Firing .308 in 7.62x54R

.45colt

.45colt

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A long while back I remember guy selling M44 in 7.62x54R telling a bunch of us that it is a russian .308. He added you could even fire .308 in it no problem.

Anyone ever do so or try it? I haven't. Somehow I doubt that the .308 being 7.62x51 would be long enough to reach back to the firing pin when fully forward.
 
probably not a good idea. the case would probably split. i say probably because i haven't tried it, nor will i.

what the fellow might have meant was that it was the ballistic equivalent of the 308.
 
Since 7.62x54R is a RIMMED cartridge, how would the .308 round headspace? On the shoulder? I'm not claiming I know a ton about russian designed weapons, but I would HIGHLY doubt it would work safely.
 
.45colt said:
A long while back I remember guy selling M44 in 7.62x54R telling a bunch of us that it is a russian .308. He added you could even fire .308 in it no problem.

Anyone ever do so or try it? I haven't. Somehow I doubt that the .308 being 7.62x51 would be long enough to reach back to the firing pin when fully forward.
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Reminds me of a guy I knew who dove naked into a cactus simply because it seemed like a good idea at the time!:eek:
 
A buddy got an armful of junky rifles in a swap one time and gave them to me.

I kept the the US Model of 1917 Bubba 30-06, gave the barreled action for the 30-30 Schmidt-Rubin to a gunsmith pal because it had a mirror bore for the barrel but there was a Mosin-Nagant bubba in there with ".308" stamped on the barrel.

I kept the trigger guard, magazine assembly, and took that barrel deep in the bush on Vancouver island and threw it into the salal.
 
Firing .308 bullets in a 7.62 X 54 isn't a problem, except he must have been refering to just the bullet. I have shot .308 in my Nagant, it groups badly. I use .311 (303) bullets, it makes a lot of difference in accuracy, shrinks 100 yard groups from 9 inches to 2-3. The barrel slugs out between .311 and .312 according to my caliper.
I have heard of tighter bores in different rifles, one website stated that the Czech liked .308 because the bore is .308 - .309. It all depends on your rifle, slug the bore and find the load it likes.
 
The difference of the base diameter is .020", then you have headspace, extraction, alinment to the firing pin, ect ect... it would kb for sure I think. I realy wish there would be a modern action chamberd in 7.62X54r, it holds a bit more powder than the .308, and would fit I think in a shorter action than the 30-06.

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"...shot .308 in my Nagant, it groups badly..." That's because a .308" bullet is the wrong bullet diameter.
"...how would the .308 round headspace?..." It wouldn't. It wouldn't feed or extract either.
 
The 308 is slightly smaller, so it would probably fit in the chamber and allow the bolt to close. It might even go 'bang' when you pulled the trigger, but more than likely the whole cartridge would just slide forward in the chamber. If it DID go bang, you'd likely have a case failure, and bits of case stuck in the chamber. Not that it would extract even IF the case held together, the extractor is designed for a rimmed cartridge.

I don't think the action would kB, but you'd probably have some hot high-pressure gas vented toward your face.
 
I am guessing he was talking about 0.308" diameter (30 caliber) bullets loaded into 7.62x54R cases, as Holleyman mentioned, not 308 Win cartridges, which as everyone has mentioned won't work. Not unlike firing 0.311" bullets (like most factory loads) in a 303 Brit, most of these have a bore of 0.313 or more. Not really surprising or unusaul, some guys claim good results with 30 cal bullets loaded into 303 Brit rounds (I am skeptical on this but I have seen guys claiming so).
 
Umm..? Most factory (Remington, Winchester and Federal) loads for 303 Brit use 0.311" diameter bullets, while most of the rifles have a bore (groove to groove) of 0.313" or 0.314". Hornady makes 0.312" bullets for these, Steve Redgewell makes some custom bullets in 0.313" and 0.314". Most factory loadings are 0.002" undersized or more, similar to shooting 0.308" diameter bullets in as 7.62x54R.
 
Big JD-From the hills said:
I realy wish there would be a modern action chamberd in 7.62X54r, it holds a bit more powder than the .308, and would fit I think in a shorter action than the 30-06.
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There are.
Many.
 
Gibbs505 said:
Who is nuts enough to do this!!
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Well, Bell factory loads are for one, mic out the 148Gr softpoints and they come out to .308 exactly. The Hungarian surplus heavy ball mics to .312 and the Czech regular ball is .311. I use .311 bullets in my Nagant, this gives me a 0.001 clearance and hopefully will help reduce copper fouling compared to the Hungarian.
 
Big JD-From the hills said:
The difference of the base diameter is .020", then you have headspace, extraction, alinment to the firing pin, ect ect... it would kb for sure I think. I realy wish there would be a modern action chamberd in 7.62X54r, it holds a bit more powder than the .308, and would fit I think in a shorter action than the 30-06.

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This says about all that has to be said!!:eek:
Cat
 
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