7.62 NATO in .308 Tikka?

Revolver Ocelot

Revolver Ocelot

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Hi,

I have a .308 Tikka Hunter rifle I brought to the range and used some Portuguese NATO surplus 7.62 ammo in it. Some dude at the range said that this ammo was no good for the rifle because it had too great a pressure. Is this true?

Can I use 7.62 NATO in the TIKKA hunter or is it going to get damaged?

Thanks
 
You might find that the 7.62mm nato is a bit stiff to get out but you should not have a problem. I shoot Chinese 7.62 mm out of all of my .308's with no ill effects.

Scott
 
CanAm said:
7.62 NATO is LOWER pressure than 308, 50k PSI for 7.62 vs. 62K PSI for 308.
Click to expand...
^ Not true. NATO ammo is specc'd in CUP and 308 is specc'd in PSI. Apples to oranges, it's not possible to directly compare CUP to PSI due to different testing methodologies.

In practise, they're both VERY VERY similar, and are usually interchangable. Technically speaking, 7.62 NATO does NOT equal 308, as each specification has it's own unique governing body. Therefore, using NATO in a civvie gun or the other way around is operating the firearm out of spec, so the manufacturer will not support you and may void your warrantee. But it will work, and is NOT dangerous as far as I can tell. There are no DOCUMENTED cases of NATO ammo blowing up a SAAMI gun or vice versa that I've seen. The difference is more a lawyer one than a real one.
 
I think it's dangerous if you try and use .308 in a 7.62 rifle though. I've personally shot .308's and .223's using surplus and it was fine.

-Rohann
 
You can spec the 7.62 in PSI, too...It's not rocket surgery...Can Am is correct.



NATO's 7.62 × 51 mm rifle cartridge, commercially known as .308 Winchester, was introduced in the 1950s as a standard firearm cartridge among NATO countries, though it has also become popular among civilians. The round is produced by many manufacturers in types that include tracers and blanks.

The military 7.62 × 51 mm is nearly identical to the commercial .308 Winchester. NATO controls specifications for the military round while SAAMI controls specifications for the civilian round. The organizations have established two differences: the standard pressure is 50,000 psi for most military rounds, while the SAAMI maximum is 62,000 psi for the civilian round. The NATO M60 High Pressure Test round, is loaded to a pressure of 67,500 psi, so military arms should be capable of handling the pressure of civilian rounds[1]. The military chamber is specified to be 1.645 inches, compared to the civilian chamber of 1.632 inches, a difference of just 0.013 inches,[2] but a chamber at the long end of acceptable military length will put excessive stress on the thinner civilian brass, causing premature head separation. To summarize, while it is not unsafe to mix .308 and 7.62 x 51 mm ammunition, fewer problems will be encountered if the correct caliber designation is used.

The cartridge was introduced to military service in rifles and machine guns. It was used in the M14 rifle and M60 machine gun in U.S. service in the late 1950s. Fabrique Nationale's FAL became the most popular 7.62 NATO rifle in Europe and served into the early 1980s. The M14 was superseded in U.S. service as the infantry adopted a new round with the M16. However, the M14 and many other firearms that use the round remain in service. The round is used by infantry and from ground vehicles, aircraft and ships. It is used in the GE M134 Minigun as well.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7.62_x_51_mm_NATO
 
Here is an interesting read regarding the relationship between CUP and PSI.

Apparently, the *fact* that the 2 can not be correlated may be shoewhat false.;)
 
Personally, I care little whether something is .308 or 7.62 nato, but I would be really uncomfortable using .308 in an older firearm design that has been "updated" to 7.62 and are already operating at or above maximum pressures that they were originally designed to handle. I believe that 7.62 Nato Enfields and Spanish Mausers fall into this category.
 
.308 Win is the only caliber allowed for some international long range competition i.e Palma. The Canadian shooters that go to Bisley England every year have .308 Win rifles as do competitors from all over the world. During the Bisley Meeting, 7.62 RG match ammo is issued and is the only ammo allowed during the prize meeting for Target Rifle. Before RG started making match ammo, 7.62 RG ball was the ammo issued.
So figure about 1200-2000 shooters, shooting about 400-500 rounds per competition using .308 rifles firing 7.62 ammo. You would think if rifle were blowing up because of this, the whole world would know about it.:rolleyes:
 
7.62x51

The only guns that 7.62 X 51 has caused problems for me have been the 95 Spanish rifles, that have been converted to 7.62. The last one I shot with 7.62 loads wouldn't extract easily. The chamber was clean and so was the brass, I tried it with a variety of different 7.62's and 308's and had the same problem.
The large ring Mausers didn't have a problem, just the Spanish.
 
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