Cautious about ammo for a 98k israeli refurb

D King

D King

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I have german mauser 98k dated 1945 that was rebarreled by the israelis after they adopted the FAL to 7.62mm. Now, I've been hearing .308 is not the safest thing to load into a 7.62 rifle due to headspace and chamber size, Namely 7.62 brass being thicker at the base to hold the casing together when it's fired because the chambers are a bit looser to accommodate the variety of imperfections found in 7.62 sizing by different producers. With .308 being commercial ammo, I've heard it's thinner at the base and in a 7.62 rifle, could prove a risk of detonation and turning my beautiful milsurp into kindling and an oversized roasting stick.

Now I have ranged the rifle, with both .308 winchester powerpoint and norinco 7.62mm. The .308s buldged at the bottom a bit, where the 7.62 remained unchanged aside from a little lengthenig in the neck of the casing. However, the .308 went in smooth and ejected cleanly, whereas I had to man-handle the 7.62 in and out of the chamber. This extra effort needed to operate the 7.62s was alleviated when I cycled the ammo at home before hand (without firing it of course), which I assume shaped the rounds to my chamber and allowed a smooth operation.

Now, with this background info out there, my question is, is it safe to run .308s? I plan to start reloading eventually, and when I do, will it be okay to use the spent brass I've been saving up? Failing that, is there a supplier of 7.62 here in canada other than norinco? That chinese crap is just nasty on my bore and tend to be a pain to clean.
 
I have one and reload 308 for it. No problems. I did check headspace before shooting as I have gauges for 308. My rifle is good.

I have a Norinco M305 that has headspace on far end of 7.62, in spec but close to being out of spec. I haven't had any problems shooting 308 reloads, actually an accurate rifle.

You can get a RCBS headspace gauge kit and measure some of your spent brass to get a idea of what your rifle is at.
 
The 98 Mauser is a very strong action design. No trouble with the .308 Winchester.
Though I think the .308 has a higher pressure limit than the 7.62 NATO even though they are dimensionally the same.
 
Ammo for the 7.62NATO has to be loaded according to the Military Specs, whereas the ammo companies want to load the .308 to the nuts.

The rifle will handle any of it.

Pick up the brass and start reloading.

A good trick is to weigh brass if you are not sure. It's all the same size on the outside, so any differences must be inside.

Any given load will produce LESS pressure in a larger-volume casing.

You would be best to load your ammo slightly mild in any case. I have always found that accuracy is better in almost any military cartridge by backing-off from the military spec by about 10% in velocity. This makes about a 15% difference in pressures...... and it is pressure and heat that wreck your barrel.

I have seen some awfully nice groups come out of these old Israeli Mausers.

Do have fun!
 
Mike Webb said:
The 98 Mauser is a very strong action design. No trouble with the .308 Winchester.
Though I think the .308 has a higher pressure limit than the 7.62 NATO even though they are dimensionally the same.
Click to expand...

No. The actual pressure limits of the two calibers are about the same - about 62,000 psi. In practice, both are loaded to an average around 56,000psi. That said, I have seen some individual lots that were loaded hot at over 60,000psi (one lot of IVI for the 7.62 and a lot of Winchester match).

The confusion about different limits comes form the early NATO literature that referred to a pressure limit in "psi" when they were actually talking about "CUP". It would be like saying "kph" when you meant "mph".
 
The only reason i can think of not to use .308win ammo in a gun chambered in 7.62x51 is because the slower powders used in .308 might cause damage from there being to high pressure at the gas port. Thats doesn't apply to all semi autos though.
 
Those were made for the IDF by FN. Not by the Israelis. Not it matters. They handle any .308 or 7.62 NATO ammo(same thing before there was an internet) with no fuss. Milsurp ammo cases are a bit thicker, but that has nothing whatever to do with chamber dimensions in rifles. Has to do with MG's.
The days of there being lots of surplus ammo, 7.62 NATO or anything else, are long gone.
Caleb, an FN Israeli Mauser isn't a semi-auto. Port pressures don't apply.
 
One of the nicest shooting rifles I own,milsurp or otherwise, is an Israeli Mauser that I purchased many moons ago.This rifle has digested just about every brand of factory ammo available,including military loads from around the globe, as well as many,many handloaded rounds without so much as a hiccup.
 
The Israeli mausers were build around a 8mm mauser 98 action. The 98 mauser action is already renowned for its strength and the receiver is build for a more power cartage than the 308/7.62 Nato.

The weaker 95 chilean mauser action had a reputation for breaking but the 98 is a different animal. I honesty have not heard of too many 98s breaking.
 
I have a bit of a collection of 7.62NATO Mausers, including several Israelis, on is a 1944 Oberndorf, one is an originally Czech and one is a FN-made Mauser specifically for the Israelis.
I have shot both 7.62NATO and 308 ammo through all and never had a problem. When I bought them I initially had the head space checked.

These are Mauser actions after all.

The only Mauser I would be a bit careful is the 1895 Chileans converted to 7.62NATO and may be soem early Spanish Mausers. Never seen an Israeli rebarreled one I would worry about.
 
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