Hirtenberger 7.62x51 in a Rem 700

[RatDrall]

The ammo in question is Hirtenberger 7.62x51mm "Ball". It has a copper bullet, brass casing marked "7.62x51 79" so I assume it was made in 1979. The primer has a green sealant around it and is staked in 3 places.

This would be shot out of a Remington 5r .308 with no expectation of superior accuracy.

I read that 'x51mm is loaded weaker than .308, and that the external dimensions should be the same. I also read that there is no corrosive Hirtenberger 7.62mm out there.

Anything to know, or be concerned about?

 

[GBExpat]

Anything to know, or be concerned about?

No ... from what I have read/heard that is good ammo.

 

[USSR]

read that 'x51mm is loaded weaker than .308, and that the external dimensions should be the same. I also read that there is no corrosive Hirtenberger 7.62mm out there.

Anything to know, or be concerned about?

Yes, your Hirtenberger is not corrosive but, No, it is not loaded weaker than .308. The government used a totally different pressure test on the 7.62x51 ammo than what SAAMI uses for commercial .308. Only thing to watch out for is small flashholes when depriming them.

Don

 

[briansmithwins]

I've had 762 NATO be very, very hard to chamber in a .308 bolt gun. Headspace specs are slightly different between the two and if you have longish 762 NATO in a chamber running the short end of .308 Winchester you could run into problems.

BSW

 

[Onmilo]

A friend of mine has a 700 Tactical that consistently fails to fire with a number of 7.62X51 NATO surplus ammunition, the primers are simply to hard for the factory pin and spring to reliably ignite.
The ammunition chambers and when it does fire, it extracts without problem.
All commercial ammunition fires 100%

 

[USSR]

Headspace specs are slightly different between the two and if you have longish 762 NATO in a chamber running the short end of .308 Winchester you could run into problems.

Headspace is a chamber dimension, and there is more leeway for 7.62x51 chambers. However, the external dimensions of 7.62x51 and .308 Winchester ammunition are the same (that's why there are no 7.62x51 reloading dies), so there should be no problem with 7.62x51 ammunition fitting any standard .308 chamber. I use 7.62x51 in my .308 chambered rifle all the time and had never had a cartridge fail to chamber.

Don

 

[Canuck-IL]

I use 7.62x51 in my .308 chambered rifle all the time and had never had a cartridge fail to chamber.

Especially not in the generous chambers that Remington cuts.

/Bryan

 

[762gunr]

I have shot alot of surp X51 in my half MOA Savage 12 with no problems.

 

[RatDrall]

I've had 762 NATO be very, very hard to chamber in a .308 bolt gun.

This is exactly what happened.

Thanks for the replies everyone, guess it's back to Gold Medal Match....