High powered rifle

[Gouranga]

Alright, if I hear another media member hold up a 22lr and speak about how this "High powered rifle" was dangerous I am gonna scream.

So it led me to a thought, since this is really purely opinion, where is the line? What is it that makes a rifle a "high powered" rifle? All rifles are high powered by definition, even a 22lr can throw a lead projectile quite a distance. If they were not high powered who would want them? But looking at a bolt action 22LR as a "Normal" powered rifle, in your opinion guys where is the High powered line? What could personally make it qualify? Would it be the round it used? Specific characteristics (I mean real performance ones, not the rifles color).

I recently ordered myself an AR style .308 semi-auto and for some reason stopped to think about this. So for GUNNERS, where would you draw the "high powered" line and why?

 

[stevek]

Hi Power matches are generally shot with AR's in .223

 

[del4]

I have wondered this too.

I would guess that .22 rimfires are low powered and pistol calibers are normal...?

 

[mnrivrat]

Pretty much all center fire rifle cartridges are considered as high powered.

 

[oldgoat46]

Power is in the placement

 

[Justin Holder]

If a 223 is considered high powered, were dose that leave magnums?

 

[Gouranga]

See, i got an order in for a .308 recently. That round was one I put in as high powered. I specifically got the Rem R25. Why would I consider it High powered? First the round .308 is a good sized round with a good velocity (2600-2800fps depending on load). So it can hit a target, from a long distance with a good chunk of energy. The R25 has a 20" barrel and good accuracy (assuming a competent shooter). Being semi-auto it can do all this in a easily repeatable fashion, until the clip is empty.

Of, all these things though IMO, what makes it "high powered", 150-180 grain projectile, 2,600 -2,800 FPS, with a good effective range. The action type(Semi-auto), platform style (AR), clip size, etc are al features that make it convenient to use and along with killing power more of an effective hunting weapon.

However as the term "High powered" in this context is a relative term, considering the range from 22lr all the way up to say .458 I am wondering is my .308 really "high powered" or more "Normal" powered.

 

[Tallinar]

It ain't high power unless the bullet weighs at least 400 grains.

Pretty much all center fire rifle cartridges are considered as high powered.

But seriously, this. It's a relative term.

 

[Zoogster]

The media calls anything "high powered", especially if it looks scarier.



Accurate use of the term would logically be something more powerful than standard.

What is standard? To me standard would be something in the old .30 caliber range. From the British .303 to the 30-30 Winchester up to the 30-06 and .308 or the 7mm Mauser would be "standard" power for a battle rifle.

Anything less would be a low powered rifle, and greater would presumably be a high power rifle.
For example your modern "assault rifle" cartridges are typically your low powered rifles. Like the .223/5.56 and the 5.45x39mm and even your 7.62x39 would be low power rifle rounds.
After all that was the whole original assault rifle concept, reduced power rifle rounds that allowed more control on full auto than a standard rifle round.

 

[bhk]

In my decades of shooting, I (and many others) have always considered cartridges regularly used for deer and up to be 'high powered.' 'High Power' matches have traditionally be shot with the 7mms, .308, and .300s. This is in constrast to the meeker small game, varmint, and predator centerfires such as the 25-20, 32-20, .22 Hornet, .222, and .223. Many folks now use the .223 for deer now, and with heavier bullets, it is now used for long range matches so its classification may be changing. I personally consider it to be a medium power centerfire.

 

[Mal H]

It's kind of a silly term, but I was in charge of making the definition, I would say it would be any centerfire rifle that can shoot a bullet over a certain velocity - say 1700 fps which is roughly Mach 1.5. That would preclude all rimfires, and almost all all handgun caliber rifles and carbines.

 

[Gouranga]

Thanks guys. Mal, to me it is a useful term for gunners. Not like a huge term but something where you go into a store browsing/drooling on the rifles, I have been to stores that were not as well organized or labeled as others. being able to say you looking for something "high powered" to be directed in the right direction. Though I have to admin in this context as the definition is highly subjective, it is not of much use in practicality. If I was to go to a local store and ask for high powered items, I would have to define the term which nullifies its use to begin with.

Now the medias use of the term "High powered" is retarded. Pretty much anything above a pellet gun to them is high powered and I have even heard a pellet gun referred to as "high powered" in a news story before. By their reckoning at least 2 of my rifles would be "assault rifles" as well. 1 of them (a 1940 G33/40) actually is, not because of its configuration but because it was actually picked up off a battlefield and used in that manner.

 

[Hardtarget]

Thanks Zoogster. You seemed to hit it just right. The split from the larger cartridges by the military seems to be the line between standard, high, or low power rifles. Good thinking!

Mark

 

[Cosmik de Bris]

Yes, something you never see in the media is a normal powered rifle.

 

[MinnMooney]

Depends who you ask. A PH in Africa will say the a .338 Win. Mag, is a medium caliber. High power doesn't start until you bore barrels to the "4's" according to them.
I think "high powered" is a friggin' 3 1/2" 12 ga. turkey load out of a light pump-action shotgun 'cause it dislocates my shoulder!!
A "High Power" shooting competition will use a lot of .223 Rem, 6mmBR and the like so I think "high power" to them only distinquishes their shooting from .22LR rim fire competitions.

 

[taliv]

afaik, where rifles are concerned, you have
"Smallbore"
"High Power"
"Very High Power" (which is the 50cal Shooter's Association's magazine)

 

[Gouranga]

afaik, where rifles are concerned, you have
"Smallbore"
"High Power"
"Very High Power" (which is the 50cal Shooter's Association's magazine)

yeah and in the media there are "High Powered", "Assault", and "High powered Assault".

Good stuff guys. We got some good categorizations here but also I see I am not the only one who is fuzzy on it. It is a relative term and with no real consensus, probably not extremely useful for those who are not trying to convince the general public that your rifle is one step below nuclear weapons.

 

[taliv]

yeah, the terms aren't terribly useful, but fwiw, i don't really care if the media refers to my AR15s as 'high powered assault'. I mean, if they weren't, what would be the point in owning them?

 

[Gouranga]

true that. I had someone tell me the same about the R25 I ordered but it is not AS evil because it has the mossy oak color scheme and not the evil black color scheme.

 

[vett3v]

Hmm.. So if I got that powder puff pink AR, it's not high powered? Or evil?

Sweet!!..

 

[Deanimator]

Any centerfire round, typically used in rifles as opposed to normally configured pistols (not things like the Remington XP100).

.17 Remington and up would qualify, excluding things like .44 Magnum.

 

[Dokkalfar]

Personally, I see .308, .30-06, .270, .40, etc as centerfire. they're middle of the 'power' range.

Hi-powered is .50, 20mm or such like that. You might have some of the smaller bullet sizes with lotsa powder (ie Magnums) can have the same energy/penetration power, but they don't have the same (for lack of a better term) emotion/feel associated with them.

In the media, if the NRA supported slingshots then any small pebbles would be considered high-powered.

 

[dvcrsn]

I would tend to define deer cartridges as "medium powered" and leave the term "highpowered" to cartridges designed to deal with deal with critters like bison/water buffalo/Kodiak & other big bears/rhino/hippo/elephant etc

 

[GlockMan1949]

Some say 5.56, but I say, begin with 7.62X51...

Hi Gouranga,

Some hold that "high power" begins with 5.56x45. For matches, it is the beginning caliber, and goes up from there. As for my perspective, it's a caliber, like the 7.62X51, that has a realistic expectation, at a range of 1,000+ yards, of neutralizing a threat/terminating a target. All engineering being a compromise, the venerable .308 Winchester/7.62X51 is the minimum...

As to how big a caliber, well, how high is high?

GlockMan1949, out...

 

[wishin]

A high powered rifle is one owned by Obama.........