Any reason not to shoot Port or SA Surplus .308 through a nice bolt action?

[CanuckShooter]

AFAIK the portugese and south african surplus is 7.62x51 right?

If it is, then is it safe to fire in a nice bolt action like a Savage? I have heard some people say that its a bit ard to close the bolt on the surplus stuff.

I thought the dimensions were a bit diff between 308 and 7.62.

Is there any risk whatsoever of any damage or wear to your rifle when shooting SA or Port surplus?

What about the Norinco 308 and that fact that it is steel cased? Abnormal wear?

Thanks!!

 

[Boomer]

I don't think you should run into any major difficulties. As far as I know the ammo you refer to has noncorrosive priming. This isn't that big a deal either if the rifle is cleaned with hot soapy water after each trip to the range. I haven't used the ammo you refer to, but some military ammo has a sealant in the case mouth. I assume that this is mostly burnt off when the cartridge fires, but I would expect some to be deposited in the barrel. When I make Mexican Match I remove this gum by dipping the case mouth in paint thinner. As for 7.62X51 being tight to chamber in a .308 rifle, that has not been my experience.

 

[maynard]

There will be a bunch of people here that will tell you that your rifle will explode. And that pressures of the 7.62 is way more then .308. I'll call BS on this. Show me a rifle in .308 that has blown up because you fired 7.62 NATO out of it. I'm not talking about a buddy's-cousin's-friend of a friend's uncle, show me the picture of your rifle that KB.
Other then the sealent Boomer talked about and the ammo not being as accurate as good handloads, have at it.
The gliding material of the bullet is not as soft as match bullets, so the barrel may only last 4000 rounds. I would avoid steel case ammo however.

 

[Plinker]

The dimensional differences between 7.62x51 (NATO) and 0.308 (SAAMI) essentially are headspace related. Since the permitted headspace limits (both min and max) for the NATO and SAAMI rounds are different, it it theoretically possible to get into trouble in the regions where the allowable headspace does not overlap. Example - a "long", but still in-spec NATO round in a 0.308 rifle, with a very tight (but SAAMI-compliant) chamber.

There are also going to be other dfiiferences, such as powder burn rate, peak pressure, etc.

Have I ever, personally, seen a KB as a result of shooting milsurp in a 0.308? Nope. Do I do it all the time? Yes.

If you decide to shoot surplus in your 0.308, make sure you examine the primers and cases of your first few rounds, looking for signs of overpressure. You should "spot check" fired brass periodically, as well.

 

[CanuckShooter]

Can the surplus stuff be relaoded? I have heard it can be difficult. Why is that?

 

[slicknick]

Can be becasue of berdan priming, steel cases, crimped primers or a combination

 

[CanuckShooter]

Does the PORT or SA stuff have any of those characteristics mentioned?

Thanks

 

[Janeau]

The South African surplus ammo is loaded longer than .308 Winchester.
This has created unsafe high pressure because the bullet is slammed against the rifling. I would use caution with those.

 

[jennis]

This enthralling thread comes along every 6 weeks...Its like 87 octane from chevron and 87 octane from esso...same ####...I have fired many many rounds of 556/223 from my 700PSS and many many 762/308 from my other 700PSS as well as in my savage 12FV with NARY a hick up.

 

[Slimbo]

My understanding is that 7.62 from a 308 chamber is fine, but 5.56 from a 223 chamber is a no no. Don't quote me on this but i think it has somthing to do with the dimensions of the taper on the neck. Can somone else a little more knowledgeable chime in?

 

[Obtunded]

Port uses berdan primers.

I have been made anecdotally aware that Ball rounds - by virtue of the "rules" governing expanding bullets in and anti-personnel capacity, and because of their dual role as an anti-material round - are made with a denser copper. I can't varify this, as I said, it's only an anecdote.

I have played with lots of surplus ammo and the variances in seating depth don't inspire a great deal of confidence in their abililty to perform with real consistently

 

[JBD]

I've shot portugese surplus in mine

1.5 inches at 100 yards. The rifle shoots .3 inches at 100 with reloads. Sold my case of port surplus and bought more sierra palma match.