Choosing a rifled carbine for hunting up to four hundred meters

• June 9, 2019
• Weapons and ammunition
• Alexey Emelyanov

The 7.62 NATO caliber cartridge (Russian designation - 7.62x51) is developed on the basis of the long-used T65 cartridge (T65E3). The latter was born as a result of reducing the cartridge case of the .30-06 Springfield cartridge. The .30-06 caliber is used to fire the M1 Garand rifle. This was the weapon most often used by American soldiers during World War II. After the end of the military conflict, the army needed a new rifle cartridge with spherical powder.

The appearance of American ammunition in Russia

Cartridge caliber .308 Win. (Russian caliber 7.62x51) had difficulty adapting to the conditions of the Russian market. According to one legend, this ammunition first appeared thanks to the President of the United States, who, after signing the disarmament treaty (SALT-1), presented Leonid Brezhnev with a Winchester-308 carbine and a pack of cartridges for it. The General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, who loved to hunt game, appreciated the gift and soon went hunting. Caliber .308 Win. Leonid Ilyich liked it, and he gave the order to produce an American hunting cartridge and weapons for it in the USSR.

Creation of the Soviet 7.62x51 mm cartridge

Development of documentation for weapons of .308 Win caliber. (in mm 7.62x51) engineers from ZAO TsNIITOCHMASH began to work in a hurry. Soon the production of carbines began according to the developed drawings, called “Los-4” and “Bear-3”. Ammunition caliber .308 Win. A machine tool plant located in the city of Barnaul began to produce a semi-shell bullet.

After the collapse of the USSR, Russian enterprises had the opportunity to expose their products to the American and European markets. At the same time, it turned out that carbines and cartridges of .308 Win. domestically produced products do not meet European requirements for such important parameters as strength and safety. Having done a lot of work on bugs, engineers made significant changes to the design of weapons and cartridges.

In the mid-90s of the last century, Los-7 carbines began to be produced, and in Barnaul they launched production of a new ammunition 7.62x51M.308 Win., where the letter “M” in the name means that the cartridge has been modernized. After the changes were made, domestic weapons fully met the requirements of the secondary battery.

In 1995, a new carbine in .308 Win appeared. dubbed "Vepr-51". At the same time, Barnaul began producing new cartridges for this weapon with two types of bullets: SP and FMJ. Moreover, the first version of the hunting ammunition has a total length of 68 mm, and the second - 71.12 mm.

The history of the appearance of the Vepr-308 and Vepr-308 Super carbine

The first to appear was the Vepr carbine chambered for 7.62x39 mm caliber, then the Vepr-308 carbine chambered for the .308 Win cartridge appeared, and then the Vepr Super-308 modification.

It should be noted that the creation of the Vepr-308, chambered for the “NATO” cartridge, was associated with the desire to create an export version of its weapon, with which it could enter the foreign market. However, domestic hunters really liked this weapon, and after some time the Russian industry had to start producing export-caliber cartridges in large quantities.

The first models of Vepr carbines were almost complete copies of Kalashnikov light machine guns, which won the love of Russian hunters who fell in love with the RPK during their years of military service. Changes were made only in the design of the trigger mechanism and retention elements. The ability to fire in bursts was removed, and the magazine began to hold only 5 or 10 rounds.

Characteristics of the first domestic cartridge 7.62x54

To answer which beast with caliber .308 Win. It's best to hunt, you should know what types of cartridges are produced in Russia.

The first cartridge mass-produced in the USSR was born in 1974. It was made in accordance with GOST 21169-75. It had only one type of bullet weighing 9.7 grams, a semi-jacketed type with an expansive action. The total weight of ammunition with a load is 25 grams. The single design of the bullet deprives the cartridge of versatility. So its American counterpart, which has 16 types of projectiles that differ in weight and type of design.

The weight of American-made 7.62 mm bullets, depending on the type, ranges from 7.1 to 13 grams. In this case, the initial speed of the projectile, depending on the weight of gunpowder, varies from 750 to 1000 meters per second. The maximum pressure of powder gases resulting from a shot is 3600 atmospheres. Such parameters of a hunting cartridge allow you to make the weapon more versatile. Depending on the purpose of the hunt, the shooter can change the type of ammunition.

Improving the quality of domestic ammunition

At the end of the 20th century, JSC Barnaul Machine Tool Plant began producing the .308 Winchester Super cartridge, which has improved ballistic characteristics. When firing this ammunition at a distance of 100 meters, the diameter does not exceed 30 mm, and at a distance of 200 meters - no more than 45 mm. The designers achieved this result as a result of refining the bullet design, as well as reducing tolerances. In addition, the plant has improved the quality of the produced sleeve with a height of 51 mm. The weight of the .308 Winchester Super projectile is 9.72 grams. The tail part of the bullet is made in the form of a cone, and the head part has a hole with a cavity for rapid deployment in the body of the victim. The shell of the projectile is made of bimetal, and there is a lead tip inside. The speed at a distance of 25 meters reaches 820 meters per second with a pressure in the barrel and chamber of the weapon of 304 MPa. This cartridge is used for shooting from the following domestically produced carbines:

1. MTs-125.
2. MTs-126.
3. "Bear-3".
4. "Bear-4".
5. MC-7-07.
6. MC-110-07.

Features of the CZ 557 308 win series

The barrel box of the CZ 557 is made in a faceted shape, its upper part has a mounting strip typical for any CZ model. The receiver is held in place by 2 screws. The front end has a recoil stop, resting against the metal stand of the stock. A milled groove for the front mounting screw is located at the bottom of the head of the barrel box. This area of ​​the CZ 557 308 win looks very solid. A special light alloy was used to make the bottom plate. The safety, in the form of a swing lever, is located behind the bolt handle. There are also other distinctive features of the model range: - recessed shutter mirror - then the cartridge flange is surrounded by a protruding belt; — the ejector is located on the side; — the head part is equipped with 2 powerful combat lugs; — shutter cylinder 18 mm; the handle, ending in a sphere, has a comfortable grip and is laid back; — the coupling closes completely, which eliminates the entry of contaminants; — the cocking indicator, marked in red, warns of the cocked mode; — the spring-loaded reflector extends beyond the shutter mirror; — forged barrel, hung freely, made of high quality material; — spent cartridges are thrown out easily; — models have a modified ejector and a shortened extractor; — it is possible to adjust the descent; - there is a shutter indicator.

Types of Russian .308 Win cartridges

Many hunters are interested in what caliber .308 Win. characteristics and what type of bullet this domestically produced ammunition has. This type of hunting shells is produced by two Russian enterprises: Barnaul Machine Tool. The cartridges are available with various bullets such as FMJ, HP, SP, as well as HPBT. They differ from each other in the presence of the shell, shape and type of core.

Comparative characteristics of the CZ 557 308 win models

The CZ 557 308 win carbine series is represented by the following models: - CZ557 Carbine k.308 win ; — CZ557 Ranger k.308 win . The sight is open, integrated with a weaver rail. When installing additional optics, the front sight and front sight do not completely overlap. — CZ557 Lux k.308 win . The sights are open; The red fiber optic front sight is height adjustable. Oil-soaked Turkish walnut was used for the stock. The ergonomic stock has a new type of notch. — CZ557 Sporter cal. 308 win ;

CZ557 Synthetic

— CZ557 Varmint cal. 308 win . The main purpose is target shooting; it is rarely used for hunting. For the manufacture of the stock, walnut wood was chosen. The pistol grip is ergonomic, the bolt is short-stroke. The shooter can set the sight according to his preference; the Picatinny rail will help with this. — CZ 557 Synthetic cal. 308 win . The practical plastic stock is covered with Soft-Touch and is very comfortable. The butt has a higher comb, the fore-end is enlarged, and an original checkering has been added. There are no devices for the sight - this gives freedom of independent choice. Comparative characteristics of models according to some indicators:

CZ 557 Carbine

Characteristics and types of Novosibirsk cartridges

The plant in Novosibirsk produces 7.62x51 mm hunting caliber cartridges with two types of bullets: HP and FMJ. Their characteristics are detailed in the table below.

