Gees Bakes,

you sure know how to start a war

Crikey... yanks sure take things seriously, eh?

Frankly, I agree with where you're coming from - same old articles proclaiming the prowess of US cartridges over and over and over again... and mostly based on paper ballistics focussing on velocity... ie, my dick is bigger than yours because I can get faster velocities... boring.

It'd be nice to see an article or two comparing say the 6.5 Swede with say the 270...

And to add fuel the fire, after burning out 3 270 barrels on my Ruger, I rebarreled it to 6.5x55... damn sight more pleasant to shoot, and kills better than the 270.

quote:

Originally posted by Sambar 9.3:

quote:

Originally posted by muzza:
Dave - your own Aussie Govt way back in the 1950's or so banned the private ownership of military-calibred rifles . Thats why you Aussies invented the shortened 303 case which was made to suit a SMLE rifle with one complete turn of thread machined off the barrel shank , then the barrel refitted - voila , a short chambered 303 that wouldnt accept a standard military cartridge.

Looks like the game is getting down and dirty again. Lets keep it clean or shift the battle to a forum better suited.

Ah yes, good old NSW... IIRC the 303 became the 7.7x54 or something similar. Just one State though. The one, backward, ill-informed, retarded bunch of jerks who still can't play Rugby...

It wasn't just 303, (and yep, the shorter cartridge was the 7.7x54) but any military chambering - 8x57, 30-06 etc., etc. Had to be an active member of an approved Service Rifle club to own one - can't recall if it was legal to use when hunting, but it didn't stop my Dad from teaching me how to shoot and hunt with one.

In the late '60's, I picked up a mint, unissued Oberndorf Mauser made just pre-war, beautiful rifle, sharp and good markings for $20... but the barrel had to be cut off before I could take delivery. It's be worth a small fortune these days.

Good point Ruger, I seem to recall a few 8x57's that had been converted to 8x60 (or something similar) in a Mick Smiths in the early 80's.

Didn't the ban go away in the mid 70's or thereabouts?

quote:

Originally posted by Sambar 9.3:
Good point Ruger, I seem to recall a few 8x57's that had been converted to 8x60 (or something similar) in a Mick Smiths in the early 80's.

Didn't the ban go away in the mid 70's or thereabouts?

Sambar, I think the ban (bear in mind that the ban wasn't restricted to Mil rifles, it also applied to sporting rifles) was lifted around about then, but this was in the late '60's... yeah, Mick Smith and my Dad were good friends, and to Mick's credit (and my gratitude) he never ever told my Dad about the time I spent behind his counter when I should have been at school...

Mick was really chuffed when I introduced my young fella to him 30 years after Dad died - three generations. At the time, my youngun' would have been about 10 or 12 and Mick gifted a rather nice Brno 22 to him.

Mick was a real gentleman... and regarding the Mauser, he wasn't keen on lopping the barrel.

I poped into Micks shop once when I had some time to kill in Sydney. Had a good feel about it. No looking down their noses that you get from some shops.

Who was it on about the 7mm08 being better than the 7X57 ?

Funny thing here, I've both available to me and worked loads up for both. Same bullet, same powder, same powder weight. The 7X57 came out ahead by a few fps, I'm putting that down to the barrel being a couple of inches longer......

Oh, and I'd hope that you lot in the US have a lot more guns, if they weren't so expensive here we to would own a hell of a lot more. But the likes of a Rem 700 is near 2G's here.
What do they cost over there?

quote:

Originally posted by wirehunt:
Who was it on about the 7mm08 being better than the 7X57 ?

Funny thing here, I've both available to me and worked loads up for both. Same bullet, same powder, same powder weight. The 7X57 came out ahead by a few fps, I'm putting that down to the barrel being a couple of inches longer......

Oh, and I'd hope that you lot in the US have a lot more guns, if they weren't so expensive here we to would own a hell of a lot more. But the likes of a Rem 700 is near 2G's here.
What do they cost over there?

WOW! 2K? I just picked up a new 700 SPS from a well known dealer in NSW for $730 AUD.

Much smaller market here - theres more people in Sydney or Melbourne than in the whole of NZ - so the single Remington importer screws the market .

