---- .30 caliber machine gun bullets and ammunition -----------
REPOST from other thread:
The military began using the Sierra 168-grain HPBT Matchking in target competition in 1959, but did not authorize the use of it or the 175-grain HPBT Match bullets for military deployment in peace time or war, until 1980.
Military match shooters had been using the 172-gr FMJ-BT bullets in the 1903 Springfield since 1926. It was used in World War II and Korea. This carried over from the .30-06 to the 7.52x51mm sniper rounds with the use of the M-60 machine gun ammunition.
The 172-gr FMJ BT ammunition for the M-60 machine gun is larger diameter than the standard 145 to 148-gr M80 ball bullets. It was loaded with IMR-4475 behind a 172-gr match-grade FMJ-BT bullet and produced 67,500 psi in a bolt action M-24 or M-40 rifle, or a match M-14 or M-21, which have a tighter bore than the machine gun. This is really way too hot for an M-14 or a .308 Garand. Accuracy is as good as any 168-gr Match ammunition, has more reach, and it was shot in matches from 200 to 1,000 yards, as well as in combat.
