The .308×1.5" Barnes is a
wildcat cartridge
A wildcat cartridge, often shortened to wildcat, is a custom cartridge for which ammunition and/or firearms are not mass-produced. These cartridges are often created in order to optimize a certain performance characteristic (such as the power, si ...
based on the
.308 Winchester
The .308 Winchester is a smokeless powder rimless bottlenecked rifle cartridge widely used for hunting, target shooting, police, military, and personal protection applications globally. It is similar but not identical to the 7.62×51mm NATO ...
(7.62×51mm NATO). The cartridge is similar to the
7.62×39mm Russian (M43) cartridge though it outperforms the Soviet cartridge.
[Barnes, p.188, "7.62x39 (M43) Russian", & p.135, ".308x1.5" (.308 Short)".] It was designed by
Frank C. Barnes in March 1961 by shortening the .308 Winchester to and giving it a shoulder angle of 20° (α=40°) similar to the parent cartridge.
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.
Similar cartridges
Apart from experimenting with .308×1.75", 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
The .22 Bench Rest Remington cartridge, commonly referred to as the .22 BR Remington, is a wildcat cartridge commonly used in varmint hunting and benchrest shooting. It is based on the .308×1.5-inch Barnes cartridge, necked down to .22 caliber, ...
,
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.
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 bullet at . 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
The Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers' Institute (SAAMI, pronounced "Sammy") is an association of American manufacturers of firearms, ammunition, and components. SAAMI is an accredited standards developer that publishes several Ameri ...
-recommended pressure limit of . For this reason, most factory .30-30 ammunition loaded with a bullet achieves a mere . Furthermore, the Barnes cartridge is capable of launching heavier bullets than the 7.62×39 and has the advantage of using
spitzer bullet
The spitzer bullet (or spire point) is a pointed projectile that is primarily used in small-arms. The pointed nose shape, which was developed for military purposes in the late 19th and early 20th century, was a major design improvement compared ...
s and is chambered in strong
bolt-action rifle
Bolt-action is a type of manual firearm action that is operated by ''directly'' manipulating the bolt via a bolt handle, which is most commonly placed on the right-hand side of the weapon (as most users are right-handed).
Most bolt-actio ...
s, 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 rifle
The toggle-link action used in the iconic Winchester Model 1873 rifle, one of the most famous lever-action firearms
Lever-action is a type of action for repeating firearms that uses a manually operated cocking handle located around the trigger ...
s with
tubular magazines.
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 cartridge, it is capable of taking deer-sized game out to . For predator and varmint hunting, bullets weighing are commonly used.
References
Further reading
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External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:308 by 1.5 Barnes
Pistol and rifle cartridges
Wildcat cartridges