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Ammo Question


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Now I have an Ammo Question. My Saiga .308 has been pretty easy going about shooting various surplus ammo until today. My local dealer had a 20 round box of Spanish surplus for $2.50. I thought Ah ha! As I had been using WRA manufactured M80 Nato (about 1965 vintage) costing $5 for 20 and recently some Indian M80 manufactured in 2000. So I take 7 rounds of the Spanish stuff to the range with some WRA and Indian. I was making some adjustments to my front sight so I was putting a round down range & seeing how close I could bring two friends on a big blank sheet of paper. I fired the WRA and Indian without difficulty, got my adjustments made so I was hitting where I wanted and put three rounds of the Spanish in. I fired and it failed to extract. I pulled the bolt back manually and extracted the shell, the next loaded just fine, keyholed the first and failed to extract. I pulled the mag, extracted the second as the first and then loaded WRA, three rounds just fine. I loaded the Indian and three rounds just fine. I loaded the Spanish and it failed to extract (but went down range extremely accurately.) Went back to the other countries of origin/ no problems, back to the Spanish and no extraction. So I still have 13 rounds of the stuff. Should I trash can it, fire it single loaded & enjoy the good accuracy er what?

 

The ammo box says:

Fabr(letters missing to open box)cional de Tolado

4 Nov 1961

20 Cartuchos

(letters missing to open box)usil CETME de 7.62mm.

 

Around the primers on the ammo it says:

T

61

7.6

 

Is this stuff bad for my gun?

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Do not use that ammo!!! If the round will not extract it is most likely that the cases are expanding too mutch. This can do many things, and none are good. It's just not worth the consequences. The cases are weak for some reason-if one seperates it will cause uncontollabe outbreaks of bad words.

 

G O B

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If it is the 7.62 CETME round. They are a low pressure round with a lighter bullet. I think it should be around 130gr. They were made this way to lessen the recoil to provide a more controllable full auto fire. This is the right ammo that should be fired in the CETME. The 7.62 NATO round is loaded to a higher pressure than this round. That is why they ejected and the Spanish round did not. Did it feel like they kicked less than the NATO rounds? I think the reason they did not eject was there was too little gass pressure to operate the bolt. I will look aroud and see if I can find some more info on the CETME round.

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use them as targets...come on, this is SPAIN we are talking about. they dont think they even need an army...good 100 yard targets if you ask me....13 of em? it'll take you a while to hit them all :) so all is not lost...sounds like definate junk to me guys. spanish 308 huh? ill have to check around for it, now that I read that about it.

 

-b

Edited by Bvamp
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7.62 CETME

 

Here read this. It has some things about the round in it. It looks like a 112 gr bullet. If this is the ammo you have, just shoot it. It will do no harm. Best way to tell is to pull one of the bullets and weigh it. If you don't have a scale, pull one from the NATO ammo also and set it next to the bullet in ? It should look like a shorter bullet.

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its unreliable, it is fireworks as far as im concerned. get rid of each and every round of it if you dont have a bolt-action or something that it WILL work in reliably, Macx....

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If the Saiga won't extract CETME ammo, then that's saying something!!!!!!!! The CETME has been known for failing to extract commercial ammo due to hotter load, and thinner walled cart. So if this ammo is made specifically for a rifle that is prone to have those problems and it is doing it in the semi auto rifle that I think of as being about the least likely to have that fte. It may be wise to find somebody with a bullet puller. :eek::eek::eek: Be safe C. S. :rolleyes:

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Thanks all. Having read the link posted by Tomme Boy and others, I have decided that it goes in the bin with my spent cases & hopefully the bullets can be pulled and reloaded with proper powder and bullet. I did note that they were considerably "pointier" but didn't notice a length difference. I wonder if the age had anything to do with it (1961)? Anyway, I won't be firing the last 13 . . . $1.63 down the drain ain't that big a deal.

 

 

P.S. If I were to use the bad rounds as targets, would I lay them on their sides and try and hit the primers <_< or on end and try and knock the bullets out of their cases? :killer:

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Macx, Im glad you read that part. its a hard shot to try to hit the bottom of the cart. If you can do it, its pretty impressive. If you shoot a decent sized case side-on, it will explode maybe 1/4 of the time or so. Either way, i use shotgun hulls for .223 targets sometimes, so a 308 case should be a HECK of a shot even at 50 yards with a scope. If you nail any of em, take a pic and post it.

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I am 93.97% sure that Bvamp was kidding. At least I was kidding in my response to him. I would never intentionally shoot at live ammo (save that stuff for Van Damme flicks) . . . . I took the shooting ammo thing to be a joke & responded along with it. Seems like shooting at live ammo at a public range would be kinda like playing the lotto, but the winning ticket would get ya a Negligent homicide charge with a string of others. Just not worth the risk. I can see trying to plink empty shotgun shells off the back stop though. That'd be like shooting soad cans only smaller (live rounds a different animal altogether).

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just sharing my thoughts back there. im not twisting anyone's arm, nor did I suggest that you try to hit a round anywhere but out on private land. I dislike ranges in the respect that i have to sit still, play all serious, act like the gun is going to just blow up if i look at it funny, and then have to deal with guys pumped up on testosterone, let alone a new shooter that doesnt know a damn thing standing right next to me with his first mag in his AK he just bought for a first gun. or worse yet, the new pistol owner that bought the custom 45 or 9mm that is about to douple tap his gun on accident. then there is the volume of fire issues, as well as the fact that im waiting on other people to go check or change my targets. The thing I DO like about the public ranges is the possibility of meeting MORE people like me with large areas of land to shoot on, or to trade guns with. Im game for traps (I am not going to be outshot easily), maybe a few long shots, but otherwise, if there's no action shooting, im not interested...if i want to learn more, i can read a book or ask the people I already know. I feel like im working when I go to a public range. I tell ya, I wouldnt mind setting some acres aside and opening a semi-private and LE range.

 

I used to plink 12 gauge rounds with a 22 ALL the time when i was younger at about 50 yards. live and fired. lots of fun, never had a problem at distance. If you walk up to a round and shoot the thing at ten foot, well, its not my fault. That is just like shooting a tire target with the rim still in it. THINK before you do anything that some anal shooter at a range would threaten you over. if you can load and fire a gun, you can figure out that you shouldnt hit a live round with a hammer. WAY down range? a brass cased round isnt going to be hitting anyone anytime soon when it goes off (when a bullet is demolishing it at that moment, by the way). Plus it is one HELL of a shot if you can make it. Expect to be there a while trying to hit the thing. at 100 yards, the chances of any fragment hitting ANYONE on the firing line is about nil. try it with a spent 308 or 30/06 casing if you are scared or are limited to an insured range's rules. bet ya cant hit it end-on in under 10 shots :)

 

rock, no worries, you could call in an air strike on my range and noone would think anything of it, and probably wouldnt even HEAR it. the only places i prefer to shoot at I could in theory spin in 360 degrees and not hit anything cept lots of trees, dirt, and rocks. but THAT even i wouldnt do, even if i were on the ocean. well, maybe THEN. Im not dangerous with our sport, im just a little more "backwoods" with it than a lot of you probably are. Just because I do things a little different, dont mean Im wrong.

Edited by Bvamp
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Relax guy's! I'm sure everyone here - serious enough to join a forum - knows what common sense is! There's enough woodland outside my city to shoot a propane bottle or two, if you were so inclined and there was enough open area!

fun is fun no matter who you are!

you can be fun AND safe at the same time!

 

By the way, the next time I'll put a flare next to it - it was very uneventful!

he, he! :haha:

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