Norinco 7.62x51 aka .308.

Not meaning to derail the thread, but it got me thinking (bad thing sometimes)

I just finished pulling 10 rounds apart. Powder charge varied from 41.3 gr - 41.9 gr
bullets were 143.4 gr - 145.5 gr.
I have shot this ammo (not sorted or weighed for consistancy) over the chronograph and it's 2799 fps avg.

I took the 10 rounds that I dismantled and reloaded them. I dropped the powder charge to 41.0 gr for all of them. I weighed the bullets and found that 5 of them that weighed 144.9 - 145.1. I put those loads together, and the remaining 5 bullets (143.4 gr - 145.5 gr) together.
I'm going to the range tomorrow to see how they shoot.
I'll be using my M-305
I'll post results.
Maybe it's worth it to rebuild this ammo.........who knows?
 
Years ago, before I bought my M14, I picked up a box of this stuff and tried to run it through my Savage 99. They went bang just fine, but they tended to stick in the chamber, wouldn't extract. I suspect this was just my rifle, but YMMV.
 
Bowie said:
How thick is the copper jacket over the steel core?
Click to expand...

I would not worry about damaging the rifling with a hard core. Chances are that there's a lead envelope between the steel core and the copper jacket. I guess you could make sure by ripping one apart with pliers just dont use a saw: lead dust flying.
 
Hi guys'

Another question related to this ammo.

I have bought a crate and have found that they were for lack of a better word, 'tight' to chamber in a Remington 5r. I would say I had to force the bolt closed.

I shot about 5 rounds and all were 'tight' so I stopped.

Regular factory .308 (winchester' Remington' sellier & bellot) all chamber smoothly and with ease.


Anyone have similar experiences?

I was reading, and one possibility is the surplus is military and and the cases are ever so slighly thicker.

Any thoughts?
 
Steelplink said:
I would not worry about damaging the rifling with a hard core. Chances are that there's a lead envelope between the steel core and the copper jacket. I guess you could make sure by ripping one apart with pliers just dont use a saw: lead dust flying.
Click to expand...
The thing is it isn't a copper jacket; it's a bimetal jacket. So there is a very thin layer of copper (few thou thick) on the outside of a mild steel jacket. The jacket itself is made from steel.
 
Felonius said:
Hi guys'

Another question related to this ammo.

I have bought a crate and have found that they were for lack of a better word, 'tight' to chamber in a Remington 5r. I would say I had to force the bolt closed.

I shot about 5 rounds and all were 'tight' so I stopped.

Regular factory .308 (winchester' Remington' sellier & bellot) all chamber smoothly and with ease.


Anyone have similar experiences?

I was reading, and one possibility is the surplus is military and and the cases are ever so slighly thicker.

Any thoughts?
Click to expand...

I had the same experience with my Savage 10PC.

I will still buy this ammo for my M305 with no worries. My bolt gun does not like it so I will use something different or reload for it.

The thicker part of the mil brass comes into play on the inside dimensions and when reloading and powder charges, not the outside measurements.
If it does not work for your gun don't use it. Same goes for any ammo.
 
Last edited:
Did you look on the first page? I sectioned a CJ 96 7.62x51mm bullet.

In case you're wondering, I got all stabby with a screwdriver and the core is all lead, no steel core.
 
Timely thread. I just picked up a M305 and a crate of this ammo. Will be testing it out in the M305 as well as my Savage 10TR either this weekend or next. If it only shoots well out of the Norinco it looks like it was still money well spent.
 
recce said:
I had the same experience with my Savage 10PC.

I will still buy this ammo for my M305 with no worries. My bolt gun does not like it so I will use something different or reload for it.

The thicker part of the mil brass comes into play on the inside dimensions and when reloading and powder charges, not the outside measurements.
If it does not work for your gun don't use it. Same goes for any ammo.
Click to expand...

I was with a buddy who was shooting it out of his RFB and a case actually got stuck in the chamber, ended up having to borrow a squib rod and a hammer to clear it.
 
Well, I shot the stuff today. Just got back from the range.

turns out that pulling the bullets , weighing bullets and powder, then reassembling was a waste of time.

I tried the doctored stuff out of my Browning A-bolt Target (28" bull barrel with Vortex Viper 4-16x42 scope).
I shot a 3-round group with un-doctored ammo and got a 1.25" group. The same stuff (un-doctored) from my M-305 gave a 3.5", 5-shot group (4 shots in 1.25", 1 flyer 2.25" away).
The doctored ammo with weight-matched bullets gave a 5-shot group (from Browning) of 2.75" (3 in less than an inch)
Doctored ammo with non-matched bullets was a little over 2.5"

Looks like I'll just shoot it the way it is.

At the end of the session, just for $hits and giggles, I took a few shots at the steel gong (18" square) at 500 meters with the stock ammo. Hit it 4 of 5 shots.
The Sheriffs were shooting today. One of the guys stopped by the rifle range and I let him shoot the A-bolt at 500 m. He hit 4 of 5 as well.

I had 11 MOA of elevation dialled in the scope (same as my 168 gr match loads).

No problems with feeding, firing, or ejecting
 
condomboy said:
I was with a buddy who was shooting it out of his RFB and a case actually got stuck in the chamber, ended up having to borrow a squib rod and a hammer to clear it.
Click to expand...

To which I promptly sold the entire case less 5 rounds ASAP so I never had to look at that crap ever again. Great for rifles with loose chamber specs.
 
Quick Update.

I picked up 300 rounds and after the first 3 or 4 shots started running into problems with getting the bolt closed. Extraction still seems ok but its more of an effort than with factory ammo.

Put maybe 10 rounds down range before I stopped.

Ran a box of American Eagle through it just to compare and didn't have any issues with closing the bolt or extraction so I'm thinking the specs are to tight for milsup ammo in this rifle.

Lesson learned.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom