an old letter,,,,sent to National Rifle Association,,,,
Weatherby 30-378 Nov 29, 2020
Dear Sir,
On reading your notes on the Weatherby 30-378, I wanted to write a note to help clear up some errors in your article.
The reason for US Army development and purchase of the 30-378 was not a need for or Army interest in a new cartridge or rifle, nor was it a research project for long range varmint work, but it was part of a research program into the effects of high speed projectiles and their impact/penetration and splatter action on impact with armor plate.
Small arms R&D is done at other Army installations. Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, is the home of the US Army Missile Command, and the home of the original manned space flight and moon exploration programs until the Johnson administration. It is not involved in rifle or small arms development but does have a ballistics lab for special projects. This program was one of those projects.
Discussions with Roy Weatherby came about as a result of his development of magnum cartridges that we are all familiar with. This was in the days before government bureaus and controls disallowing direct contact with single contractors, so Mr. Weatherby was called on the phone and asked if he could produce a cartridge with 6000 ft per sec velocity for this research. Several discussions later and the correct purchase paperwork was prepared and sent through channels and the deal was finalized.
The rifle had a single shot receiver with no hole for a magazine. (When it arrived, it was the most beautiful rifle anyone in the labs had ever seen, but the beautiful stock was not needed, so it was removed and thrown into the trash can!!!) The receiver was mounted onto a special made machine rest. In most tests, projectiles were flat nosed, flat based slugs fired onto targets located 10 feet from the muzzle. Many different alloys were tried for both the projectile and the target. High speed film photography was used to record the shots and impact damage, since this was in the days before electronic photography. The recording camera used high speed 35 mm film and ran the complete 100 foot roll through the camera in less than 2 seconds! The tail end of the film flapped so violently that the end 2 ft progressively broke off and left film chip residue in the camera. These film chips had to be cleaned from the interior of the camera after each firing test. To get enough light for good exposure at these short exposure times, the target had to be illuminated with very bright spotlights.
The data accumulated from this research was later used by other Army commands in designing of armor for the M1A1 Abrams main battle tank, Bradley fighting vehicle system, HMMWV (humvee), and in the design of several tank rounds and armor and bunker penetrators, and is still used in many cases today. Some of todays projectiles travel in excess of 18000 ft/sec.
The original 30-378 rifle is still at Redstone Arsenal and cannot be sold or surplused, so it will remain a research tool in storage until possible need in the future.
My knowledge is second hand, but the unclassified parts came on an almost daily basis at the time from a reliable source. My dad was William L. Strickland, head of the ballistics lab at Redstone Arsenal, the lab that ordered the rifle and did the research.
The original, discarded stock, thrown into the trash on delivery of the rifle to the Army, I have at home.
I have worked at Redstone Arsenal since 1974 and retired after 36 yrs of mathematical work as rocket and laser scientist on guidance, warhead, and seeker missile research, and on command staff for 8 yrs for the Missile Command.
Regards,
Bill Strickland
NRA Endowment member
255 Brier Fork Road
Hazel Green, Alabama 35750
bill45colt@yahoo,com
If you print this, edit as you see fit, and if you like, include my fathers name or mine, and NRA affiliation.
Thanks,
Bill
