Local dealer gave me some ammo... .308 or 7.62 Nato?

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wickedsprint

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So in reading the book on my M1A it says specifically to use 7.62 Nato ammo, the local dealer gave me what appears to be 12 5rd stripper clips in a bandoleer of sorts...the clips look new and are parked. They are marked CI DAO 61 and the back of the cases are marked with DA 61 and a little symbol that looks like a + inside of a circle, which I think I read is the NATO symbol for ammo. Is this some sort of surplus? The Bandoleer that has all of the pouches is marked as NATO Ball M80 or something, but you never know if someone simply re-used the pouches etc. Either way at least I scored some stripper clips out of the deal for free.
 
Yeah, it's some sort of GI-type stuff. "Real" ammo has the Remchester, et al, headstamp. Federal, etc.

The deal with the M1A and ammo is similar to that of the Garand. Burn rate of the powder and remaining pressure at the gas port. Too much pressure, and you can over-push the operating rod--and prolonged abuse can cause it to bend.

Doesn't mean never, as in never use hunting ammo if you go after Bambi with it...
 
Hey thanks a lot guys, this site always amazes me withthe quick and useful responses. It likely will be my deer gun as well if the state I end up ina llows semis for use on them etc.
 
You have 7.62 Nato ammo- The difference is .308 win is commecial ammo and tends to have lower chamber pressures. If your M1a is rated for 7.62 nato ammo it will be fine. Conversely If the rifle is chambered for .308 win you don't want to take a chance with Milsurp ammo.
 
You have 7.62 Nato ammo- The difference is .308 win is commecial ammo and tends to have lower chamber pressures. If your M1a is rated for 7.62 nato ammo it will be fine. Conversely If the rifle is chambered for .308 win you don't want to take a chance with Milsurp ammo.
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Now I ain't a expert or nothin' but I believe it's the opposite.

308 has higher pressures than the NATO stuff.


I believe it goes.....

if ">" = more pressure than.....then

5.56 NATO > 223

308 > 7.62 NATO
 
Evil Monkey is right, I believe. .308 Win has higher pressures than 7.62x51 NATO from what I recall.
 
.308 has a higher max pressure but that doesn't mean that all .308 loadings actually achieve that pressure.

It's very hard to tell and the general consensus from folks like Kuhnhausen etc is that as long as your headspace is not wildly out of spec, or you have some super old rifle, you should be OK using both interchangeably.

SAAMI uses a differnt mechanism to measure pressure than the NATO spec.

Some argue that when you do the conversion from one to another the difference is slight. Some argue that when you do the conversion from one to another the difference is huge.

Most argue because they don't know one way or the other and it's fun and it's the Internet.

It's a 40 page argument done repeatedly elsewhere on the site if you want to search.
 
difference

I beleive the difference is in the brass. 7.62X51mm military brass is thicker than .308.
I have used both in M1A, AR10 and FAL, seems to work.
 
navaho is correct. 7,62 has thicker brass, often annealed as well, so it will tolerate a longer headspace range than will 308.
 
.308 vs NATO 7.62

There are two concerns regarding the interchangeability of .308 and Nato 7.62 ammunition.....pressure and head spacing....
.308 CAN be higher pressure then recommended for NATO 7.62 military rifles...the main problem is with auto feeders, the overpressure could bend the push rod...I would assume that most .308 ammo would not reach damaging pressures....but the specs say it could..
The other area of concern is head spacing...NATO ammo is designed to tolerate a larger head space band then commercial .308. The Web..at the cartridge head is thicker ,,,and can stretch more...This is because NATO ammo has to tolerate variations in quality of firearms from various countries..
This means...if the head space in a military firearm is on the long side...commercial .308 would be iffy to fire in it...
As long as the bolt will close on it...there should be no problem firing Nato spec ammunition in a .308 chambered rifle...( It IS possible that it would not fit, unlikely but possible )...The other way around ,,,using .308 ammo in a military firearm....I would ALWAYS check that the headspace is correct for .308....and that the action is capable of taking whatever pressure your cartridge develops....
 
