Caliber 338 Lapua Magnum

Relatively new cartridge Lapua Magnum 338 was originally created for sniper shooting at great distances, however, it is now used in both shooting practice and hunters. 338 Lapua Magnum ranks between .50 BMG and the .308 Winchester ammunition.

Appointment

In 1983 in the US, the Ministry of Defense announced a tender for the creation of a new sniper cartridge. The cartridge had to meet several parameters. First, his task was to defeat the growth target at a long distance (more than 1500 meters), and secondly - to disperse the bullet to 900 m / sec with a mass of 250 grands (1 gra = 0,0647 grams).

History

In addition to others, Research Armament Industries from the USA undertook the creation. Taking as a basis the hunting cartridge .416 Rigby, designers Butts Obermeyer and Jim Bell (who later will create .700 Nitro Express, which became the most powerful of the hunting) create a cartridge that meets the requirements of the competition. It gets the name .338 Bell. But despite formal compliance with the conditions, there is a significant drawback. The .416 Rigby sleeve did not withstand the strong pressure of the powder gases and was severely deformed, which not only resulted in rapid wear of the weapon, but could also be dangerous for the shooter.

After the first setbacks

The palm of the championship was transferred to the company Lapua from Finland. They created the original sleeve, which solved the problem of deformation. The cartridge has a bottle-shaped sleeve, the rim does not protrude. The maximum pressure of the powder during the explosion is 400 MPa, and the liner withstood the pressure of 420 MPa. Then they developed another bullet, more suitable for shooting at a person at such a long distance. Four years later, in 1987, the company began producing 338 calibers (in mm 8.6 x 70) under the Lapua Magnum label.

Silent Assassin

In parallel with the creation of the cartridge, the company Accuracy International LTD from England was developing a rifle under the caliber 338, the purpose of which was accurate shooting at enormous distances in extreme conditions (low temperatures, strong wind). The so-called Arctic sniper rifle, which received the nickname "silent killer." Now we know it under the names of Arctic Warfare Magnum, L115A, and L96. When firing from one kilometer the rifle had a spread of 15-16 cm, this is a very accurate indicator. For example, a .50 Browning rifle had a scatter of about a meter under the same conditions, given the high return, weight and much louder shot.

From the Arctic rifle set a record, still no one beaten: two shots were killed two people at a distance of about two and a half kilometers.
The rifle Arctic Warfare Magnum can be two more calibers: 6.2 and 7.62. The weight of it with an empty magazine can vary depending on the modification from 6.1 to 7.3 kg.

Types of bullets

The cartridge had only one kind of bullet until 1996. The appearance of new bullets greatly expanded the options for the service of the cartridge. Under the .338 LM, five types of bullets were developed:

1. SP (semi-shell).
2. Partition (expansive, compound core).
3. HPBT (conical tail, cavity in spout).
4. FMJBT (shell, conical tail).
5. FMJ (shell bullet).

A cartridge with a SP bullet at a mass of 12.96 grams (200 gr) has an initial bullet velocity of 1002 m / sec. An expansive bullet at a mass of 250 grains (16.2 g) produces an index of 897 m / sec, and the hunting GB488 VLD has a speed of 910 m / s at the same weight. Armor Piercing and Armor Piercing Incendiary armor piercing and armor-piercing bullets are also used.

Several types of hunting bullets (Barnes XLC-Bullit - 14.6 g, Sierra MatchKing - 19.4 g, Homady SpirePoint - 16.2 g), designed for the cartridge, also met all the characteristics. Their flight speed ranged from 754 to 920 m / sec.

Application of the cartridge

Caliber 338 "Lapua" was developed for sniper shooting and perfectly coped with its task in view of the trajectory and high accuracy, but in the shooting shooting began to be used even before its official presentation. In 1986, American shooters won with him competitions in Virginia. The cartridge is also used by hunters. It is very popular among fans of varmitingu (hunting for long distances) and bench-bench (shooting from a long distance on a paper target).

For the cartridge, hunting bullets were developed, effective in firing on animal weight up to a ton.

