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.308 vs. 7.62

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.308 vs. 7.62 was created by Bakul

I just purchased my LaRue 7.62 OBR and am trying to stock up on ammo while it is being built. I am wondering if there is much of a difference between results the .308 rounds and the 7.62 rounds. Most of my shooting will be 100 to 200 yards but I will be making some visits to a 1000 yard range as well. .308 is everywhere but 7.62 seems a little harder to find although not impossible by any means.

Thanks in advance...
12 years 5 months ago #9034

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Replied by 13fcolt on topic Re: .308 vs. 7.62

In this instance, the commercial ammo is the hotter load and most commercial .308 will chrony faster for a given bullet weight. this is because the max pressure for the NATO ammo is 50000 PSI, while the max pressure for commercial .308 is 62,000 PSI. NATO brass is thicker than commercial .308 brass, thus it expands somewhat less, leading to some military firearms to have reliability issues with commercial ammo. mostly stuck cases, or case head separation. the most significant difference between the NATO spec and the SAMMI spec, is that the NATO calls for a head space .003 longer than the .308. for most of us with modern, well made firearms this is pretty much a non issue, but my personal rule i follow is to not use hot .308 in something like a vintage FAL that may have a true NATO spec chamber.

having said all that, i've used them both interchangeably in numerous firearms for untold thousands of rounds without issue (ignorance is bliss), as have many others. my advice is to get a couple boxes of everything to try out when your rifle arrives so that you can find its favorite factory load. for plinking/practice ammo use the cheapest fodder that runs the weapon reliably. you should wait, the rifle will tell you what you should stock up on.
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12 years 5 months ago #9055

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Replied by Bakul on topic Re: .308 vs. 7.62

Thanks for the tips. I will wait before I stock up on anything.
12 years 5 months ago #9057

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