7.62 nato or 308 win what's the dif?

2 gun

August 12, 2003 18:40

7.62 nato or 308 win what's the diffrance?Will a Cetme shoot either?

IT"S better to die by fire then serve by force

It's not gun control.It's personal defence elemanation. They only want to control ours.

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  Iconoclast

  August 12, 2003 19:39

  2 gun, this topic was beat unto death in this forum about two weeks back - if you do a search, you should find some really good info.
  
  UPDATED RESPONSE:
  
  Alleno, did the search myself; appears it was poofed . . . original poster was a troll who lost its account, as I recall, so possibly the threads it originated disappeared with it.
  
  Thrust of the intelligent replies was that the difference is not so much in the ammo itself (although some military loadings *may* be somewhat "hotter") as in the chambers of the military firearms v. those of the commercial ones; the latter have more tolerance to accomodate minor variations and allow the military rifles to function reliably in adverse conditions not generally encountered by civilians.
  
  The dimensions of the *cartridges* is the same.
  
  Here are three URLs which were given as references in the discussion:
  
  http://www3.sympatico.ca/shooters/7_62vs308.htm
  
  http://www.smellysmleshooters.net/ammopressure.htm
  
  http://www.fulton-armory.com/308.htm

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  Alleno

  August 12, 2003 20:11

  There is none
  
  Alleno

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  Laredo Lefty

  August 12, 2003 23:07

  The civilian term is .308, and the military calls it 7.62mm.
  Other than that they are pretty much the same.

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  beachmaster73

  August 13, 2003 02:35

  Iconoclast...I nearly said the same thing as you but was just too exhausted. Beach

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  redcedars

  August 13, 2003 05:45

  Below is a link to a site which examines the differences; there are other places to look as well.
  
  Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manuf. Institute (SAAMI) sets the specs for the .308 Win. NATO sets the specs for the 7.62NATO.
  
  They are not the same. The misconception that they are the same is very commonly held.
  
  For safety, shoot only the cartridge for which the firearm is chambered.
  
  The .308 Win was an offshoot of the program to develop the cartridge which eventually became the 7.62NATO. This program was trying to meet proposed military specs for a smaller, lighter cartridge which would match (nearly) .30-06 performance. Winchester had a cartridge which met performance specs but only at higher pressure than the proposal allowed. They decided to introduce the cartridge as a civilian round for modern bolt action rifles.
  
  Further development resulted in the cartridge which became the 7.62NATO. There are differences in case dimensions and thickness, chamber dimensions, and allowable max pressure (NATO 50,000psi, SAAMI .308WIN 60,000psi)
  
  A good match tight .308 WIN chamber will not permit the bolt to close on a proper 7.62NATO cartridge. A 7.62NATO chamber (especially a "loose" one) may result in excessive headspace issues if a .308WIN is chambered.
  
  While some modern rifles will handle either cartridge, I personally do not recommend the practice. It is unwise to shoot .308WIN in older bolt action rifles which have been re-chambered to 7.62NATO, particularly small-ring Mausers, due to pressure and headspace issues. As Python has attested, a properly built rifle on a solid Mauser '98 action, chambered to .308WIN, can shoot .308 WIN safely. I would not shoot .308WIN out of a small ring Mauser even if it were properly chambered for .308WIN. Shooting .308WIN out of a small ring chambered for 7.62NATO or 7.62CETME is just asking for trouble.
  
  http://www3.sympatico.ca/shooters/7_62vs308.htm
  
  www.saami.org for the .308WIN. (Specs not on-site, I think; you have to buy them in printed form.)
  
  TM 43-0001-27 (technical manual) has specs for the 7.62NATO cartridges.
  
  redcedars

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  Warpig883

  August 13, 2003 06:04

  redcedar got it right
  
  Springfield Armory, Armalite and Browning have all told me that their guns are designed to shoot both safely. Most of the other manufacturers are probably the same but I would check with them first.
  
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  SilverBox

  August 13, 2003 07:01

  Bout one RCH. (for a precise technical definition of RCH ask any old school mechanic)
  
  This topic has been covered about 10x in the last year maybe more

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  beachmaster73

  August 13, 2003 07:35

  I'd say avoid small ring mausers and you have no problem. One of my M1's has a heavy Douglas barrel in .308 Win. I've been using only 7.62 NATO in it without incident for several thousand rounds. Nothing untoward has ever happened. Shooting a large 190+grain .308 Win in a 7.62 NATO chambered M1 however, might be kind of exciting from an oprod perspective. Beach

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  I.Shute

  August 13, 2003 20:16

  Silver Box ---
  Perhaps you should be more precise with your measurements.
  They usually run about 1-1/2 thousandths.
  I've checked several and they're all under .002".

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