Comparisons - 1
Ammunition
Both the .303 British and the Soviet 7.62 x 54 mm are rimmed cartridges. The other 2 are rimless.
There is no problem with any of these cartridges. Ballistics and rifle choice will determine which will be used.
Ballistics
Looking at the bullet path graph, the following conclusions can be made:
- The American and German bullets have almost the same path.
- The .303 Bristish drops quite a bit more than the other 3 bullets.
- Soviet soldiers had the best bullet in that regard.
Wind drift:
- The German bullet is the worst.
- the .30-06 and the .303 are almost the same.
- Again the Soviet bullet is the best.
Velocity:
- The German bullet again is the worst. It exists the muzzle with the greatest speed but after 200 yards it is slower than the Soviet, after 450 yards it is slower than the American, at 700 yards slower than the British.
- The bullet that maintains the best speed is the Soviet bullet.
- And again, the British round is the slowest.
Energy:
- Similar to velocity, the German bullet looses a lot, quickly. Past 500 yards, it has less punch then all other bullets, even if it started with a good advantage.
- Contrary to other categories, the British round does maintain a good level of energy past 500 yards.
Final thoughts:
- The overall best bullet seems to be the Soviet one and the British bullet the worst.
- For close range (below 500 yards), all bullets are quite similar except for a slight energy advantage for the German bullet, and a slight velocity disadvantage for the British .303.
- For long range (farther than 500 yards), the Soviet cartridge surpasses all the others.
- The .30-06 is not the best, nor is it the worst in any category.
Accuracy
The winner in this category is clearly the Mauser, followed by the M1 Garand.
I expected the Soviet rifles to be the least accurate of all. I was surprised to see the SVT-40 do so good, compared to the Mosin-Nagant.
The Lee Enfield's performance disapointed me. I expected a lot better. I even shot a couple targets to be certain. Obviously this test was done for that one rifle. I have not found any critical problem with it (bedding, headspace, barrel, muzzle crown, ...), it could just be that it is old and has seen a lot of bullets!