.30-03

A Jacketed Soft Point (JSP) round

Type

Rifle

Place of origin

United States

Service history

Used by

United States

Production history

Produced

1903

Specifications

Parent case

.30-01

Case type

Rimless, bottleneck

Bullet diameter

.308 in (7.8 mm)

Neck diameter

.340 in (8.6 mm)

Shoulder diameter

.441 in (11.2 mm)

Base diameter

.470 in (11.9 mm)

Rim diameter

.473 in (12.0 mm)

Rim thickness

.045 in (1.1 mm)

Case length

2.54 in (65 mm)

Overall length

3.34 in (85 mm)

Rifling twist

1-10

Primer type

Large rifle

Ballistic performance

Bullet mass/type	Velocity	Energy
220 gr (14 g) FMJ	2,300 ft/s (700 m/s)	2,585 ft·lbf (3,505 J)

The .30-03 was a short-lived cartridge developed by the United States in 1903, to replace the .30-40 Krag in the new Springfield 1903 rifle. The .30-03 was also called the .30-45, since it used a 45 grain (2.9 g (0.10 oz)) powder charge; the name was changed to .30-03 to indicate the year of adoption. It used a 220 grain (14 g (0.49 oz)) roundnose bullet. It was replaced after only three years of service by the .30-06, firing a spitzer bullet giving better ballistic performance.

The .30-03 was developed to replace the .30-40 Krag cartridge used in the Krag–Jørgensen rifle, which was the first bolt action rifle adopted by the US military, and the first that used smokeless powder. The Krag–Jørgensen rifle had some serious limitations compared to the new Mauser rifles being used by European armies; it was loaded one round at a time, rather than using a stripper clip, and the Krag–Jørgensen's single locking lug on the bolt made the action much weaker than the strong, two lug Mauser bolt, limiting the power of the round. A new rifle was designed, using the Mauser as a guide, and a new cartridge was designed for it. The new cartridge was more powerful, using a 45 grain (2.9 g) charge of smokeless powder, 5 grains (0.3 g) more than the .30-40. The bullet was the same, a .30 caliber, 220 grain (14 g) round nosed jacketed bullet, at a higher velocity of 2300 feet per second (700 m/s), compared to the 2000 feet per second (610 m/s) of the .30-40 Krag. The new rifle was also the first in a trend of shorter infantry rifles; the 24 in (610 mm) barrel was halfway between the standard rifle and the carbine used by the cavalry, and thus there was no carbine variant of the 1903 rifle. The .30-03 cartridge was also a rimless design, which allowed better feeding through the box magazine than the old .30-40 Krag case. The Model 1895 Winchester lever-action rifle was offered in 30-03 from 1905, but sold poorly in comparison to the .30-06 chambering offered in 1908.

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Wikipedia