I saw a documentary on how ships are built. Riveting. This is something I've wondered for some time. I may be wrong, but I believe NATO rounds were developed, at least in part, to be able to pierce the body armor of the enemy soldier. Either way, they are substantial rounds, and coming out of a rifle, that's a lot of stopping power--so much, that I can't see why Joe Average would need one, for self-defense at any rate. Perhaps they're used for hunting, I wouldn't know. I mean, wouldn't even a good PCC do the job (of home defense, let's say) in most cases?
Depends on who you are defending your home from. The 2nd Amendment isn't about hunting or personal defense, it's about having the firepower to confront any force that might threaten your rights, including the U.S. Military. PS Most military calibers started out as civilian calibers before being adopted by the military.
Modern body armor did not even exist when the NATO cartridges were developed and standardized in the 1950’s or 60’s. We buy them because we simply can.
wut wut? a WWI documentary? ships aint riveted no mo, dey is welded most of da time. durin WWII ships wuz riveted or welded or perhaps both, WWII welded ships wuz known to break apart due to bad welds with loss of life [ some liberty ships plus oder types had ta be re-enforced because of dat ] weldin has improved in a yuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge way since den. fer da most part we aint lost any ships or subs since da 1960s or derearounds due ta bad welds [ **** ] da USS Thresher (SSN-593) wuz lost wid all hands in 1963 due ta bad weldin and bad brazin [ similar ta weldin ] plus da USS Scorpion (SSN-589) wuz lost in 1968 we aint lost any yuuuge subs since, oder navies have gosh dang it, wish Sir GH wuz still wid us to comment on all dis .. .. RIP Sir GH .. .. dem rounds is produced by da millions or billions, n dey werk gud fer most applications specially 7.62x51 plus 7.62x51 AP we will find out how gud da new 6.8x51 is in a few years .. .. jus sayn .. ..
Lots of it is because it's commonly available for platforms that we're familiar with. As far as need goes, I don't know if I'll be defending against a single attacker or many. A stout hickory cane might "do the job." Or I might need to shoot through walls, doors, and cars. Why would I want something that wasn't capable of getting the job done? You don't sound like you're from around here.
Technical the 7.62x51 and the .308 Win are almost the same in size and power. The where developed to make a lighter with less recoil and cheaper round to replace the good old 30-06 that is even more powerful.
