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.308 Winchester and 7.62 NATO
- Thread starter AHM1776
- Start date
AHM. If, by your question, can you shoot 7.62 Nato in your .308 Win. rifle? Yes. They are, for all practical purposes, the same cartridge.
Winchester brought out the .308 about a year prior to the military's final acceptance of the round. About the only real difference is military brass is usually heavier and the primers are crimped in place for use in automatic weapons. Because military brass is heavier, case capacity is less, and slightly lighter charges should/must be used when reloading them. Also the crimp must be removed before repriming military brass. There are tools and swaging equipment to do this, but I use a chamfering tool for this little chore and it works well for me.
BTW. There is military brass and Nato brass. Nato brass has the circle with the cross emblem stamped on the head. Kind of looks like the crosshairs in a scope. Still all the same cartridge though. Just is loaded to Nato specs.
Paul B.
[This message has been edited by Paul B. (edited March 01, 2000).]
Winchester brought out the .308 about a year prior to the military's final acceptance of the round. About the only real difference is military brass is usually heavier and the primers are crimped in place for use in automatic weapons. Because military brass is heavier, case capacity is less, and slightly lighter charges should/must be used when reloading them. Also the crimp must be removed before repriming military brass. There are tools and swaging equipment to do this, but I use a chamfering tool for this little chore and it works well for me.
BTW. There is military brass and Nato brass. Nato brass has the circle with the cross emblem stamped on the head. Kind of looks like the crosshairs in a scope. Still all the same cartridge though. Just is loaded to Nato specs.
Paul B.
[This message has been edited by Paul B. (edited March 01, 2000).]
Brent
I would have a good gun smith check the head space on your 308.
According to the articles I have read
308 Winchester 7.62 Nato do have some differences in loading presures and tolerances. To make a long story short any 308 Winchester gun should be able to fire any 7.62 NATO spec ammo. Though the reverse is not always true as the max pressure for 308 Winchester is actually higher than the NATO spec stuff. Some 7.62 NATO spec guns should not fire some of the hotter loads for 308 Winchester. Unless the South African military ammo you tied is out of spec your rifle might be. If it we me, I would want to know which one. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. If you really want to know the difference Drop me a e-mail and I look for the article again, it was in Shotgun news last year.
I would have a good gun smith check the head space on your 308.
According to the articles I have read
308 Winchester 7.62 Nato do have some differences in loading presures and tolerances. To make a long story short any 308 Winchester gun should be able to fire any 7.62 NATO spec ammo. Though the reverse is not always true as the max pressure for 308 Winchester is actually higher than the NATO spec stuff. Some 7.62 NATO spec guns should not fire some of the hotter loads for 308 Winchester. Unless the South African military ammo you tied is out of spec your rifle might be. If it we me, I would want to know which one. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. If you really want to know the difference Drop me a e-mail and I look for the article again, it was in Shotgun news last year.
Well I can say this about Denel, south african ammo in two calbiers, .223 and 9mm. I have got both in the last 4 months. The brass is light colored and does not look like mil spec. Both calibers are well under mil spec. by at least 15%. Now I cannot speak for the 308 but if its in line with the rest of thier line, it is NOT up to mil spec.