difference between 7.62x51 Nato round and .308 Winchester?

Contrary to what one may read on 'wikipedia', whose articles are authored by the same type of people as answers on Yahoo!, and elsewhere, there is NO technical difference in these two rounds! The external dimensions are EXACTLY the SAME.

7,62x51mm NATO was originally developed by the Defense Dept. for use in the M-14 rifle and M-60 MG FROM the .308 Win. cartridge.

Military brass may be thicker walled than commercial .308Win. brass, but reloading manual compilers have taken this into account when developing reloading data, and ALL published loads from ANY manual are completely safe in Military or Commercial brass, fired in ANY well-maintained weapon.

I have reloaded and FIRED 1000's of rounds in both 7,62x51mm NATO military and .308 Win. commercial brass in rifles including FN/FAL, H-K 91A2, Mauser, Remington and Winchester bolt actions with NO detrimental effects on ANY of these weapons!

7,62x51mm NATO...... .308 Winchester......NO DIFFERENCE.

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RE:

difference between 7.62x51 Nato round and .308 Winchester?

The only difference you would be concerned with is they are loaded with different bullets.

Winchester introduced the .308 in 1952, which was patterned after the US T-65 or 7.62 x 51 NATO, which was patterned off .300 Savage..

The military round only has one loading, with a 146.6 grain bullet, while commercial loadings list bullet weights from 110 gr. to 200 gr.

The above is what I have always read an been told. This Wikipedia article says the case of the military round is .013" longer than commercial. The length may be the same now, because I know people who use Military surplus ammo for target practice with no ill effects. If you have a .308 Win, get some surplus ammo and chamber a round and see if the bolt closes alright. .013 don.t seem like much until you try to close the bolt on it.

Here is another article onthe subject:

http://www3.sympatico.ca/shooters/7_62vs308.htm

I've been shooting the cartridges interchangeably for years in my 5 rifles chambered for .308. One of my rifles is an M-14, so technically it is a 7.62x51, and I reload my own bullets using whatever .308 diameter projectile I choose and using both military and civilian brass for all 5 rifles and have had no problems. I adjust the powder charge for each kind of brass, something all knowledgeable reloaders do even when changing brands of civilian brass. The weight of the brass is the main factor here because heavier brass has less capacity. Military brass tends to be heavier, mostly because thick brass is less likely to be damaged and therefor will feed more reliably in rifles.

The pressure differences in the books are the result in different ways of measuring the pressures, and I find it amazing that no one, as far as I know, has used both methods to test both cartridges. I've never heard of any damage being done by firing a .308 in a 7.62x51 or firing a 7.62x51 in a .308.

My guess is that lots of people like to promote the idea that there is some mystical difference when in reality they are both the same. My five 308/7.62x51 rifles and the 3,000 or so loaded rounds I have waiting for them is proof enough for me, and the same goes for the .223 and the 5.56x45, and I have 3 rifles that shoot them.

grizzly II;

At last a sensible answer and not one from an armchair wannabee ballistician. A grain of wheat amongst the chaff!

Spot on, 110% correct, NO DIFFERENCE !

In the UK we tend to call it 7.62, because that's what the military calls it, in the US it's called a 308, that's the ONLY difference.

The military chamber (7.62 NATO) is generally larger so that it can accommodate rounds produced by a number of suppliers in various countries. There are also differences between military brass (7.62) and civilian brass (.308) that result in different pressures. The compatibility of the 2 rounds is debatable, the two sources I cite tend to disagree with one another and I could have give you a third that disagreed with itself (two experts debating the question). I have been told that some 7.62 is a higher pressure round that is designed for machine gun use and is dangerous to shoot in both .308 and any 7.62 rifle that is not a machine gun (I am unable to substantiate this). So, being conservative, I would choose to err on the side of caution and consider them different and not interchangeable rounds.

They're identical. Military brass tends to be heavier/thicker, so if you're reloading military cases, your powder capacity will be reduced. The published pressure differences are anybody's guess. The military rounds are measured with the transducer at the case mouth, the civilian ones with the transducer farther back, so it's hard to draw any conclusions. Tight military chambers may also require you use a small-base die set for best feeding, but nominally the dimensions are the same.

One is the NATO designation and the other is the U.S. non military (civilian) designation.

I could bore you with the requirements of the NATO round that the civilian round doesn't meet, but I don't think you will be shooting this from a select fire or machine gun.

One rule of thumb to follow; you can fire the 7.62 in a 308 but don't put 308 in anything clearly labeled with 7.62 NATO on the barrel or receiver. The 7.62 has less oomph than the 308 and 7.62 chambering is often a little different. The shells appear alike but are different; look at the back of the shell cases and read what you are holding.

no real difference the military brass is harder and thicker

if you are reloading the7.62X51mm for the first time you need a small base sizing die and primer pocket swagger or other means to remove the military crimp

edited to add

who ever thumbs down this answer just come on over and i will let you reload some 7.62X51mm military surplus brass and some some 308 commercial brass then you can make an informed thumbs down if you like