#.338

Accuracy International, whose rifles are widely regarded as the best money can buy, have launched a new long range .338 Lapua rifle. It builds on its predecessor, the .338 Lapua AX Magnum, adding a more modern looking stock as well as an improved bolt and action.

The Noreen Bad News is a semi-automatic rifle chambered in .338 Lapua Magnum. It is patterned after the AR-15 rifle and uses some AR parts such as the pistol grip, stock and trigger.

The Steyr SSG 08 now in available .338 Lapua Magnum.

A lot of people have been drooling over the new .338 Lapua Savage rifle because it packs a lot of features into a rifle with an MSRP of just $2,267.

Two months ago I blogged that Zel Custom would soon be selling an upgraded 3rd Gen version of their Tactilite AR-15 upper. The Gen-3 receiver is now the standard receiver across the Tactilite product line and available in .338 Laupa as well as .50 BMG and .416 Barrett.

Tactical Life reports that the Remington 40-XS chambered in .338 Lapua will soon be available to purchase. It was announced nearly two years ago in Remington’s 2008 law enforcement catalog but, to the best of my knowledge, was never manufactured.

Remington’s entry into the Precision Sniper Rifle (PSR) competition is the Remington Modular Sniper Rifle (MSR).

The US Military is looking for a system to replace the existing bolt-action SOF Sniper Systems M40, M24 and MK13 which are all based on Remington 700 actions.

Federal have produced two new loads, under the American Eagle brand, for the M1A (M14) and M1 Garand rifles. The cartridges have staked primers and the powders used were chosen with the rifle’s specific gas system design in mind.

Blaser, in partner ship with Norma, will be introducing a new line of magnum cartridges later this year. They are not giving out any detailed information until May, but they have said these are completely new cartridges, not based on any previous designs.

[ This article was written by Sven Ortmann of Personal Defence Weapons Central, an excellent small arms resource. ]

by Sven Ortmann, lastdingo@gmx.de, 2008-01-05

There are too many misleading anecdotes and rumors about military rifle calibers floating in the air (and in the WWW). This short article is meant to help readers with a presentation of the results of my secondary source research on the rifle caliber discussion and terminal (wound) ballistics.

Caliber: 9×19 mm and .45ACP (= 11.43x23mm)

This is the standard NATO caliber for pistols and a popular caliber for submachineguns. The only ones who seem to have a strong dislike for this caliber seem to be those U.S. Americans who continue to compare it with .45ACP.

The U.S. American problems with the 9x19mm caliber seem to include a mix of emotions (a Colt M1911 in .45ACP feels much more powerful) and poor quality of the U.S. standard issue 9mm pistols. The latter is as far as I know more a magazine production quality problem than a pistol design problem. The origin of .45ACP is said to lie in combat experience around 1900 in the Philippines where determined Philippinos weren’t stopped reliably by smaller revolver calibers. Tests on live animals in 1904 showed better effects for heavier bullets, but little improvement with velocity. Bullet design has improved a lot since then, and hollowpoint bullets that flatten their nose in soft tissue to increase their diameter are much more effective than simple soft lead bullets. A good 9mm bullet enjoys a similar advantage over a .45ACP soft lead bullet than the latter over a 9mm soft lead bullet. There’s a fundamental problem, though: There’s not much difference in effect on the target if you hit the wrong places and the permanent cavities of pistol bullets are all relatively small. Many body parts are simply not essential enough – their destruction doesn’t stop a determined opponent immediately; no matter whether you hit with .45ACP or 9x19mm.

Barrett has announced their new bolt action Model 98 Bravo .338 Lapua mag rifle. Barrett has a dedicated website for the rifle but is very light on details.

Also on display at MSPO 2008 were the Alex bullpup bolt action rifles. They look awesome. As far as I know they come in three models. The Alex762 (7.62x51mm), Alex -338 (8.6x70mm / .338 Magnum Lapua) and the Alex Sports Tactical (7.62x51mm).

The photo below shows a couple of South Ossetia militia. The guy on the right is carrying a Sako TRG.

John Snow has the latest: