I have NO experience with either of these rounds - and no ego either - so feel free to make fun of me if you regard this as a stupid question, but I just acquired a .308 cal. rifle. Can I run 7.62 X 51 NATO through it?

Yes. .308 Winchester is 7.62x51 is 7.62 NATO

.308 WInchester can blow apart an Ishapore Enfield. It was made for 7.62 NATO pressures.

quote:

Originally posted by ScreamingCockatoo:
.308 WInchester can blow apart an Ishapore Enfield. It was made for 7.62 NATO pressures.

I was thinking of running 7.62 NATO through a .308 SIG Blaser bolt action.

The .308 and the 7.62X51 are interchangeable. You do not have the pressure problems like when interchanging 5.56x45 and .223rem. That is a function of the leade of the the .223 rifles.

Shoot the 7.62 with confidence.

Yeah, the 7.62 NATO is lower pressure than 308.

SAAMI specs:

7.62x51- 50,000 CUP max (58,000 psi)

.308 Win- 62,000 psi max

Go/No-go chamber spec is slightly different too. (about .01)

I have shot 7.62 in my .308 Weatherby, but would not recommend shooting commercially loaded .308 in a 7.62 military surplus firearm. It may hold up just fine, but it was not designed around the .308 load spec. Not worth the risk, especially since 7.62 ammo can still be had.

Thanks, everyone for the input.