We pay through the nose for any firearms related stuff that is imported , specially componants for reloading.

Thankfully many of us have the internet and friends in foreign places....

One thing with this US ? Aussie cal discussion is that we can outdo the US in every calibre of these bastards haha!
Snapped him tonight down the paddock,its an Eastern Brown,way badder than Leroy brown .....

quote:

Originally posted by muzza:
Much smaller market here - theres more people in Sydney or Melbourne than in the whole of NZ - so the single Remington importer screws the market .

We pay through the nose for any firearms related stuff that is imported , specially componants for reloading.

Thankfully many of us have the internet and friends in foreign places....

Sounds about right. We do here too, compared to the US market.

The wife nearly trod on one at the back door this morning Gryph.

Well the thing in America is that we have dam near unlimited choices and you can buy just about any kind of fire arm you want, the only real limits are how much money can you afford to spend. As for our Gun Laws, well for some of us, its over board and for some looking in, gee's you guy's don't have to put up with very much. Now as for snakes and such, you have us beat on that score. I like that. Some very nasty critters in Australia.

quote:

George Semel

George you fellas are in heaven with your gun laws compared to ours.

Thats a mean SOB snake...how far away were you when you took the photo? Very nice photo by the way... shows the eastern brown in all its aggressive glory.

Less than 10` Matt,yep aint he angry

Hmm, I miss one, for europeans important, argument
the rimmed versions of a cartridge.
Ok, single shot break actions and combos are not
very pupular in th US but in middle Europe
rimmed versions are. And many hunters prefer rimmed
cartridges in combos

so we have

6,5x57 - 6,5x57R
7x57 - 7x57R
7x64 - 7x65R
8x57IS - 8x57IRS
8,5x63 - 8,5x64R
9,3x62/64 - 9,3x74R

And where are the US rimmed cartridges (ok 22 Hornet, 22 Savage
HighPower and the 7,62x52R (30/30)?

The 30-06 and the 300 Winny are still popular, but I never
saw a 270, 280, 358 or 35 wheelen.

Not the cartridge, the hunter counts.

we certainly get spoiled here in the US with our gun laws. Our calibers may be boring to talk about,,,, what else can you say about a
30-06? I got my first 30-06 in 1968, a remington model 742,,, I still have it and it is in perfect condition. I can buy a remmington model 700 for about 650 US in any caliber,,any "US" caliber I want even at WalMart. I couldn't make a comparision with most of the calibers than many of you really like! But as said,,, I can buy any rifle I want on a daily basis and all the ammo I can affored. I took out my new Stag Arms 223 AR 15 this weekend and ran about 500 rounds through it just for fun,,,223,, is that a 5.56? See I can't even accurately discuss it. I have enjoyed reading the post and I keep re-reading them to get a better feel for the calibers that have been discussed. Seriously, thanks for the post. If anyone can list what would be the closest equivalent for the metric versus US calibers I would find it very helpful.

I never pick up a US magazine about guns anymore for the reason Bakes stated. Another authors opinion about why the 280 is a better deer cartidge than the 270,,, but a 7mm,,,,better than a 30-06 etc. They write to sell products,, period. I read AR to get a more diverse opinion...

You guys can win the snake contest,,,in fact I think you win that one easily! Jeez , those things spook me.

Gun mags are just another fishing tackle shop,I have Outdoor Life (US) mags here,maybe 20 of them plus a stack of (AUS) Outdoor mag and Sporting Shooter mag from the mid fifties and the modern mags havent come up with anything different to what they are saying..though I do remember old Nick H doing a Swarovski scope review and by gee he wasnt too kind to them hhaaa...obviously being sponsored by another mob eh!

Yep we win the snake deal too...I am not that keen on them either as i work outside on a cattle property with them being able to be anywhere near your next footstep...stay vigilant is about all one can do.

My T/A's have a large list of jobs when I work in Aus.

But the list has an order:

SNAKE WATCH
Make sure I'm not on fire
All the other crap that needs doing...

drwes, I believe it was your military that named it, or more to the point, started calling it the 5.56 which not doubt comes back to nato.

Burkhard, doesn't the 7,62x52R come from one of the European countries as their military round?