Ammunition for civilian weapons of 7.62x51 mm caliber, manufactured at the plant in Novosibirsk, is the most stable in its characteristics. They are of higher quality compared to similar products produced in Barnaul.

Basic technical characteristics of the Vepr-308 carbine

The main technical characteristics of the hunting rifle are as follows:

• The total length of the weapon ranges from 1040 mm (Vepr-308 Super) to 1150 mm (Vepr-308);
• The length of the barrel also differs depending on the modification. The minimum barrel length is 550 mm, the maximum is 650 mm;
• Ammunition caliber – .308 Win. In a designation more understandable to the domestic hunter, this caliber looks like 7.62x51 mm;
• Magazines come with 5 or 10 rounds. The Vepr-308 Super modification also has magazines for 2 and 3 rounds;
• The weight of the weapon also depends on the specific modification. On average, Vepr-308 weighs about 4 kg.

The weapon operates using the energy of powder gases. As sighting devices, an adjustable rear sight is installed at the factory, which can set a distance from 100 to 300 meters, and a front sight that is adjustable both vertically and horizontally. There is a safety catch and a bracket for installing an optical sight. The butt and fore-end are made of wood (beech and walnut) and plastic. Plastic modifications are a little lighter.

Characteristics and types of Barnaul cartridges

Barnaul cartridges are less stable in their characteristics, as demonstrated in the table below:

Using the table values, it is worth remembering that the speed of the projectile thrown is calculated based on average data after three series of ten shots. In this case, the speed of the bullet at different distances will differ significantly, especially beyond 500 meters. The speed of a bullet can be affected by gusts of wind, air temperature, batch of ammunition, type of weapon used to fire and other factors. If the barrel length is short, then the initial velocity will be much lower than indicated in the table.

Choosing a rifled carbine for hunting up to four hundred meters

The rifle is necessary for hunting at distances up to 400 meters. Caliber .308Win. My choice fell on two manufacturers, namely Tikka T3x TAC (Tactical), or Remington 700 SPS Tactical or XCR Tactical.

For me, the main goal is combat stability (accuracy) and compactness. I ask you to indicate the advantages and disadvantages of this weapon, and which one you think you should pay more attention to and choose. Also, what barrel length should I choose - 20, 22, 24, 26 inches?

Which of them wins based on such principles as price-quality and the possibility of purchasing in stores in our country (meaning the availability of rifles in stores - which is easier to find)? Thank you, Yaroslav.

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Finnish carbines Tikka T3x Tactical and American Remington 700 SPS Tactical and Remington 700 XCR Tactical

In general, for shooting at a distance of up to 400 meters, a group of .308Win caliber carbines, such as the Finnish Tikka T3x Tactical and the American Remington 700 SPS Tactical and Remington 700 XCR Tactical, were chosen quite correctly. And the chosen caliber is very promising, there are a lot of cartridges with bullets of different designs and different weights, you can always find something acceptable.

For imported carbines, imported cartridges from well-known European manufacturers, such as Norma or RWS, are preferred; they are more expensive, but the combat performance is more stable.

However, the selection group must include at least such models as the German Heym SR-21 carbine or the Czech CZ-557; The Finnish Sako-85 carbine also fell out of your group. Perhaps you have taken them into account; they are in no way inferior to those chosen, but they expand the scope of acquisition. It is not known what kind of carbines are available in stores available to you; you will have to look for them personally.

You have very strict requirements for carbines: a distance of 400 meters, and compactness. We could recommend Varmint carbines, but they will not be light weapons at all, with a heavy, thick-walled barrel, although they will provide good bullet performance.

So if you follow compactness, then you are left with a carbine with a standard barrel, and a copy with a long thin-walled barrel will not be useful. It is preferable to choose a stock with an adjustable top comb.

