The 7.62×40 Wilson Tactical (7.62×40 WT) is a centerfire

Centerfire ammunition

A centerfire cartridge is a cartridge with a primer located in the center of the cartridge case head. Unlike rimfire cartridges, the primer is a separate and replaceable component....

 rifle

Rifle

A rifle is a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder, with a barrel that has a helical groove or pattern of grooves cut into the barrel walls. The raised areas of the rifling are called "lands," which make contact with the projectile , imparting spin around an axis corresponding to the...

 cartridge

Cartridge (firearms)

A cartridge, also called a round, packages the bullet, gunpowder and primer into a single metallic case precisely made to fit the firing chamber of a firearm. The primer is a small charge of impact-sensitive chemical that may be located at the center of the case head or at its rim . Electrically...

 introduced in 2011 by Wilson Combat

Wilson Combat

Wilson Combat is a custom pistol manufacturer located in Berryville, Arkansas that specializes in customizing and manufacturing M1911 pistols. First started under the name "Wilson's Gun Shop" in 1977, Bill Wilson started his new gunsmith business in the back of the family jewelry store, “Wilson's...

. The goal was to produce an accurate, low-recoil

Recoil

Recoil is the backward momentum of a gun when it is discharged. In technical terms, the recoil caused by the gun exactly balances the forward momentum of the projectile and exhaust gasses, according to Newton's third law...

 .30-caliber cartridge that could be used in AR-15

AR-15

The AR-15 is a lightweight, 5.56 mm, air-cooled, gas-operated, magazine-fed semi-automatic rifle, with a rotating-lock bolt, actuated by direct impingement gas operation. It is manufactured with the extensive use of aluminum alloys and synthetic materials....

/M4

M4 carbine

The M4 carbine is a family of firearms tracing its lineage back to earlier carbine versions of the M16, all based on the original AR-15 designed by Eugene Stoner and made by ArmaLite. It is a shorter and lighter variant of the M16A2 assault rifle, with 80% parts commonality.It is a gas-operated,...

 rifles using as many standard components as possible.

Design

The 7.62×40 WT is based on the 5.56×45mm NATO. The parent cartridge's case is trimmed down to 1.560" and is re-sized with a 7.62×40 WT sizing die. The overall case length after the shortening and re-sizing is 1.565". The cartridge is designed to use .308" diameter bullets in weights of 110 to 150 grains, with a standard twist rate of 1-12". Wilson Combat states that heavier bullets can be used in a barrel with a 1-8" twist rate for subsonic loads.

Cartridge use

The 7.62×40 WT is designed for both tactical/defense rifles and for hunting

Hunting

Hunting is the practice of pursuing any living thing, usually wildlife, for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, the term refers to lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to applicable law...

 medium-sized game. In tactical applications, the 110gr Barnes TTSX bullet can be used to penetrate tough barriers, while the soft-point and hollow-point bullets provide reliable terminal performance on soft tissue. In hunting applications, the 7.62×40 WT delivers slightly more energy than the 7.62×39mm

7.62×39mm

The 7.62×39mm round is a rifle cartridge of Soviet origin that was designed during World War II. It was first used in the RPD machine gun. Due to the worldwide proliferation of the SKS and AK-47 pattern rifles, the cartridge is utilized by both militaries and civilians alike.The 7.62×39mm...

 and is similar to the 6.8 SPC and .30-30 Winchester

.30-30 Winchester

The .30-30 Winchester/.30 Winchester Center Fire/7.62×51mmR cartridge was first marketed in early 1895 for the Winchester Model 1894 lever-action rifle. The .30-30 , as it is most commonly known, was the USA's first small-bore, sporting rifle cartridge designed for smokeless powder. The .30-30 is...

, making it useful for game such as deer

Deer

Deer are the ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. Species in the Cervidae family include white-tailed deer, elk, moose, red deer, reindeer, fallow deer, roe deer and chital. Male deer of all species and female reindeer grow and shed new antlers each year...

 and feral hogs.

Firearms chambered for 7.62×40 WT

Since the 7.62×40 WT is based upon the 5.56 NATO, the only required modification to AR-15/M4 rifles currently chambered for 5.56 NATO or .223 Remington

.223 Remington

The .223 Remington is a sporting cartridge with almost the same external dimensions as the 5.56×45mm NATO military cartridge. The name is commonly pronounced either two-two-three or two-twenty-three. It is loaded with a diameter, jacketed bullet, with weights ranging from , though the most common...

 is a new barrel. Wilson Combat offers barrels and complete upper receiver

Receiver (firearms)

In firearms terminology, the receiver is the part of a firearm that houses the operating parts. The receiver usually contains the bolt carrier group, trigger group, and magazine port. In most handguns, the receiver, or frame, holds the magazine well or rotary magazine as well as the trigger mechanism...

 sets, with barrel lengths offered in 11.3", 16", 18", and 20".

Cartridge availability

Wilson Combat currently (2011) offers custom loaded 7.62×40 WT ammunition with bullet weights of 110gr and 125gr, but the cartridge can also be hand-loaded using new brass available from Wilson Combat, or by using 5.56 NATO or .223 Remington brass and the appropriate sizing/forming dies, also available from Wilson Combat.