AmmoDyn 7.62x51mm NATO 149 Grain Full Metal Jacket (FMJ) Brass

A: In almost all cases, yes. The two cartridges share external dimensions, and this load's 3,800 bar maximum chamber pressure works out to roughly 55,100 psi — comfortably below the 62,000 psi SAAMI maximum for commercial .308 Winchester. Firing NATO-spec ammunition in a modern .308 chamber is the safer direction of the two. The reverse is where people run into trouble: some military 7.62 NATO chambers are cut with slightly more generous headspace, and hot commercial .308 loads in a worn NATO chamber can produce higher case stress. If you have any doubt about a specific rifle — especially an older surplus gun — have a gunsmith check headspace before shooting it.

A: Port pressure is the gas pressure remaining in the barrel when the bullet passes the gas port — the pressure that actually drives the operating system of a semi-automatic or belt-fed rifle. A cartridge can meet its velocity spec and still fail to cycle a gas gun if the pressure curve falls off too early. This load specifies a minimum of 550 bar at the port, which is why NATO ball ammunition tends to run reliably in a wide range of gas-operated platforms. It's a spec most commercial ammunition doesn't publish at all.

A: Brass cased and fully reloadable. The cases are CuZn30 brass with Boxer primers — a single centrally located primer pocket with a standard flash hole, which is what conventional reloading dies and decapping pins are built for. This is not Berdan-primed surplus that most handloaders can't practically reuse. The primers are non-corrosive, so ordinary cleaning practice after a range session is sufficient.

A: Yes. The M80 Ball projectile uses a Tombac CuZn10 jacket — a copper-zinc alloy — over a lead-antimony core, with no steel component anywhere in the bullet, and the case is brass. It will not attract a magnet. Note that this is specific to M80 Ball; ZSR's M62 tracer and M61 armor-piercing loadings in the same caliber do use steel-based construction and would not clear the same check. Range house rules always take priority, so ask if you're unsure.

A: The specification calls for a maximum 200 mm dispersion standard deviation at 550 meters — roughly 8 inches at 600 yards. That is a service-rifle accuracy requirement designed around hitting man-sized targets at battlefield distance, and it's a genuinely useful benchmark for training ammunition. It is not a match specification. If you're shooting for group size on paper or competing, a purpose-built match load will outperform any ball ammunition.

A: We don't recommend it, and in many states it isn't legal. Full metal jacket bullets are built specifically not to expand, which means poor energy transfer and a high likelihood of wounding rather than a clean kill. A number of states explicitly require expanding or soft-point projectiles for big game. Use this load for practice and training, and pick a purpose-built soft point or bonded hunting load for the field. Always check your state's current regulations before hunting.