Bolt action battle rifle cartridges ...

[ViKing]

Just prior to WWII, the British and the Russians used a battle rifle with a rimmed case, and Germany and the U.S. used a rimless case. I'm sure there were a few exceptions, but I'm using the most common service cartridge as the example. I got dizzy reading the list of cartridges used by Japan, still don't know.

What are the advantages/disadvantages/tradeoffs between a rimmed and a rimless case in a bolt action rifle made to function in adverse conditions?

Thanks in adVance.

 

[NicMk5]

The rim on a rimmed round does two things. It controls how far a round goes into the chamber (headspace) and it gives the extractor something to grab on to. On rimless rounds the headspace is controlled by the shoulder and the extractor hooks into the groove at the base.
The biggest difference bettween the two types is in feeding the rounds into the the chamber. If the rounds are in a magazine it is possible to get one rim behind another so that it can't move into the chamber, this is a bad thing. Also with the rim being wider than the rest of the round any large magazine will have to curve.
In a machine gun belt a rimless case can either be pushed forwards to chamber a round (M60 style) or be pulled out of the belt (M2 .50 cal style). With a rimmed round it has to be pulled out of the belt, IMO a more complex way of doing things.
For most modern applications a rimless round is better the exceptions being revolvers and break open shotguns/rifles

 

[RON in PA]

Rimmed cartridges are the older design and as it has been stated can lead to jams if not loaded correctly. The Brits overcame this by loading their clips in a special way(3 down and 2 up) while the Russians designed their Mosin rifles with a magazine that prevented jams by interrupting pressure on the top cartridge. The only people using rimmed cartridges in their military today are the Russians with their general purpose MG and sniper rifle.