[BORE HUNTER]

i have read different views on the safe firing of surplus ammo in commercial rifles. i have a new rem 7400 autoloader in .308 and would like to get some in-expensive ammo to sight in, check the mags, and "break" in the barrel, etc. all you sk,ar and such must use surplus ammo in those autoloaders. any mag malfunctions,etc? i would appreciate any views before i buy factory ammo, too expensive to shoot paper. dont handload anymore. thanks

[Murphster]

I use surplus ammo a lot but have never used it in an upscale commercial firearm. Two things to be aware of. Some surplus ammo is corrosive.
That isn't a problem so long as you realize what you're shooting. Squirt things with Windex after shooting, then clean as usual. The other concern is that .308 isn't quite 7.62 NATO. Close enough on most guns but I have heard of the rare .308 civilian gun that didn't like surplus and the rare 7.62 military rifle that didn't care for .308. I'd advise to buy one box of surplus and see how your gun likes it. I'll let others chime in, but I don't think it will hurt your firearm, there's just the chance it might not function as well as you'd like. Some of the surplus 8mm is said to be too hot for semi-auto use. I presume your Remington isn't 8mm.

[Grump]

We are presuming your Autoloader is in .308.

A short .308 SAAMI chamber *may* have negative headspace with long NATO cartridges. Not much, though, and the forces of chambering generally "size" the cartridge into the chamber and firing is safe, even though pulling out the live round might hesitate a bit--as in hard, then zip!!! it flies out of there.

There is a believe that such a situation can make it easier to get the legendary slam-fire, at least in floating-firing-pin designs like the M1A. The only guy to successfully replicate that used high primers and ball powder that gave resistance to the primer when they got chambered. YMMV. That does not explain the events with USGI Match ammo, though they were usually tighter match chambers....

On the other hand, a long NATO chamber is a bit sloppy with short .308 SAAMI ammo. I personally don't believe that is a safety factor, but the excessive case stretching can, IME, lead to cases breaking on extraction after only 4 reloads or so. I've since adjusted my resizing to NOT be SAMMI-Min, because my chamber is in the middle of the NATO/SAAMI overlap zone.

There are also differing opinions on chamber pressure standards, but I'm not convinced they are meaningfully different. NATO surplus, by some measurements, is lower chamber pressure than SAAMI, according to some interpretations.

As far as I'm concerned, it would be safe. It's not like the .223 Remington/M193 Ball incompatibility in SAAMI chambers--their throats are too short for safe pressures--a 5.56 NATO chamber/throat is required to shoot that surplus stuff. Never have seen data on whether M855 green tip also disagrees with SAAMI chambers.:rolleyes:

[BORE HUNTER]

thanks guys. will be letting a nephew graduate from a .22 bolt to a .308 auto. thanks a lot

[BORE HUNTER]

thanks guys. will be letting a nephew graduate from a .22 bolt to a .308 auto. thanks a lot