bullet the full length of a big elephant's body."


.318 Westley Richards, Use
W.D.M. "Karamojo" Bell wrote that the .318 Westley Richards was a more reliable killer for certain shots than his favoured .275 Rigby, but the .275 Rigby was a "surgeons" rifle. On one occasion Bell used a pair of .318 Westley Richards rifles to take nine elephants with nine shots, he later wrote "In my opinion, the 250gr .318, although far from perfect, approaches most nearly the big game hunter's ideal bullet".


.318 Westley Richards, Use
James H. Sutherland, who over the course of his life shot between 1,300 and 1,600 elephants, used a .318 Westley Richards along with a .577 Nitro Express double rifle for all his African hunting, in a letter to Westley Richards he wrote "In open country, against Elephants and Rhinoceroses where the quarry is difficult to approach and long shots are often required I find that I can do all that is requisite with the .318 using of course, solid nickel covered bullets."


.318 Westley Richards, Use
Other users of the .318 Westley Richards include Major G.H. Anderson who shot between 350 and 400 elephants; and Quentin Grogan who shot between 250 and 300 elephants.


.32 ACP
.32 ACP (Automatic Colt Pistol, also known as the .32 Automatic) is a centerfire pistol cartridge. It is a semi-rimmed, straight-walled cartridge developed by firearms designer John Browning, initially for use in the FN M1900 semi-automatic pistol. It was introduced in 1899 by Fabrique Nationale, and is also known as the 7.65×17mmSR Browning or 7.65 mm Browning Short.


.32 ACP, History
John Browning engineered a number of modern semi-automatic pistol mechanisms and cartridges. As his first pistol cartridge, the .32 ACP needed a straight wall for reliable blowback operation as well as a small rim for reliable feeding from a box magazine. The cartridge headspaces on the rim. The cartridge was a success and was adopted by dozens of countries and countless governmental agencies.


.32 ACP, History
When the .32 ACP cartridge was introduced, it was immediately popular and was available in several blowback automatic pistols of the day, including the Colt Model 1903 Pocket Hammerless, the Savage Model 1907 automatic pistol, the Ruby pistol and the Browning Model 1910 automatic pistol. The popularity of the .32 ACP in the early half of the 20th century cannot be overstated—especially in Europe. Firearms expert Geoffrey Boothroyd of the UK informed author Ian Fleming, his countryman, that James Bond's side arm should be a Walther PPK chambered in .32 ACP. A significant factor in recommending this round was its near universal availability throughout the world in the 1950s.


.32 ACP, History
The .32 ACP has been chambered in more handguns than any other cartridge. Between 1899 and 1909, Fabrique Nationale produced 500,000 guns chambered for .32 ACP.


.32 ACP, History
Adolf Hitler is believed to have committed suicide with his personal .32 ACP Walther PPK, by pointing it to his right temple and pulling the trigger while simultaneously biting down on a cyanide capsule.


.32 ACP, History
Heckler & Koch produced the HK 4, their first handgun, in 1967. Twelve thousand HK 4 pistols were produced in .32 ACP for the German police and other government agencies.


.32 ACP, History
A handful of long guns have been chambered in .32 ACP, from the Tirmax and Dreyse carbines to the AR-15-style Armi Jager AP-74.


.32 ACP, Design
The .32 ACP was intended for blowback semi-automatic pistols which lacked a breech locking mechanism. It was John Pedersen with the Remington Model 51 that delivered a true locked breech for the .32 ACP cartridge. The relatively low power and light bullet of the cartridge allowed Browning to incorporate a practical blowback mechanism in a small Pocket Size Pistol. It is still used today primarily in compact, inexpensive pistols, unless the pistol is used for ISSF competition where the cost then escalates. Cartridges in .32 ACP are also sometimes used in caliber conversion sleeves, also known as supplemental chambers, for providing an alternative pistol caliber carbine function in .30-caliber hunting and service rifles.


.32 ACP, Design
Some comparison of the ".32 Automatic" as defined by SAAMI and the "7.65 Browning" as defined by CIP may be useful. Although some of the cartridge measurements differ by as much as 0.16mm, the names are considered to be synonymous. However, the maximum average pressure - as measured by a transducer on the test barrel - is 20,500 psi (1,410 bar) according to SAAMI, while CIP allows up to 1,600 bar (23,000 psi). This may explain why the cartridges from European manufacturers tend to chronograph at higher muzzle velocities compared to those from American manufacturers.


.32 ACP, Performance
The .32 ACP is compact and light. While some believe it has marginal stopping power, it has been used effectively by military and police worldwide for the past century. Although .32 ACP handguns were traditionally made of steel, they have been produced in lightweight polymers since the 1990s. Their light weight, very low recoil and very good accuracy relative to larger caliber pistols make them suitable for concealed carry use. Some popular pistols chambered in .32 ACP are the Walther PP and the Walther PPK as well as the FEG PA-63, which is a clone of the Walther PP.


