7.62 x 51 in Remington 700??

Redpoints

Redpoints

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Just brought home my new Remington 700 SPS tactical, and I am wondering if anyone here has experience firing 7.62 x 51 NATO from their .308 chambered rifle. I have not found any official word that the heavy barrel SPS tactical .308 cannot handle the increased pressure of the NATO round, so it should be interchangeable?

Anyone with experience in this please let me know.
 
Redpoints said:
Just brought home my new Remington 700 SPS tactical, and I am wondering if anyone here has experience firing 7.62 x 51 NATO from their .308 chambered rifle. I have not found any official word that the heavy barrel SPS tactical .308 cannot handle the increased pressure of the NATO round, so it should be interchangeable?

Anyone with experience in this please let me know.
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I haven't ever seen an issue with the pressures that a 308 sized case has on a 700 action, be it 7.62X51 or 308 Winchester.
Fired lots of both in them and every other 308 I and everyone I have ever know that shoots them....
Cat
 
7.62x51

308 Winchester is 7.62X51 one is the American desigantion and the other is what the rest of the world calls it. Pick up a reloading manual and you will notice it is still in imperial units.
 
Blast away, no problems. Every year Canada sends a rifle team to Bisley, England to shoot their Imperial Meeting. All team members have rifles chambered for .308 and they shoot issued RG 7.62 ammo. The RG 7.62 that is issued in the UK for competition is now 155 gr bullets. Before that is was just plain old RG ball 147 gr.
 
Redpoints said:
Just brought home my new Remington 700 SPS tactical, and I am wondering if anyone here has experience firing 7.62 x 51 NATO from their .308 chambered rifle. I have not found any official word that the heavy barrel SPS tactical .308 cannot handle the increased pressure of the NATO round, so it should be interchangeable?

Anyone with experience in this please let me know.
Click to expand...

Actually, the 308 has higher pressures than NATO 7.62 ammo, ~62,000 vs 50,000 psi.

There are several articles on the subject throughout the net. I know of no factory 308 bolt action rifle that cannot shoot both ammo safely. and vice versa. Gas guns are a different story.

It's not so much the size of the ammo, which is pretty close, but the chambers, which are not. Unlikely you could chamber a fired 7.62 case in a 308 chamber without full-length re-sizing, and unlikely you could close the bolt without bumping the shoulders. Military ammo is thicker-walled to tolerate liberal tolerances in military firearms.
 
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"...why the different designation..." 7.62mm x 51mm is metric/military. .308Win is commercial. Even though .308" doesn't mathematically convert to 7.62mm.
"...any problems in reverse..." No. Mind you, the rifle sometimes matters. Some of 'em don't like the higher pressures commercial ammo has. No 'Light Magnums' in milsurp rilfles either.
 
Obtunded said:
I know of no factory 308 bolt action rifle that cannot shoot both ammo safely. and vice versa. Gas guns are a different story.
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Exactly! Bolt guns I've had handled both safely, but NATO ammo that shot fine in an M14 and my bolts, blew out the primer and locked the bolt in a Rem 7400 .308 semi. Once I removed the case it had a belt on the web. Could have been a fluke round, 1 in a million, but it happens.

Easy does it with surplus ammo!
 
canuckhunter said:
Exactly! Bolt guns I've had handled both safely, but NATO ammo that shot fine in an M14 and my bolts, blew out the primer and locked the bolt in a Rem 7400 .308 semi. Once I removed the case it had a belt on the web. Could have been a fluke round, 1 in a million, but it happens.

Easy does it with surplus ammo!
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Bolt guns can tolerate (to an extent) variations in headspacing - which is the main difference between .308 Win & 7.62 NATO. Gas guns...not so much:(
 
Just got a Rem 700 SPS Varmit to build a clone M40.
Took it out last Sun. , fed federal factory no prob. but the bolt was a little tight to close with the South African 7.62 ball, one rnd out of the box of 20 wouldn't close?
 
308 win vs 7.62x51 Nato

Obtunded: are you sure about that 62,000 psi pressure you quoted? It sounds more like magnum pressure to me. Maybe you meant 52,000 vs 50,000?
 
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