Common Rifles Firing Same Ammo to Arm Finnish, Swedish Forces | Hacker News Reader

Common Rifles Firing Same Ammo to Arm Finnish, Swedish Forces

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27 pointsPaulHoule14 comments

Soviets for years used slightly larger ammo than NATO. So they could scavenge and use NATO ammo but we couldn't use theirs.

This is, unfortunately, a misconception.

Sure, a bullet the same size or smaller will 'fit' in a given barrel, but a depending on its weight and dimensions it will, at best perform equally, and at worst destroy the barrel.

But a bullet isn't the whole story; the rest of the cartridge has to fit snugly for the action of the gun to lock properly. Again, best case - the gun doesn't fire. Worst case, the action blows up.

This is a pretty simplified overview, but unfortunately the assertion above is a (pretty absurd) myth. Sorry :(

It’s technically possible though. The case of 38sp -> 357mag is a working example. The cartridge is longer and pressures higher so you don’t want to load a 357 into a 38 (and often can’t). But you can run 38sp in your 357 all day long.

One warning I received from my gunsmith though is that you’ll want to clean the barrel super well when switching so the powder ring of the longer round doesn’t cause problems. Hasn’t blown up in my face yet. Will report back if that changes.

I have never heard this before, can you give an example other than 357/38?

Buy a flare gun from the marine section at Walmart. Then buy some 12ga birdshot from the hunting section...

Best get some safety glasses while you're at it.

7.62x39mm (Russian) won't fire in a 7.62x51mm (NATO) rifle because the Russian round is narrower and will slip into the chamber too deep to fire. And conversely, the NATO round is too big (length and wide) to fire in the Russian chamber.

5.54x39mm (Russian) won't fire in a 5.56x45mm (NATO) rifle because it's a slightly wider case and won't fit in a NATO chamber. The NATO round is too long to close the chamber on the Russian rifle.

What cartridges? I don't think 7.62mm NATO or .308 are compatible with the 7.62 flavors that the USSR used

Are you thinking of mortar rounds, 60mm vs 61mm?

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