Deadliest cartridge in history

[tark]

What military cartridge has killed more enemy soldiers than any other. That ought to produce a spirited debate! It must be a self contained metallic cartridge, no muzzle loading paper cartridges allowed. A black powder round like the 577/450 Martini, qualifies. The .318 and the .323 diameter 7.92X57 rounds shall be counted as the same round.

I have no idea.

I'll start things off by hazarding a guess......the .303 British?

 

[mgkdrgn]

My guess would be the good ol' .22.

 

[btg3]

https://www.google.com/#q=Deadliest+cartridge+in+history

Here ya go. Lotta speculation, but a definitive answer is elusive.

More speculation to follow...
vvv

 

[notaglockfanboy]

Yes this should spark a great debate. Excuse me while I grab some popcorn.

 

[Officers'Wife]

All things considered I'd have to say the 8mm Mauser.

 

[1border4manu]

My vote would go for 7.62 x 39.

 

[OldMac]

I would assume the popularity of the 7.62x39 round in various countries using the sks and the ak for so many ongoing conflicts would certainly rank near the top.

 

[Hammer059]

If I had to guess, it'd be the 7.62x39, simply because of how common and widespread it is. If we were talking the deadliest cartridge overall, not just for soldiers, another guess might be the .22lr

 

[rcmodel]

It would be a toss up between the Russian 7.62x54R and the German 8mm Mauser.
(Rifles & machine guns.)

Look at stats of all war deaths.
Russia & Germany far outdistance any other country.
(Of course small arms fire was not the leading cause of such massive casualties, but they played a big part.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I_casualties

rc

 

[USAF_Vet]

.50 BMG, cuz you can shewt and miss a hole groop of peeple and the shockwave will still kill 'em dead.

 

[rule303]

It has to be the 7.62x39mm considering it has been used in nearly every conflict worldwide in the last 70 years.

 

[Inebriated]

7.62x39 gets my purely speculative vote.

 

[MikeJackmin]

I'm voting for the 7.62x39.

The big wars, between industrialized nations, killed an awful lot of people but only a fraction of those deaths were due to gunfire. Artillery, aerial bombing, disease, hunger and exposure were the big killers.

Low tech warfare, I'm guessing, is where the rifle has the greatest influence. Casualties in small wars in third world nations can really add up as the decades pass.

 

[MagnumDweeb]

If we include the British .303 back in its black powder days along with its smokeless days, I'd have to say it's neck and neck with the 7.62x39. The British did a lot of fighting and killing with the .303, from the Boer wars, fighting the Zulu, suppressing the Indians (in India), and their various other colonies.

The 7.62x39 came on the scene fast and terrible in the early sixties with the SKS and later AK-47 which have seen use on nearly every continent as far as I know. Eventually the 7.62x39 will definitely surpass the .303 but I think we got another 20 years before that.

Those British, they did some killing.

 

[we are not amused]

He, (the OP) did specify military rounds, which would disqualify the .22lr, and I don't believe Civilian casualties from accidents and murder come anywhere near war deaths.

My guess would be the 7.62x39, but rcmodel has good point about German and Russian casualties during WWI and WWII.

 

[MedWheeler]

mgkdrgn writes:

My guess would be the good ol' .22.

In what country was that ever adopted as a military cartridge?

 

[yzguy87]

I would say look up big wars, mass killings, genocides etc. and the calibers used and that would give you a good idea.

My first gut instinct would be 7.62x39. My second guess would be 7.62x54r just because it's the longest serving military caliber.

 

[MilsurpShooter]

*edit* Bah nevermind, reading is fundamental

 

[PantherHead]

7.62x39, coming from my favorite rifle.

 

[jdh]

9mm Parabellum.

 

[JFtheGR8]

7.62x39 without a doubt. That round is killing people that we don't even know about in places we never hear about. The body count is adding up as I type this.

 

[maxxhavoc]

In what country was that ever adopted as a military cartridge?

The US, at least. Not widely issued, but I know for a fact Ruger .22 pistols were issued in Vietnam.

Still, 7.62x39 has my vote.

 

[Arizona_Mike]

88×571mmR?
122mm M1909/37?

Probably a lot better than any other guesses so far

Mike

 

[Hillbillyz]

I would say the 8mm closely followed by the 7.62x39. Not only Germany but many of the Eastern European nations used the 8mm before and after two world wars, not to mention a great deal of ethnic cleansing, and rival eliminating. The 7.62x39 didn't have the use in the world wars, but too many "conflicts" to even be counted.

 

[WestKentucky]

I would have said a stick and string, but I'm betting on something common and only somewhat powerful. 7.62x39 is likely in the running due to all of the sks and AK platforms in the hands of so many folks in so many wars, not to mention the abomination going on in the middle east over the years. I would say a German caliber due to ww2, and the holocaust but they diversified to multiple cartridges. Quite likely though the 22 LR is in the mix.