Question on Chinese .308 Win

[GREYBEAR]

I came across .308 win Ammo made by Norinco under the trade name ChinaSports. This is berdan primed, steel case, non-corrosive, lead core 147 Gr. FMJ. The head stamp has the #s 61 on top and 92 on the bottom, of course the 61 could also be read as a 19 if the case is rotated. Has any one ever heard of this ammo.

[tanstaafl4y]

I can't speak for the .308, but I have shot a bunch of 7.62x39 Chinasport (Norinco). My experience puts it higher in "quality/accuracy" than Wolf.

I'm sure it would be fine ammo( for anything except CETME/G-# because of case head seperations). Maybe someone with the .308 can add value to this thread.

[M1 Tanker]

Yep, I had a bunch of that stuff in the early 90s. It shot fine...its steel cased, copper washed if I remember right.

[Army Boy]

I have a question:
if it is steel cased, wouldn't it be stronger than brass, therefore reducing the chance of case head separation in a CETME or G3?
I bought 500 rounds of steel cased Barnaul for my G3s. did I do wrong?

[Grasshopper]

Got a link? My boss inports and exports from China. He carrys a rosco at work.:wave:

[M1 Tanker]

You can't import it anymore Grasshopper...it was banned from import in 1994 (IIRC) because its steel core.

[SteelCore]

"if it is steel cased, wouldn't it be stronger than brass, therefore reducing the chance of case head separation in a CETME or G3?"

The issue is not 'strength,' but your definition of what constitutes strength...the pliability of the cartridge under the forces chamber pressure and heat...not just material but also its ductility/malleability ratios, thickness, etc.

THassrite, in some cases a work-hardened brass may be 'stronger' than a mild steel case.

Also, Brass is more ductile (bendy, flexible) than steel, which tends be less ductile (i.e., brittle).

Therefore, some would say that steel cases are weaker than brass.

My demo case is the brass Bulgy 762x54, vs. the Czech steelcase 762x54.
The steelcase is sturdy stuff, wel packed, etc. The bulgy seemed lesser quality, cases had some dings and dents. When firing about 300 of each typpe over the course of 3 months, I got a lot of splits in the czech cases near the neck transition, usually about 2-5mm in length, running parallel to the length og the case...no case head separations tho. When shooting the buly, I had some with deep dents, and aftr firing the case would be totally perfect with the dents blown out of it. I had no tears or splits, or separations.

So my test would show that the cases were perhaps more 'strong' due to the increased ductility of the brass over the steel.

This is also why I won't shoot steelcased 762NATO in my CETME...the cartridge case in a CETME gets stretched so much so quick that I feel the brass case is really important to the function of the fluted chamber.

[landtoy80]

I had some China Sport 308 that wouldn't work in my FR8.
The bolt wouldn't close with it. No problem with ammo in Cetme.
I have not have any other problem with ammo in the FR8.