New for 2009: R-15 chambered in 30 Remington AR

A couple more points that I’ve seen questioned or that I thought were interesting about this new round and the rifle designed around it:

• The 30 Remington AR version of the R-15 will be built by DPMS (which is, of course, now part of the Remington family)
• The camo scheme on the rifle is Realtree AP HD camo, different than other R-15s. (Compare the pic above to the one of the standard R-15
• The barrel is 22″ long and fluted in front of the gas block
• Single stage trigger
• The bolt head is based on a .308 bolt head. They tried widening a .223 bolt head but it was just too thin.
• The magazine will be a 4-round single stack
• Though not available initially, 30 RAR upper receivers “will be made available.”
• 123 grain FMJ uses same bullet as the 7.62×39

Remington refers to the 30 Remington AR as a “big game” round. For clarity, the goal was to achieve “Deadly Deer Hunting Capability out to 350 yards.” This isn’t for elk at long ranges and probably isn’t for your next safari in Africa.

Some have wondered about the military potential of this round. I don’t think it really offers much that isn’t available already. Of course, some will argue the same thing about deer hunting.

Given that Remington is sticking with a 4-round single stack mag and that neither Bushmaster or DPMS unveiled a new tactical rifle chambered for the 30 RAR today, I think it’s safe to say that you 6.8 SPC and 6.5 Grendel fans don’t have to worry about another round trying to steal some of your loyal middle-range proponents.

For some ballistics numbers and more, see John Snow here and here. One thing he points out that I was unaware of is that the ballistics numbers were measured using a 24″ barrel. Since the 30 RAR R-15 is going to come with a 22″ barrel, there will be a slight (but noticeable) drop in velocity.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 14th, 2008 at 5:35 pm and is filed under Ammo, Guns, Military. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.