.32 ACP, Performance
It offers more velocity and energy than the .32 S&W, which was a popular round for pocket defensive revolvers at the time of the .32 ACP's development. Although of lighter bullet weight, the .32 ACP also compares favorably to the .32 S&W Long in performance. Some European 73 grain .32 ACP loads provide similar performance to the .32 H&R Magnum 77 grain lead flat point and 90 grain lead semiwadcutter.


.32 ACP, Performance
Even though the .32 ACP is capable of killing small game, most handguns chambered for this round utilize fixed sights and are designed for use against human-sized targets at fairly close range, which greatly limits their utility as hunting handguns.


.32 ACP, Performance
The .32 ACP is one of the most common calibers used in veterinary "humane killers", such as the Greener Humane Killer. Given that a .22 LR can penetrate bone, the higher power .32 ACP can easily penetrate an animal cranium with a muzzle-contact shot. As a result, the round is suited to this purpose, even for fully grown horses and bulls.


.32 ACP, Performance
In Europe, where the round is commonly known as the 7.65 mm Browning, and features different rimsizing from the American .32 ACPs, the .32 ACP has always been more widely accepted than it has in America, having a long history of use by civilians, law enforcement personnel, and security forces, along with limited issue by the military forces. During the second half of the 20th century, several European countries developed firearms for police chambered in 9×18mm Makarov while chambering the same pistol for civilians in .32 ACP and .380 ACP. Examples include the Vz. 82/CZ-83 from Czechoslovakia, FEG PA-63/AP 765 from Hungary, SIG Sauer P230 from Switzerland, and P-83 Wanad from Poland.


.32 ACP, Performance
Today the cartridge has an increased popularity in the United States due to modern compact concealed carry pistols chambered for it, such as the Kel-Tec P-32, Beretta Tomcat, Seecamp LWS 32 and North American Arms Guardian .32. This increase in popularity has led many ammunition manufacturers to develop new loads for the cartridge to increase performance. However, these subcompact guns typically have barrel lengths around 2.5". The traditional steel guns chambered for .32 ACP have barrel lengths around 3.5". Different barrel lengths can have a significant effect on bullet performance with longer barrels providing higher muzzle velocity and energy. For example, a Cor-Bon 60 grain .32 ACP JHP has 130 foot pounds of energy when fired out of a 2.5" barrel and 165 foot pounds of energy when fired out of a 3.5" barrel. The shorter barrel length can also reduce the range of a bullet.


.32 H&R Magnum
The .32 H&R Magnum is a rimmed cartridge designed for use in revolvers. It was developed in 1984 as a joint venture between Harrington & Richardson and Federal Cartridge. The .32 H&R Magnum is produced by lengthening the .32 S&W Long case by .155", to 1.075".


.32 H&R Magnum, Performance
The .32 H&R Magnum offers substantially more performance than most other .32 caliber handgun cartridges, such as the .32 ACP, and is considered an effective small-game hunting cartridge. Its higher velocity offers a flat trajectory, while the light weight of the bullet results in low recoil. The older .32-20 Winchester was extremely popular in the Winchester lever- and Colt single-actions, available at the turn of the century, for small-to-medium game hunting. The .32 H&R offers near duplicate performance.


.32 H&R Magnum, Performance
One of the .32 H&R Magnum's favorable attributes is that it offers .38 Special energy levels and allows a small-frame revolver to hold six cartridges, whereas a similarly sized revolver in .38 Special holds only five rounds. Penetration is also usually increased compared to the .38 Special with bullets of the same weight due to greater sectional density.


.32 H&R Magnum, Performance
Maximum pressure for the .32 H&R Magnum is set at 21,000 CUP by SAAMI.


.32 H&R Magnum, Performance
The .327 Federal Magnum is based on the .32 H&R Magnum and increases performance to levels near that of the .357 Magnum.


.32 H&R Magnum, Use
Though the .32 H&R was not designed with a particular task in mind, it is fairly well suited to small game hunting. It is also an acceptable self-defense cartridge. It is not generally considered a good "plinking" cartridge, due to high cost and poor availability of ammunition, but reloading can mitigate those issues.


.32 H&R Magnum, Use
Many handgun hunters use the .22 Winchester rimfire magnum with great success in hunting small to small-medium game, up to coyote-size. The .32 H&R Magnum offers increased stopping power due to its heavier bullets and larger caliber, with the added bonus that the .32 H&R magnum can be reloaded for cost savings.


