.284 Winchester

The .284 Winchester is an example of a commercially rather unsuccessful cartridge. Introduced by Winchester in 1963, the .284 Winchester was designed to squeeze .270 Winchester and .280 Remington performance from the new Model 100 autoloader and Model 88 lever action rifles.

The end result was a 7 mm cartridge with about the same overall length as the .308 Winchester but with the powder capacity about the same as that of the .270 Winchester and .280 Remington.

History
At one time the Savage Model 99 was available in .284 Winchester, and Ruger produced a small run of Model 77 rifles in this caliber. Surprisingly enough, Ultra Light Arms now builds more Model 20 rifles in .284 Winchester than all other calibers combined. Which probably tells us that only those high country hunters who are willing to pay for a 4-1/2 pound sheep rifle appreciate what the .284 Winchester has to offer.

Cartridge dimensions
The .284 Winchester has 4.29 ml (66 grains) H2O cartridge case capacity. The case has a rebated rim and a body almost as large in diameter as that of typical belted magnum cases.



.284 Winchester maximum C.I.P. cartridge dimensions. All sizes in millimeters (mm).

Americans would define the shoulder angle at alpha/2 = 35 degrees. The common rifling twist rate for this cartridge is 254 mm (1 in 10 in), 6 grooves, Ø lands = 7.00 mm, Ø grooves = 7.19 mm, land width = 2.79 mm and the primer type is large rifle.

According to the official C.I.P. (Commission Internationale Permanente Pour L'Epreuve Des Armes A Feu Portative) guidelines the .284 Winchester case can handle up to 440 MPa (63,816 psi) piezo pressure. In C.I.P. regulated countries every rifle cartridge combo has to be proofed at 125% of this maximum C.I.P. pressure to certify for sale to consumers. The SAAMI pressure limit for the .284 Winchester is set at 56,000 PSI, piezo pressure.

When the cartridge over all length is maintained, deeper-seating is necessary with heavier bullets. This reduces usable powder capacity and hence performance compared to longer cartridges like the 280 Remington.

The .284 Winchester is a Delta L problem cartridge, meaning it can present unexpected chambering and/or feeding problems. The Delta L problem article explains this problem in more detail.

The American .280 Remington cartridge is probably the closest ballistic twin of the .284 Winchester. When compared to the .284 Winchester the .280 Remington has a slightly different maximum allowed chamber pressure and case capacity.

Contemporary use
For open country hunting of deer and pronghorn, the .284 Winchester loaded with the Speer 130 grain spitzer at 3100 fps will do anything the .270 Winchester will do and it will do it in a short action rifle. Larger game calls for bullets weighing from 150 to 160 grains. H4831, H450, H4350, H414, IMR-4350, and IMR-4831 are excellent powders for the .284 Winchester.

These ballistics make it clear that the .284 Winchester is as good as the .280 Remington with the same weight bullet. Of course the short, handy mountain rifles for which the .284 Winchester seems best suited seldom come with 24 in barrels. Aside from Winchester, no other major company has ever loaded factory ammunition for the .284 Winchester.

The .284 Winchester is not popular in Europe, where it competes with the 7 x 64, to which it is almost ballistically identical. When compared to the .284 Winchester the 7 x 64 has a lower C.I.P. maximum allowed chamber pressure and as an European 7 mm cartridge has a slightly larger bore. European 7 mm cartridges all have 7.24 mm (0.285 in) grooves Ø diameter. American 7 mm cartridges have 7.21 mm (0.284 in) grooves Ø.

Wildcats
Cartridges that are not officially registered with nor sanctioned by C.I.P. or its American equivalent, SAAMI are generally known as wildcats. By blowing out standard factory cases the wildcatter generally hopes to gain extra muzzle velocity by increasing the case capacity of the factory parent cartridge case by a few percent. Practically there can be some muzzle velocity gained by this method, but the measured results between parent cartridges and their 'improved' wildcat offspring is often marginal. Besides changing the shape and internal volume of the parent cartridge case, wildcatters also can change the original caliber. A reason to change the original caliber can be to comply with a minimal permitted caliber or bullet weight for the legal hunting of certain species of game.

While it has been occasionally factory chambered in various rifles, the chief reason for its survival has always been wildcatting. Wildcats are not governed by C.I.P. or SAAMI rules so wildcatters can capitalize on achievable high operating pressures. With the .284 Winchester as the parent case wildcatters have created 6mm-284, 6.5mm-284, .30-284, .338-284 and the .375-284 variants.

Today, the most popular and useful .284 Winchester-case based cartridge is not the original, but rather the 6.5-284 Norma. This former wildcat was developed for long range target shooting where participants usually handload their ammunition. It is currently one of the most used non-wildcat cartridges by match shooters in F-Class and 1000 yd/m benchrest long range competitions.

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Cartridge:rifles