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Developed for shooting Russians in Afghanistan, is the big Finnish magnum still relevant to US shooters?
The .338 Lapua Magnum cartridge was developed to fill the gap between traditional 7.62x51mm sniper rifles and heavy .50 Browning Machine Gun anti-materiel rifles (AMR).
For those of you unfamiliar with it, the origins of the .338 Lapua Magnum date back to the early 1980s when the US was having to deal with Russian aggression against a neighbor, in this case the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
The CIA, which was waging a covert war against the Russian occupiers, saw the need for a new long range sniper cartridge due to the vast distances involved. They concluded that a cartridge with 1,500-yard capable exterior ballistics was desirable. However, it needed to have enough retained energy to still penetrate a Soviet flak jacket at this distance. The key component was the platform firing it needed to be lighter and much more portable than the .50 BMG rifles available at the time.
www.firearmsnews.com
The .338 Lapua Magnum cartridge was developed to fill the gap between traditional 7.62x51mm sniper rifles and heavy .50 Browning Machine Gun anti-materiel rifles (AMR).
For those of you unfamiliar with it, the origins of the .338 Lapua Magnum date back to the early 1980s when the US was having to deal with Russian aggression against a neighbor, in this case the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
The CIA, which was waging a covert war against the Russian occupiers, saw the need for a new long range sniper cartridge due to the vast distances involved. They concluded that a cartridge with 1,500-yard capable exterior ballistics was desirable. However, it needed to have enough retained energy to still penetrate a Soviet flak jacket at this distance. The key component was the platform firing it needed to be lighter and much more portable than the .50 BMG rifles available at the time.
The 338 Lapua Magnum Today - Firearms News
Developed for shooting Russians in Afghanistan, is the big Finnish magnum still relevant to US shooters?
www.firearmsnews.com
