A couple of ammunition questions.

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Gregnor

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So I was wondering a couple of things about ammo.

First of all the old .308 vs 7.62 question... Been doing some reading but I just cant seem to get things sorted in my head. A lot of sellers seem to be selling .308 and 7.62×51 as the same thing. Now from what I have read the military surplus 7.62×51 is practically the same as the commercial .308... but not really because of head space. Can I take it as they are the same? Is this something I need to worry about?

Also Re-manufactured ammunition. Is it any good? Was looking at https://www.westernmetal.ca/shooting/308-winchester-ammunition-147-grain-western-munitions-100-rounds Want to play but I don't want break the bank. Opinions?
 
There should be absolutely nothing wrong with that re-man ammo in the link you provided. You can get PMC ammo for around that or less too. Either way decent plinking ammo.
The .308 and 7.62x51 debate is always on the go. I have shot them interchangeably for all of my shooting life in some rifles like a m14/305. .308 is the commercial version of the military 7.62x51. I believe there are minute differences in headspace and chambering in regards to some rifles and the cartridges aren't an EXACT match. Also commercial .308 can have higher pressures than the 7.62x51. So in the end do your research and decide for yourself but I have never had any problem using the 2 interchangeably in my lifetimes. YMMV.
 
I have fired 1000's of rounds of Western Metal remanufactured ammo, never had an issue. I also have used 308 ammo in both my Remmintons & M14, I have also used 7.62x51 on both. 7.62 seems to be softer recoil. Only issue I have had is indoor ranges won't allow surplus ammo to be used if sticks to a magnet.....
 
I have found if you chamber using a .308 minimum reamer to minimum specifications commercial ammunition will chamber and shoot very well but the majority of military ammo will not chamber... not due to headspace as much as it is so crooked and poorly made. It requires the sloppiness of a military chamber.
 
Western Metal is awesome, no worries.

Generally, don't chamber 7.62x51mm into .308 Win because: military dimensions and head space are not as exact as SAMMI specs for .308, primers can be very hard on the firing pin, and I find the casings to be stiffer and sometimes hard on ramps and extractors.

Putting .308Win into some 7.62x51mm chambers results in excessive stretching and stressing of the casings due to poor/over-size chambers. Generally this is for true military firearms, not modern rifles (generally).

That is just what I have found in owning both new and old .308Win chambered rifles, and both new and old 7.62x51mm rifles.
 
Just for the record................7.62X51 mm is the NATO designation for that particular cartridge that was adopted to replace the 30-06 in 1954. It was designed in the USA and put forward and won the trials for the new replacement. The 308 Win was the exact same cartridge in civvies instead of battle dress and as such was accepted by SAAMI as presented by Winchester. What a lot of people seem to forget is that the military do not adhere to SAAMI as do manufacturers, so you will find military chambers are sloppy and are made this way intentionally, fully autos even more so. RELIABILITY is number 1 criteria for military firearms and ammo......not accuracy or reloadability. Ammo manufacturers for military ammo are aware of this and as such also do not adhere to SAAMI specs, hence the much larger variations in cartridge dimensions from military ammo. Our manufacturers, who must adhere to SAAMI do a great job for us and I have yet to see a factory cartridge that would not fit a factory chamber, and I have seen them shoot 1/2 MOA.
But to answer your question directly, the two cartridge designations.......7.62X51mm and 308 Winchester refer to the exact same cartridge, but military spec cartridges MAY not fit in a commercial chamber due to the reasons stated above.

Just a little anecdotal info for you as well.........the new cartridge criteria, when submitted for testing in 1953 was that it must also safely headspace and fire in a 30-06 chamber, which the 308/7.62X51 does. If you take a good look at the cartridge dimensional drawings for both the 30-06 and 308, you will see how and why it works.
 
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