Stryyder on 26/2/2002 at 17:03

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:confused: After reading some threads it seems a number of people are confused about weapons and weapon calibers:confused:

In an effort to clear some things up :angel: and to get everyone on the same page here is some basic information for all of us here.

Ammunition is found to be described in two different ways by the traditional american caliber designations .22 .30 .45 .50 etc and by the metric designation 5.56mm 9mm 7.62mm etc

The american designation of caliber is the 'approximate' size of the base of the round. The metric designation is the diameter of the barrel through which the round travels (This is true most of the time)

Where things get confusing is with secondary designations in the caliber system you will see additional designations such as magnum, super or -06 or 08 these are indications of the power of the cartridge powering the round, they are not standard .30-06 is the designation of when that particular round was created (1906) The metric system has similar designations for caliber you will see 7.62x39 (Standard AK or soviet block round almost identical to .30-06) and 7.62x54 (or 7.62 NATO; NATO version of the same caliber and very similar to the .30-08 round) the x39 or x54 is a metric designation of the length of the cartridge obviously the x54 is a longer and more powerful cartridge.

Common assault rifle cartridges:

5.56mm (Slightly large than a 22 it actually is .223 caliber)
Became famous through the use of the M-16 and created quite a contreversy its advantages come from its very high speed. It is designed to tumble upon impact with flesh and is supposed to do more damage than the 7.62x54 rounds it replaced. Over the years the 'twist' inside the M-16 has been changed to maximize this 'tumbling effect without sacrificing accuracy.

7.62X39 (Soviet 7.62mm)
You can thank the russians for this the AK-47 is the most well known weapon that uses this round great stopping and penetrating power but heavier recoil. You can fire through walls and doors with this but less rounds will go where you intend them to.

7.62x54mm (7.62mm NATO)
You can still by AR-10's and some FN's and SIG's that fire this round this is today more a hunting round and you will find a number of sniper rifles that chamber this sucker Excellent trajectory and stopping power. Heavier and bigger round which means you can only carry less of them heavy recoil.

Sniping:

The key to sniping is Trajectory the best caliber trajectory is possessed by the .50 BMG (50 Caliver Browning Machine Gun) it is almost completely flat. Unfortunately the browning is a heavy large round that can be pushed around by the wind quite a bit which makes it suited for anti-vehicle not personell.

The .338 Lapua magnum cartridge (8.6x70mm!!!) combines the closet thing to a flat trajectory with a mid weight round with good stopping power and and probably is the most accurate round at longer distances for anti- personell sniping available today.

The 7.62X54 round is excellent for mid range sniping but suffers and longer ranges due to its trajectory.

Semi-Automatic vs Bolt Action
Simply semi automatic rifles trap all the gasses in the chamber for more accurate firing semi-automatic rifles bleed the gases to operate the action to chamber the next round Bolt action is always preffered for more accurate sniping at med to longer ranges. Semi-automatic is preffered for short to med range because you are more likely to be noticed and need to employ your weapon in other functions.

EDIT----

The 7.62mm NATO is actually a 7.62x51mm Cartridge
The 7.62x54mm cartridge is actually originated by the soviets and was used in the Tokarov rifles SKD's etc. sorry for my mistake the rounds are very similar and I am getting old and stupid