| .30 RAR (.30 Remington AR) | |
| Origin: | United States |
| Type: | Rifle, Centerfire |
| Design Date: | 2008 |
| Manufacturer: | Remington |
| Production Date: | 2008–present |
| Parent: | .284 Winchester |
| Case Type: | Rimless, bottleneck |
| Base: | .500 |
| Rim Dia: | .492 |
| Rim Thick: | .054 |
| Case Length: | 1.53 |
| Length: | 2.26 |
| Case Capacity: | 44 |
| Rifling: | 1:10 |
| Primer: | Large rifle |
| Max Pressure: | 55000 |
| Bw1: | 125 |
| Btype1: | Corelokt |
| Vel1: | 2800 |
| En1: | 2176 |
| Bw2: | 125 |
| Btype2: | AccuTip BT |
| Vel2: | 2800 |
| En2: | 2176 |
| Test Barrel Length: | 24 |
| Balsrc: | http://accurateshooter.wordpress.com/2008/10/15/remington-introduces-new-30-remington-ar-cartridge/ |
The .30 Remington AR is a cartridge created in 2008 by Remington Arms to fill a perceived gap in performance on large game between the .223 Remington and larger cartridges such as the .308 Winchester.[1] The design of the cartridge is considered a joint effort between companies under the "Freedom Group" name through a private equity firm[1] and included such companies as Bushmaster, DPMS and Remington itself. It is a rebated rim cartridge designed to fit Remington's R-15 semiautomatic hunting rifle. It was made to fit the dimensional constraints of the AR-15 magazine and is based on a modification of the .450 Bushmaster, which in turn is based on the .284 Winchester.[2]
Remington was the only company that manufactured this ammunition and its components.[3] The cartridge was a commercial failure and has been discontinued by Remington.
Starting with a .450 Bushmaster case, Remington trimmed the length to 1.525 in from the original 1.7 and necked it down to accept a conical .308 in diameter bullet with a 25-degree shoulder.[4]
The rim size is .492 in and because the round generates 55,000 psi, Remington opted to use a .308 rifle bolt in a 5.56-sized rifle for increased case support.[4] The rim was widened from the .473 in of the parent case to prevent the use of a weaker .450 Bushmaster bolt with this cartridge. With a 150 grain bullet, the round travels at 2,575 feet per second (fps).[5]
Performance tests between the .30 RAR and the .308 Winchester show that while the .30 RAR does have a good muzzle velocity, the energy it is capable of delivering on target at around 400 yards decreases significantly.[6] Combined with the poorer ballistic coefficients of the lighter projectiles (.267 for the 125-grain Core-Lokt), this makes the .30 RAR a cartridge suited to ranges around 300 to 400 yards, although this can be extended with projectiles of higher ballistic coefficient (.341 for the Speer TNT 125 grain).
A side effect of the short, wide case is that the Remington R-15 rifle, which was designed alongside the cartridge, uses a four-round, single-stack magazine.[1]