All About Guns Archives - Page 2 of 1932 - You Will Shoot Your Eye Out

I was born in 1966 and grew up in the Mississippi Delta. When I was a kid I bought most of my ammo at Magic Mart, a now-defunct chain department store once common across the Deep South. I just dropped by after school to pick up .22 shells as the need arose. The old guy behind the counter would drag out a spiral-bound notebook and dutifully log the type of rounds and quantity I was purchasing along with the identifying information from my driver’s license. The process was tedious, but our interactions were always cordial.

As much of the country moves toward placing fewer unfair burdens on the lawful ownership of firearms, the state of New York seems to be bent on suppressing Second Amendment freedoms.

I recall once asking him what was done with that information. He said nothing. He wrote it all down because that was the law, but nobody ever looked at it.

Now just imagine how many times that exchange took place every day in America. Logging ammo sales began with the Gun Control Act of 1968 and, in most places, ended with the curiously titled Firearms Owners’ Protection Act (FOPA) of 1986. Here’s the 1968 verbiage, “It shall be unlawful for any licensed importer, licensed manufacturer, licensed dealer, or licensed collector to sell or deliver…any firearm or ammunition to any person unless the licensee notes in his records…the name, age, and place of residence of such person…”

Both ammunition and magazines are heavily regulated in New York — something that disproportionately impacts lawful citizens and not criminals.

Untold billions of transactions were dutifully logged from sea to shining sea. Countless innocent trees gave their lives. Thousands of aggregate man hours were expended, and for what? While the FOPA did indeed streamline the sale of ammunition, it also outlawed the further manufacture of select-fire firearms for sale to civilians.

That is a tale for another day. However, in the lead-up to the FOPA, I read that there had not been a single documented crime solved as a result of all those ammo records. Not one. Now fast forward 38 years to the Empire State, and history seems to be repeating itself.

Comparative Taxonomy

Comparing gun ownership in my native Mississippi against that of New York is like contrasting two entirely different planets. As a free man in a free state I find it all kind of tough to comprehend. We should all fall under the same U.S. Constitution, yet my brethren in New York just don’t perceive the words the same way we do down here.

Even common rifle ammunition for target shooting, competition and hunting are weighed down with draconian restrictions.

Mine is a constitutional carry state. Fully half the states in the Union now allow some form of permitless concealed carry of a firearm for personal protection. By contrast, up until recently it was essentially impossible to obtain a concealed carry permit in New York unless you were independently wealthy or politically connected. All that should have changed with the recent NY State Rifle and Pistol Association Supreme Court Ruling. Only it didn’t.

In response to the landmark SCOTUS ruling, the New York legislature went into special session and passed an emergency bill specifically intended to drastically limit the freedoms implicit in the new SCOTUS ruling. While New York must indeed now issue concealed carry licenses more liberally, the hurdles one must clear to obtain such a license are yet more draconian.

In addition, per the new legislation, most everywhere in New York is considered a prohibited place where concealed carry is still not allowed. Specifically, private businesses must specifically post that concealed carry is allowed, otherwise it is presumptively illegal. It’s all honestly fairly sad. Amidst all the new whirlwind gun restrictions, the New York state government also now demands a background check on all ammunition sales. Records of these transactions must also be maintained by the state. Here we go again.

Do You Need a Permit to Buy Ammunition in NY?

Yes. The state of New York requires a license for ammo sales.

Here are the high points of the “Ammunition Records Requirement” — “There shall be a statewide license and record database specific for ammunition sales which shall be created and maintained by the division of state police…the licensee or seller contacts the statewide license and record database and provides the database with information sufficient to identify such…transferee…as well as the amount, caliber, manufacturer’s name and serial number, if any, of such ammunition…

New York requires a license to purchase consumable ammo for your firearm.

