308 Winchester vs 7.62 NATO Cartridges

aldo35

September 15, 2015 09:25

Can I fire 7.62 NATO rds in rifle chambered for the 308 Win?
Thanks

Aldo35

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  11b6r

  September 15, 2015 10:22

  Yes. However, the reverse is not always true. There are rifles made for 7.62 NATO that should not fire .308 Winchester.
  
  But a rifle marked .308 Winchester should safely fire 7.62 NATO.

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  KAMsales

  September 15, 2015 10:25

  Generally speaking, yes. Some guns chambered in 7.62 NATO will not do well with .308 though due to the difference in loading pressures and bullet weights.

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  Riomouse911

  September 16, 2015 13:49

  I have one exception to that rune:
  
  I had a Savage 99F that refused to extract 7.62 NATO cases from the chamber when I fired them through the gun, but any and all commercial .308 I fired extracted and ejected out perfectly. Could've been the thickness of the military brass not allowing it to spring back and sticking the case to the walls in the chamber, who knows.

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  aldo35

  September 16, 2015 18:08

  Thanksquote:Originally posted by 11b6r
  Yes. However, the reverse is not always true. There are rifles made for 7.62 NATO that should not fire .308 Winchester.
  
  But a rifle marked .308 Winchester should safely fire 7.62 NATO.

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  nononsense

  September 19, 2015 14:42

  aldo35,
  
  Here is a reasonable assessment:
  
  quote:Before we go much further, we want to address the oft-posed question "are the .308 Winchester and 7.62x51 NATO one and the same." The simple answer is no. There are differences in chamber specs and maximum pressures. The SAMMI/CIP maximum pressure for the .308 Win cartridge is 62,000 psi, while the 7.62x51 max is 50,000 psi. Also, the headspace is slightly different. The .308 Win "Go Gauge" is 1.630#8243; vs. 1.635#8243; for the 7.62x51. The .308's "No-Go" dimension is 1.634#8243; vs. 1.6405#8243; for a 7.62x51 "No Go" gauge. That said, it is normally fine to shoot quality 7.62x51 NATO ammo in a gun chambered for the .308 Winchester (though not all NATO ammo is identical). Clint McKee of Fulton Armory notes: "[N]obody makes 7.62mm (NATO) ammo that isn't to the .308 `headspace' dimension spec. So 7.62mm ammo fits nicely into .308 chambers, as a rule." You CAN encounter problems going the other way, however. A commercial .308 Win round can exceed the max rated pressure for the 7.62x51. So, you should avoid putting full-power .308 Win rounds into military surplus rifles that have been designed for 50,000 psi max. -
  
  Best.

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  Hawk Carse

  September 19, 2015 21:42

  There is a lot of confusion on the pressure ratings of .308 and 7.62, apparently arising out of the fact that the US Army and NATO are not SAAMI members and do not use the term "CUP." The numbers you so often see on the gunboards go back to when they were using crusher gauges calibrated in pounds per square inch, even after commercial manufacturers had gone over to piezoelectric transducers that they say read accurately in actual psi.

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