[LkWinnipesaukee]

I was checking out some sites that sell military surplus ammo. I was wondering if 7.62x54R can be safely shot in a rifle chambered in 308? The rifle of concern is a Rem 700.


Thanks

[railroader]

No. Sure would be nice since it's cheap. Mark

[Jack19]

DO NOT shoot 7.62x54R in your 7.62x51 chambered rifle. Notice how the numbers are NOT the same.

BAAAAAAD JUJU.

[Jackal]

Simple answer is no. It will not fit, and cannot be made to fit or fire unless the rifle is chambered specifically for 7.62x54R. I repeat my answer. NO

[LkWinnipesaukee]

Got it. Thanks:D

Now how about this- Can a 7.62x51 NATO be shot in a 308? I understand the NATO rounds are hotter than the civilian rounds. Safe? Would I blow my face off?

[rangerruck]

now, do not shoot a 54r in a 308, but you can do it the other way around.

[Chipperman]

Can a 7.62x51 NATO be shot in a 308?

Plenty of people do it, but it's best not to. You won't blow your face off, but you may get extraction problems, and accelerated wear.

[Eightball]

Can a 7.62x51 NATO be shot in a 308? Yes. .308 can chamber 7.62 NATO safely; .223 CANNOT chamber 5.56 NATO safely.

You have been warned.

I'm one of those people who uses 7.62 NATO out of my .308's, never had an extraction problem relating to the ammo (only to the gun....some are old rebarrels).

Rangerruck--where are you getting this info that it's safe to shoot .308 out of a 7.62x54R? :scrutiny: One is rimmed and 3mm longer than the other.....and I don't see how it would chamber safely.

[LkWinnipesaukee]

Now, lets say the gun gets damaged from using the hotter ammo. What kind of damage are we talking, and how much would it be to fix/get fixed?


Sorry, this is going to be my first gun and I'm a little paranoid :o

[Eightball]

Now, lets say the gun gets damaged from using the hotter ammo. What kind of damage are we talking, and how much would it be to fix/get fixed?If you stuck with milspec 7.62 NATO, the pressure is well within SAAMI specs; it's reloads and civvie stuff that you'd need to watch out for. It really depends on what rifle it's flying out of, out of a 700, it shouldn't be a problem. Militaries have used Remington 700 actions in .308 to shoot their 7.62 NATO for years. The difference between 7.62 NATO and .308 is minute case differences of small proportions; same with .223/5.56 NATO. There's drawings and schematics about it somewhere on this site, i'm just too lazy to seach and pull them up.

I'd say you shouldn't have anything to worry about, but I would also advise a second opinion, i could have my facts backwards.

[rockstar.esq]

I could have sworn that the sporting ammo was hotter than military in the .308/7.62x51 NATO deal.

The answer regarding damage due to over pressure (which is what you'd worry about) is like this. Metal's used for receivers don't bounce back from over pressuring. At the mild end you're looking at difficult extraction, at the high end you're looking at blown bits of metal finding fleshy bits to embed themselves at high speed. Barring the purchase and use of an Oehler system, there really isn't an inexpensive way to monitor the chamber pressures of a given rifle and load. Sad to say if you exceed the "proofing" pressures damage is likely to be significant. Keep in mind that copper fouling, high temperatures and barrel blockages all consipire to raise chamber pressure. Sometimes the compounding effect of all of the above is enough to ruin a perfectly serviceable gun.

My logic might be flawed but here's what I figure. If the 7.62x51 NATO is the hotter version of the .308 Winchester, it makes no sense that REMINGTON would want to label a rifle whose action can accomodate the short action magnums with a WINCHESTER CALIBER. What makes more sense is that the .308 Winchester marking is a function of it being the hotter of the two thereby making that chambering more marketable. The counterpart of my logic is that the military doesn't use commercial ammo and so wouldn't care about labeling in the same context.

Either way you should definitely read up on the topic and come to your own conclusion.

[Cosmoline]

.308 *is* often hotter than 7.62 NATO. It's loaded to light magnum levels, for the love of Pete, right up to . Where are you guys getting the idea that the ball is hotter than the hunting ammo? The main problems with cross chambering are dimensional, not pressure related, and they are THE OPPOSITE of what some of you guys are suggesting!! The problem arises when you chamber a hot rodded .308 hunting load in a military 7.62 NATO that has slightly more headspace than a commercial .308 should. There are no dangers in chambering a 7.62 NATO in a .308 rated hunting rifle, other than sticky extraction.

Most of the time it's a distinction without a difference. But if you intend to shoot .308 commercial in a military arm chambered for 7.62MM, first check the headspace with .308 commercial gauges first. You may get a surprise.
http://www.fulton-armory.com/308.htm

Look at the picture below. The top chamber represents a military rifle, the bottom one a commercial sporter. With many military rifles, their chambers can be significantly longer than, say, a Remington 700. Note that the military chamber would fail a NO GO check, but pass a FIELD check using the proper shop (military) gauges.
http://www3.sympatico.ca/shooters/7_62vs308.htm

While the 7.62mm NATO cartridge has a maximum chamber pressure of approximately 50,000 pounds per square inch (psi), in the SAAMI book the .308 Winchester has a MAP (maximum average product) pressure of approximately 62,000 psi* (each by conformal transducer measurements, and therefore comparable). This is not to say that all .308 Winchester loads will develop such pressures, merely that they would be within manufacturing tolerances if they did so. Firing .308 Winchester ammunition in a firearm specifically chambered for the 7.62mm NATO risks damage to the firearm and injury to the shooter.

http://www.thegunzone.com/30cal.html