“Any seller of ammunition or dealer in firearms shall keep…an electronic record…In the record [book] shall be entered at the time of every transaction involving ammunition the date, name, age, occupation and residence of any person from whom ammunition is received or to whom ammunition is delivered, and the amount, calibre (sic), manufacturer’s name and serial number…

“If the superintendent of state police certifies that background checks of ammunition purchasers may be conducted through the national instant criminal background check system…use of that system by a dealer or seller shall be sufficient…provided that a record of such transaction shall be forwarded to the state police in a form determined by the superintendent.”

Condensed Version

Legalese is by its nature obfuscating. However, as near as I can tell from researching a wide variety of sources, to my reading it’s illegal in New York to possess ammunition unless it fits a specific weapon registered to you. Under the new law purchasers of ammunition must undergo a background check essentially identical to that required to purchase a firearm. Each and every ammunition purchase must also be dutifully logged and reported to the state. State agencies will then maintain a centralized database of ammunition along with to whom it was sold.

Own a rifle in New York? You cannot, under state law, have ammo mailed to you. This artificially drives up the prices paid by gun owners.

Considering that ammunition is by definition consumable, it’s curious to imagine what this database will look like a decade from now. Fairly cumbersome would be my guess, but I doubt the New York state legislators gave that much thought. By contrast, down here in Mississippi when I run short I order ammo by the case online and have it shipped to my doorstep.

Poring over the details of these new laws I was struck by the pervasive use of terms like license, background check, restrictions and database. Personally, I don’t want the government keeping an inventory of the weapons and ammunition I maintain in my home. I don’t think it’s a particular logic leap to say the founding fathers wouldn’t want the government doing that, either.

I will admit that I take my ammo for granted. If I need a little I can pick it up cash and carry from any number of sources here in town. If I need a lot, it’s just a few clicks away online. I look at my brethren in New York and feel the same pathos I might feel toward those unfortunates trapped in North Korea, Syria or Iran. For those of us fortunate enough not to live behind New York’s new Iron Curtain made of lead, the price of freedom is eternal vigilance.

WILL DABBS, MD

Will was raised in the Mississippi Delta and has a degree in Mechanical Engineering. After eight years flying Army helicopters, he left the military as a Major to attend medical school. Will operates an Urgent Care clinic in his small Southern town and works as the plant physician for the local Winchester ammunition plant. He is married to his high school sweetheart, has three adult children, and has written for the gun press for a quarter century.

Another step, and two deer scooted from a foggy clearing. But their dash into the alders suggested they’d not go far. Circling downwind, I drifted onto a deer trail, pausing at each step, glassing not yards ahead but feet. Then: a glint from the shadows. Stay still! Presently, beside the eye, an antler came clear. My bullet struck below the burr.

Almost any rifle and load could have claimed that blacktail. But hunters don’t bet their fortunes on arms that suffice only for brain shots at 20 feet.

308 Winchester cartridges from Federal for hunting — New game bullets with polymer noses and high ballistic coefficients help the .308 extend its reach.

So it was that a .308 also joined me in the Uintas. The elk were winning when, the last morning, a distant bellow sifted through the aspens. Dodging deadfall, I closed at a run. There! A long tine winked. A short dash ahead, a tree steadied the rifle. My Nosler drove from flank to scapula. The bull crashed away, then faltered. A second shot felled him.

professional hunter in Africa with 308 rifle — Professional hunters in Africa like rifles in .308 caliber because of their good performance and easy shooting: “Instead of flinching and missing, clients kill game.”

After six decades afield, I’ve found no cartridge more useful than the pedestrian .308 Winchester. It hurls a ton of punch 250 yards to drop tough beasts with a point-blank hold. Eland twice as heavy as elk wilt to its jab. Indeed, Africa’s PHs say: “Clients with .308s — theirs or loaners — kill game. The violence of magnums makes hunters flinch. The .308 helps them hit.”

Its ancestor appeared nearly three decades after Arthur W. Savage, then 35, invented a spool-fed lever rifle to fire his rimmed .303 Savage cartridge. In ordnance trials, this repeater lost to the bolt-action .30-40 Krag-Jorgensen, which became the U.S. service arm in 1892.

