interchangeable
is a 7.62 and 308 interchangeable?
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Yes and no- altho some people will tell you they are the same. .308 Winchester MAY be loaded to a higher pressure than 7.62 NATO. While you MAY be able to fire .308 in a weapon chambered for 7.62 NATO, there are some, like the Isahpore military rifles, that were built FOR 7.62 NATO, and it would not be a good idea. 7.62 NATO CAN be safely fired from a .308 Winchester. Most 7.62 NATO brass is a bit thicker- if you reload using .308 data, expect higher pressure- the internal case volume is slightly smaller on most.
Obviously, 7.62 x 39 is a totally different round, and cannot swap with 7.62 NATO nor .308 Winchester.0 -
Every 6 months or so this ??? comes up. And very few talk about the DIFFERENCE in chamber size.
read this....
http://www.303british.com/id36.html0 -
7.62mm is simply the metric measurement for .30 caliber (fractions of an inch).
To know if 7.62mm is interchangeable with .308 we need to know WHICH 7.62 you are talking about.
7.62x51mm ie 7.62 Nato would be the only one that is interchangeable.
EDIT: Here is a list of several different 7.62mm rounds, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7.62_mm_caliber0 -
7.62x51mm NATO and .308 Winchester are for the most part interchangeable
also to be technical he never said which 3080 -
Yeah, technically, he didn't say which .308, but we know....x51.
Anyway, the thing to do is do a Google-query:
7.62 vs .308 or,
.308 vs 7.62
.308 winchester vs 7.62 nato, etc. etc.
You will come up with a huge number of resources explaining the difference. This stuff will keep you busy for a while if you read it all.
As I understand it, however (and the following is my opinion, rather than gospel), the weapons chambered for 7.62 NATO are "technically" not designed to withstand the higher pressures of certain commercial ammo (although they may). There are also some minor case thickness (neck, body, etc.) and size specs that vary between the military ammo and the commercial stuff. Usually, little of this actually matters much, as the ammo is generally interchangeable, given the allowable variances built into the guns (milspec vs. sammi).
EDIT
Okay, so we don't all know.....0 -
quote:Originally posted by Wolf.
Yeah, technically, he didn't say which .308, but we know....x51.
Anyway, the thing to do is do a Google-query:
7.62 vs .308 or,
.308 vs 7.62
.308 winchester vs 7.62 nato, etc. etc.
You will come up with a huge number of resources explaining the difference. This stuff will keep you busy for a while if you read it all.
As I understand it, however (and the following is my opinion, rather than gospel), the weapons chambered for 7.62 NATO are "technically" not designed to withstand the higher pressures of certain commercial ammo (although they may). There are also some minor case thickness (neck, body, etc.) and size specs that vary between the military ammo and the commercial stuff. Usually, little of this actually matters much, as the ammo is generally interchangeable, given the allowable variances built into the guns (milspec vs. sammi).
We don't all KNOW. It is VERY common that people think any 7.62 ammo will work especially 7.62x39 since it is cheeper that is what they want to buy. I cant tell you how many online stories I have read about Vietnam and the VC using M60 ammo (7.62 nato) in their AK's (7.62x39).........0 -
rascal2101,
Good Morning, and welcome to the forums here on Gunbroker.com.
Yes, while the two rounds of 7.62x51 NATO, and 308 Winchester, will fit in each other's chamber's, No, it is not a good idea, unless you are in a life threatening jam. While it is perfectly safe to fire the 7.62x51 in the 308, the reverse is not entirely true. The 308 runs at highedr chamber pressures, and will damage some semi-auto rifles made for the 7.62x51. The same goes for shooting commercial 30-06 ammunition, that is not loaded to mil-spec pressure for the M2 ball round, in the M1 Garand rifle. Most commercial 30-06 is loaded to higher pressures than the military M2 ball ammo. In both cases, repeated use, can bend and/or break the op rods in these rifles. We are obviously talking about the M1A/M14 rifles chambered in 7.62, in this case.
Hope this helps with any questions you might have had.
Best0 -
No, they are not fully interchangeable. As noted they are the same size dimensionally on the outside. I disagree the the inner dimension difference is the problem Rather, like the .223/5.56mm issue, the problem is one of different pressures.
.308 Win is typically loaded to higher pressures than 7.62x51. .308 is more often loaded in bolt type guns but has been chambered in a number of civilian semi-auto rifles. Civilian rifles are more apt to be built up for the .308 along with their gas systems being tuned for the higher pressure of the .308.
7.62 NATO ammunition can typically function in a .308 rifle but it doesn't do it's best. It needs an action with a gas operating system that is tuned to 7.62x51 parameters. When in a 7.62 NATO rifle it does well, i.e. CETME, HK91, PT91, SAR-8.
Anyhow, long story short, .308 has more pressure than the 7.62 NATO. It may cause problems down the road for you. However, firing 7.62 in a .308 chamber has never caused pressure issues for me.0 -
rascal2101,
Welcome to the Gunbroker forums!
Yes, this topic gets covered multiple time each year. All of those topics can be found by using the 'Search' button located in the upper right corner of every page.
In the search term box simply type '7.62 NATO' or '.308 Win.' and start reading. It will take you a while as there are links and references to many other articles within some of the threads.
Best.0
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