.32 H&R Magnum, Use
In 2013, Hornady introduced a .32 H&R Magnum "Critical Defense" cartridge designed for self-defense. It propels an 80 grain FTX (flex tip), bullet at 1,150 fps muzzle velocity. Buffalo Bore offers +P rated cartridges with either a 100 gr. JHP or a 130 gr. Keith hard case SWC bullets.


.32 H&R Magnum, Use
Since the .32 H&R Magnum headspaces on the rim and shares the rim dimensions and case and bullet diameters of the shorter .32 S&W and .32 S&W Long cartridges, these shorter cartridges may be safely fired in arms chambered for the .32 H&R Magnum. However, the longer, more powerful .32 H&R Magnum cartridges can not be safely fired in arms designed for the .32 S&W or .32 S&W Long.


.32 H&R Magnum, Firearms chambered for the .32 H&R Magnum, Handguns
In addition to Harrington & Richardson, other manufacturers who have offered revolvers in .32 H&R Magnum include Dan Wesson Firearms, Charter Arms (professional 7 round revolver), Freedom Arms, Smith & Wesson (J and K frames), Ruger (Blackhawk, Single-Six, GP100, SP101, Ruger LCR and LCRx), and Taurus and New England Firearms (NEF).


.32 H&R Magnum, Firearms chambered for the .32 H&R Magnum, Handguns
American Derringer, Bond Arms, and Cobra Firearms offer derringers in .32 H&R Magnum, while Thompson Center Arms offered their Contender pistol in it.


.32 H&R Magnum, Firearms chambered for the .32 H&R Magnum, Rifles
Marlin offered the Model 1894CB lever-action rifle in .32 H&R Magnum. Unlike other Marlin 1894s, the 1894CB loads from the front of the tubular 10-shot magazine, like their Model 39A rimfire rifle, and has a faster, 10% shorter throw, lever action. It has a 20" tapered octagonal barrel, an overall length of 37.5" and weighs 6.5 lbs. Henry Repeating Arms offers their Big Boy line of lever-action rifles in .32 H&R Magnum as a secondary chambering with .327 Federal Magnum.


.32 Long Colt
The .32 Long Colt (commonly called the .32 LC or simply  .32 Colt) is an American centerfire revolver cartridge.


.32 Long Colt, Description
Introduced by Colt's with the New Line revolver in 1873, the .32 Colt was inspired by the .320 Revolver. It originally used a .313 in (7.95 mm)-diameter 90 gr (5.8 g) outside-lubricated heeled bullet, which was later changed to inside lubrication, leading to a diameter change to .299 in (7.59 mm), a slight reduction in bullet weight, and a shortening of overall length.


.32 Long Colt, Description
With a case lengthened by .31 in (7.87 mm) over the .32 Short Colt (which means the .32 SC will chamber and fire in any weapon designed for the LC), the .32LC is in the same class in power as the .32 Smith & Wesson Long, without comparable accuracy. The .32 Long Colt and .32 S&W Long are not interchangeable due to differences in case and bullet diameter.


.32 Long Colt, Description
More popular in Europe than North America, Colt was the most prominent American manufacturer which chambered any weapons in .32 Long Colt, most notably the Police Positive. The FAMAE revolver produced in Chile is currently offered in .32 Long Colt.


.32 NAA
The .32 NAA is a cartridge/firearm 'system' designed and developed by the partnership of North American Arms and Corbon Ammunition. The cartridge is a .380 ACP case necked-down to hold a .32 caliber bullet with the goal of improved ballistic performance over the .32 ACP.


.32 NAA, History and Design
Bottleneck handgun cartridge designs experienced early success and have had continuing development since at least the 7.65×25mm Borchardt or earlier, which led to the development of the 7.63×25mm Mauser (also known as the .30 Mauser), followed by the 7.62×25mm Tokarev. The benefits of bottleneck designs include smooth feeding and chambering and simple, robust headspacing.


.32 NAA, History and Design
The .32 NAA uses the .312" diameter bullet of the .32 S&W, .32 S&W Long, .32 H&R Magnum, and .327 Federal Magnum, and .32 ACP.


.32 NAA, History and Design
The .32 NAA is one of the most recent of a line of commercial bottleneck handgun cartridges. Renewed western interest in bottleneck handgun cartridges began with the .357 SIG in 1994 (necking a .40 S&W case down to a .355 bullet); followed by the .400 Corbon in 1996 (necking a .45 ACP case down to hold a .40 cal. bullet); and then the .25 NAA in 1999 (necking a .32 ACP case down to hold a .25 caliber bullet). 2015 saw the introduction of the 7.5 FK bottleneck cartridge by the Czech company FK BRNO.


.32 NAA, Performance
The cartridge delivers in excess of 1,222 ft/s (372 m/s) velocity to a 60 grain (3.9 gram) proprietary bullet from Hornady. This generates 199 ft⋅lbf (270 J) of energy from the 2.5" Guardian barrel (1453 ft/s & 287 ft⋅lbf (389 J) from a 4" test barrel).


