American Eagle .308 in Semis

Ardent

Ardent

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Having put 800 rounds of this stuff through properly headspaced M14s with perfect fired brass, I was frankly quite surprised to hear it stated Federal says their ammo is unsafe for semis. There is not one warning on the box, packaging, nor on Federal's website, or even online at all I could find. I'll have to give them a call and get the scoop.

I can not imagine a manufacturer as big as Federal would produce ball .308, prime semi-auto ammo, that is unsafe for an entire class of firearms (one of the most likely classes budget priced FMJ is going to be used in). Google found only endless talk about using it, a rifle review where it was the test ammo, and so forth but no warnings.

Thomas mentioned I should start a new thread and be would share the reference from Federal here, as an avid "user" of the American Eagle this is of great interest to me. Another member felt qualified to tell me my habit has me on borrowed time as well, metamorphisized as running regular in a high compression engine.

Quite frankly I'll be stunned and you could colour me surprised if it's the case one of the main ammo manufacturers produces ammunition they themselves state shouldn't be used in semis. Doubtless millions of rounds of it have. I even found a police department that issues it for semis in my googling and the statement from Federal would shake the ground pretty good if the reference can be substantiated.
 
Its called a disclaimer for a reason! To dis a claim! :p
Its probably just to cover there butts in the case of a lawsuit?
I have no basis for this statement just an idea!
Oh and ardent!
NORC FOREVER!! :p I know your a big fan! Hahaha
 
I saw the comment on the other thread and was equally surprised. It is possible that someone got confused about the issue of running American Eagle 30-06 in a Garand (an unwise proposition due to burn rate of powder ) and extrapolated from that a position that all American Eagle was a poor choice for all semi automatic rifles. When I was keen on the M14 platform I ran a lot of AE through both my Norinco and S.A rifles with no ill effects whatsoever and would be as surprised as anyone if there was some evidence produced that AE was bad for semis.
 
I have no written evidence as such, just my own experience with AE.
I have run all sorts thru my Norc, all the name brand .308 and surplus 7.62.
The ONLY time I had a problem was with AE. Out of a box of 20 I had to stand on the op rod to clear the chamber 4 times.

I totally stripped the rifle on the bench, no problems. Ran a box of Rem thru it no probs. Back to the AE and the same thing happened again........... I tossed the lot.
Im just an old fart and I don't know what was going on or why, just that it only happens in MY Norc with AE.
And that's good enough reason for me to NOT recommend AE for the Norc.

Cheers :)
 
I noticed that federal has a brand new website. Trying to read thru all their FAQ and legal.
If I remember correctly, a CGN member here contacted federal and got the response that the member posted here in MBR. Again, if I remember correctly, that response led us to believe that AE ammo was not recommended for all semis.

When I find the original post, I'll link to it
 
The only issue I have had with federal is the 556 in my AR other that that my M!A and M 305 s have digested about 2 thousand rounds of AE 159 gr FMJ thru them I avoid any ammunition that has the tag Lite Magnum in it as the powder burn rates are not suitable for the gas system . As well you should be aware the because the ammunition is listed as NATO spec .It only means that the cartridge case , the bullet weight and the velocity is at NATO Specification . The powder burn rates they are entirely up to the country of manufacture and to there military needs.
 
I spent some time on US sites trying to track down this "issue" - worst I found was that some guys found the 150g AE grouped poorly in comparison to the 168g stuff. Personally I think this is much ado about nothing.
 
Same here. Thinking it's likely an inflation of a minor comment by Federal to somebody that may have had an issue. We shot an MOA 500 yard group (actually, it was better than MOA but claiming MOA lest I be asked for a repeat) on steel with three rounds of it out of the M25 a few nights ago. Beats Winchester white box in my gun by far.

I'm just concerned we have the classic case of a story being passed on through a bunch of folks and it goes from something like "Federal has mentioned that in isolated cases it is potentially possible..." to "Federal states American Eagle is not for use in semi autos".
 
