Stupid question of the day...

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SilentStalker

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Why do some dealers designate ammo like .308 Win. and then .308 Winchester? Why have the different designations? Am i missing something here? And if you go click on them they will only have like 1 item listed under .308 Win. and then like 40+ under .308 Winchester. I must be missing something here...
 
It's most likely just a databasing issue caused by a lazy employee at one point or another. The temp or intern isn't considering the search results getting messed up when he plugs in the new product, and this is the result.
 
Why do some dealers designate ammo like .308 Win. and then .308 Winchester? Why have the different designations? Am i missing something here? And if you go click on them they will only have like 1 item listed under .308 Win. and then like 40+ under .308 Winchester. I must be missing something here...
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I hate it when they also call it 7.62 NATO or 7.62x51mm NATO! -AND don't get me started on 9mm! Also, what is the deal with .380ACP/9mm kurz? ;)

It's just different people using slightly different descriptions for the same ammo, no big deal.
 
I get annoyed when .380 ACP is listed as 9mm SHORT.
Even if that is accurate, it is annoying and probably confuses the novice gun owners.

I personally don't mind 7.62x51/.308, 5.56x45/.223/5.56 NATO, 7.62x63/.30-06 Springfield, etc etc

I think it is an interesting little part of learning about firearms and learning all of them is fun. Although it would be more practical to just describe them all by full dimensions (oh, can I get a box of 7.62x54r).

It would make asking for a box of ".45" way easier. (.45 Colt, .45 ACP, .45-70, .45 GAP, .45 Webley, .45 Super, .45 Auto Rim, .45 WinMag, etc).
 
As long as we are complaining about cartridge desingnations let me put my useless two cents in. Why do they call a 38 special a 38 caliber when it's actually a 36 caliber and why do they call the 44 mag and special 44 caliber when it's actually a 43 caliber. Don't get me started on 30 caliber rifle cartridges next. :)
 
Here is my 2 cents , I don`t get the gripe , if you know what you are doing , what`s the big deal ?
 
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There's another reason for the multiple designations. Most web sites offer a search feature, so if someone is searching for .308 Win they won't get a hit on .308 Winchester and the dealer may miss a sale. We did this at my business to increase the likelihood that a customer would find what they were looking for under any of several variances in the name.
 
loadedround said:
As long as we are complaining about cartridge desingnations let me put my useless two cents in. Why do they call a 38 special a 38 caliber when it's actually a 36 caliber and why do they call the 44 mag and special 44 caliber when it's actually a 43 caliber. Don't get me started on 30 caliber rifle cartridges next. :)
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Because they used to use .38 and .44 caliber slugs when they were loaded with heeled bullets...like the .22lr
 
9mm: what does the bullets heel have to do with the actual bullet diameter? Think about it sir. The 357Mag is named correctly,, the 44 Mag is not.
 
A lot of the time they are listed by what the side of the box says.

If you go to walmart and start looking at .308, some say ".308 Win," others say ".308 Winchester," and others simply say ".308." The same goes for "9mm Luger" and "9x19."

Personally, I chuckle ever time I see .380 referred to as "9mm short" or "9mm special," and have done so myself. The same for .40 S&W being called "10mm short" or "10mm special," or .45GAP - well you get the idea. I've never seen it listed like that on a commercial site though, just on the forums.
 
Some are a little different like .223 Remington and 5.56 NATO. However, it is usually just
a programming issue.
 
Originally Posted by loadedround
9mm: what does the bullets heel have to do with the actual bullet diameter? Think about it sir.
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Kliegl said:
Loadedround, you might want to look up what a heeled bullet ia.
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That will explain why a heeled bullet's heel would differ from the measurement of the bullet's diameter. I even provided an common current production example in the .22lr.

With a heeled bullet, the heel of the bullet rides inside the case, The heel's diameter is smaller than that of the bullet, which is the same diameter as the case. When they did away with the heeled bullets in those CF cartridges and loaded the smaller diameter bullets into the cases, they continued to use the same case and designation
 
I figured they ran out of names. ".357 is already taken so let's call it a .38"
Besides, .380, 9mm Makarov, 9mm Luger is probably less confusing to people than 9x17, 9x18, 9x19
 
In German, "kurz" = "short"

9mm kurz or .380 short, are just methods to distinguish it from the 9mm luger/9mm NATO/9mm parabellum/9x19 etc. Other names for this same round include: .380 ACP, .380 Auto, 9mm Browning, 9mm Corto, 9mm Short, and 9x17mm

Both of these were military rounds so there needed to be a quick way to distinguish between them. This is military jargon going back to before WWI.
 
DoubleTapDrew said:
I figured they ran out of names. ".357 is already taken so let's call it a .38"
Besides, .380, 9mm Makarov, 9mm Luger is probably less confusing to people than 9x17, 9x18, 9x19
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I'm going to figure you just left off the smilie on that first as the .38 spl came before the .357 Mag ;)

I'm pretty sure that with the great variation in names for cartridges, the metric designation is usually the more accurate and less confusing...especially with semi-auto cartridges

My two favorites have always been
1. the 7x57mm (7mm Mauser) being the same as the .276 Rigby (famous elephant culling round)
2. the 38-40, which isn't a .38 or .357...it is a .40 slug, but that isn't what the latter number refers to. the .40 in it's designation refers to the original black powder loading (40 grains of BP)...much like the 45-70, 45-90, 45-110
 
My favorite is .45 LC. Skipped right over the short version.
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But if you're referring to it as the Long Colt, wouldn't that imply that there is a shorter variant? ;) To say nothing about the standard US Army issue for the SAA...the .45 S&W cartridge
 
My favorite is .45 LC. Skipped right over the short version.
Click to expand...
But if you're referring to it as the Long Colt, wouldn't that imply that there is a shorter variant? ;) To say nothing about the standard US Army issue for the SAA...the .45 S&W cartridge
 
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