.32 NAA, Performance
According to Phil W. Johnston, the 60 gr Corbon cartridge averaged 1204 fps, with an extreme spread of 69 fps and a standard deviation of 19 fps, for 193.09 ft-lbs of energy. When fired at ballistic gelatin, he obtained 6.25" of penetration, with expansion to 0.528" and 72% weight retention.


.32 NAA, Performance
Extreme Shock Ammunition offers an "Enhanced Penetration Round" that sends a 60 gr. bullet at 1196 fps for 190 ft lbs of energy.


.32 NAA, Performance
In fall 2012, Hornady released a .32 NAA Critical Defense load that propels a relatively heavy (thus higher sectional density), 80 grain JHP FTX bullet at 1,000 fps.


.32 NAA, Handguns
The North American Arms Guardian 32 NAA is designed around this cartridge.


.32 NAA, Handguns
Diamondback Firearms offers .32 NAA conversion barrels (2.8") for their DB380 pistols.


.32 NAA, Handguns
once stocked barrels of two different lengths for converting Makarov pistols to .32 NAA.


.32 Remington
The .32 Remington (also known as the .32 Remington Auto-Loading or .32 Remington Rimless) is an American rifle cartridge. A rimless, smokeless powder design, this cartridge was once considered to be suitable for game larger than deer and black bear. Similar contemporary cartridges include the rimmed .32 Winchester Special, a cartridge introduced by Winchester and offered as a chambering in Winchester's lever action rifles.


.32 Remington, Description
The .32 Remington cartridge dates to 1906 and its introduction by Remington in the Remington Model 8 rifle. Other rifles chambered for the .32 Remington include the Remington Model 81, Remington Model 14 slide-action, Remington Model 30 bolt action, Stevens Model 425 lever-action, and Standard Arms Company rifles. Due to their similar dimensions, the .25 Remington, .30 Remington, and .32 Remington together were known as the Remington Rimless cartridge series. Firearm manufacturers generally offered all three of these cartridges as chamberings in a rifle model rather than just one of the series.


.32 Remington, Description
This cartridge was chambered in the Remington Model 141 also. The .35 Remington was also a part of the old Remington rimless lineup, although it is based on a rimless version of the .30-40 Krag. This cartridge is a ballistic twin of the .32 Winchester Special.


.32 S&W
The .32 S&W cartridge (also known as the .32 S&W Short) was introduced in 1878 for Smith & Wesson pocket revolvers. It was originally designed as a black powder cartridge. The .32 S&W was offered to the public as a light defense cartridge for "card table" distances.


.32 S&W, Design
Originally designed by the Union Metallic Cartridge Company (UMC) as a black powder cartridge using nine grains of black powder, the round has been loaded with smokeless powder exclusively since 1940. It is low-powered and perfect for use in small frame concealable revolvers and derringers. The round remained popular in the United States and Europe long after the firearms chambered for it were out of production. At one time, it was considered to be the bare minimum for a self-defense round and was judged unsuitable for police work.


.32 S&W, Design
For defensive uses, the .32 S&W is grouped with other turn-of-the-century cartridges designed for use in "belly guns"—guns meant for use in point-blank defensive situations, such as in a carriage or an alleyway. These cartridges include the .25 ACP, and the .22 Short, Long, and Long Rifle. For comparison, the .32 S&W projectile is over 40% larger in diameter and over twice as heavy as the 40-grain lead round-nose bullet used in the .22 Long Rifle of its day (known as standard velocity today). The .32 S&W's velocity of approximately 700 feet per second (210 m/s) was very close to the .22 Long Rifle's performance from a sub-3-inch (76 mm) barrel, but with larger diameter and better sectional density.


.32 S&W, Design
Although the .32 S&W's round-nose bullet was less than optimal for defense, it did offer significant improvement over these other common handgun calibers of the day. This performance made guns chambered in the cartridge very popular as a gentleman's "vest gun".


.32 S&W, Derivatives
The .32 S&W Long cartridge is derived from the .32 S&W, by increasing the overall brass case length, to hold more powder. Since the .32 S&W headspaces on the rim and shares the rim dimensions and case and bullet diameters of the longer .32 S&W Long, the .32 H&R Magnum cartridges, and the .327 Federal Magnum, .32 S&W cartridges may be fired in arms chambered for these longer cartridges. Longer cartridges are unsafe in short chambers, so none of these longer and more powerful cartridges should be loaded into arms designed for the .32 S&W.


