which cartridge has inflicted more causualties to date?

which cartridge has caused the most human casualties?

  • .303 british

    Votes: 96 26.6%

  • 7.62X54R

    Votes: 34 9.4%

  • 7.62x39

    Votes: 207 57.3%

  • 5.56x45

    Votes: 11 3.0%

  • 30-06

    Votes: 13 3.6%
  • Total voters
    361
lister said:
If you mean in war I'd say the .303 Brit.
If you mean guerrila/insurgent type stuff, maybe the 7.62x39.

Just guessing though.

Anyone know for sure?
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303 is not even near 8mm mauser (2 world wars in both east and west) or 7.62x54R (2 world wars, Russian civil war after 1917, Korea, Finland and other wars).

I voted for 7.62 x 39, but realized it was a mistake and I should have go for 54R

PS. 7.62x54 is still in use for sniper rifles and machine guns... ;)
 
303

Has to be the 303,
used by : Canadians, Brits,( Welsh, English,Irish,Scotish) Aussies, Kiwis, South africans,Pakistanis, Indians (east),Turks,Gurkas, dam i know there's more . It was a massive Comonwealth after all . In 2 world wars , in rifles , machine guns, aircraft machine guns, naval machine guns,tanks . The Axis powers all had there own cal. Even the 7.62 with all the conflicts it has seen in Africa likely wouldn't match the battle of the Somme.
 
I'd have to go with .303 (being the oldest and most widely used cartridge on the list). Used across the empire on pretty much every continent in every major and minor conflict from 1888 until recently (1950's in UK, later elsewhere). Still in use by our Rangers, probably still in front line use in the backwater of the former empire. World War I was the bloodiest war in history, so it stands to reason that one of the WWI cartridges would be the 'winner'. Americans entered the war late, so the 30'06 is out of the running. The Mauser round isn't on the list, so I'm going .303.
 
Not only has the 303 British served in many more wars then most cartridges, its also the oldest and most wildly used one. Even today there are Lee-Enfields from the war and post war production in use in the 303 British. Additionally the "7.7mm Jap" round for their machine guns was nothing more then a renamed 303 British.

Dimitri
 
The .303 british is my choice. used in India, Boar war, ww1,ww2 and Korea.It was chamberd in many arms.Bren light machine gun
Browning Model 1919 machine gun aircraft version
Canadian Ross Rifle Mk I through III
Charlton Automatic Rifle
Hotchkiss .303 Mk I & I*
Huot automatic rifle
Lee-Enfield rifle
Lee-Metford rifle
Lewis gun
Martini-Enfield rifle
P14 rifle
Vickers machine gun
Vickers K machine gun
Winchester Model 1895
England alone Produced 7 billion rounds of .303 while fighting WW1.Not counting her colonies. Not only did this cartridge cause more human casualties than any other cartridge it has more than likely killed more wild game then any other cartridge. Just my 2cents.
 
During WW1 maybe 10 million people were killed. During WW2 50 million people were killed. Since the end of WW2 over 100 million people have died in various conflicts around the world.

Therefore a post-WW2 cartridge is likely to be the biggest killer and its probably the 7.62x39.
 
I voted 7.62x39

I am going to take a stab in the dark here... according to hxxp://terrorism.about.com/od/tacticsandweapons/g/AK47.htm
30-50million AK-47 and AK-47 clones have been made.

Its a design that's ~60 years old. Let's take the halfway point, and say 40 million produced. If half of them killed someone, that's 20 million dead.

If it hasn't killed the most people, then it will take the lead very soon, and then my vote will be right anyways :)
 
During WW1 maybe 10 million people were killed. During WW2 50 million people were killed. Since the end of WW2 over 100 million people have died in various conflicts around the world.

Therefore a post-WW2 cartridge is likely to be the biggest killer and its probably the 7.62x39.
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True, but the WW2 & Post WW2 casualties are greatly inflated due to bombs, rockets, napalm, etc...

I do believe that the Maxim Machine Gun still holds the record for killing more people than any other firearm. It was mowing down native peoples in the 1800's by the thousands, millions of people in all nations in WW1, possibly millions more in WW2 (when the Russians retreated they got the taste of a Maxim!) and in some parts of the world Maxims were used LONG after WW2.

As for the cartridge? F*@$ if I know! :D
 
303 Brit to this day, but I would guess the 7.62x39 is quickly gaining ground on it. Both of those cartridges are seeing less use every day though, having been replaced by more "modern" offerings.
 
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