As I wrote elsewhere, there isn’t going to be a “.300 Win Mag Timeline”. However, that doesn’t mean I don’t pay attention to other military small arms ammunition developments.

No one seems to have picked up on the other ammunition developments listed in the same NDIA presentation discussing the Mk 248 Mod 1. There a couple of interesting new rounds coming online for 5.56mm and 7.62mm as well.

You have to remember that NSWC-Crane conducts small arms development work for USSOCOM as well as the US Navy.

http://www.defenselink.mil/contracts/contract.aspx?contractid=4043

This is also not entirely standard ammo, it came from a Product Improvement Program (PIP) to decrease the flash signature and to try to make it useful out to 1,500 yards. Search on MK248 Mod 1 for various interesting hits, including this which says it replaces the Mod 0 190gr Sierra MatchKing with a 220gr, and “It is loaded to 2,850 ± 50 fps. As you might imagine, that’s loaded pretty hot. The maximum average chamber pressure is pegged at 68,100 psi at 70°F. Individual rounds must not exceed 78,900 psi.“. (That’s confirmed in the last link below.)

LOTS of interesting info in the above link, engineering drawings (looks like a great BC bullet) and someone noting that it appears only ATK bid on it. Black Hills is the only other likely company, having supplied Mod 0 and PIP rounds in the past.

My, you can find all sorts of interesting things with Google, e.g. this post claims that the last two lots of Mk248 Mod 0 had serious problems, one with contaminated powder causing hang fires, which required dumping of 17,000 rounds, the other lot was 100-150 fps over spec, shaking rails off of rifles.

And I’ll finish with a link to the “DETAIL SPECIFICATION, CARTRIDGE, .300 WINCHESTER MAGNUM MATCH, MK 248 MOD 1…“, which goes into massive and fascinating detail in specifying the cartridge and how it must be manufactured and tested. E.g. a lot must be a lot (use the same lots of primers, powder, etc.), primer lots must be of at least 200K and no more than 750K, etc. etc. etc.

This is also not entirely standard ammo, it came from a Product Improvement Program (PIP) to decrease the flash signature and to try to make it useful out to 1,500 yards. Search on MK248 Mod 1 for various interesting hits, including this which says it replaces the Mod 0 190gr Sierra MatchKing with a 220gr, and “It is loaded to 2,850 ± 50 fps. As you might imagine, that’s loaded pretty hot. The maximum average chamber pressure is pegged at 68,100 psi at 70°F. Individual rounds must not exceed 78,900 psi.“. (That’s confirmed in the last link below.)

LOTS of interesting info in the above link, engineering drawings (looks like a great BC bullet) and someone noting that it appears only ATK bid on it. Black Hills is the only other likely company, having supplied Mod 0 and PIP rounds in the past.

My, you can find all sorts of interesting things with Google, e.g. this post claims that the last two lots of Mk248 Mod 0 had serious problems, one with contaminated powder causing hang fires, which required dumping of 17,000 rounds, the other lot was 100-150 fps over spec, shaking rails off of rifles.

And I’ll finish with a link to the “DETAIL SPECIFICATION, CARTRIDGE, .300 WINCHESTER MAGNUM MATCH, MK 248 MOD 1…“, which goes into massive and fascinating detail in specifying the cartridge and how it must be manufactured and tested. E.g. a lot must be a lot (use the same lots of primers, powder, etc.), primer lots must be of at least 200K and no more than 750K, etc. etc. etc.

For a better account of the .300 WM contract, solicitation, and final product, go to Defense Industry Daily. (Note who is quoted in the article.)

http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/USA-Orders-499M-in-300-Winchester-Magnum-Ammo-05493/

I do not know who told you about “just in time procurement” but that’s not correct. It takes a long time to convert civilian factories to military needs. It takes a long time to mobilize for war. No enemy will give you the time for that.

No nation can predict when war will come. So it is best to stockpile for a rainy day. This has been done since the invention of war.

The 300WM is a good caliber. I own a Savage 110.

The longest confirmed kill IIRC was around 2400m and I think that’s just pure luck. There are only a handful of shooters that have confirmed kills over 2000m.

Shooting past 1000m takes a lot of skills and luck. You have to be a master at figuring out windage and elevation.

jdun1911…thanks too…but the US is moving away from the two war concept to a hybrid war model. add that the military had at one time been moving toward the business model of just in time logistics and the orders just confused me.

Go to the bottom and you’ll find the mandatory SEC disclosure paragraph about “forward-looking statements” with this relevant bit:

Forward-looking information is subject to certain risks, trends and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Among those factors are: assumptions related to the volume of ammunition delivered under the IDIQ contract; changes in governmental spending, budgetary policies and product sourcing strategies….

The use of Warthog and Phalanx ammo is going to be rather unpredictable I suspect, there’s planned testing and training, always subject to spending cuts, and no one can say today how much they’ll be used in anger in the next few years.

The DoD and ATK will make estimates, but they could turn out to be wildly inaccurate. What if Iran goes really sour and tries to interdict the Persian Gulf with all those missiles they’ve bought? How much CAS will Warthogs need to provide in Afghanistan or, God forbid, Pakistan (e.g. to try to extract their nukes)? What if the PRC decides it would like Taiwan tomorrow? Etc. etc.

Since WWII the US military is design to fight two major simultaneous war. Go do a google search on ammo depot.

$1.30 for 300WM match ammo is cheap I think.

http://www.cheytac.com/MilChSniperRiflePlay.asp

The government is making a serious and hard to reverse commitment to .300 WM by changing the rifles. They’d be insane to do this without also locking down a supply of fodder for them. And they really need an IDIQ sort of contract because their future quantity requirements are impossible to know beyond a minimum for training, which I’m sure is specified in the ammo contract (the contract will almost certainly have a minimum annual purchase for all the usual reasons including lowering the price).

I.e. it sounds like this contract has been pushed through the rather involved procurement process, past any protests, etc. so that they will now order what they need when they need it. If things heat up beyond expectations, they get rifles converted faster than they expect, etc., or the reverse, they’ll be set. And I’ll bet they’re not committed to buying 38.4 million rounds.