.32 S&W, Use in assassinations
Guns chambered in .32 S&W have been used in at least three notable assassinations:


.32 S&W, Chambered weapons
Other gun types, or gun manufacturers, using .32 S&W include:


.32 S&W Long
The .32 S&W Long, also known as 7.65x23mm, is a straight-walled, centerfire, rimmed handgun cartridge, based on the earlier .32 S&W cartridge. It was introduced in 1896 for Smith & Wesson's first-model Hand Ejector revolver. Colt called it the .32 Colt New Police in revolvers it made chambered for the cartridge.


.32 S&W Long, History
The .32 S&W Long was introduced in 1896 with the company's first hand ejector revolver. The .32 Long is simply a lengthened version of the earlier .32 S&W. The hand ejector design has evolved some, but with its swing out cylinder on a crane, has been the basis for every S&W revolver designed since. In 1896, the cartridge was loaded with black powder. In 1903 the small hand ejector was updated with a new design. The cartridge stayed the same, but was now loaded with smokeless powder to roughly the same chamber pressure.


.32 S&W Long, History
When he was the New York City Police Commissioner, Theodore Roosevelt standardized the department's use of the Colt New Police revolver. The cartridge was then adopted by several other northeastern U.S. police departments. The .32 Long is well known as an unusually accurate cartridge. This reputation led Police Commissioner Roosevelt to select it as an expedient way to increase officers' accuracy with their revolvers in New York City. The Colt company referred to the .32 S&W Long cartridge as the .32 "Colt's New Police" cartridge, concurrent with the conversion of the Colt New Police revolver from .32 Long Colt. The cartridges are functionally identical with the exception that the .32 NP cartridge has been historically loaded with a flat nosed bullet as opposed to the round nose of the .32 S&W Long.


.32 S&W Long, Current use
In the United States, it is usually older revolvers which are chambered in this caliber. The cartridge has mostly fallen out of use due to smaller revolvers chambered in .38 Special being more effective for self-defense. The cartridge is widely used internationally, particularly in countries like India that restrict the calibers available to civilian firearms owners. Revolvers are still produced in this caliber in South America, South Asia, and Eastern Europe.


.32 S&W Long, Current use
The .32 S&W Long is popular among international competitors in ISSF 25 meter center-fire pistol, using high-end target pistols from makers such as Pardini Arms, Morini, Hämmerli, Benelli, and Walther, among others, but chambered for wadcutter bullet type. The sporting variant of the Manurhin MR 73, also known as MR 32, is also chambered in .32 S&W Long.


.32 S&W Long, Current use
The IOF .32 Revolver manufactured by the Ordnance Factories Organization in India for civilian licence holders is chambered for this cartridge.


.32 S&W Long, Interchangeability
The .32 S&W Long headspaces on the rim and shares the rim dimensions and case and bullet diameters of the shorter .32 S&W cartridge and the longer .32 H&R Magnum and .327 Federal Magnum cartridges. The shorter .32 S&W may be fired in handguns chambered for the .32 S&W Long; and the .32 S&W Long may be fired in arms chambered for the longer H&R and Federal magnums; although the longer cartridges should not fit and must not be fired in arms designed for the shorter and less powerful cartridges.


.32 S&W Long, Interchangeability
The .32 S&W Long and .32 Long Colt are not interchangeable. At one time it was widely publicized that these rounds would interchange, but in truth it has never been deemed safe to do so.


.32 Winchester Self-Loading
The .32 Winchester Self-Loading (also called .32SL, .32SLR, or .32WSL) is an American rifle cartridge.


.32 Winchester Self-Loading, Description
Winchester introduced the .32SL and .35SL cartridges in the Winchester '05 self-loading rifle, a centerfire version of the Winchester '03. The .32SL never gained popularity as a hunting cartridge, although it may be suitable for the largest small game such as fox and coyote at ranges under 150 yards. Both the .32SL and .35SL were soon superseded by the introduction of the more powerful .351SL in the Winchester '07.


.32 Winchester Self-Loading, Description
When first introduced however, the notable firearm expert Townsend Whelen noted the .32SL cartridge as displaying similar ballistics as the .32-40 Winchester black powder, low-pressure cartridge. He further suggests the best use of the .32 SL as being for rapid-fire target shooting for ranges up to 300 yards. Within such ranges, it is quite an accurate cartridge.


.32 Winchester Self-Loading, Description
In October 1940, an Army Ordnance circular suggested development of a light rifle using a .30 caliber cartridge similar to the "Winchester Self-loading Cartridge, Caliber .32" to replace the pistol and submachine gun. This led to the production of the "Caliber .30 SL, M1" cartridge directly based on the .32 SL in February 1941 and, after a design competition, adoption of the Winchester-designed M1 carbine in October 1941.


.32 Winchester Special
The .32 Winchester Special (or .32 WS) is a rimmed cartridge created in October 1901 for use in the Winchester Model 94 lever-action rifle. It is similar in name but unrelated to the .32-20 Winchester cartridge (which is also known as .32 WCF).


