The Bad News .338 Lapua

reply to post by PaddyInf

Agreed, people always place emphasis on caliber or technology but at the end of the day it comes down to those who pull the triggers.

It's my understanding that the US Army is looking into replacing the .50 with .338 as an anti-personnel sniper round. Like the M16/M4 series replacement it will probably be decades before it actually happens though.

Also, what is an LCoH? I am familiar with British/Commonwealth rank structure but I have never came across that rank before? Is it one of the various appointments for a Warrant Officer I or II?

I still can not see a use for the 338.

if the 7.62 can not do it go to the .50 bmg.
or even build a rifle based on the 50.bmg short(.50 caliber Spotter, M48)
cartridgecollectors.org...
This would allow the use of most of the .50 bmg bullets like the Raufoss for loading and give you a lighter rifle.

something like the 50bmg short loaded with a Slap bullet would punch right through wall or light armor
www.vpc.org...

reply to post by ChrisF231


LCoH stands for Lance Corporal of Horse. It's one of those dodgy cavalry regiment ranks, equivilent to Lance Corporal. The British Army is full of these strange rank names. For example in my own regiment a private is called a Ranger, in the Guards they are called Guardsmen and so on.

I think I may have been mistaken about his rank, it may have been CoH (Corporal of Horse), I can't remember.

Originally posted by ANNED
I still can not see a use for the 338.

if the 7.62 can not do it go to the .50 bmg.
or even build a rifle based on the 50.bmg short(.50 caliber Spotter, M48)
cartridgecollectors.org...
This would allow the use of most of the .50 bmg bullets like the Raufoss for loading and give you a lighter rifle.

something like the 50bmg short loaded with a Slap bullet would punch right through wall or light armor
www.vpc.org...

\the .338 fills the gap between the 7.62 (effective AP round but with range limited to 1000m-ish) and .50BMG (excellent long range capability but requiring heavy-duty ordinance to launch, and significant weight due to high chamber pressures and recoil). The .338 offers the range of a .50 with the ease of portability of a 7.62. The L115A3 only weighs about 2lb more than its 7.62 equivilent, the L96A1 and is only an inch or two longer. Compare this with something like one of the .50 offerings from Barrett and you'll see what I mean

Barrett .50


L115A3


Which one would you rather carry on a long range foot patrol?

the Lapua is a real mountain top to mountain top gun If you were looking to shoot over very long distances....plus it gives you the right amount of power for hunting dangerous game. I have decided all my new guns will be in common calibers though. If the poop hits the fan I dont want to be scrounging around for ammo for a .218 bee or .500 NE haha

Only fools hold still for more than a few seconds at a time, in daylight, in open country. A hit beyond 500 yds or so takes MANY seconds, even a full minute to set up and achieve. Nobody is going to hit a moving man at anything like the yardage at which the 223 is plenty of power. 223's are currently beating 308's at 1000 yd matches. The guys use 26" barrels, a 90 gr VLD match bthp bullet, started at 2800 fps, a 1 in 6.5" rifling twist. The very long bullet still has 1200 fps and 300+ ft lbs of power left at 1000 yds. That is the same as a 4" .38 special has at 10 ft, using the plus P, 158 gr lhp load. The further away a man is, the less power you need to hit him with, because once he is wounded, he is rendered incapable of hitting you at such long range. Unless you charge out to his body on a fast motorcycle, he is going to bleed out long before you can reach him or he can reach you. So the 338's power is completely unnecessary for a ong range sniper rd. What you do need, tho, is a lot better wind and gravity resistance than is offered by the 308.