308 Winchester load from Black Hills Ammunition — The world is awash in good .308 loads for competition. This Black Hills Ammunition load is a champ for targets at 600 to 1,000 yards.

Reconfigured for hunters, Savage’s rifle thrived. In 1920, a new .300 cartridge made it a top seller.

In 1944, Springfield Armory and Remington were asked to design a selective-fire rifle to replace the autoloading M1 Garand, in service since 1936. Shorter and lighter than the .30-06, the cartridge would have comparable reach and power. The .300 Savage came to mind. But some mechanisms balked at its 30-degree shoulder. Also, claims that its stubby .221-inch neck would enable the 1.871-inch case to bottle the oomph of the ‘06 (2.494-inch brass) proved fanciful. A slightly bigger case than the .300’s, with a 20-degree shoulder, evolved as the T-65.

This cartridge would earn the U.S. Army’s approval in 1954, two years after Winchester tapped its potential as a hunting cartridge and, with appropriate blessings, cataloged it as the .308. Other NATO countries would adopt it as the 7.62×51 in 1957. Given the 40,000-CUP pressure cap honored for .30-40 loads in period rifles, the .308’s 52,000-CUP thrust sends 180-grain bullets 170 fps faster. It trounces the .300 Savage by a wider margin.

From the Battlefield

The T44E4 became the 7.62mm Rifle M14 in June of ’54, departing from the Garand’s design in several ways. Its cycling was less abrupt. The gas block moved 8 inches back from the muzzle to improve accuracy. A detachable box held more cartridges than the M1’s internal clip and was easier to top off. But the M14 kept the Garand’s two-lug rotating bolt, its operating rod and forward recoil spring. The stock’s profile was similar, the M1’s walnut handguard ultimately giving way to polymer. Sights were essentially identical.

comparing 300 Savage to 308 Winchester cartridge — The Army considered the .300 Savage (left, circa 1920) in the ‘40s; the .308 was developed in its stead.

The M14’s high cyclic rate could empty a 20-shot box in 1.6 seconds in full-auto, recoil flinging successive bullets wildly off-target. So, the rifle was fitted with a lock to nix full-automatic fire. A switch made full-auto capability a quick choice.

Production of 7.62×51 military and hunting ammo continued unabated after the M16’s ascension in the 1960’s. National Match loads with 41.7 grains IMR 4895 sent 174-grain BTHP bullets at 2,548 fps. Handloaded 168-grain Sierra MatchKings from a bolt rifle helped me through the National Match course. Bench Rest shooters embraced the .308 too. In the 1968 National Matches, Ferris Pindell won the sporter class with a tiny .3594-inch group, topping Dave Hall’s .4612 knot that drew gasps the year before. The .308 also brings out the best in hunting rifles. Many fine rifles later, I’ve come to like Springfield Armory’s Boundary, a hunting rifle of traditional profile but with a carbon-fiber stock and barrel. It’s therapy when only snug groups can bring a smile.

Note: Don’t miss Mark Hampton’s article on reloading .308 ammo.

M1A rifle chambered for 308 Win cartridge — In 1974, the Geneseo-based Springfield Armory began building the M1A, based on the U.S. Military’s M14 rifle.

Game loads proliferated as the .308 overtook the .30-06 in popularity. Credit its 2.015-inch case. It fits myriad actions designed around a loaded length of 2.750 inches. (Ammo for the .30-06 measures 3.340 inches.) The .308 case holds about half the powder of the .300 Weatherby Magnum, 20 percent less than the ‘06. At 2,620 fps, 180-grain bullets from .308 factory loads fall 100 fps shy of .30-06 velocities, but I’ve chronographed 180-grain .308 handloads driven by 42.5 grains H335 at 2,700 fps with no signs of strain. It’s easy to wring 2,400 fps from 200-grain bullets.

