My state does not permit any hunting with a FMJ. Anyone know of 7.62x51 other than military grade ammo?

Will your firearm accept 308 (should ) - plenty of game loads in 308

Try this: Linky

Bruce

quote:

Originally posted by RNshooter:
Try this: Linky

Bruce

Those are not expanding hollow points for hunting. Those are Hollow Point Boat Tail match rounds.

Some match bullets are produced with a hollow open tip for ballistic reasons. But they are not designed to expand, instead performing similarly to FMJ, and are therefore not suitable for hunting.

quote:

Originally posted by abnmacv:
My state does not permit any hunting with a FMJ. Anyone know of 7.62x51 other than military grade ammo?

Ballistic tips be OK?

I use these 150 gr BT in my SCAR.

Shoot long and flat.

http://www.georgia-arms.com/308-win-3

I use 165grain Gold Dot Jacketed Soft Points to hunt with in my 308 AR. Bonded bullet, excellent performance. Same basic bullet they use in Federal's Fusion line.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:

quote:

Originally posted by RNshooter:
Try this: Linky

Bruce

Those are not expanding hollow points for hunting. Those are Hollow Point Boat Tail match rounds.

Some match bullets are produced with a hollow open tip for ballistic reasons. But they are not designed to expand, instead performing similarly to FMJ, and are therefore not suitable for hunting.

It looks like it would be legal, no?

Would that round really have a problem dropping a deer, etc? I don't rightly know.

Bruce

Why wouldn't .308 Winchester work? There are all kinds of hunting bullets it comes with or can be handloaded.

I looked up the 7.62 verses 308 debate at SAAMI. They mention a bunch of combinations that are reportedly unsafe. There was no mention of dangers firing the 308 in a 7.62 military chamber.

I did see a bunch of mention on the web, just about all directions.

http://saami.org/specification...ion_Combinations.pdf


As we all know, options are almost unlimited with 308 ammo choices. Of course a reloader can tailor things a little too.

I had always understood that the prohibition worked in reverse, i.e., that it is unsafe to fire 7.62 in a .308 chamber.

Most of the wounding effects caused by open tip match (OTM) bullets result from tumbling, which is also true of most military type FMJ rifle bullets. An OTM bullet might drop a game animal quickly, but it would be uncertain. Since they were developed, generations of hunters have used proper expanding bullets for the purpose for one reason: They usually produce better wounding effects and therefore quicker, cleaner kills than nonexpanding bullets. U.S. military snipers are limited to using OTM bullets, and I’ve seen reports that they don’t always produce the desired effect even with human targets.

The concern about using 308 Winchester ammunition in military type rifles chambered for the 7.62×51mm cartridge is that the max allowable pressure for the former is higher, and therefore 308 ammo might damage the rifle that was designed for 7.62 pressure. Is that concern justified? Possibly, I suppose, but for years before I ever heard about the higher 308 pressure thing I used 308 ammunition exclusively in my M1A rifle. In fact, way back when I bought it, I never even saw surplus 7.62 military ammunition for sale. Much later my agency acquired a number of M14 rifles, and again we used 308 Winchester ammunition for duty purposes. At no time did I see any signs of damage or other problems with any of those rifles.

If there were boutique or specialty 308 loads that claimed higher than normal velocities, I wouldn’t use them in my M1A, but I won’t hesitate to continue to use the ones I have for the past several decades. On the other hand if the rifle isn’t a surplus military gun, then I wouldn’t worry at all unless the manufacturer clearly warns against using 308 Ammunition. If 308 ammunition can be chambered and fired in a gun, that’s what shooters will do. If that was causing guns to blow up or otherwise fail, we’d hear about it.

But of course that advice applies only if it were my gun and my decision.

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
I had always understood that the prohibition worked in reverse, i.e., that it is unsafe to fire 7.62 in a .308 chamber.

I believe you’re thinking of the claims about firing 5.56mm NATO ammunition in rifles chambered for 223 Remington.

(I don’t pay any attention to those claims either, and regularly shoot 5.56 ammunition in my Tikka T3 with never a sign of excessive pressures. But it may be that the Finns had enough sense to realize that Americans would shoot 5.56 stuff in their 223 rifles just because we can, and sized the chambers appropriately.)

.308 Winchester is not loaded to higher pressure than 7.62 NATO. There is a great deal of confusion on the matter because the Army is not a member of SAAMI and did not adopt the "CUP" term for crusher gauge readings.

True military chamber is somewhat larger than commercial for reliable semi- and full auto operation under adverse conditions. This means brass reloading life is short. I think the M14NM/M1A shooters usually settle for 4 loads.

quote:

Originally posted by Jim Watson:
.308 Winchester is not loaded to higher pressure than 7.62 NATO. There is a great deal of confusion on the matter because the Army is not a member of SAAMI and did not adopt the "CUP" term for crusher gauge readings.

Thank you. That’s what I get for accepting Internet lore without checking for myself. Something more to investigate further.

Of course it would take some technical testing, but just because a cartridge has a certain pressure max for factory loads, it doesn't mean all ammo is loaded to that level.

Just like the debate of 38 Spcl '+P' loads in certain revolvers, it can end up where some is fine, many over time 'may' cause accelerated wear.

There has to be allowances for some dufus to use ammo inappropriate for the gun in question.

quote:

Originally posted by sourdough44:
Of course it would take some technical testing, but just because a cartridge has a certain pressure max for factory loads, it doesn't mean all ammo is loaded to that level.

I won't claim to be an expert on 7.62x51 ammo, but the 7.62 ammo that I've shot in my 308 showed slightly less muzzle velocity than their similar 308 counterparts. I assume this means the 7.62 were loaded to lower pressures.

****
Back to the OP -- most of the 7.62 ammo I've seen have FMJ or HPBT bullets. The only exception is Noveske's 168 grain ballistic tip ammo. I don't think it is specifically a hunting bullet. I've just seen reports that Hornady's 168 AMax (probably a similar construction) is an acceptable hunting round for thin-skinned animals. Note that I state acceptable, not optimal. A properly designed hunting bullet will expand and retain mass more consistently than a bullet that is primarily designed for accuracy, but has some cross over to hunting applications.