308 Win & Mil Surp Ammo

[bikerbeans]

Hi All,
 
I just picked up a new (to me) 1996 vintage Ultra Hunter in 308 Win.   Just gave it my standard tuneup, "o" forearm, tighten stock bolt, check the scope base screw torque, remove all oil from the breech and latch surfaces and shim the slightly loose pivot.  One test fire of a primed MT brass and I got a bang so I am good to go to the range tomorrow.  My question is what are folks thoughts on shooting FMJ mil surp 7.62x51 NATO in this gun?  Not planning a steady diet of the stuff but I got 3 boxes for next to nothing.
 
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[TopperT]

I don't know  ..................BUT, My .223 will NOT shoot Mil Surp ammo.  Something about the way it hits the primer.  There is a sticky that I found    after learning the hard way.  So I don't know about the .30 but the .223 is a no-go.  As the 308 (to my knowledge) was a full auto cal. it may not have as hard a primer.

[swb311]

Should shoot fine, and the 7.62nato stuff will produce slightly lower pressures than 308win.

[presdme]

I read here or somewhere that some mil. ammo has a steel jacket under a thin coating of copper. I ckecked some brown bear 308 I have and sure enough a magnet sticks to the bullet. Not going through my barrel. Steel on steel just dont sound good to me. Good luck with the 308. My 308 is still a work in progress but hornady sst are showing some promiss

[Spanky]

I've got a bunch of surplus ammo that I shoot through mine with no problems. Every now and then I'll have a FTF but they always go bang on the second try.
 
 
 
Spanky
 
 
 

[petemi]

Tom, Quite a while ago I bought two battle packs of Belgian made NATO 7.62x51.  I didn't have my .308 Handi then, but I blew them all through a Ruger M77 MKII without a hitch.  I never tried any pinpoint target work with them, but I happened to have the rifle loaded with them when I dusted a coyote at almost 400 yards.

Pete

[bikerbeans]

Thanks for the replies and info.   I am aware that a lot of the milsurp and former Commie block ammo has a very thin coat of copper over a steel jacket.  Steel is cheaper than copper so easy to understand why it is made that way.  I have 3 boxes of the MilSurp and no plans for more.  I have an interesting selection of ammo to shoot in the 308 tomorrow;
Milsurp FMJ 147 or 150 grain - 2500 to 2600 fps???
Handloaded 36 grain VGs in 22/30 sabots.  Load data says 4000 fps plus
Handloaded 180 grain FPGCs.  Load data says a tad under 2,000 fps.
Think all three bullets will have the same POI @ 100 yards.
 
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[TopperT]

This is very interesting to me as cheaper is always nice.  I wonder why the 223 won't shoot the mill surp and the .308 will.  Please post how you do at the range.  I just purchased a .308 and am very interested in how you do.  Thanks.  Jim.

[bikerbeans]

223 small primer, 308 large primer?
 
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[Old Fart]

I believe the 5.56mm military stuff is quite a bit hotter than .223 ammo.
I fired a few of the mil stuff through a contender.
They got stuck and seperated at the neck and would not extract.
 
Some .308 win is hotter than 7.62 nato.
 
 

[OldSchoolRanger]

I don't know  ..................BUT, My .223 will NOT shoot Mil Surp ammo.  Something about the way it hits the primer.  There is a sticky that I found    after learning the hard way.  So I don't know about the .30 but the .223 is a no-go.  As the 308 (to my knowledge) was a full auto cal. it may not have as hard a primer.

Guess I'm lucky, my .223 shoots anything I feed it.  Your comment regarding the .308 isn't true, the .308Win is a civilian caliber, and like swb311 said is loaded at slightly higher pressures than the 7.62mm Nato round.  Just like Old Fart said; this is the exact opposite of the situation pertaining to the .223Rem. and .556mm Nato. 

I read here or somewhere that some mil. ammo has a steel jacket under a thin coating of copper. I ckecked some brown bear 308 I have and sure enough a magnet sticks to the bullet. Not going through my barrel. Steel on steel just dont sound good to me. Good luck with the 308. My 308 is still a work in progress but hornady sst are showing some promiss

presdme - Real Nato ammo, meaning ammo manufactured to NATO specs by NATO partners, and American allies (eg: South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Australia, New Zealand, you get the idea), are lead core.  Ammo made by Russia or former com-bloc countries are made more or less to NATO specifications, and are steel core.  Some former com-bloc nations like the Czech Republic, and Serbia, make good ammo.  You have to do your research.

[Darreld Walton]

Only concern I'd have, if it's foreign 7.62, is corrosive priming including the Australian, German and Brit stuff.  If it's USGI, no problem, burn it up, and save the cases.  If it's foreign, there's also a very good chance that it's Berdan primed.
BTW, I've been shooting lead core, mild steel jacket, copper wash, .30-06 stuff in Garands, M1903's, A3's, and M1917's with absolutely NO indication of barrel damage, including accelerated wear.  There ARE some ranges, notably in Kommiefornia, that forbid steel jackets, as the locals claim that there's a chance that the sparks will start fires.......okay......I don't travel to the left coast, so no problem for me, and I've not noted such things when shooting into the lava beds and gravel pits.  I don't shoot ComBloc crap in anything I own.  I still hate Commies, will forever, and won't give them the time of day.

[shvlhead.45]

BB,

I'm going to put a couple of links on here with information directly relating to your original question.  I will add that I shot USGI 168 gr. Match rounds in my .308 Handi and it was every accurate and did not exhibit any signs of bad stuff happening in the chamber when firing it.  That said, I have always read/heard that 7.62X51 in a .308 chamber was OK but information in the links below may make you rethink using 7.62X51 ammo in a .308, I'll let you draw your own conclusions.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7.62%C3%9751mm_NATO

http://www.thegunzone.com/30cal.html

r/shvlhead.45

[SHOOTALL]

I don't know  ..................BUT, My .223 will NOT shoot Mil Surp ammo.  Something about the way it hits the primer.  There is a sticky that I found    after learning the hard way.  So I don't know about the .30 but the .223 is a no-go.  As the 308 (to my knowledge) was a full auto cal. it may not have as hard a primer.

military ammo in most cases has arsenal primers , they require a harder strike to ignite . The reason is most military rifles don't have rebounding fireing pins. When you let the bolt shut many will dent the primer just a wee bit. You can buy them from CCI.

[tom548]

Just a heads up to the ammo that comes in the battle pack. I was give some it had 145 gr bullet if I remember right. I shot 1 round in my Ruger UL and it was loud and kicked like a mule. Bolt was very difficult to open. I pulled some heads and the rounds had 47 grains of powder, I lowered it to to 45, they were still to hot. I ended up at 40 grains of powder and they felt good and shoot well. I am not sure if this was just a bad lot or what but it was the only time I ever used any as I load most and don't buy loaded ammo. Some info on the box was 7.62 X 51 M1A2 Ball and they came in a vaccum sealed heavy green plastic. Info on head of case is: 88 ,  12, with no other marks.  These were very hot and could have caused problems.

[SHOOTALL]

we get surplus ammo for three reasons most of the time , they were over runs , DIDN'T MEET SPEC  or were of an age the military felt it best to replace it.

[bikerbeans]

Hi All,
 
Shot about 2 dozen milsurp 7.62x51s this morning.  Four different headstamps, all from overseas.  No FTFs, no signs of overpressure and terrible accuracy.   The handloads I put together didn't do so well either but I was kinda rapid firing and not letting the barrel cool down.  It was breezy and a little colder so will try the handloads on a better day.  I will shot up the the rest of the milsurp and that will be the end of it, or at least  until someone gives me more of it.
 
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