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Posted On: 4/5/2021
By: Reynaldo Sanchez
A: Yes sir, I see no reason why an M1A shouldn't run this ammo without issue.
Posted On: 3/2/2021
By: Terry
A: Hello Terry! The MatchKing is not a hunting bullet and will not expand significantly in soft tissue. I mean, you could make it work with proper aim, but if you do please check first that your local hunting laws permit the use of non-expanding bullets during deer season. I regret that we haven't got a suitable 308/7.62x51 hunting cartridge in stock at the moment.
Posted On: 2/17/2021
By: Steve Clement
A: Thank you for the kind words Steve! This is indeed new production ammo. Because it is military-grade ammo, Winchester does not polish its brass cases before packaging them. (Which is why you can see the annealing marks around the necks and shoulders.) This is because the military is not concerned with cosmetics – they only want their ammo to work correctly.
Military snipers would absolutely use ammo like this to incapacitate enemy combatants, no question about it. Snipers need outstanding accuracy from their ammo, and since the Hague Convention places a moratorium on expanding bullets for international warfare they can't use them anyway. But an American citizen can use expanding bullets for self-defense, and because they are more effective at incapacitating a threat there is little reason to do without them. (Well, that's assuming the ammo market hasn't made expanding rifle bullets very difficult to find.)
More importantly, with very few exceptions it is hard to argue that a very distant target represents a threat to your personal safety. That's why we generally don't advertise sniping ammo as appropriate for self-defense: not because it's ineffective in tactical situations, but because civilians don't typically engage in tactical situations where the threat is several hundred yards away.
In summary, this ammo isn't the optimal choice for personal protection, but 7.62x51 is undoubtedly going to leave a mark at close range regardless of its bullet type.
Posted On: 2/11/2021
By: Charlie Rawlins
A: Great question Charlie! The two cartridges are virtually identical in dimensions – the commercial 308 Win is just loaded a little "hotter" (i.e. it generates greater pressure in the chamber) than the military 7.62x51. Because a 308 Win rifle's chamber is designed to absorb more pressure, the universal consensus is that it's perfectly safe to fire 7.62x51 in a rifle chambered for 308 Win. However, even SAAMI does not consider it unsafe to fire 308 Win rounds in firearms chambered for 7.62x51. Thoguh loaded hotter, the 308 Win's chamber pressure is not all that greater than the 7.62x51.