newbie question: 7.62 safe for Savage 99 .308?

Hello everyone, I just registered here. Today I picked up a Savage 99E in .308. The rifle is an early 60s model I believe and is in fine shape. Is it okay to shoot mil-surp 7.62x51 in this .308 model? I have quite a bit of the surplus ammo and have used it to good effect on feral hogs with an Imbel FAL. Can I use it in my 99? Thanks so much for any help or advice!
Gary

They aint loaded as hot as comercial 308,but they wont harm you,or your 99...they arnt good to hunt with because their fmj,but you can use them for fun

Thanks Hillbilly! I sort of thought that or hoped it anyway. Well, here are a couple pics of what Portuguese 7.62 FMJ did to a couple local porkers. Aren't they cute? :smile-new:

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y29...oarcloseup.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y29...oarwithFAL.jpg

Military surplus 7.62 is loaded to all sorts of different levels, depending on which country had it loaded for what weapon. NATO spec ( US M59 and M80 NATO ball) is of course standard NATO 7.62, a circle with a + in it usually as a marking for NATO spec. All is loaded to what would be just a little less than standard commercial pressures 50,000 psi vs 55,000 psi. It should be just fine in the Savage, the FN Mag/ M60/M21/M14 with these loads have a reputation as killers for a reason.

I have a 99 - 308 and I tried to shoot surplus ammo in it. The fired rounds would not eject, the bolt would come back but the case stayed in! I had to use a cleaning rod to bump them out. I then bought some factory rounds and they function just fine.

Too bad those pigs weren't studied up to date on the latest 308 ballistic data or they might have walked away.

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Originally Posted by wildcat hunter

I have a 99 - 308 and I tried to shoot surplus ammo in it. The fired rounds would not eject, the bolt would come back but the case stayed in! I had to use a cleaning rod to bump them out. I then bought some factory rounds and they function just fine.

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Have met with same issue.

I never really figured out why but it seemed that the extracter couldn't get a good grip on the rim to pull the spent case out. It was as if the case was too far in the chamber. A light tap from a cleaning rod and out they popped. Rather than try to correct the problem I simply stopped using mil-surp rounds or brass in that particular rifle. BTW they worked great in my bolt action rifles.

Glad to see I'm not alone with that issue.

Texgunner, I have a 99E. I had some rounds stick in the chamber after firing and had to tap out with a cleaning rod. The rounds that get stuck were military surp 7.62X51. I measured the shall case length on the rounds that stuck and found that they all had case length that exceeded the recommended max length of 2.010 inches. Some were 2.020, now I measure the case length of the round I plan to shoot. I guess the 99's in 308 have a tighter tolerance than the military rifles. Dan

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Originally Posted by MacDR

Have met with same issue.

I never really figured out why but it seemed that the extracter couldn't get a good grip on the rim to pull the spent case out. It was as if the case was too far in the chamber. A light tap from a cleaning rod and out they popped. Rather than try to correct the problem I simply stopped using mil-surp rounds or brass in that particular rifle. BTW they worked great in my bolt action rifles.

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OK, so I just bought a 240 round "battle pack" of Austrian 7.62Nato to use in my 99C .308. I am having the same problem; some of the rounds (<25%) don't eject, getting stuck in the chamber. Not wanting to wast my ammo, is there anything I can do to correct this problem? New extractor, chamber polish?

p.s. sorry to resurrect this old thread.

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Originally Posted by Andronicus

OK, so I just bought a 240 round "battle pack" of Austrian 7.62Nato to use in my 99C .308. I am having the same problem; some of the rounds (<25%) don't eject, getting stuck in the chamber. Not wanting to wast my ammo, is there anything I can do to correct this problem? New extractor, chamber polish?

p.s. sorry to resurrect this old thread.

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To add to my previous post. I was just looking at one of the casings that jammed, it has a couple of scratches the length of the case. They are not very pronounced, but they are there. Also, the rifle cycles fine for the first several shots, then started jamming more often.

There should be small boxes with 20 rounds in each box if I remember correctly. Most of that ammo got moisture in it. Look to see if any of the rounds had corrosion on them. Placing rounds with corrosion on them in your gun will scratch your chamber. Those scratches are probably the result. Your chamber will need to be polished by a professional. You could harm the mechanisms of the rifle if you continue to hammer jamed rounds out.

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Originally Posted by Robinhood

There should be small boxes with 20 rounds in each box if I remember correctly. Most of that ammo got moisture in it. Look to see if any of the rounds had corrosion on them. Placing rounds with corrosion on them in your gun will scratch your chamber. Those scratches are probably the result. Your chamber will need to be polished by a professional. You could harm the mechanisms of the rifle if you continue to hammer jamed rounds out.

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There does not appear to be any corrosion on the ammo. The brass looks like it may be reloaded as I have now noted that the scratches appear on the unspent ammo as well.

I had to go buy a new long handle screwdriver to disassemble the rifle. Someday soon when I have some time, I am planning a full disassemble and may spin some 0000 steel wool in the chamber.