Type Rifle, Centerfire Designed 2008 Produced 2008-present | Place of origin United States Manufacturer Remington Parent case .450 Bushmaster | |
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The .30 Remington AR cartridge was created in 2008 by Remington Arms to fill a perceived gap in performance on game between the .223 Remington and larger cartridges such as the .308 Winchester and the 6.8 SPC. Design of the cartridge is considered a joint effort between companies under the "Freedom Group" name through a private equity firm 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 designed to fit the dimensional constraints of the AR-15 magazine and is based on a modification of the .450 Bushmaster, which in turn was based on the .284 Winchester.
Contents
Design
Starting with a .450 Bushmaster case, Remington trimmed the length to 1.525" from the original 1.7" and necked it down to accept a conical .308" diameter bullet with a 25 degree shoulder.
The rim size is.492" 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. With a 150 grain bullet, the round travels at 2575 fps.
Remington is the only company which manufactures this ammunition and its components.
Cartridge 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. 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 where a larger calibre projectile is required.
A side effect of the short, wide case has meant that the Remington R-15 Rifle which was designed alongside the cartridge uses a four-round, single-stack magazine.