Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Why not Metric in the US?

Why the resistance to metric calibers? Instead of a 7x64 we have the 280 Remington? Instead of a 6.5X57 we have a 260 Remington etc. Why a 338-06 when we could have a 9.3x62? I don't get it.

I don't know about the others, but we do have the 9.3X62. I think getting American made cases is the only problem with it since there are American companies that produce bullets for it, Barnes and Nosler come to mind. Also, there is a difference between the 338-06 and the 9.3X62. The 338-06 is obviously .338 caliber and the 9.3X62 is a .366.

Unless of course you just want everything to be metric.

1. A lot of the so-called "metric cartridges" are just the metric dimensions of cartridges designed in England or the USA.

2. There is nothing inherently good about the metric system. It is an arbitrary base 10 system devised on the orders of Napolean for his plans to conquer the world. As a devout Francophile, he did not want to use the English system, which was actually a binary system descended from surveying and architectural ratios worked out by the Egyptians, Babylonians, and Greeks.

What do Liberia, Burma, and the United States have in common?

They are the only three countries on the planet that have not officially adopted the metric (SI) system of measurement.

We reloaders are truly anachronisms: Who else on the planet still uses grains for powder and bullets, or dram equivalent for shotshell charges? I still half expect muzzle velocities to pop up expressed in furlongs per fortnight.

its under 900 miles from my front door to Colorado Springs.........1,400 kilometers just sounds depressing

BMT

But you get to drive 100 instead of 60.

Because this is the United States of God Damn America. We don't use metric, and we shouldn't have to push 1 if we want to talk in English

Here here.

denton, I believe the U.S. is now the only country not using metric.

Many countries adopted metric early on because their own measurement systems were corrupt or inconsistent. This was why the metric system was created in France. Measures of the same name represented different physical quantities in different provinces and even among different merchants in one town. The UK and the US had a more consistent system standardized across the country earlier on, which was why the metric system was slow to be taken up there. The UK Imperial system was quite regular, with a number of measurements inspired by the techniques of the metric system. The vast US market allows many manufacturers to market soley in the US, something not true of the UK, which is why the UK went metric sooner.

As it is, much (most?) of US industry has adopted metric. The rest of the country (the consumers) will change in time, but it may be some time, for traditions die hard when there is no pressing need.

With the US so dominant in firearms, the English measures are recognized worldwide, not that are liked. I see no reason to claim US shooters reject metric cartridges. The 7 Mauser, 6.5 Swedish, and even the native 7-308 are all popular.

A curious thing about the metric system: the arbitrary unit of length (which gives us the km) was based on the metric angular measure, which no country adopted. If consistent to the original plan, the correct unit of distance is that of the old mariner's, namely the nautical mile (which is used in international aviation to this day).

It's been proven that the 280 Remington will outperform the 6.5X5 in America. In Europe7 Who knows.

Personally, I can't get used to thinking in terms of milimeters, centimeters, etc.

The Metric System was invented by the French. 'Nuff said.

I think snap-on,crafstmen,and mac pay lobbyist to make us buy both types of wrenches lolol
FRANCE SUX too

Oh ya baby!!!!!!! Thats what I'm talkin about!!!!!!

Don't pour honey all over it.Tell it like it is!!!!!

Well, the 6.5x5 maybe, but the 6.5x55 is a much more potent round...

I think what will happen in the US is something very natural: The people will decide for themselves which system they prefer. Right now, the old system is so entrenched that a lot of people don't want to change.

Mechanics now have to keep two sets of wrenches, because cars have both metric and SAE bolts. You can buy beverages by the liter here. Because we have to do business with the rest of the world, some of us have to be fluent in metric.

If more people end up liking that system, we will change. If they don't, we won't.

Personally, I very much prefer the metric system, but, as I have noted, there are 5.5 billion people in the world, and most of them won't do what I tell them.

Make that: Not a dang one of them will do what I tell them.

A whimisical look at metric temperature:

30 is hot,
20 is nice.
10 is cold, and
0 is ice.

your 100 kilometers an hour speed limit up there is a pain in the rear...........i do that on gravel roads.......pavement starts at 75mph

Doesn't it have much to do with escaping to this country from the British by the founders of this country? If the metric system was devised by France, well, that's just a perfect reason to NEVER, EVER, EVER adopt it...

I hate the metric system. It has no reference points for me. I know what a foot, a yard and a mile look like. I couldn't care less about a meter or kilometer.

Even though many manufacturing companies actually do use metric bolts/nuts etc. in their machines..

I still hate it.

Another problem in going metric in America is all of our machinery is designed and operates on the English system. Just consider the huge cost of converting everything to metric.
I know all bearings are metric, and always have been as far as I know.

Don

Too stubborn.

Another good reason not to: America-hating whining butt-wipe Jimmy Carter wanted it.