The rule is : Use only 7.62 x 51 in M1A. Never use commercial .308.
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Whose rule is that? That's completely ridiculous.


Please check page 6 of the Springfield Armory M1A Owners Manual:

http://gunshowonthenet.com/Gun_ManualsII/M1AManual.pdf

The risk of mishap is reduced by using current clean military ammunition or ammunition that complies with the performance standards established by SAAMI
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SAAMI doesn't deal with 7.62NATO, only commercial .308 so when Springfield Armory says it's OK to use SAAMI spec ammunition they can only be talking about .308
The only warning about commercial ammo revolves around ammo types with softer primers that can possibly result in a slamfire, not any differences in chamber pressures or any of that BS.

Fulton Armory also addresses this at their site too.

Among the several quotes there is this one:

But in some 7.62MM rifles the chambers are long (to the 7.62MM military spec), notably the Navy Garands with 7.62MM barrels. Thus, using commercial ammo in such a rifle is not a good idea; you need stronger brass. Use military ammo or the best commercial only, e.g., Federal Gold Medal Match.
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And Jerry Kuhnhausen says in his M14 book:

If you have a chamber with headspace much in excess of 1.636 (say, 1.638, SAAMI field reject), you must use only U.S. or NATO Mil Spec Ammo (always marked 7.62mm & with a cross enclosed by a circle) since the NATO mil spec calls for a far more "robust" brass case than often found in commercial (read .308 Winchester) cartridges.
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It is very rare to find headspace that long and you certainly won't find it in a recently manufactured rifle.
 
It is very rare to find headspace that long and you certainly won't find it in a recently manufactured rifle.
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I think thats the important thing to note. The velocities for the nato stuff and similarly weighted projectiles in .308 seem the same so it seems like the two are loaded to very similar pressures. With military guns though I'd check the headspace. I have 2 7.62 ishapore rifles. 1 will close completely on a .308 field gauge and the other will not. That seems to be a pretty reasonable indicator that firing .308 in the one that will could be a bad idea and should perhaps even be looked into further before firing nato rounds out of it.
 
Posted the following on another thread with no replies yet. I thought I would try it here. Some of my questions have already been answered after reviewing this thread but not all (the primer hardness and the brass sorting questions).

I'm not a complete novice but I'm still fairly new in the rifle game. I couldn't think of a better place to ask this so I thought this would be the best thread to resurrect. This is not a reloading question (all the ammunition mentioned below is factory loaded) but I can't think of a better qualified demographic than reloaders.

Based on what I have read so far ....

1. I should not be using my Black Hills 168 Grain .308 Win ammunition in my SA SOCOM II rifle. Instead, save this ammunition for my Savage Arms 10FP-LE.

2. I should be using my Winchester White Box 147 Grain 7.62 ammunition (NOT .308 Win) in the SA SOCOM II rifle. It is also safe to use this Winchester 7.62 ammunition in the Savage Arms rifle. (if the bolt closes)

Are these assumptions correct?

Further inquiry .... Is there a difference in the primer hardness between the Black Hills ammunition and the Winchester ammunition? Which ammunition is loaded hotter? I plan on reloading at some point. Should I sort my brass by type only (.308 Win vs. 7.62) or should I also sort by rifle used?

Thanks in advance.
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Well, I'm not an expert, but...

It's around the pressure _curve_. Which works with bullet weight, etc. (I know it's not _all_ about bullet weight - there's also that powder stuff... but...)

Basically, lighter bullets should be good. When you get into heavier loads, you run into slower powders, and a more intense pressure curve, which is bad for your op rod. Stay away from stuff like the "Hornady Light Magnums" etc., etc...

IIRC, the rifle is set up to shoot an approx. 150 grain bullet.

With a bolt rifle, you should be fine with about anything that stays within reasonable pressure limits, and a longer pressure curve doesn't have anything but your shoulder and your eyebrow to damage.
 
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