While in your group, the Finnish Tikka T3x Tactical carbine with a 600 mm barrel is a good choice, it has both a Picatinny rail and an adjustable top comb of the stock. It will weigh 3.7 kg, although you need to add excellent variable magnification optics of at least 3-9x, and the weight will increase accordingly.

In fact, only two barrels, 510 or 600 mm long, are installed on Tikka T3x group carbines, so your choice will not be too large in terms of technical parameters, since a 600 mm long barrel is preferable.

But the Finnish factory in this group has three more carbines of the Tikka T3x Varmint series with a 600 mm barrel and a stock with an adjustable top comb; look in stores, not forgetting the “License to purchase...”, otherwise they won’t show it, check.

The Remington 700 SPS Tastic carbine is equipped with a 510 mm long barrel; the same sample with a shorter barrel can be ignored. The name of its SPS (Special Purpose Synthetic) has long been well known - “special purpose with a synthetic stock.”

And on approximately the same inexpensive Remington 700 SPS Varmint carbine, a barrel already 660 mm long is installed, and this particular sample may be of very significant interest to you.

The same long barrel, 660 mm, is installed on the Remington 700 XCR Tactical carbine. This model is more expensive, its name Xtreme Conditions Rifle stands for “carbine for extreme conditions,” that is, it is well protected from all the vicissitudes of the weather, and the barrel itself is made of stainless steel.

Taking into account the fact that this model is promising, including being manufactured for powerful large-caliber .338 Lapua Mag cartridges, such a sample of .308 Win caliber may be of considerable interest to you.

All of these carbines are produced without open sighting devices, so an optical sight is necessary, and be sure to take into account the design of the bolt box when choosing brackets.

Remington 700 carbines have holes on the bolt frame for mounting standard scope mounts, and standard rings should fit. Tikka T3x carbines may have Picatinny rails or holes for optics mounts built into the bolt box.

Take care of your bipod right away; without them, shooting at long distances is useless. At least roughly calculate the spread of bullets at a distance of 400 meters, for example, even if your carbine gives a very good accuracy of 2 MOA (2 minutes of arc), you will get a diameter of almost 232 mm.

Add to this the spread due to the natural vibration of the weapon in your hands and figure out where the bullet will hit. Of course, shooting with cartridges with different bullets is mandatory, at least at a distance of 100 meters, and better yet more if you find a shooting range with long distances.

In retail sale, the carbines seem to be all in good working order, but you still have to check, the most important thing is the smooth and trouble-free action of the bolt during loading and reloading.

Take dummy cartridges and check with any movement of the hand, including reflex, as a reaction to the movement of the game, the bolt should move clearly, without the slightest delay, in the forward position, in the rear, and in between.

You don't have to think about how to adjust to the bolt handle, but rather act almost instinctively. The bolt must quickly pull out the spent cartridge case, smoothly and quickly feed the next cartridge, clearly lock the chamber and in no way swing in the bolt box.

The advantages of the carbine will appear in your hands when you equip it with an optical sight and bipod, equip it with a rangefinder, shoot it and kill game at the selected distance with one shot. Count on the first shot, since it is not always possible to hit the game at a long distance with the second bullet, the animal will move, and the bullet, taking into account the accuracy and weather, will not hit the slaughter area.

To discuss the price-quality principle, you need to introduce quality criteria; with price, everything is clear. A generalized comprehensive quality indicator is calculated for all indicators, and there are several dozen of them.

Choosing a carbine is much more exciting and complicated than it might seem: it seems that all you have to do is walk up to the gun rack in the store and show “I’d like this one.” It is better to start not with the name of the manufacturer, but with the hunting conditions, then the main thing will become clear - with what parameters the barrel is needed.

In this case, the 308Win caliber is chosen very clearly and accurately, with wide possibilities due to a variety of bullets. And then you can go to the weapon brand and choose something special, because most large companies have numerous similar models.

You can ask your question to Evgeniy Kopeiko by email

Evgeniy Kopeiko August 17, 2022 at 00:03

Running in a rifled barrel

Running in a rifled barrel of a .308 Win weapon. should definitely be carried out on a new sample that has never been fired from. The first thing you need to do at the shooting range before loading is to remove the factory grease from the surface and inside. After the barrel is cleaned and degreased, you need to fill the magazine with cartridges and load the carbine.

