Hirtenberger Ammunition 7.62x51

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I had previously posted in another thread, and no comment yet. Regarding Hirtenberger ammunition, I have several hundred rounds here. Head stamp has "79" on top, two stars, then it reads 7.62x51. Primer has a green sealant and three "punch" type crimps. A full metal jacket bullet. But no NATO "cross in a circle" symbol. So, does Hirtenberger 7.62x51 ammunition actually meet NATO criteria, or is it made to some other standard??

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Austria is not part of NATO, so they don't need to meet STANAGs. However, it would be unwise for them to produce out-of-spec 7.62 ammo considering all the positives of standardized ammunition in military service. Neutral countries make a lot of export income selling defence products worldwide. They just have to satisfy their consciences who is buying and using it.

The crimps are a way of holding primers in place for machine gunning. One of those old ideas which are still very valid. Sealed primers tell me it meets someone's military specification.
 
Thank-you for the reply! I had heard and read multiple comments that it was "good", that is was "hot", and so on. We tried it in a Winchester M70 308 Win - it goes "bang". Not much better than 3 or 4 MOA in that rifle, but maybe that is all that it is expected to do. We have had multiple 5 shot 1 to 1.25 MOA groups with that rifle and Speer HotCor 165 grain with RL-15. So I am "saving" this Hirtenberger to use in a full stock 7.62x51 AIA M10B
 
I have used a lot of the 1982 Hert ammo. It has severe neck tension issues because of the black “glue” inside the necks. Try lightly crimping this stuff with a Lee crimp die. It was approx moa afterwards for me in an accurate 308 bolt gun.
 
Buckmastr said:
I have used a lot of the 1982 Hert ammo. It has severe neck tension issues because of the black “glue” inside the necks. Try lightly crimping this stuff with a Lee crimp die. It was approx moa afterwards for me in an accurate 308 bolt gun.
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Back when the US Army was giving its high power shooters standard arsenal ammo, the guys would crack that seating seal with an arbour press. Not only would the glue be broken, but every cartridge comes out the same OAL.
 
I have used lots of the '83 stuff. In a Savage 110 it shoots quite well, 1.5-2" 5 shot groups at 100. It is a little higher muzzle velocity than M80. I reload the brass and it works well, but shows signs of being a little soft, whereas most NATO brass seems to be much harder. I don't actually know what goes into NATO spec, but this stuff seems to work about as well but it has the differences noted above.
 
Reworked and fireformed Hirtenberger brass achieve under 1/2 MOA accuracy all day in my PGW Coyote with my index load. And I am confident they would do 1/4 if I was a better shooter.
 
Just a note.....I shot a 240rd 'battle pack' of Hirtenberger Ammunition 7.62x51 in a M1 Garand and it cycled fine and accuracy was good ( for gongs). Not sure if it was 1979 or 1985 dated.
 
I have cross sectioned Winchester 308 brass, Hirtenburger 7.62x51 brass (boxer primed) and Federal Lake City 7.62.51 brass. The Hirtenburger is a tad thicker than Winchester, but quite a bit thinner than Federal Lake City. In a m305 that “someone” owned the shoulder area of the chamber was cut at an angle and the headspace was measured in miles (was realllly out of spec). When firing Winchester super x ammo one could see a visible stretch mark on the casing from it forming to the MASSIVE chamber. That brass was garbage. Hirtenburger, though only marginally thicker, would not stretch like that. “Someone” had up to 3 reloads on the Hirtenburger brass with zero issues, also had several reloads on Lake City, it too was fine. I would say Hirtenburger brass is made of a harder brass than commercial 308 win brass.

The ban will likely stick. It would be political suicide for a party to overthrow it and I doubt the courts will either. Darned boating accidents.
 
Oh, and I haven’t pulled on apart, but I’m guessing ball powder in the Hirtenburger, large velocity change when shooting in hot vs cold weather. I haven’t tested Lake City enough to say how it performs. My handloads with varget or h4895 are steady eddy.
 
The older berdan primed stuff was more accurate in my match M1a than the 79 or 80's ammo. And the same in my other 308 bolts as well.

That said, it is decent ammo in all forms. I've reloaded the boxer brass with excellent success and results.

Water capacity I found its interior capacity to be close to a bunch of brass I had from a lot of winchester 168 grain match bulk purchase I had years ago and had similar results on paper.
 
It's OK

I've compared it in the past to both South African and Spanish Ball which in my opinion were better. I would agree that it most likely meets NATO spec.
 
I do not think Berdan or Boxer type primer is related to whether the primer contains / creates corrosive residue stuff or not? I do know British Army, for 100 years or more, dealt with corrosive residues in rifle barrels - a long necked funnel, a quart (litre) of boiling hot water poured down the barrel from the breech end - after any firing that day - the corrosive salts inside the barrel are dissolved and flushed away with HOT WATER - bubbling, boiling hot water is best - for sure, anything oil based will NOT dissolve a salt, and most everything else is from someone trying to sell you some stuff. If you shoot corrosive, get set up to use hot water - followed, of course, with normal clean and oil. With sufficient hot water, barrel will be warm and will be dry, almost instantly after the flush.
 
At least from what I read about British WWI practice, I think the deal was the quantity of hot water sent down - at least a "quart" - so that takes a few minutes to trickle down that funnel to flood the bore. When I had corrosive, I had a vice set up with soft jaws and a bucket - so rifle got set vertical with muzzle down in vice - bolt removed - bucket on garage floor under muzzle to catch the run off - long neck funnel into top - I had made an end for it that just so started into the chamber. I think the electric tea kettle might have held more than a litre - plug it in - let it heat to boil - then pour from tea kettle into funnel. Not much mess at all when done - all the hot water went down funnel and through the bore - just the "waste" water in the bucket when done. After clean up - a couple minutes - by the time rifle was put into horizontal cradle to check and patch the bore, the bore was almost always bone dry. Because it was dry, I preferred a couple loose oily patches through at the end of the cleaning - to get some oil onto the inside rifling to prevent rusting. Probably would be better to use a bore mop and some appropriate grease, but have not yet figured that out. Need to clean for copper as well, I think - is surprising what the hot water flush brings out, but is really about dealing with the salts, only - still need something correct for the carbon and the copper that is often still in there. Today I usually set rifle in cradle and give it a shot of foaming bore cleaner - let "soak" over night and patch out in morning - repeat for another 12 hours until patches come out wet, but white. Won't do anything for salts, I don't think - need the hot water first for that - I did not use WipeOut when I had corrosive ammo - did not know about it - I think today I would flush with the boiling water, then give it a shot of that foaming WipeOut.
 
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I use a little "Hotshot" steam cleaner with a short piece of rubber hose to fit the chamber,fill it to the top with water,plug in and when hot it shoots a mixture of hot water and steam through the chamber and barrel.
Gun gets very hot and barrel is dry after a few minutes, after that clean barrel in the usual way.
 
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