Production

In addition to the Finnish company Lapua, the Czech company Sellier & Bellot, Norma Precision (Sweden) was also engaged in the manufacture of the cartridge, but at present .338 Lapua Magnum is produced only in Russia at the Novosibirsk cartridge factory. Indicators of Russian lapua slightly inferior to the original version. The full copy of the cartridge is called SC-152.

Weapon for the cartridge

The .338 LM heavy cartridge was created for specific tasks, and the rifles using it were supposed to match it. But due to the narrow focus, many rifles have not been distributed, such as the M98 Barrett. M98B Barrett was also developed specially for the caliber 338 Lapua, it is light enough (weight 6.1 kg - for a rifle of this type is really a bit) and compact (1267 mm in length, in addition can be transported in disassembled form), with a longitudinal-sliding A lock and a magazine for ten rounds, is equipped with a flame arrester. Like other rifles of this type, it can be used to defeat equipment, but it is designed specifically for live targets

The 3373 Oris SE T5000 carbine, a multi-charge rifle with manual recharging, is suitable for hunting as well as for shooting sports. Also among Russian rifles, there are models for this caliber from the Russian arms company Tsar-Pushka.

Produce weapons under the caliber 338 of Blaser, Remington, Keppeler, Weatherby, Accuracy International (creators of the "Arctic rifle"), Sako and several others.
By the way, many of these rifles are positioned as sports, and therefore used in the shooting of shooting, including in Russia. The only thing holding back the distribution of these high-class rifles is their price.

Combat qualities

338 LM was a good addition to the .50BMG ammunition, which, however, perfectly coped with its task - shooting light armored vehicles at long distances, but for shooting at live targets did not fit. In addition, the 338 caliber rifles turned out to be much easier than the "fifties".

Caliber 338 Lapua Magnum with an expansive bullet has a powerful stopping and killing action. The bullet punches any, even a heavy bulletproof vest and obstacles. Lapua pierces both the concrete fence, and steel sheets with a thickness of up to 2.4 cm

In hunting, a cartridge with a Partition bullet can be used to slaughter large animals such as bears and large ungulates, however, even with an expansive bullet the cartridge is ineffective against large African animals: elephants, hippos, rhinoceroses. On such a hunting cartridge, developed by Jim Bell and William Feldstein, is used - .700 Nitro Express. The cartridge is intended for shooting from short distances, the bullet has an initial speed of 590 m / s with a mass of 64.8 g. The optimal shooting distance for this munition is 122 m, while it has a dispersion of not more than 3 cm. The length of the cartridge of 700 caliber is 106 , 88 mm, the return, despite the heavy weight of the rifles, is enormous - the weapon literally knocks out of hands. However, not for nothing .700 Nitro Express is considered the most powerful cartridge in the world. The energy of the cartridge is 11 279 J, which is enough to cause a rollover of a running rhino or elephant when it hits. Even with defeat in an unattractive place, the beast loses the ability to move for a time of 5 to 20 minutes, and at this time the hunter can finish off the animal from the lighter gun.

Service history

The Lapua Magnum cartridge is used for military purposes. It was used in the war in Afghanistan (2001), in Iraq, as well as in eastern Ukraine and in Libya.

Lapua patrol 338 produced the famous double shot of Craig Harris (from the equally famous "Arctic rifle") - in 2009 he shot two enemy machine-gunners in Afghanistan with two aimed shots.

It was this patrol used by the famous sniper from the United States, Chris Kyle, when he fired his longest shot - 1,940 m. In the city of Sadr in 2008, he killed a grenade launcher who was about to shoot at a column of US military.

Another famous shot by the patron Lapua Magnum was made by British corporal Christopher Reynolds. Also in Afghanistan, but a year later, he killed a sighting shot from 1853 meters commander of the Taliban detachment, nicknamed Mulla. For this shot, Christopher Reynolds was awarded a medal.

