7-30 Waters

7-30 Waters
TypeRifle and single shot handgun
Place of originUnited States
Production history
DesignerKen Waters
Designed1976
Produced1984–present
Specifications
Parent case.30-30 Winchester
Case typeRimmed, bottleneck
Bullet diameter.284 in (7.2 mm)[1]
Land diameter.277 in (7.0 mm)[1]
Neck diameter.306 in (7.8 mm)
Base diameter.422 in (10.7 mm)
Rim diameter.506 in (12.9 mm)
Rim thickness.058 in (1.5 mm)
Case length2.04 in (52 mm)
Overall length2.52 in (64 mm)
Primer typeLarge rifle
Maximum pressure45,000 psi (310 MPa)
Maximum CUP40,000 CUP
Ballistic performance
Bullet mass/type Velocity Energy
120 gr (8 g) Nosler Partition FP 2,700 ft/s (820 m/s) 1,940 ft⋅lbf (2,630 J)
139 gr (9 g) Flat point 2,540 ft/s (770 m/s) 1,990 ft⋅lbf (2,700 J)
154 gr (10 g) Round nose 2,347 ft/s (715 m/s) 1,835 ft⋅lbf (2,488 J)
Test barrel length: 24"
Source(s): Cartridges of the World, 10th Ed., Barnes

The 7-30 Waters cartridge was originally a wildcat cartridge developed by author Ken Waters in 1976 to give better performance to lever-action rifle shooters than the parent .30-30 Winchester cartridge, by providing a higher velocity and flatter trajectory with a smaller, lighter bullet. By 1984, Winchester introduced a Model 94 rifle chambered for the 7-30 Waters, establishing it as a commercial cartridge. In 1986, Thompson/Center began chambering 10-inch, 14-inch, and 20-inch Contender barrels for the cartridge.[2]

  1. ^ a b "C.I.P. TDCC datasheet 7-30 Waters" (PDF). CIP. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2023-04-30.
  2. ^ Frank C. Barnes, ed. Stan Skinner (2003). Cartridges of the World, 10th Ed. Krause Publications. ISBN 0-87349-605-1.