A Broad Breadth

The .308 warms to a wide range of bullet weights. In a recent range session, a .6-inch knot with Hornady’s 110-grain TAP load at 3,200 fps matched my groups from 150- and 165-grain bullets, all fired in a Springfield Boundary with standard 1:12 rifling. (Its nimble 20-inch barrel predictably yields slightly lower velocities than published for 24-inch barrels.)

Ammunition	Velocity	3-Shot Group
Hornady 110 TAP FPD	3,198 fps	0.6″
Black Hills 150 Hornady GMX	2,723 fps	1.2″
Fiocchi 150 Swift Scirocco II BT	2,788 fps	0.6″
Hornady 150 InterLock	2,768 fps	0.9″
Winchester 150 Power-Point	2,812 fps	1.5″
Lehigh 152 CC HP	2,808 fps	1.1″
Sako 162 Powerhead Tipped Copper	2,703 fps	1.0″
Barnes/Sierra 165 TKG	2,654 fps	0.6″
Federal 165 Sierra GameKing BTSP	2,660 fps	0.9″
Hornady Outfitter 165 GMX	2,585 fps	0.8″
PMC 165 XHP	2,578 fps	0.6″
Winchester 168 BTHP Match	2,668 fps	1.3″
Federal 180 Trophy Bonded Tip	2,561 fps	1.0″
Lapua 185 Scenar	2,445 fps	1.1″

Range results using the Springfield Armory Model 2020 Boundary chambered for the .308 Winchester cartridge and fitted with a Leupold 3-15 VX-5HD scope. Velocity measured using a Garmin Xero C1 chronograph.

For most hunting, 165-grain bullets offer a useful balance of bullet weight and speed that’s hard to beat in a .308. A Superformance Hornady load hurls 165-grain InterBonds at 2,840 fps. Another high-octane Hornady option wrings 3,000 fps from 150-grain SSTs, trumping some .30-06 loads! But a quick start is just one measure of the lethality of hunting ammo. For some tasks, heavier bullets excel.

Comparing Ballistics for .308, .30-06 and .300 Win. Mag.

	Recoil		Muzzle	100 yards	200 yards	300 yards
.308 Winchester
	17.5 ft-lbs	Velocity	2,600 fps	2,443 fps	2,291 fps	2,145 fps
		Energy	2,671 ft-lbs	2,358 ft-lbs	2,074 ft-lbs	1,818 ft-lbs
		Arc	-1.5″	+2.2″	0″	-8.8″
.30-06 Springfield
	20.3 ft-lbs	Velocity	2,750 fps	2,588 fps	2,431 fps	2,280 fps
		Energy	2,988 ft-lbs	2,646 ft-lbs	2,335 ft-lbs	2,054 ft-lbs
		Arc	-1.5″	+1.8″	0″	-7.7″
.300 Winchester Magnum
	24.5 ft-lbs	Velocity	2,960 fps	2,789 fps	2,625 fps	2,467 fps
		Energy	3,463 ft-lbs	3,075 ft-lbs	2,723 ft-lbs	2,405 ft-lbs
		Arc	-1.5″	+1.5″	0″	-6.6″

All loads use Hornady 178-grain ELD-X bullets. Recoil measured using an 8-pound rifle.

Note here that while the .308 starts with a speed deficit of 150 fps compared to the .30-06, and a 360-fps deficit compared to the .300, these disparities shrink with distance. Ditto differences in bullet energy. At the muzzle, the .308 has 317 ft-lbs less punch than the .30-06; but 300 yards out the gap has narrowed to 236 ft-lbs.

Springfield Armory Boundary in 308 Winchester — Springfield’s agile Model 2020 Boundary shot this tight group with a Barnes load of 165-grain Sierra MatchKings.

