7.62X51 Ammo

Raff85

Raff85

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Hey,

I was wondering if anyone knows where I could pick up a small quantity of 7.62x51. I recently purchased a Norinco M305B Shorty (Chinese m14 Clone), and have read many conflicting reports of what can be used in the gun (.308 vs 7.62X51) The manual included that came with the gun says 7.62x51 only, and no commercial ammo to avoid potential slam fires due to less tolerant primers. However on the gun itself it is stamped .308 Win.... I know that the chinese bought the original manufacturing machines for the M14 from the US a long time ago and are using them to make the M305's, so if the orginal M14s can only use 7.62x51 im assuming the same to be true for the M305s, despite the stamp on the barrel.

Either way Id like to er on the side of caution and use the military cartridges. The only problem is, I cant seem to find them anywhere. I think I came across one website that briefly offered a full crate of 7.62 before quickly sold out like the other websites... I am on a budget right now and buying an entire crate would be impractical for me. Ideally I would only like to make a purchase of $100 or less on the ammo. So far ive checked Marstar, SFRC, and Canadammo.
 
....OH I also did a function test on my 305B after cleaning it all up. Made sure I put it together right twice. After I charge it and pull the trigger and hear the click, without releasing the tirgger I charge the firearm again and when I release the trigger there is no click as there should be.... Or is this how it should be? In the military this is how it was done and seems to be true to my other firearms as well. Just wondering if something is up.
 
There should be a click ! charge pull trigger holding the trigger down,charge again .
slowly relese trigger and it should click, then you should be able to pull the trigger and it should fire.
And it is more of a clunk =)

As far as ammo goes 308 should be ok just stay away from AE chep stuff, and 150 grain or less works well.
Headspace chek could not hurt to be shure, just for your piece of mind . =D
 
That gun will eat anything you feed it Sir.

.308 Win is what 99% of everyone is shooting in theirs in this country (there still are some lucky SOB's who hoarded old old surplus from the good old days lol) but it's almost impossible to find NATO military 7.62 surplus anymore. If you do it's about the same price as commercial so it defeats the purpose of buying surplus in the first place.

The M14 is a battle rifle. It's made with loose tolerances for reliability. Trust me, it will shoot whatever you put it in it. It's a beast.

I like MFS and Norinco if you can find it. Cheap as hell compared to commercial.

Get whatever you can and shoot it.
 
Taiwan (Republic of China) bought the tooling. The People's Republic of China, where Norinco hails from, reverse engineered the rifle.

Republic of China and People's Republic of China are two different states and are bitter enimies. When the nationalists lost to the communists in the civil war they retreated to Taiwan, forming the ROC, to eventually one day take back the mainland.
 
You can get Win chester white box in 7.62x51 147gr written right on the box for 17.99 at some hunting box stores.

I use remington core-lokt 308 150gr that I pickup for 18-20 a box
 
rosshimself said:
You can get Win chester white box in 7.62x51 147gr written right on the box for 17.99 at some hunting box stores.

I use remington core-lokt 308 150gr that I pickup for 18-20 a box
Click to expand...

Have not seen that stuff for a long time! Nor at that price. Wouldn't mind some though as I've shot through all mine long ago. Here's hoping the dealer's are getting it back in stock at a good price.
 
I've found Federal 150 SP's shoot very well, where as the 180's don't. They aren't exactly cheap at 22$ a box, I've reloaded over a 1000
rounds for mine using mostly 168SMK's and IMR 4064, I can't remmber seating depth off hand, but they just fit in the mag. 40 grains and CCI large rifle primers. I've also tried 155SMK's, speer 150 sp's but haven't found anything that shoots as good as the Fed 150's
The 168SMK's that I load are good enough and hand loading saves me 40%
 
The federal blue box 150grain does shoot well but the brass isn't as good for reloading as the winchester I find, it's like softer or something. If you're going to be 2 inches, you should at least be hard and proud not soft and dirty like the federal stuff
 
that's rich

Rocket Surgery said:
The federal blue box 150grain does shoot well but the brass isn't as good for reloading as the winchester I find, it's like softer or something. If you're going to be 2 inches, you should at least be hard and proud not soft and dirty like the federal stuff
Click to expand...

Laugh2Now that's funny! Federal brass is good for at most two reloads safely in my opinion. I load it once then dump it. Primer pockets get loose.
 
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That's funny, I've reloaded Federal brass 5-6 times with no issues. I'll keep reloading it until I see issues and post how many cycles I've ran. Over loaded cases will fail quicker than lighter loaded cases, maybe loading too hot?
 
There is also a really good article in G&A or Shooting Times, when I find it I'll post location, that shows softer brass is more resilient and better for more reloads than the harder stuff, harder stuff failing after 12-15 where softer failing after 18-20 or not at all, test only went to 20. Tossing cases after only 2 reloads seems like a waste of good brass, if I PM you my address, can you send me all your twice loaded stuff?
 
We toss them after a few because these m305 rifles have headspace. In a bolt gun I'm sure they would last at least 7 shots, but I don't want a cartridge being rammed into a blocked chamber while riding the firing pin
 
OK.....So if your just going to throw it away can I have it ? All I do is close inspection of brass before I use it, and if I consider it good then I load it. Over 1000 rounds through mine without incident, just sayin.
 
And just for everyone else, cause you are obviously knowledgeable, all rifles have "headspace" .

Headspace is the distance in your rifle’s chamber from the front of the bolt to the point at which the cartridge “headspaces” in the chamber. This description is confusing at first as it uses the term “headspace” to define what headspace means. A simpler way to think about it is this, there has to be some surface or point in the chamber which stops the cartridge case from going any further into the chamber. For standard centerfire rifle cartridges, the case is prevented from going any further forward when the shoulder of the case bears upon the interior of the chamber. For belted cartridges, the recess cut into the rear of the chamber that accepts the belt is the point that prevents the case from moving further forward. Rimmed cartridges are held in place by the rim. Whatever the bearing point is, the distance from the front of the bolt to the point at which the cartridge can go no further forward is the chamber’s headspace. Think of it this way, for a cartridge to be contained in a chamber, there has to be a stopping point at the front, the shoulder, and a stopping point at the back, the bolt face. The cartridge cannot go further forward than the shoulder, or belt, or rim, nor can it go any further backward than the bolt face. The distance between these two points is the headspace. For reference, the point on the shoulder at which headspace is measured is called the datum line.
 
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