7.62 M1A Brass

[DR296]

Okay gotta ask. While out shooting my wife likes to busy herself with Brass pick up, which is very helpful. Apparently she picked up some 7.62 M1A brass and when separating Brass it ended up with my .308 brass. Is this the same as .308 and can I use the same dies and load data for it?

[rocketsci]

Mostly.

The 7.62 brass tends to be thicker, so if you have max powder charges in your 308 loads, they may end up compressing the powder.

Also, the 7.62 will likely have crimped primers.

[DR296]

So in other words, dump it in the recycle bin??

[Citadelgrad87]

No way, not at all.

Separate it from your commercial, decrimp it and load it a tad lass than your commercial loads.

Alternatively, sell it. I shoot LC almost exclusively. Someone will buy it.

But it's good brass.

[rocketsci]

Personally, I wouldn't. That's the only kind of 308 brass I have!

You should be good to go with either a swager or possibly a primer pocket uniformer to get rid of the crimp. A full length sizing die should get you back to spec.

Granted, I'm a newbie to reloading myself, so take my advice with a grain of salt.

If you don't want to do the extra case prep, I'm pretty sure there are people here who would be willing to take those cases of your hands. . As shown by Citadelgrad above.

[J-cat]

I think he's talking about Federal "7.62 M1A" brass. Yes, it's the same as regular Federal but for the crimped in primers.

[DR296]

Okay good to know. I do not mind extra case prep. I was just checking to see if this was actually usable for my .308

[knucklehead0202]

Use it! If you're loading for an autoloader you probably aren't anywhere near a max load anyway so you likely won't even need to alter your charge, unless you're loading kinda hot.

[jtv3062]

Is this the federal m1a loaded ammo and not surplus? I have some of the federal ammo shot good out of my m14 type rifles. I'm saving the brass for reloads.

[stilly]

LoL. save it all, unless it aint gold. If it is silver or copper or whatever color bear it should get chucked...

[Kappy]

So far, that is the only brass I've used in my .308. I had to grind out the primer pocket with my chamfering tool. Not a lot of fun.

It is my understanding that relationship between .308 and 7.62x51 is the reverse of 5.56 and .223. In other words, while you can't run the military 5.56 in a .223 chambered rifle (but can run the .223 in a 5.56 chambered rifle), shooting .308 in a 7.62x51 rifle can cause damage (but not the other way around).

[40calfunk]

Decent webpage/article is attempting to decipher the differences between 7.62 NATO and .308.

http://www.303british.com/id36.html

[Socalman]

Good article. I do not own a .308 or 7.62X51 but I thought they were exactly the same, just the 7.62 was a military designation. Thanks for sharing.

[popeye4]

Just because it is 7.62x51 doesn't mean it is good to go. There is a lot of surplus 7.62x51 foreign ammo that is Berdan primed. That'll do a number on your decapping pin (don't ask me how I know this). Shine a light into a case and look for one central primer hole. If you see two or more small holes that are not centered, it is Berdan primed and not worth the effort.

[Kappy]

Just because it is 7.62x51 doesn't mean it is good to go. There is a lot of surplus 7.62x51 foreign ammo that is Berdan primed. That'll do a number on your decapping pin (don't ask me how I know this). Shine a light into a case and look for one central primer hole. If you see two or more small holes that are not centered, it is Berdan primed and not worth the effort.

I'm guessing it's because you tried one by accident and then needed a new decapping pin. Happened to me around two months ago with a .223 round.