Other cartridges of 338 caliber

Cartridge 338 win can be called narrow-focused, although it has good performance. 338 Winchester Magnum - a hunting cartridge intended for the slaughter of large animals (including bears and moose), has only three types of bullets, which reduces its popularity among hunters, although it has firmly established its niche as the most powerful medium-caliber cartridge, Not intended for bullet shooting for long distances. On sales in America it is inferior to 7 mm Rem Mag and 300 Win Mag. Under the caliber 338 Win Mag in America and around the world are produced quite a lot of weapons: Remington 700, Steyr - Mannlicher S, Winchester Alaska and others.

Another ammunition of the same caliber is .338 Weatherby Magnum. The munition was created on the basis of .378 WeatherbyMagnum. Just like the designers from Research Armament Industries, Roy Weatherby created a new cartridge, by crimping the sleeve. However, unlike the 338 Bell, this cartridge withstood the pressure of the powder gases and successfully competed with the released .338 Win Mag, and at a weight of 250 grants also shows a speed of 900 m / s.

Under the new cartridge, Weatherby began production of rifles of the models "Accumark", "Synthetic" and TRM.

Interesting fact: 338 Lapua Magnum became the name for the book from the series "Stalker". After the development and commissioning of the cartridge, the term "Marxman" appeared. So they began to call the riflemen at prohibitive distances.

Selection of caliber for sniper shooting

There are many opinions, but all of them converge in one: there is no universal caliber, and 338 is no exception. In addition, the action of the caliber may vary greatly depending on the bullet used, its weight and shape, and the amount of propellant. The shooters can modify the cartridges themselves, changing the indicators in the right direction, but this is a particular matter and we should only talk about the factory patrons. Everywhere there are drawbacks and exceptions. Each caliber does an excellent job only with the tasks assigned to it, so first of all it is necessary to determine them.

Light calibers (below the thirtieth) are now offered by virtually all weapons manufacturers. If earlier it was believed that light calibers are suitable only for firing at a distance of less than 300 meters, now at the competition athletes use it even when firing at long distances up to one kilometer. The main plus of the caliber is mobility. The relatively small weight of weapons and ammunition allows you to carry a larger ammunition and quickly respond to changing circumstances.

Medium calibers, to which belongs and .338, are intended for long range shooting. Compared with the first group, such weapons are heavier. In addition, its use implies a great legal responsibility: 338 "Lapua" punches a concrete fence, and when using an expansive bullet, you can almost with a probability of 100% say that the chances of surviving a person will not remain.

Heavy calibers - "fifties" are very contradictory. On the one hand, they are coping well with the damage to technology at long distances, but they are not so effective against manpower. Yes, a 50-caliber rifle is capable of sending a bullet over a distance of more than two kilometers, but there are so many factors influencing that targeting the target target becomes almost impossible. So the exact hit in such situations is a non-trivial case. Do not forget that the cartridge was originally created for shooting from a machine gun.

Conclusion

Despite the fact that the ammunition coped with the tasks assigned to it, it has some drawbacks. Compared with the "fifty", the 338 caliber rifles are more compact. They have an average weight one and a half times smaller. Nevertheless, the caliber 338 does not cancel the strong kickback and the deafening sound of the shot. Rifles should be equipped with a muzzle brake, and the arrow is strongly recommended to use hearing protection. A rifle weighing 4.3 kg has a payback of 6.88 kg / cm, which is in the category above average.

Rifles of 338 caliber are not a budget category. To fully realize the potential of weapons and ammunition, expensive expensive optics must be purchased. Also, it is recommended to equip the rifle with a silencer to protect the ear from the arrow and prevent the spreading of debris around.

There is an opinion that the caliber 338 was created to fill the gap between the calibres .30 (7.62mm) and .50 (12.7mm). Maybe it is so. Compared with the first, the caliber 338 Lapua, due to the reinforced bullet, was less exposed to wind, and also retained kinetic energy at a distance, and provided a more lethal effect.

Because of its trajectory, the ammunition has firmly established itself among professional army and police snipers. With the appropriate weapons, it is capable of providing a firing range of more than a kilometer, and under ideal conditions, as mentioned above, gives a scatter of only 15 centimeters when firing from such a distance. In the rest everything is limited only by the possibilities of the shooter himself.