After three shots, you need to start cleaning the weapon again. To do this, you should use special carbon removers, for example, Sweet's 7.62 or Barnes CR-10. They are especially good at removing shavings and copper left behind after gunpowder burns and the bullet rubs against the barrel. You need to clean until the pitches coming out of the barrel are clean. Next, you should make several more series of three shots, followed by thorough cleaning. Carrying out such an operation will help to successfully test the new weapon and prolong its performance as much as possible.

After the first shooting, you need to thoroughly clean the carbine, using the Outers system for this procedure: Foul Out II or the more modern Foul Out III. Its operating principle is to reverse galvanize the inside of the weapon barrel.

After this, you can begin zeroing the carbine at the shooting range, adjusting sights, extending or shortening the stock, and testing ammunition with different types of bullets.

Reviews of caliber .308 Win

Based on reviews of the .308 Win caliber, we can conclude that many hunters are faced with the problem of selecting ammunition for Vepr-308 weapons. The fact is that special modernized 7.62x51M cartridges were produced for such a carbine. They were shorter in length compared to the classic version of the cartridge produced during the USSR. Due to the discrepancy in the length of the ammunition chamber, the shooter experienced difficulties during loading. The situation is complicated by the fact that the domestically produced 7.62x51M cartridge and foreign ammunition are still difficult to find in Russian gun stores.

In 1997, the Vepr-308 underwent modernization, as a result of which the carbine magazine became universal. Now the weapon can be loaded with any .308 Winchester caliber cartridges. At the same time, the stores had three versions for 5, 7 and 10 rounds.

Another drawback noted by hunters who use the 7.62x51 mm caliber with HP and SP bullets is the fact that the damaging element does not always open in the body of the game, especially when it comes to small animals (various rodents, foxes or wolves ).

Of the positive qualities of the .308 Win cartridge. Many hunters note that this type of ammunition of American origin is very convenient. The bullet hits both small-sized game (hare, fox and others) and medium-sized game (elk and wild boar). This cartridge is not suitable for large animals; the animal may not die instantly, and severe wounding will only anger it. It is very likely that the prey may attack the unlucky hunters.

Shooters note that it is quite difficult to find large animals in the forests of Russia, so this caliber can safely be called universal. It hits the target perfectly and accurately, without much damage to the valuable skin and meat of game.

AK 308 – reverse conversion

In our country we are accustomed to the fact that a significant part of the arsenal of our hunters is former army weapons, or created on its basis. It all started with the legendary “frolovkas” - hunting rifles converted from Berdan rifles.

But now we are seeing a reverse trend, when samples developed for civilian use are attracting the interest of security forces. For example, the 12-gauge Saiga 030 became the standard weapon of the French gendarmerie special forces. There are many other examples of this trend, one of the recent ones is the announcement of the newest model of the Kalashnikov Concern - the AK 308.

In the 90s, when practically no orders were received from the Russian Armed Forces, and the global arms market seemed lost to us forever, military-industrial complex enterprises, in order to survive, retain personnel and scientific and technical potential, at least partially, tried to enter the civilian market.

And, if manufacturers of navigation systems for missiles began to produce “distillation” (in reality, moonshine), then small arms manufacturers did not have to repurpose production in such a radical way.

Izhmash, which produces AKs, offered citizens the Saiga, and Molot, which specializes in the production of the RPK, mastered the Vepri.

Since these carbines required minimal changes in design, their production was able to begin extremely quickly. Thus, “Saiga” 7.62x39 went on sale in 1992.

In order to consolidate the achieved success and gain a stronger foothold in the market, the development of carbines for a more powerful cartridge began. It is no secret that with all the obvious advantages of the M43 cartridge, it also has a number of disadvantages that limit its use in hunting. This is insufficient (according to a number of hunters) power when working on large animals, as well as a too steep trajectory, limiting the range of practical use when hunting in open spaces - in the steppes or in the mountains.

