SHOT Show Report: Remington 30AR Rifles and Ammo
In October, we published a preliminary report on the new 30 Remington AR cartridge, complete with diagrams and factory load specs.
At SHOT 2009, Remington displayed Remington 30AR rifles and factory-loaded ammo. There were no great surprises. This is a short, fat cartridge (.308 bolt-face) that holds about 44 grains of H20. Case size and capacity were pretty much dictated by AR15 magazine dimensions: “According to Outdoor Life columnist John Snow: “DPMS President Randy Luth and Remington’s John Fink (brand manager for the rifle division) … both said that the goal was to look at the AR lower and see how much cartridge they could fit in there.” The Rem 30AR uses a single-stack magazine holding four (4) rounds.
Factory Rem 30AR ammo is loaded with 125gr projectiles running about 2800 fps. While the 0.267 BC for those bullets is pretty low, the cartridge should perform its intended job of harvesting deer just fine. Jason also believes that, if the Remington-brand brass is decent, this cartridge could have real potential in Hunter Benchrest and for subsonic work.
30 Remington AR (30 RAR) Specifications
| Case Capacity | Rim Diam. |
Parent Cases | Shoulder | Factory Load | Mag Type |
| 44.0gr H20 | 0.473″ .308 bolt face |
.450 Bushmaster .284 Winchester |
25° | 125gr SP or 125 B-Tip 2800 fps 0.267 BC |
4-Round Single Stack |
Remington has decided to shorten a 376 Steyr or 9.3 mm X 64mm to create another beloved 30 cal round. This would better ballasticaly suited to be in a 25 or 6.5! Watch and see where the wildcaters take this one! This is going to be in a dead heat with a 6.5 Creedmore that fits into the AR16 format! Neck it to 6mm and you get the 6mm XC that David Tubbs created for 1000 yd competion!
If you lenghten this case it going to compete with the Winchester, Remington, and Ruger short Mags!
Time will tell!
Thom Strickland
Dunn,NC
I hope this one is a winner. It should be.
Let’s see, 20 round magazine, medium and/or bull barrel, flat top, three cases of ammo(or reloading components),my wish list could go on forever! A thirty in a light AR platform that won’t beat the gun to death in a week, thank you Remington! Now the AR can truly compete with the ak/sks platforms as a true battle rifle as well as a hunter and home defense weapon.I will never say that the 5.56 round is not a capable round, but a thirty should be as small as should be allowed on the battlefield. What are the ballistics of this round? What is the maximum distance to safely take a deer sized animal with it, or is that still to be determined? A true all around cartridge, also to be determined, but I can hardly wait!
I have never felt the need for a “Sports Utility Rifle” that mimics any fully-automatic military arms. I slept with my very own issue M-14 enough nights in the Army to get over ever wanting a military “SUR” for my very own rifle. I will stick to my Winchester 1892-1894’s for light hunting cartridges, thanks. Especially when the serious hunting ammunition for the 30 AR costs the same as for my 7mm Magnum!
It’s all about the 2A any gun for any one, like Sam Colt said “The Lord made men, but Sam Colt made them equal”.
I hope this one doesn’t turn into the gun of the month and sticks around, my accumulation of dies is getting large and would like to stop on the next good one.
Much anticipated.Will be well suited in model 7 action rifles and carbines.
How to make this caliber more popular? Make it avalible in a greater variety of rifle types. i.e.(M 700, Model 7, 770 etc.)
This cartridge when I first looked at it reminded me of the .308×1.5″ cartridge developed in the 1960’s. So I looked up the information up on it, they almost look the same. Interesting! It will be an interesting cartridge to work with on different platforms. Can I get about 5 sample unprimed cartridge cases to plan some projects around? Who will be making the reloading dies for reloading this cartridge. Thanks.
William Reich
Am I missing something, what is the new & uniquely significant performance difference between the 2009 Remington .30AR(7.62×40)123gr and the 1945 Russian 7.62×39 123gr cartridges.
Ed, you hit the nail squarely on the head. The 7.62×39 is a great round in the AR-15 style of rifle. Very accurate and does everything this 30 Rem will do especially if handloaded and much cheaper!
I’ve had an Colt AR carbine in 7.62×39 for years, and it shoot great. Only problem is finding magazines that work right. The body taper of the 7.62×39, and the straight magazine well of the AR make it hard to build a fool proof magazine for more than 5 rounds. The .30RAR looks like it might solve that problem. If anyone know of a good magazine for the 7.62×39, please let me know.
Hi:
I would like to know the balistics with a .165 or .173 gr. bullet.
Thank you in advance