5.6x50mm Magnum

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5.6x50mm Magnum

5.56x50mm
Type Rifle
Place of origin Flag of West Germany West Germany
Production history
Designer DWM / Friedrick W Heym
Designed 1968-1969
Variants 5.6x50mmR (Rimmed)
Specifications
Case type Rimless, bottleneck
Bullet diameter .224 in (5.7 mm)
Neck diameter .254 in (6.5 mm)
Shoulder diameter .355 in (9.0 mm)
Base diameter .375 in (9.5 mm)
Rim diameter .376 in (9.6 mm)
Case length 1.97 in (50 mm)
Overall length 2.21 in (56 mm)
Rifling twist 1-13"
Primer type Small rifle
Ballistic performance
Bullet weight/type Velocity Energy
50 gr (3.2 g) SP 3,500 ft/s (1,100 m/s) 1,360 ft·lbf (1,840 J)
55 gr (3.6 g) SP 3,300 ft/s (1,000 m/s) 1,330 ft·lbf (1,800 J)
60 gr (3.9 g) SP 3,200 ft/s (980 m/s) 1,360 ft·lbf (1,840 J)
Source: Cartridges of the World[1]

The 5.6x50mm Magnum cartridge was developed in Germany for use as a legal hunting round alongside the 5.6x50mmR. The two cartridges are dimensionally and ballistically identical in all respects, except that the Magnum cartridge is not rimmed.

Typically firing a 50-grain (3.2 g) bullet at c.3,400 ft/s, this cartridge occupies a useful performance niche approximately halfway between the .222 Remington - 3,100 ft/s (940 m/s) - and the 5.6x57mm - 3,900 ft/s (1,200 m/s), similar to the .222 Remington Magnum. In Germany the cartridge was used with appropriate bullets to hunt deer, in America, it was primarily a varmint hunting cartridge.[1]

[edit] Specifications

Shoulder angle: 23 degrees


[edit] See also

[edit] References

  • 5.6 x 50 Magnum by Chuck Hawks
  • 5.6x50 Magnum Cartridge dimensions at Steve's Pages
  • Vihtavouri Metric Reloading Guide for Centerfire Cartridges, 2002, page 14
  1. ^ a b Barnes, Frank C. [1965] (1997). in McPherson, M.L.: Cartridges of the World, 8th Edition, DBI Books, 347,374. ISBN 0-87349-178-5. 
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