The 308 Win cartridge, also known as 7.62x51 NATO, was chosen as the cartridge for the new “Vepr” and then the “Saiga”.

This decision required a number of changes to the design of the carbine. First of all, the barrel, the liner connecting it to the receiver, and the receiver itself were strengthened. The design of the bolt itself was changed, which instead of two locking protrusions, like the AK, received three, like the SVD. The new design was carefully developed, as a result of which, with a significant increase in ballistic characteristics, the new weapon retained reliability at the same “AKash” level. Let us note that several models of 308 “Saeg” and “Veprey” have been developed and are produced, in various designs, from “tactical” to purely hunting. In addition, "Vepr" -308 became the basis for the creation of carbines for other calibers - such as 30-06 Spr, or the "ladies' magnum" 243 Win.

So why was the 308th cartridge chosen, whose characteristics are close to the Russian 7.62x54?

Firstly, it is much easier to develop a magazine for a cartridge without a flange and ensure its reliable supply, and secondly, the prevalence of this one of the most popular cartridges gave certain hopes for the success of carbines on the world market.

Let us recall that the 308 caliber cartridge is the standard rifle and machine gun cartridge of the armies of the North Atlantic Alliance, as well as many other countries. It was created after World War II as an "intermediate" cartridge for assault rifles by shortening the 30-06, then the standard US Army cartridge used in rifles and machine guns.

Thus, it was possible to reduce recoil and provide a shorter bolt action to make the weapon more compact. It turned out to be very successful, and in the early 50s, the 308 caliber was adopted by the US Army and other NATO member countries.

In addition, it has become one of the most popular and widespread hunting cartridges. It is produced in most countries, and has a wide variety of equipment options, making it truly versatile.

Note that, at the same time, its energy turned out to be too high for assault rifles, and the 5.56x45 NATO became an intermediate cartridge for the Western bloc, and 308 is used in single machine guns, sniper and Marksman rifles.

However, low-intensity conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, with small group tactics used in them, have identified an urgent need for more powerful individual weapons. Which in turn led to the creation of new assault rifles chambered for the 308 cartridge, such as the NK417, Bushmaster ACR or FN SKAR.

It is noteworthy that the Izhevsk and Vyatskopolyansk carbines for 308Win almost immediately after their appearance aroused interest not only as hunting ones.

“During a joint demonstration shooting with soldiers of the Izhevsk “special forces”, along with the latest developments in military weapons, the Saiga-308 was shown. Already the first shots of master snipers showed that this carbine, after minor, purely cosmetic modifications, can be used as a means of precise advanced fire support, as well as an anti-terrorist weapon. There is an idea to make a “Saiga-308” with a military-style plastic stock,” wrote IZHMASH marketer Valery Shilin back in 1997.

Soon after this, the “American batch” of Saiga 308 was released - with a short 415 mm barrel and a Monte Carlo stock made of polyamide. These carbines were a great success in the American market, and not only among civilian shooters. These light, compact and powerful carbines are used by operators of some PMCs, in particular those involved in protecting shipping from pirates.

. Around the same time, Molot, based on the Vepr 308, developed the Vepr-tactic Marksman rifle, intended for Russian law enforcement agencies. However, the “tactician” was never in demand. Perhaps because to do this he would have to displace the SVD, which had firmly occupied this tactical niche.

Be that as it may, twenty years of experience in producing civilian 308-caliber carbines of various modifications at Molot and IZHMASH was used to create the AK 308, announced by the Kalashnikov Concern, which united these two enterprises.

In fact, all its components had already been carefully worked out; the only question was about returning the automatic fire function, which from a technical point of view did not represent the slightest difficulty.

What are the prospects for the new machine gun, which fits well into the “Afghan” concept of an assault rifle, popular today in the West. It seems that the creators of the AK 308 are primarily focused on its export. And if the cartridge used in it, strictly speaking, is not an insurmountable barrier to its use by our military (after all, the 9x19 Para cartridge has been adopted for service), then they have not yet formulated a request for an individual weapon with a rifle cartridge.