.32 Winchester Special, History
This cartridge is based on the .30-30 Winchester cartridge of 1895, but differs from the .30-30 in bullet diameter. More significantly, Winchester decreased the rate of rifling twist in their Model 94 rifle, from 1:12 when chambered for the .30-30 to 1:16 when chambered for the .32 Winchester Special. Winchester used the slower twist to reduce fouling retention  when creating a new cartridge for sportsmen who wanted to reload their own ammunition using black powder and cast bullets. It was also marketed as something more powerful than the .30-30 and yet had less recoil than the .30 Army.


.32 Winchester Special, History
This new cartridge enjoyed only moderate success, and remained hampered by the small selection of available bullets in the .321 diameter. There is a wide selection of bullet types and weights for the .30-30, while the only commonly available bullets in .321 diameter are 170 grain and 165 grain. Also, due to the slow twist of the barrel, accuracy suffered when the barrel exhibited wear.


.32 Winchester Special, Performance
Ballistics are similar to the .30-30 cartridge and its .308 caliber (7.62mm) bullet, but the larger diameter .321 (8.15 mm) bullet of the .32 WS will create a larger wound. However, given the same weight of bullet in both calibers, the .30 caliber would have a greater sectional density, and correspondingly greater penetration. According to Winchester's original claims, the .32 WS has about 5-10% more energy than the .30-30 at close ranges, and less at longer ranges due to increased drag due to the .321's greater diameter and reduced sectional density.


.32 caliber
.32 caliber is a size of ammunition, fitted to firearms with a bore diameter of 0.32 inches (8.1 mm).


.32 rimfire
The term .32 rimfire refers to a family of cartridges which were chambered in revolvers and rifles in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. These rounds were made primarily in short and long lengths, but extra short, long rifle and extra long lengths were offered.


.32 rimfire, Manufacturers
Manufacturers in the USA generally discontinued making .32 rimfire ammunition after the country's entrance into World War II in 1941. It was available from old stocks for some years afterwards, but it has been made only sporadically in the last 70 years. Occasionally, special limited runs of .32 rimfire ammunition are manufactured for gun collectors with shootable specimens, but the round is not considered a current commercial cartridge. Navy Arms Company had periodically imported .32 Rimfire Long made by CBC in Brazil until 2014.


.32 rimfire, History
The .32 short was designed in 1860 by Smith & Wesson for their Model 2 revolver. In 1868, they introduced the .32 Long in the Model 11⁄2 Second Issue revolver.


.32 rimfire, History
The .32 Short fired an 80 gr (0.183 oz; 5.184 g) lead bullet at 945 ft/s (288 m/s) (generating 159 ft⋅lb (216 J) muzzle energy) from a 24 in (61 cm) rifle barrel. The .32 Long fired a slightly heavier 90 gr (0.206 oz; 5.832 g) bullet at approximately the same velocity, for 178 ft⋅lb (241 J) muzzle energy. Remington rifles in .32 rimfire listed a bore diameter of .304 in (7.7 mm)


.32 rimfire, History
The .32 Short and Long rimfire cartridges matched the external dimensions of the .32 Colt Short and Long centerfire cartridges; the Marlin Model 1891 lever-action repeating rifle was shipped with two firing pins, one rimfire and one centerfire, to allow use of either the rimfire or centerfire cartridges. Revolvers and single shot rifles chambered for one of the longer .32 rimfire cartridges would chamber and fire the shorter cartridges.


.32 rimfire, History
Remington Arms manufactured .32 Extra Short ammunition (also known as .32 Protector) until 1920 for use in the Protector Palm Pistol and Remington Magazine Pistol.


.32 rimfire, History
During its lifetime, the .32 rimfire was loaded with black powder, followed by semi-smokeless and smokeless powder loadings. While it was popular as a very effective small game caliber, it was considered obsolete by the late 1930s, in part due to the introduction of high-velocity versions of the .22 Long Rifle using smokeless powder.


.32-20 Winchester
The .32-20 Winchester, also known as  .32 WCF (Winchester center fire), was the first small-game lever-action cartridge thatWinchester produced. It was initially introduced as a black-powder cartridge in 1882 for small-game, varmint hunting, and deer. Colt produced a single-action revolver chambered for this cartridge a few years later.


.32-20 Winchester
The name .32-20 refers to the 32 caliber bullet of .312-inch-diameter (7.9 mm) and standard black-powder charge of 20 grains (1.3 g).


.32-20 Winchester, Performance
This cartridge was sometimes used for deer hunting in the past, and William Lyman, the designer of rifle sights, said of it: "For large game, of course, a .32-20 W.C.F. cartridge is rather small, but it comes nearer to being an all-around cartridge in my opinion than any other." Many now consider it too light and low-powered for deer and better suited to small game and metallic silhouette. It has a good reputation for accuracy in rifles as well as the few handguns that have been chambered for it.