The .308 starts 792 ft-lbs behind the magnum; but reels in more than 200 ft-lbs over 300 yards, reducing its deficit to 587 ft-lbs. Drag has a big effect on downrange speed and energy. The faster a bullet starts, the greater the drag. A .308’s bullet sacrifices less killing effect to drag than do identical bullets driven faster. And shooters endure less recoil. In 8-pound rifles, the .308 is about 14 percent less violent than the .30-06, 29 percent less than the .300. Gentle rifles keep the focus on accuracy, not liniment.

Note: Gunspot wrote a great article on the .308’s effective range that is an excellent resource.

Bucking the Trend

The magnum faithful should note too that .308 bullets drift little more than those from .300’s. There’s less than 2 inches difference in drift at 300 yards between the .308 and the .300 magnum with the same bullet. Even at 500, farther than many hunters will risk a shot at game, the disparity is just 1 m.o.a.! Bullet type has much greater effect on drift than does starting velocity. The blunt .30-30 bullet loses on both counts. Slow to start, it yields rapidly to drag, drift increasing apace.

Springfield Boundary rifle with 308 Winchester loads used in testing — The author’s Springfield Boundary with a Leupold VX-5HD scope and a few of the myriad .308 ammo options.

The .308’s versatility and its performance across a wide range of short-action rifles have placed it on more chambering rosters than any other centerfire cartridge. The number of commercial loads is eye-popping too: At this writing I count 118 for the .308 — from just seven U.S. manufacturers! Only the .223 can challenge that tally.

Factories the world over produce .308 ammo and ship it to far-flung game fields.

Read Massad Ayoob’s article on why he picks .308 for his SHTF rifle.

What About 7.62 NATO?

The cases are identical: 2.015 inches long, .473 at the rim, a 20-degree shoulder between same-length bodies and necks. Loaded, the .308 and 7.62×51 mic’ 2.800 inches, as specified by SAAMI and its European equivalent, CIP. “We use the same brass and primers for commercial and military loads,” says a Hornady spokesman. “Officials approve or tweak service specs. We hew to them.”

Differences in maximum average pressures — 62,000 psi for the .308 and 50,000 psi for the 7.62 — can be laid to disparities in measurement. Gun-maker Fred Zeglin notes copper crushers registered early 7.62×51 pressures. Current piezo-electric reads on .308 loads are more repeatable, often higher. I’m told Hornady meets velocity targets with piezo-checked pressures held comfortably under 60,000 psi.

Jeff Hoffman at Black Hills Ammunition notes differences in measurement location. “Pressures for the 7.62×51 NATO may be taken at the mouth instead of mid-case. We see slightly lower values at the mouth.” He adds that 7.62×51 velocities are often taken at 78 feet, not SAAMI’s standard 15.

308 Winchester Hornady SST bullet expansion in ballistic gelatin — A 150-grain Hornady .308 load cut this channel through ballistic gelatin. Note the shape of the expanded SST.

SAAMI diagrams show a headspace measure of 1.630 to 1.640 for the .308. A Frankfurt Arsenal diagram indicates a range of 1.628 to 1.634 for the 7.62×51 NATO case. I’m told JGS reamers are held to 1.630-.640 for the .308 and 7.62×51. Free-bore and leade angle in the chambers differ. JGS reamers yield .900 inch freebore of .3100 diameter, with 1-45 leade angle for the .308. Chambers in 7.62×51 have 1.355 inch of 3.095 freebore, 5-40 leade.

308 Win Remington Core-Lokt ammo — Since the ‘30s, hunters have chosen Remington Core-Lokts. This mushroomed .308 bullet shows why it is so effective.

Current U.S-loaded .308 and 7.65×51 ammo should fit and fire safely in either chamber. Be sure to read my prior article .308 vs. 7.62 NATO for additional details.

Conclusion

Claiming the .308 is the best hunting cartridge is pointless. Others are popular, widely chambered and loaded with bullets of many types. Others recoil civilly as they flatten game with a ton of swat at 250 yards and point-blank aim. Other cartridges seem inherently accurate. But few offer all that with factory loads that rank among the most affordable. Feeding .308’s is as easy as liking the results. There’s a reason the .308 is so popular.