I wrote,
"That's the beauty of shooting .30 cal... Same bullets/primers/powders for .300 mags, .30-06, .30-30, .308 ect.... "
Gun Tech wrote:
"30 caliber Russian is 0.310 or 0.311. 30 Caliber US is 0.308.
You missed the point again,
The conversation was about 'SHTF' ammo and rifles, and in a pinch, like when the SHTF I'm sure ANY AMMO will be better than NO AMMO at all!
And .30 cal ammo beats .20 cal. ammo in a 'SHTF' close range fire fight.
As for size discrepancies,
Never put too may calipers on Russian bullets have you?
Or checked Russian or Chinese bores?
Anything from 0.306" to 0.3115" regularly in the surplus ammo, so I'm sure the .308 cal bullets I use aren't going to be any real threat to the function or accuracy!
They seem to cut off about .312" so I don't think I'm endangering anyone.
If a 0.312" will go down the barrel, a 0.3085" should too.
The US military pulled bullets I often use are anywhere from .3075 to .3085, so I'm not sure I'd tout the US standard too loudly.
My US 'Standard' .30 cal. bullets might not be optimum for the 7.62x39mm barrel, but since the AK barrels are crap to begin with, I'm sure not going to hurt them.
The AK's and SKS's I've owned and tested in didn't seem to notice the difference, or actually shot better groups with heavier bullets (although slightly smaller in diameter).
May Colt AR barrels in 7.62x39mm seems to like the heavier and smaller diameter bullets more than the factory Russian rounds, but that would stand to reason, since Colt is much more likely to have a correctly sized bore with sharp, crisp rifling than a Chinese made 'Clunker' built to fire steel cased rounds...
As for 'SHTF' bullets, I use Hollow Points in everything.
.223, 7.62x39mm, .308, .300 WSM, all hollow points...
Can't beat a ballistic tip hollow point for maximum damage, so discussing fragmenting bullets or cannelure separations Vs. straight through damage is kind of a moot point anyway...
I'm not bound by the Hague Accords, so ballistic tip hollow points all around!
If I shoot it twice, it's because I wanted to shoot it again, not because I
HAD to shoot it again...