Cartridge 366 TKM - an innovative ammunition of domestic production, which is designed for smooth-bore self-loading weapons. He is the first hunting cartridge developed in 1991 and put into serial production after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Suitable for rifles with a partially rifled barrel.
Appointment
Caliber 366 TKM is specially designed for hunting a large beast, the mass of which exceeds the figure of 200 kg. Successful shooting can be carried out at a distance of more than 150 m. Moreover, the 366 TKM cartridge is suitable for training shooting, training inexperienced hunters. Also suitable for using weapons for self-defense.
Cartridge 366 TKM: price
Today, the cost of one cartridge of this caliber is approximately 30 rubles, which is an acceptable indicator for most interested hunters. At the same time, weapons that correspond to this format have the price of a medium-sized semi-automatic combat weapon of domestic production.
Bullet energy
The cartridge's energy is enough to fire smoothbore carbines with phenomenal accuracy. When firing at a target at a distance of 200 m, the deviation of the bullet from the original direction does not exceed 5-8 cm.
To all this is added the possibility of using such ammunition in multi-shot rifles. Firing in batches without the need to recharge a bullet into the chamber significantly increases the chances of obtaining the expected results of firing. True, when shooting at a distance of 150 m, getting into a rather shallow moving target is somewhat problematic. However, this drawback is characteristic of hunting cartridges of almost any caliber.
Weapons under 366 TKM
Thanks to the appearance of a cartridge on the domestic market, civilians were spared the need to use exclusively smoothbore weapons for 5 years, which is provided for by law. Upon reaching adulthood, any hunter can use a rifled rifle, which is suitable for caliber 366 TKM. Naturally, the lethal force of the weapon in this case will not be as high as when operating a combat sniper rifle. However, this will no longer be a banal gun, with which you can only walk on medium and small animals.
Currently, the following weapons are suitable for cartridge 366 TKM:
- Smooth-bore carbine VPO-208, developed on the basis of the domestic Simonov rifle of the 1945 model.
- VPO-209 carbine, the automation of which is implemented on the basis of the AKM rifle scheme.
Metric designations
According to the designation standards for the caliber of cartridges applicable for rifled weapons of domestic production, the first digit in the value corresponds to the fields of the sleeve, the second to its length. VPO-208 brand carbine, which is suitable for the use of such cartridges, corresponds to 9 mm bullets with a sleeve length of 37.5 mm. Based on the foregoing, in the metric system cartridge 366 TKM can be designated in the format 366/37 mm.
Technical specifications
Cartridge 366 TKM is characterized by the following technical characteristics:
- caliber - 0.366 inches;
- bullet weight - 15 grams;
- cartridge length - 37.5 mm;
- the initial velocity of movement of the cartridge at departure is up to 530 m / s;
- kinetic energy of a bullet - up to 2040 J;
- lateral deviation when shooting at a distance of up to 100 m - about 5-8 cm.
Benefits
Cartridge type 366 TKM on a smoothbore carbine has a number of advantages:
- The ability to conduct extremely accurate firing at long range, which is not available when using ammunition of other calibers for smooth-bore weapons.
- Impressive energy that can be compared with the performance of cartridges designed for military automatic rifles and machine guns. This feature allows large-caliber ammunition to be used when hunting the largest beast.
- Possibility of use for weapons of a military type, the characteristics of which correspond to the parameters of a cartridge of a given caliber.
- Allows you to legally use a smooth-bore rifle for beginner hunters without the need for priority operation of air rifles for several years.
- Sufficiently acceptable cost of ammunition for most consumers who are available for the operation of large-caliber smoothbore rifles.
- No shortage of ammunition on sale.
disadvantages
If we talk about the minuses of the cartridge of caliber 366 TKM, it is worth noting here primarily the exclusive nature of such ammunition. In other words, the cartridge manufacturer retains a monopoly on the production of such products. Thus, in the presence of high demand, no one will stop sellers from raising the price of cartridges of this caliber.
The manufacturer of the cartridge - the company "Tehrim" - at one time has established itself as a fairly unreliable manufacturer. In particular, the decline in the company's reputation was affected by the complete rejection of the release of 7.62 mm caliber cartridges intended for IZh brand gas pistols. Soon, the owners of such weapons had to look for solutions for their subsequent operation. As a result, no decent replacement was found for the cartridges of the above caliber. This fact acts as a kind of warning to the consumer, since it is common for domestic companies to repeat old mistakes.
The relative disadvantage is the proliferation of weapons intended for firing with 366 TKM cartridges at a fairly high price, often too high for the average hunter.
Further perspectives
Currently, domestic developers are conducting intensive work to create an effective analogue of the sample in question. An example here are shells of caliber
7.62 x 54 mm, designed for
rifled hunting weapons. True, the new shotgun cartridge 366 TKM is planned to be used for driven hunting.
Accuracy of bullets is not the most critical parameter for driven hunting. Therefore, the main goal of the developers is to increase the energy of the cartridge. Impressive lethal force when shooting at close range is especially important when the fire is conducted on moving objects.
Available analogues
Today in the domestic market there is the only analogue of the cartridge 366 TKM for firing from smoothbore carbines, developed on the basis of 410/76 mm caliber cartridges . The manufacture of ammunition is the property of the Nizhny Novgorod enterprise AKBS. An analogue is intended for use in the Mouflon-410 rifle, which acts as a modernized model of the Mosin carbine. Compared with the VPO-208 rifle, the rifled barrel is located closer to the chamber, but not at the muzzle, which negatively affects the characteristics of the cartridge’s departure.
Eventually
In conclusion, I would like to note the fact that the designers were able to fully create an extremely effective cartridge, which is suitable for firing from self-loading
hunting carbines, hitting large game at distances of up to 150 m. At the same time, when firing from a distance of about 200 m, the cartridge somewhat loses to classic rifled bullets according to speed indicators, maintaining a stable trajectory and energy. In general, cartridges of type 366 TKM are an excellent tool for driving a driven hunt.