Rifle Chamber Comparison

By Bob Beers


It has long been my desire to understand how the multitudes of centerfire rifle cartridges relate to one another for the purpose of selecting a suitable cartridge for a specific application. After much head-splitting thought, I decided to attempt a comparison of cartridges by chamber to see if the results would be of any use.

A comparison by chamber requires that one set of numbers must be generated for each unique chamber. To generate a single number set for each chamber, the values for every cartridge (except low or managed recoil cartridges) listed for each unique chamber manufactured by Federal, Remington, Winchester, and Weatherby were averaged and are listed in below (by caliber).

Since recoil is an important factor that must be considered, it seemed reasonable to define an attribute of the cartridge to represent the relative recoil force of each cartridge and chamber.

The force that pushes the bullet out of the barrel of the rifle also pushes the rifle against the shooter and can be calculated as follows:

Propulsion Force = Bullet weight (pounds) x Muzzle velocity (fps)

or

Propulsion Force = Bullet weight (grains) x Muzzle velocity (fps)

7000 (grains per pound)

Propulsion force (PF) is very useful in comparing the relative generated recoil of cartridges and chambers. Accordingly, a truly descriptive nickname for PF (propulsion force) could be "Punch Force."

Anecdotal evidence seems to indicate that the .243 Winchester cartridges are generally comfortable to shoot, even for recoil sensitive shooters. Therefore, once the propulsion forces (PF) are calculated, the PF(avg) of each chamber may be compared to the average PF of the .243 Winchester chamber to provide an idea of relative comfort (or discomfort) for the chamber of interest.

The intent of the PF(avg.) Ratio is to indicate how hard the listed chambers will "punch" the shooter relative to how hard the mild-mannered .243. Winchester would punch the shooter.

For example, the 30-30 Winchester chamber punches 1.31 times harder than the .243 Winchester chamber, the .30-06 Springfield chamber punches 1.67 times harder than the .243 Winchester chamber, the .338 Winchester Magnum chamber punches 2.24 times harder than the .243 Winchester chamber, and .458 Winchester Magnum chamber punches 3.68 times harder than the .243 Winchester chamber. (Relationships between cartridges other than the.243 Winchester are inferred as well and can be calculated, if desired.)

For the each of the chambers listed, the following table then summarizes the average size and penetrating characteristics of the bullets evaluated, the average maximum point blank range of the cartridges evaluated, and the average "punch force" of the cartridges evaluated. So, for each chamber, the shooter knows how big the average bullets are, how deep they will typically penetrate, how far they will typically go, and how much it will typically hurt to get them there.



Chamber

Caliber

SD(avg)

BW(avg)

MPBR(avg)

PF(avg) Ratio

.223 Remington

0.224

0.159

56

290

0.65

.22-250 Remington

0.224

0.146

51

326

0.69

.224 Weatherby Magnum

0.224

0.157

55

321

0.72

.243 Winchester

0.243

0.210

87

304

1.00

6mm Remington

0.243

0.232

96

304

1.09

.240 Weatherby Magnum

0.243

0.228

94

328

1.17

.257 Roberts

0.257

0.255

118

256

1.16

.25-06 Remington

0.257

0.228

106

302

1.20

.257 Weatherby Magnum

0.257

0.236

109

329

1.36

.260 Remington

0.264

0.271

132

281

1.33

6.5 Remington Magnum

0.264

0.246

120

296

1.38

.264 Winchester Magnum

0.264

0.287

140

295

1.52

.270 Winchester

0.277

0.252

136

291

1.46

.270 Weatherby Magnum

0.277

0.251

135

320

1.60

7mm-08 Remington

0.284

0.246

139

277

1.41

.284 Winchester

0.284

0.266

150

276

1.54

.280 Remington

0.284

0.258

146

289

1.54

7mm Remington Magnum

0.284

0.274

155

297

1.67

7mm Weatherby Magnum

0.284

0.272

154

314

1.76

.30-30 Winchester

0.308

0.238

158

211

1.31

.308 Winchester

0.308

0.246

163

266

1.60

.30-06 Springfield

0.308

0.250

166

274

1.67

.300 Winchester Magnum

0.308

0.261

174

293

1.89

.300 Weatherby Magnum

0.308

0.268

178

315

2.06

.300 Remington Ultra Magnum

0.308

0.266

176

320

2.06

.30-378 Weatherby Magnum

0.308

0.273

181

334

2.20

.338 Winchester Magnum

0.338

0.277

221

278

2.24

.340 Weatherby Magnum

0.338

0.279

223

299

2.45

.338 Remington Ultra Magnum

0.338

0.292

234

291

2.47

.338-378 Weatherby Magnum

0.338

0.281

225

314

2.58

.35 Remington

0.358

0.209

188

191

1.43

.358 Winchester

0.358

0.223

200

232

1.79

.350 Remington Magnum

0.358

0.223

200

262

1.99

.35 Whelen

0.358

0.251

225

245

2.05

.375 Winchester

0.375

0.203

200

201

1.58

.375 H&H Magnum

0.375

0.291

286

252

2.66

.375 Remington Ultra Magnum

0.375

0.290

285

268

2.89

.375 Weatherby Magnum

0.375

0.305

300

274

3.01

.378 Weatherby Magnum

0.375

0.290

285

289

3.11

.416 Rigby

0.416

0.330

400

234

3.41

.416 Remington Magnum

0.416

0.330

400

235

3.43

.416 Weatherby Magnum

0.416

0.316

383

266

3.78

.45-70 Government

0.458

0.219

321

166

2.02

.45-70 Government (Garrett)

0.458

0.310

455

166

2.77

.458 Winchester Magnum

0.458

0.328

482

208

3.68

.460 Weatherby Magnum

0.458

0.329

483

254

4.57

.470 Nitro Express

0.475

0.317

500

207

3.86

 


Caliber: Diameter of the bullet (inches)

SD(avg): Averaged sectional density of the bullets evaluated (pounds per square inch)

BW(avg): Averaged bullet weight of the bullets evaluated (grains)

MPBR(avg): Averaged maximum point blank range of the cartridges evaluated (yards)

PF(avg) Ratio: Averaged propulsion force of the cartridges evaluated relative to the averaged propulsion force of the .243 Winchester cartridges evaluated (ratio)




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