Locksley
Well-Known Member
.30-378 Weatherby Magnum
Weatherby's fire-snorting .30 caliber got its start with the U.S. military.
By Layne Simpson
Weatherby�s .30-378 is the .378 Weatherby Magnum necked down to .30 caliber and can drive a 180-grain bullet in excess of 3,400 fps.
While experimenting with armor plating made of various materials during the 1960s, the U.S. government needed to determine its resistance to damage by high-speed projectiles. So designers turned to Roy Weatherby, who had earned his title of "King of High Velocity" by introducing a series of rifle cartridges that left the competition choking in the dust.
Soon after receiving a contract from the government, Roy simply necked down his .378 magnum case to .30 caliber, seated special 30-grain bullets made by Vernon Speer atop heavy charges of the slowest-burning powder available and exceeded a muzzle velocity of 5,000 fps.
Sometime later, the availability of an extremely dense propellant with an even slower burn rate increased velocity to just beyond 6,000 fps. And so it happened that Uncle Sam got its ultra-velocity cartridge and Roy Weatherby picked up a bit of extra money. But the .30-378 magnum story does not end there.
http://www.rifleshootermag.com/ammuniti ... index.html
Weatherby's fire-snorting .30 caliber got its start with the U.S. military.
By Layne Simpson
Weatherby�s .30-378 is the .378 Weatherby Magnum necked down to .30 caliber and can drive a 180-grain bullet in excess of 3,400 fps.
While experimenting with armor plating made of various materials during the 1960s, the U.S. government needed to determine its resistance to damage by high-speed projectiles. So designers turned to Roy Weatherby, who had earned his title of "King of High Velocity" by introducing a series of rifle cartridges that left the competition choking in the dust.
Soon after receiving a contract from the government, Roy simply necked down his .378 magnum case to .30 caliber, seated special 30-grain bullets made by Vernon Speer atop heavy charges of the slowest-burning powder available and exceeded a muzzle velocity of 5,000 fps.
Sometime later, the availability of an extremely dense propellant with an even slower burn rate increased velocity to just beyond 6,000 fps. And so it happened that Uncle Sam got its ultra-velocity cartridge and Roy Weatherby picked up a bit of extra money. But the .30-378 magnum story does not end there.
http://www.rifleshootermag.com/ammuniti ... index.html