Kinda like the epidemic of catastrophic norc m305 failures hehehe
There was a long thread here following a blown up rifle and case head separation and much discussion was had regarding AE.
I could care less what you guys shoot and my comment to you in the other thread was based on discussions about AE ammo that have popped up a few times already on this site.
I personally have not spoken with federal regarding the ammo. Both times I've bought it for the rifles I've shot it in, I had problems.
Runs fine and shoots very well in my 1911 though ;)
 
The only real downside to Federal ammo is that the brass is known to be soft. Federal, of course, has no idea what rifle it'll be fired out of, but there's nothing on their site that says don't use their 150 FMJ's, for example, out of a semi.
 
http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/foru...7576339&highlight=american+eagle#post7576339e only reference I have been able to find is in this thread, post 32....... however I do remember the original posting though did not realize it was so long ago LOL
that said, a search in MBR alone under American eagle gives a guy enough info to responsibly question it's safe use in the m14 type platform and other semi auto actions.
to not shoot norinco m305's because you know of 2 that blew up..... and fervently defend that argument in any thread it can be inserted......... then engage in a discussion about how you will use an ammunition that a cursory search of the internet shows failures, some catastrophic in m14 variants....... that's weird to me and a strange double standard LOL
 
This must be what the American Eagle is scary was based off?

Federal called me back... ...they don't recomend AE .308 for rifles with 7.62 NATO chambers due to the thinner case walls
Click to expand...

That is the age old argument that applies to any .308 in NATO chambers. I'm feeling even more comfortable with my tightish chambers now, this thread delivered what I hoped info wise so thank you to all and thanks for digging it up Thomas.

As for Norc kabooms, material for another thread, however in short summary I've never heard of or seen so many blow ups in a single type of gun. Until two people in my circle of shooting acquaintences have a couple of the same guns of another type blow up in their faces they'll hold my lowest confidence for safety. Unfortunately that opinion's not going to change as this forum is chock full of further issues, some very scary even recently (two bolt failures mentioned in one thread for instance within a month). There was a helicoiled barrel or something too was there not along with a split gas cylinder. There will be more, so it's one of those self fulfilling arguments where you can feel comfortable sitting back and letting the case build itself. I sincerely hope nobody gets hurt more than the last guy with the cut scalp, so I won't get warm feelings from watching the case build.

Very much a case of you get what you pay for, and for $400 perhaps they're alright. Problem is they're not TVs, but 60,000psi machinery.
 
I am trying to track down the original thread.


Federal called me back this morning.

Although they know a lot of us shoot AE .308 in military semi-autos, they don't recomend AE .308 for rifles with 7.62 NATO chambers due to the thinner case walls.
I'm sending them the separated case and the rest of the unfired ammo
for their inspection.

I'll post the results if I ever hear anything back.

Flyer,
Click to expand...
Hhh
 
federal brass is very soft. It's why I don't reload it anymore, it stretches so much im trimming 4-6 thou off every time I reload it. Between that and the run out while seating bullets... even with redding compition dies, its a freaking nighmare.

Put super soft brass in a very loses chamber; or in the case of many norcs a out of spec chamber....I could see a kaboom in the making. With cheap soft brass having to stretch 10-12 thou at the shoulder, its no wonder a few have gone up.

But as the op said, he has a tight .308 spec chamber, not a loosy goosy couple thou past 7.62 field "meh its a norc keep shooting" chamber. With a tight chamber the brass doesn't have to hold up to exsesive stretching, so it should be safe.
 
My Norinco is stamped .308 on the chamber but the manual says fire only 7.62x51. I guess if it doesn't say .308Win you could argue that it's saying 7.62?

This thing with the Federal ammo being unsafe in a semi is kind of stupid so long as you're using the same ammo that the barrel says you should be using. If this was a real problem, Federal would be all over this simply because they'd get sued into oblivion for not warning folks.

Now as for Norinco sloppy chambers and quality control being an issue - this is a $400.00 gun, and it's a lot of gun for your money. The receiver alone is worth the money, and for $1000.00 more you have a rifle that's probably better than the Springfield. The safety issue is really a non-issue, if someone died or got hurt by these rifles this forum would be so buried with 'told you so' retards, and the rifle wouldn't sell in Canada. The alternative is to spend $2000.00 on a gun that's not worth $2000.00 and have a rifle you know nothing about because you haven't worked on it. If you just want to spend money on an overpriced gun to talk down to people on the internet, the M1A is the internet elitist choice.
 
My AE neck seperation, in an M14 type action, was in a springfield match, geneseco stamped .308 chamber, G.I. Bolt and firing pin (factory reamed, clymer guaged at 1.630) For whatever that is worth ;)
 
XCR-M after 600 AE 150 gr FMBT and only one FTF, this ammo is also quite accurate in the M giving a 2-2.5 MOA at 100 metres on a regular base... JP.
 
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