Is it safe to shoot Wolf .308 Winchester in SA M1A?

[Retro]

Edit:

http://www.pbase.com/dsfsdf3432rdsfrq/image/61687303

This is the picture of the M1A that I was about to destroy with .308 Winchester.

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I was told that SA M1A is better adapted to shoot 7.62 NATO military surplus ammo rather than civilian .308 Winchester.

Has anyone used .308 winchester in a SA M1A and had problems with it?

Thanks.

 

[chopinbloc]

sure, it's probably safe but PLEASE for the love of all that's right and pure, don't do it! that is such an unspeakably vile abomination that i am surprised you suggested it.

besides, there's no reason to when ammoman has lake city m80 ball for about $280/case (delivered) and AIM has south african surplus (also very good stuff) for $168 plus shipping. the south african stuff comes in 140rd vinyl battle packs inside a steel ammo can - 980rds total.

this price list is usually updated weekly: http://rifle-company.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=431

whatever you do, just don't put wolf or indian through a fine rifle like that. it didn't do anything to deserve such a fate. think of the children!

 

[Retro]

Thanks for the tip, man. I am used to shooting wolf .45 ammo, so I bought wolf .308 but I didn't know there is a slight difference between .308 winchester and 7.62 NATO. I have emailed Eric at ammoman trying to cancel my wolf ammo order, and I have placed an order for the Lake City M80 balls.

 

[ProficientRifleman]

no difference

Ok, for the Ump-teenth time. Don't get confused. There is NO DIFFERENCE in the external dimensions of the .308 Winchester and the 7.62 NATO rounds. The only difference is the 7.62 NATO brass is a bit thicker. The case was made that way so it would be a bit less likely to fail in the use of VERY HOT machine guns and rifles in combat. The chamber pressure may be slightly higher, but not enough to harm your weapon.

Your M1A was designed to fire the 7.62 NATO round. The .308 Winchester and 7.62 NATO ammo can be used interchangably. There is no practical difference for the average shooter.

 

[Bwana John]

Your M1A was designed to fire the 7.62 NATO round

That is NOT true!!! The M-14 was desigined for 7.62, but SA uses .308 headspace specs in chambering M-1A's

Ok, for the Ump-teenth time. Don't get confused. There is NO DIFFERENCE in the external dimensions of the .308 Winchester and the 7.62 NATO rounds

Yes, but there IS a huge difference between chamber specs!!!

The .308 Winchester and 7.62 NATO ammo can be used interchangably

.308 should NOT be fired in a 7.62 chamber

And you aint shooting ANY of that Wolf steel cased ammo in my rifle!!!

 

[silverlance]

hm.

i've read many times from good sources that one should not interchange, esp 308 in 7.62.

go do your own research, i suggest.


but if your gun is 308, i think wolf 308 is just fine. wolf ain't so bad.

besides, it's a MILITARY gun, right? so why treat it like a french poodle?

 

[greg531mi]

Isn't the Wolf Gold made in Bosnia? I saw a box of it at Dumhams. I heard it is the same as Hot Shot ammo, but Wolf puts their name on it....

 

[cracked butt]

Makes perfect sense to me. Buy a $1500 then shoot the cheapest ammo on earth through it.

 

[Azrael256]

besides, it's a MILITARY gun, right?

It's a military gun like a Hummer H3 is a military vehicle. Different chamber specs, different action specs, different commercial add-ons, doodads, widgets, and whatzits. The actual military gun wasn't designed to shoot steel cased ammo, either.

 

[RobT2K]

Whoa! that scope of yours is really up there, what kind of cheekweld are you getting with that thing? Do you use a cheek rest?

 

[ny32182]

According to info on FALfiles, the main danger with using .308 in a 7.62 chamber would be in repeated reloadings... the larger 7.62 chamber causes more stretching of the brass than the .308 spec chamber, and this is why 7.62 spec brass is thicker.

For this reason, I might hesitate to use steel cased (less stretchy/more chance of a case rupture) .308 spec Wolf in a 7.62 chamber, but if you are not reloading .308 brass, I don't think it will hurt you to fire it once in a 7.62 chamber. At least, I've never read direct accounts of this causing problems? Anyone?

 

[azredhawk44]

I was told that SA M1A is better adapted to shoot 7.62 NATO military surplus ammo rather than civilian .308 Winchester.

Has anyone used .308 winchester in a SA M1A and had problems with it?

If you disassemble your M1A you will find that ".308" is stamped on the barrel inside of the handguard assembly.

It is marked that way on my SA M1A 18" scout.

I've had my rifle for about a year, and I've put about 500 rounds of south african milsurp 7.62 NATO through it. I've also put about 100 rounds of Federal 147gr FMJ .308, 100 rounds of Winchester 150gr Silvertip .308, 100 rounds of .308 handloads with remington 150gr softpoints, 100 rounds of .308 handloads with hornady 150gr softpoints, and about 500 rounds of .308 handloads with hornady 168gr BTHP match grade ammo.

You will find lots of M1A shooters out there, blasting away with Black Hills .308, using Sierra MatchKings, Winchester .308 brass and CCI standard primers. Or their own handloads that mimic the properties of the Black Hills load. You will find a lot of shooters using the Federal Gold Medal Match chambered in .308.

And you will also find a lot of shooters who only use Lake City or IMI match brass, and reload 7.62 Nato, keeping total powder volume about 1.5gr below published .308 maximums, since the case is thicker and has less internal volume.

Whatever tickles your funny bone will work, IMO. They are chambered for .308, though, since .308 will chamber 7.62, but not the other way around. .308 has a higher operating max pressure, about 65,000 if I remember correctly. 7.62 runs a max of about 50,000. Since the civie market is flooded with more .308 than 7.62, SA chambers for .308.

 

[Limeyfellow]

It seems alot of the scare tactics about the interchangability and whats safe in the .308 barrel was created by winchester and others so people would buy the more expensive commercial ammo. As long as you are not using lots of .308 in a gpmg you should be fine.

 

[chopinbloc]

Has anyone used .308 winchester in a SA M1A and had problems with it?

i've used a few boxes of commercial ammo in my rifle with no ill effect. the manual does warn that a slam fire is more likely with civilian or handloaded ammo due to softer primers and the still unlikely but increased probability of an improperly seated primer.

 

[Retro]

I just found that this M1A was not a demo gun as claimed by the gunshop.

It was a SA M1A manufactured and sold in Jan, 2001.

This makes it a 5-yo gun, and god knows what kind of ammo people have ran through this gun. :banghead:

That scope came with the rifle, along with that SA mount, and minus the scope and the mount, the gun costed me $1350 plus tax.

Do you think $1350 is worth it for a 5 year old M1A?

I am really pissed.

(repeat post from another thread).