[Vermonter]

Can a rifle that's chambered for .308 Win take .308 surplus ammo?

[Feanaro]

In general... yes. The specs for 7.62x51 NATO and .308 Winchester are different(The chamber can be larger for 7.62 NATO, IIRC, and the brass is almost always thicker). But I think you should be able to use surplus in a commercial .308.

On the other hand though, my CETME had a case seperation with some commercial .308 because the brass wasn't thick enough. Nothing bad with 7.62 surplus though.

[Dave R]

This gets debated a lot. I DO shoot .380 NATO in my Rem700. The Speer reloading manual says they used milspec brass in developing their loads for the book, and I doubt they were shooting from a FAL...

I bought a box of commercal .308 once that had NATO headstamp. I think it was Win White box? Anyway, it was a white box and said "USA" on the box. Hmm, it was labled 7.62, though.

[DonNikmare]

I found this article helpful....

http://www3.sympatico.ca/shooters/7_62vs308.htm

Nik

[captain obvious]

:banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead:
Ack! NO NO NO NO NO!!!!!

If you have a rifle headspaced for 7.62x51 DO NOT use .308, ONLY SURPLUS - bad things happen. If you have a .308 headspaced rifle it should be ok to use either - but some semi autos (CETME) like the thicker shell casing of 7.62x51.

[J-Man]

One must remember the difference between headspace (which can be changed) and chamber size. One can use a NATO chamber properly headspaced for .308......

[Cosmoline]

The real potential danger comes with old pre-98 Mausers which were beat up then re-chambered to 7.62 NATO. It may be very dangerous to use these old, typically South American Mausers with hot .308.

From all I've heard (and correct me if I'm wrong!) it's OK to use 7.62 or .308 surplus ball in any modern hunting rifle chambered for .308. Its pressure should be lower than standard .308 hunting loads.

[Snowdog]

I don't know anything about the headspacing aspect of it, all I can tell you is that I shoot plenty of military surplus 7.62x51 and commercial .308win through my Springfield SAR48 without any problems.