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Old November 19, 2012, 06:28 PM   #1
Fireman179
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Worlds fastest?

What's the worlds fastest rifle cartridge?
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Old November 19, 2012, 06:44 PM   #2
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Production ? At one time the 250-3000 Savage .Thus the 3000 [fps] in the name .
Another was the 220 Swift at 4000 fps.
Experimentals go faster
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Old November 19, 2012, 06:45 PM   #3
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Der Eargesplittenz Loudenboomer, hands down.
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Old November 19, 2012, 06:58 PM   #4
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.17 Remington pushes a 20gr bullet close to 4300 fps. Copper fouling was a problem along with throat erosion, go figure.
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Old November 19, 2012, 07:08 PM   #5
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Well--there are reports of a 30-378 Weatherby mag pushing a light
30 cal bullet at over 6,000 fps. That's moving right along.
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Old November 19, 2012, 07:33 PM   #6
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I meant any cartridge period, production or experimental
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Old November 19, 2012, 08:05 PM   #7
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The .22 Eargesplitten Loudenboomer is a real cartridge and holds the record as far as I know.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.22_Ear...n_Loudenboomer

4,000 isn't even hard anymore. There are several cartridges that beat 4,000 easily.

I load 35gr Nosler BT in 22-250 over 40.5gr W748, getting a true, chronographed 4,435fps and its not even a max load.... that's with a 24" barrel.

QuickLoad says a 36" barreled .22-250AI firing a 30gr Barnes Varmint Grenade could hit 5,077fps at just 57,000psi. Taking it up to 72,000psi, which isn't really all that unreasonable, QuickLoad says you could get 5,281... a mile per second almost exactly.
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Old November 19, 2012, 10:17 PM   #8
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Quote:
QuickLoad says a 36" barreled .22-250AI firing a 30gr Barnes Varmint Grenade could hit 5,077fps at just 57,000psi.
Question:

How slow a twist would the barrel have to be to keep the rotational forces on that bullet from making it go (POOF!) and flying apart? I have heard of light (40gr) .220 Swift bullets doing that at 4K .....
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Old November 19, 2012, 11:44 PM   #9
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looking at barnes load data

For a .22-250 with a 24" 1:14 twist barrel the fastest load they list is a 36gr varmint grenade loaded with 40gr of RL 15 powder. It flies at 4417 fps.

As to the twist rate you would want moving 600fps faster, Just going out on a limb at 1:15 or 1:16. Do not know with certainty though.

Its going to burn barrels so fast that if you weren't happy with the twist rate you would get a chance to try something else pretty quickly.
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Old November 19, 2012, 11:47 PM   #10
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How about a 30.06 accelerator round shooting a 55g .22 projectile at close to 4,700FPS with max loads! That is cooking.
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Old November 20, 2012, 12:42 AM   #11
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Has anybody ever necked a 50bmg to say something like 30cal?
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Old November 20, 2012, 01:53 AM   #12
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^I can imagine that it would be very hard on the barrel.

There really isn't much reason anyone would want to short of just seeing what would happen.

Going in the other direction, someone on this forum built what he calls the 12GA rifle from hell. It is a .50 BMG cartridge that has been necked up toa straight walled case and loaded with 12 gauge slug, which makes it something like a .70 caliber.
http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=197214
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Old November 20, 2012, 03:44 AM   #13
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Quote:
I meant any cartridge period, production or experimental
Well with that qualifyer- I guess the U.S. Navy has to be in the running for top spot. Seems a couple of years ago they built some kind of electro-magnet propelled rail gun that squoze out a projectile at 8270fps or thereabouts.

I remember reading that it had like 40 feet of penetration ability. Now, I don't know what that 40' was that they were wanting to penetrate, just the number stuck.
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Old November 20, 2012, 08:55 AM   #14
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Ok, heres one.
The M900 105mm Super Sabot shot from the old M1 tanks and used in the Gulf War. When fired from the M-68 cannon the depleted uranium sabot travels at 1500 meters per second. That is over 4900 fps.
Oh and I've personally seen them used in the Gulf War. Pretty devistating.
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Old November 20, 2012, 09:02 AM   #15
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RIFLE cartridge, gentlemen.

Rifle
Cartridge
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Old November 20, 2012, 10:27 AM   #16
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Other than bragging rights and keeping barrel manufacturers in business, what good purpose is served by serving up lead at 4000+?

It must satisfy some inner need that I just don't get.
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Old November 20, 2012, 10:38 AM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by geetarman
It must satisfy some inner need that I just don't get.
Hitting little-bitty things that are far away.

A 22-250 shooting that 35gr bullet at 4,435fps is about as close to a hand-held laser as you can get, inside about 400 yards.

Imagine shooting woodchucks:




In the head, with no hold-over or scope adjustment, at 365 yards.

See the far, more or less triangular brown patch in this picture?



That's 365 yards. My .204Ruger requires a wee-bit of holdover at that range. The 22-250, none.

You can shoot them from Point Blank to near on 400 yards without worry of "Let's see, how far is that? How many clicks, how much hold-over?"

Even the wind is irrelevant so long as it's not strong. Even with a good, stiff wind, you only get 3 or 4 inches of drift at those distances with those speeds.
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Old November 20, 2012, 10:41 AM   #18
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Oh, and on the point about barrel life...

Speed itself is not the enemy. Temperature and pressure are what kill barrels.

That 35gr load at 4,435 in a 24" 22-250 is only about 58,000psi, right below the threshold where barrel life begins to be an issue. That barrel will last just as long as it would shooting any other bullet and any other speed.
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Old November 20, 2012, 12:05 PM   #19
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Each to his own I guess.

I have shot many a groundhog back in the beanfields of Illinois with a 22-250 at about 3500 fps.
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Old November 20, 2012, 12:20 PM   #20
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Quote:
I have shot many a groundhog back in the beanfields of Illinois with a 22-250 at about 3500 fps.
And I've shot literally HUNDREDS with a plain ol' .22 at 1500 fps. That doesn't make the aforementioned 4400 fps load out of my 22-250 any less fun. It's different, that's for sure, no need to sneak up on them (Sometimes I do the opposite - get further away), but it's definitely fun.

My question is, why not? Faster bullets make better ballistics. If I had a choice between 3500 fps and 4400 fps with the same bullet and caliber, guess which one I'd pick?

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Old November 20, 2012, 12:31 PM   #21
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Sometimes I do the opposite - get further away
Yep! I hear that.

I suppose I would load up a 22-250 if I really felt the need. Super fast speed just does not float my boat.

As long as you are happy with it, that is really all that counts. . .the hog won't feel the difference.
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Old November 20, 2012, 12:33 PM   #22
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It's not so much the SPEED I crave, it's the flat trajectory that comes with it that I like.
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