.30 Remington AR
The .30 Remington AR is a cartridge created in 2008 by Remington Arms to fill a perceived gap in performance on large game between the .223 Remington and larger cartridges such as the .308 Winchester.[1] The design of the cartridge is considered a joint effort between companies under the "Freedom Group" name through a private equity firm[1] and included such companies as Bushmaster, DPMS and Remington itself. It is a rebated rim cartridge designed to fit Remington's R-15 semiautomatic hunting rifle. It was made to fit the dimensional constraints of the AR-15 magazine and is based on a modification of the .450 Bushmaster, which in turn is based on the .284 Winchester.[2]
| .30 RAR (.30 Remington AR) | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Size comparison with .223 | ||||||||||||
| Type | Rifle, Centerfire | |||||||||||
| Place of origin | United States | |||||||||||
| Production history | ||||||||||||
| Designed | 2008 | |||||||||||
| Manufacturer | Remington | |||||||||||
| Produced | 2008-present | |||||||||||
| Specifications | ||||||||||||
| Parent case | .284 Winchester | |||||||||||
| Case type | Rimless, bottleneck | |||||||||||
| Base diameter | .500 in (12.7 mm) | |||||||||||
| Rim diameter | .492 in (12.5 mm) | |||||||||||
| Rim thickness | .054 in (1.4 mm) | |||||||||||
| Case length | 1.53 in (39 mm) | |||||||||||
| Overall length | 2.26 in (57 mm) | |||||||||||
| Case capacity | 44 gr H2O (2.9 cm3) | |||||||||||
| Rifling twist | 1:10 | |||||||||||
| Primer type | Large rifle | |||||||||||
| Maximum pressure | 55,000 psi (380 MPa) | |||||||||||
| Ballistic performance | ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
| Test barrel length: 24 Source(s): http://accurateshooter.wordpress.com/2008/10/15/remington-introduces-new-30-remington-ar-cartridge/ | ||||||||||||
Remington was the only company that manufactured this ammunition and its components.[3] The cartridge was a commercial failure and has been discontinued by Remington.
Design
Starting with a .450 Bushmaster case, Remington trimmed the length to 1.525 in from the original 1.7 and necked it down to accept a conical .308 in diameter bullet with a 25-degree shoulder.[4]
The rim size is .492 in and because the round generates 55,000 psi, Remington opted to use a .308 rifle bolt in a 5.56-sized rifle for increased case support.[4] The rim was widened from the .473 in of the parent case to prevent the use of a weaker .450 Bushmaster bolt with this cartridge. With a 150 grain bullet, the round travels at 2,575 feet per second (fps).[5]
Performance
Performance tests between the .30 RAR and the .308 Winchester show that while the .30 RAR does have a good muzzle velocity, the energy it is capable of delivering on target at around 400 yards decreases significantly.[6] Combined with the poorer ballistic coefficients of the lighter projectiles (.267 for the 125-grain Core-Lokt), this makes the .30 RAR a cartridge suited to ranges around 300 to 400 yards, although this can be extended with projectiles of higher ballistic coefficient (.341 for the Speer TNT 125 grain).
A side effect of the short, wide case is that the Remington R-15 rifle, which was designed alongside the cartridge, uses a four-round, single-stack magazine.[1]
References
- Nischalke, Mike "The R-15 And The .30 RAR", Shooting Times, Online Article, accessed 13 January 2010
- Sweeney, Patrick (2010). The Gun Digest Book of The AR-15. Iola, Wisconsin: Gun Digest Books. pp. 174–175. ISBN 978-1-4402-1622-0.
- Mann, Richard A. (2014). GunDigest Shooter's Guide to the AR-15. Iola, Wisconsin: Krause Publications. pp. 66–67. ISBN 978-1-4402-3847-5.
- Woodard, W. Todd (2016). Cartridges of the World: A Complete and Illustrated Reference for Over 1500 Cartridges. Iola, wisconsin: F+W Media, Inc. p. 118. ISBN 978-1-4402-4642-5.
- Zwoll, Wayne van (29 November 2012). Gun Digest Shooter's Guide to Rifles. Iola, Wisconsin: Gun Digest Books. p. 124. ISBN 978-1-4402-3076-9.
- "Remington Introduces new Remington 30 AR Cartridge". Accurate Shooter Bulletin. 2008. Retrieved 13 January 2010.