.32-20 Winchester, Performance
Because of its low power, it destroys very little meat, making it a good hunting round for appropriately sized game, up to about 100 yards (91 m). The cartridge is now approaching obsolescence, as shooters turn to other similar but more powerful and flexible loads. The power level of more modern .32s, such as the .32 H&R Magnum and the .327 Federal Magnum, equal or surpass the .32-20 in modern firearms.


.32-20 Winchester, Performance
Although it is an inexpensive cartridge to reload, care must be taken by the reloader because of the extremely thin walls of the cartridge case. Energy and pressure levels for handloading are determined based on the strength and condition of the firearm action to be used. Because most firearms chambered for this cartridge are older (e.g. early model Winchester Model 73 and 92 rifles as well as older Colt and Smith & Wesson revolvers) factory ammunition usually has reduced pressures from what can be achieved through handloading.


.32-20 Winchester, Performance
Most factory ammunition exhibits ballistics of about 1,200 ft/s (370 m/s) and 325 ft⋅lbf (441 J) of energy at the muzzle with a 100-grain (6.5 g) bullet from an 18 to 20 inch rifle barrel. The performance characteristics of the cartridge listed in the sidebar should be considered maximum performance parameters obtainable, and even then only with a modern weapon designed for higher pressure loads. Factory-type loads - and reloads mimicking factory type loads - are the safe maximum loads for use in older weapons chambered for this cartridge, as most of the weapons the cartridge is chambered. Few if any companies still manufacture hunting weapons in this caliber.


.32-20 Winchester, Daughter cartridges
The .25-20 Winchester cartridge is simply a necked-down version of the .32-20. In addition, the .218 Bee was created using the .32-20 as its parent cartridge.


.32-20 Winchester, Daughter cartridges
The .32-20 cartridge case has been used to create usable ammunition for the Nagant M1895. This is accomplished by removing .01" from the rim thickness and sizing the case in a specific reloading die (Lee Nagant 3 die set). The ammunition produced is functional and easy to reload; however, .32-20 brass does not provide a gas seal as it is not long enough to protrude past the Nagant cylinder. The .32-20 cartridge case can also be used to create 8mm French Ordnance ammunition for use in the Modèle 1892 revolver.


.32-20 Winchester, Daughter cartridges
Currently, the .32-20 is used and modified by shooters in the UK and Australia for the .310 Cadet cartridge. Modifications involve length resizing and in most cases reducing the rim thickness. Due to the .310 using a heeled projectile, the neck thickness is not too much of a concern, after first being case length resized to 1.075" (27.3 mm). Most .310 cadet chambered rifles need to have the rim of the .32-20 case reduced from 0.065" to under 0.045" (1.7 mm to 1.14 mm), to allow proper head spacing and operation of rifle.


.32-20 Winchester, Daughter cartridges
However, in the instance of a lever action .32-20 fitted with a .310 barrel, the rifle will cycle better without the case rim thickness being reduced. As home reloading is the main option for the .310, many shooters play with different case length reduction of the .32-20, anywhere from 0.875'' to 1.185'' (22.23 mm to 30.10 mm).


.32-40 Ballard
The .32-40 Ballard (also called .32-40 Winchester) is an American rifle cartridge.


.32-40 Ballard, Description
Introduced in 1884, the .32-40 was developed as a black powder match-grade round for the Ballard single-shot Union Hill Nos. 8 and 9 target rifles. Using a 165-grain (10.7 g) bullet over 40 grains (2.6 g) of black powder (muzzle velocity 1,440 ft/s (440 m/s), muzzle energy 760 ft⋅lbf (1,030 J)), the factory load gained a reputation for fine accuracy, with a midrange trajectory of 11 inches (28 cm) at 200 yd (180 m). It was available in Winchester and Marlin lever rifles beginning in 1886. It stopped being a factory chambering around 1940.


.32-40 Ballard, Description
It provides performance sufficient for deer at up to 300 yards (270 m) in a modern rifle, for which it can be loaded to about equal the .30-30. It is more than enough for varmints, including coyotes and wolves, or medium-sized game.


.32-40 Ballard, Description
The .32-40 also served as the basis for Harry Pope's wildcat .33-40.


.320 Revolver
Also known as the .320 European or .320 Bulldog, this revolver cartridge was designed for the Webley Bull Dog pocket revolver in the 1870s and similar revolvers made in Belgium that followed.


.320 Revolver
The round was manufactured until the 1920s and was briefly made by Fiocchi in 2015.


.320 Revolver
In Brazil, both guns and ammo (double-barreled, side by side pistols) was made up to 1960s. Amadeo Rossi made his Model 8 "Garrucha" in .320 from 1950 to 1962.


