FR-8s can handle .308Win, 7.62x51mm machine gun ammo and 7.62 surplus ammo, the latter two being the same thing.
WTK: if an FR8 can handle 7.62x51mm??
I know the FR7 and the FR8 are not meant for .308Winchester nor can they handle 7.62x51mm machine gun ammo. I just want to know if these FR8 rifles can safely shoot the 7.62 surplus ammo. I will have a choice of buying one of three 7.62x51 military bolt-action soon. ( at the next Yuma, Az gunshow Nov. 4th&5th ) My choices will be: a French MAS 36......Isreali Mauser......or an FR8. I like the FR8 the best because of the threaded muzzle with brake, the G3 style sights and the fact that I can purchase a bayonet for an FR8 for about $10.00..................
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I have had both the FR7+8 and fired hundreds af 308 in them.
I would stick to standard Nato rounds. I shoot 7.62x51 out of my FR-8. I know there are differing opinions and articles written on either side but std Nato is available.
I am new here, so sorry if this has been beaten to death already. Here is my humble $0.02.
The FR-8 is a 98 mauser action. It can handle .30-06 and 8x57 with ease. If the gun is chambered for it, of course. .308 is no problem for one in good condition. You can shoot store-bought .308 until the cows come home (assuming all that blazing away doesn't drive them off...) and not have any problems. I do it all the time, and I am not the slightest bit worried about it. Shooting the .308, that is, not herding cattle with gunfire...
The FR-7, on the other hand, is a modified 1893 action. Century arms did some rather extensive tests with these and their 1916 rifles that were also converted to .308/7.62x51. They found that these guns were safe with .308. That being said, I would still be leery of using it often, if at all in any of the pre-98 mauser actions. Most of them were originally designed to have a working pressure of about 40,000-42,000 psi. .308 Win works at 50,000+ psi. Your FR-7 or 1916 rifle may very well shoot just fine with the hotter commercial loads, but why stress an old gun? Why risk youe eyes or more? Either use the nato loadings, or roll your own down a bit to the nato round levels. Anything that you are shooting at will never know the difference. Targets or deer won't care.
-Mb
The FR-8 is a 98 mauser action. It can handle .30-06 and 8x57 with ease. If the gun is chambered for it, of course. .308 is no problem for one in good condition. You can shoot store-bought .308 until the cows come home (assuming all that blazing away doesn't drive them off...) and not have any problems. I do it all the time, and I am not the slightest bit worried about it. Shooting the .308, that is, not herding cattle with gunfire...
The FR-7, on the other hand, is a modified 1893 action. Century arms did some rather extensive tests with these and their 1916 rifles that were also converted to .308/7.62x51. They found that these guns were safe with .308. That being said, I would still be leery of using it often, if at all in any of the pre-98 mauser actions. Most of them were originally designed to have a working pressure of about 40,000-42,000 psi. .308 Win works at 50,000+ psi. Your FR-7 or 1916 rifle may very well shoot just fine with the hotter commercial loads, but why stress an old gun? Why risk youe eyes or more? Either use the nato loadings, or roll your own down a bit to the nato round levels. Anything that you are shooting at will never know the difference. Targets or deer won't care.
-Mb
I would stick to standard Nato rounds. I shoot 7.62x51 out of my FR-8. I know there are differing opinions and articles written on either side but std Nato is available.
Well said.... The FR-7, on the other hand, is a modified 1893 action. Century arms did some rather extensive tests with these and their 1916 rifles that were also converted to .308/7.62x51. They found that these guns were safe with .308. That being said, I would still be leery of using it often, if at all in any of the pre-98 mauser actions. Most of them were originally designed to have a working pressure of about 40,000-42,000 psi. .308 Win works at 50,000+ psi. Your FR-7 or 1916 rifle may very well shoot just fine with the hotter commercial loads, but why stress an old gun? Why risk youe eyes or more? Either use the nato loadings, or roll your own down a bit to the nato round levels. ...
FR-8 and .308 Winchester
The 93 type small ring mauser is a 40K to 45K CUP receiver not PSI. At least that is the limit most people put on them. The .308 Winchester cartridge is a 50K to 55K CUP cartridge.
The comparable PSI pressure is about 60K to 65K. There isn't a way to convert CUP to PSI but if you compare od reloading manuals that listed a CUP for a load and compare that with the same load in a new manual tha lists PSI you will find PSI readings are about 10K to 12K higher. That is in numbers only. A 50K CUP load and a 60K PSI load are the same thing in a given cartridge. Many people interchange CUP and PSI but they are not the same thing.
A CUP pressure measurement is determined by how much the pressure from a fired cartridge compresses a piece of copper. A PSI pressure measurement is determined by measuring an electrical impulse when a cartridge is fired.
The reason so many people advise against the .308 Winchester in a 93 small ring type action is not the strength of the receiver but because the shooter isn't protected from the hot gasses is a primer is punctured or a case ruptures.
In the FR-8 which is a large ring 98 Mauser action, the .308 Winchester cartridge is safe. If the rifle is safe to fire 7.62 Nato....
HTH.
Joe
The 93 type small ring mauser is a 40K to 45K CUP receiver not PSI. At least that is the limit most people put on them. The .308 Winchester cartridge is a 50K to 55K CUP cartridge.
The comparable PSI pressure is about 60K to 65K. There isn't a way to convert CUP to PSI but if you compare od reloading manuals that listed a CUP for a load and compare that with the same load in a new manual tha lists PSI you will find PSI readings are about 10K to 12K higher. That is in numbers only. A 50K CUP load and a 60K PSI load are the same thing in a given cartridge. Many people interchange CUP and PSI but they are not the same thing.
A CUP pressure measurement is determined by how much the pressure from a fired cartridge compresses a piece of copper. A PSI pressure measurement is determined by measuring an electrical impulse when a cartridge is fired.
The reason so many people advise against the .308 Winchester in a 93 small ring type action is not the strength of the receiver but because the shooter isn't protected from the hot gasses is a primer is punctured or a case ruptures.
In the FR-8 which is a large ring 98 Mauser action, the .308 Winchester cartridge is safe. If the rifle is safe to fire 7.62 Nato....
HTH.
Joe
ive read the same about the fr7 they wernt made to handle hotter loads over 52,000psi fr8,s have no problem but fr7,s tend to" loosen up" after shooting 308 instead of surplus
I am new here, so sorry if this has been beaten to death already. Here is my humble $0.02.
The FR-8 is a 98 mauser action. It can handle .30-06 and 8x57 with ease. If the gun is chambered for it, of course. .308 is no problem for one in good condition. You can shoot store-bought .308 until the cows come home (assuming all that blazing away doesn't drive them off...) and not have any problems. I do it all the time, and I am not the slightest bit worried about it. Shooting the .308, that is, not herding cattle with gunfire...
The FR-7, on the other hand, is a modified 1893 action. Century arms did some rather extensive tests with these and their 1916 rifles that were also converted to .308/7.62x51. They found that these guns were safe with .308. That being said, I would still be leery of using it often, if at all in any of the pre-98 mauser actions. Most of them were originally designed to have a working pressure of about 40,000-42,000 psi. .308 Win works at 50,000+ psi. Your FR-7 or 1916 rifle may very well shoot just fine with the hotter commercial loads, but why stress an old gun? Why risk youe eyes or more? Either use the nato loadings, or roll your own down a bit to the nato round levels. Anything that you are shooting at will never know the difference. Targets or deer won't care.
-Mb
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