.320 Revolver
The .32 Short Colt was based on the .320 but had a different sized rim. On some guns the .32 Short Colt will actually fit and cycle properly.


.325 Winchester Short Magnum
The .325 Winchester Short Magnum, commonly known as the 325 WSM is an 8mm caliber rebated rim bottlenecked centerfire short magnum medium bore cartridge. The cartridge was introduced by Winchester Ammunition in 2005.


.325 Winchester Short Magnum
The name of the cartridge is a misnomer, as the bullet diameter is .323 in (8.2 mm). Introduced at the 2005 Shot Show in Las Vegas, NV, it is the largest member of the Winchester Short Magnum family of cartridges. The .325 WSM was intended for the hunting of medium and large bodied thin skinned dangerous and non-dangerous big game animals of Africa, Asia, Europe and North America.


.325 Winchester Short Magnum, History & Origin
Since the introduction of the .300 WSM in 2000 there had been speculation that Winchester and Browning would release further cartridges based on the cartridge case of the .300 WSM. Then in 2001 Winchester announced the release of the .270 WSM and the 7mm WSM cartridges. The common wisdom indicated that Winchester would release a .33 caliber (8.38 mm) cartridge based on the .300 WSM case. However, Winchester surprised the shooting public in 2002 when they introduced the .223 WSSM and the .243 WSSM based on a further shortened WSM case followed by the .25 WSSM in 2003.


.325 Winchester Short Magnum, History & Origin
The introduction of the .325 WSM in 2005 took the shooting public by surprise, as the 8mm caliber did not have a following in North America. Earlier introductions of 8mm cartridges in North America were met with failure, as the .30 caliber (7.62 mm) was generally considered the caliber of choice among American hunters.


.325 Winchester Short Magnum, History & Origin
When introduced, Winchester offered the cartridge loaded with a 180 gr (12 g) Ballistic Silvertip at 3,060 ft/s (930 m/s) (SBST325S), a 200 gr (13 g) Combined Technologies Accubond at 2,950 ft/s (900 m/s) (S325WSMCT), and a  220 gr (14 g) Power-Point at 2,840 ft/s (870 m/s) (X325WSM).


.325 Winchester Short Magnum, Cartridge design
The .325 WSM uses the .300 WSM case necked up to accept the 8mm bullet. The cartridge was influenced by the .404 Jeffery and contemporary cartridge designs calling for a short, fat cartridge operating at high pressures which could be cycled through a short action rifle. The understanding was that such cartridges would provide greater efficiency and uniformity in burning the powder charge which in turn would promote a greater inherent accuracy of the cartridge. The rebated rim design allows for the cartridge to utilize actions chambered for rifles based on the .375 Holland & Holland bolt face diameter.


.325 Winchester Short Magnum, Cartridge design
The WSM case was designed to be loaded with .30 caliber (7.62mm) bullets. An aspect of the short, fat cartridge design is that it has a narrower acceptable caliber range than a longer cartridge case. It was for this reason that Winchester introduced the WSSM cartridge case to load sub .27 caliber (6.8mm) bullets. During the testing phase, Winchester had found that, when loaded with .33 caliber bullets, the WSM resulted in the loss of performance and settled for the 8mm caliber instead. Winchester determined that the .32 caliber was the largest caliber that provided a “magnum” level of performance in the WSM case.


.325 Winchester Short Magnum, Cartridge dimensions
The .325 Winchester Short Magnum has 5.39 ml (83 grain) H2O cartridge case capacity.


.325 Winchester Short Magnum, Cartridge dimensions
.325 Winchester Short Magnum maximum C.I.P. cartridge dimensions. All sizes in millimetres (mm).


.325 Winchester Short Magnum, Cartridge dimensions
Americans would define the shoulder angle at alpha/2 ≈ 35 degrees. The common rifling twist rate for this cartridge is 254 mm (1 in 10 in), 4 grooves, Ø of the lands = 8.00 mm, Ø grooves = 8.20 mm, land width = 4.47 mm and the primer type is large rifle.


.325 Winchester Short Magnum, Cartridge dimensions
According to the official C.I.P. (Commission Internationale Permanente pour l'Epreuve des Armes à Feu Portatives) rulings the .325 Winchester Short Magnum can handle up to 435 MPa (63,091 psi) piezo pressure. In C.I.P. regulated countries every rifle cartridge combo has to be proofed at 125% of this maximum C.I.P. pressure to certify for sale to consumers.


.325 Winchester Short Magnum, Cartridge dimensions
The .325 Winchester Short Magnum is a Delta L problem cartridge, meaning it can present unexpected chambering and/or feeding problems. The Delta L problem article explains this problem in more detail.