Due to fortunate circumstances, my winter reloading for the summer is not going to happen…at all. Before I got into reloading I used to shoot the above two Federal loadings in my precision rifle. Both shot awesome, but my rifle seemed to prefer the 7.62x51.
I haven’t purchased any GMM ammo in about ten years, but if I want to shoot, I’m going to have to. Federal’s website says they will ship direct, with the weeks long delay of course. However, all the specs on their website for both rounds are the same. Components, BC, velocity, all are the same. The only difference is the cost is way more for the 7.62. Does anyone have recent experience with these two rounds? They can’t be the same despite what is listed on the website. I’d like to get a couple of cases when I order so I’d hopefully get the same lot.
I fired both cartridges out of my Savage 10 FCP and noticed a very slight difference in accuracy with Federal 175g Gold Medal Match being slightly better. The M118LR would group 6" at 545 yards, which was acceptable for me. M118LR once fired brass produced good reloads with the same accuracy as GMM brass. This data is from 2016, I transitioned to 6.5 Creedmoor in 2017.
If I had the opportunity to buy M118LR to shoot out of my Savage, I would definitely buy it.
The guys over on the M14 forum (TFL) say that the only difference between the .308 and the 7.62 is that the cases of the latter are NOT polished, so you can see the annealing.
I shoot both in my Savage FCP-SR and can’t tell the difference… Both do about 1moa for me in my gun.
Side note, I’ve been ordering cases of .22lr direct from Federal, and they actually usually ship within a week or two.
Sounds to me like it’s not worth the markup for the 7.62. Ah, who knows, maybe it was different back then and it’s the same now, or maybe it was all mental on my part. Thank you both!
They are virtually the same round and I would go with the .308 over the 7.62. The cartridges will be fire formed to your chamber after your first firing, so it would be a non issue from that point forward.
I must be 100% wrong because I thought the 7.62 was softer/ less hot than 308. And it was for gas guns vs 308 for Bolts. I have and shoot both and have never done a side by side comparison.
Both the Fed GM and M118LR are low node rounds. Only difference is the Brass is made to Military Spec.
You will find probably a difference in Accuracy between the 2 ……with the accuracy going to the Fed GM load .
Both use IMR 4064 and Fed 210M primers with Sierra Matchkings bullets.
Fed GM is highly used by Federal and local sniper teams in 308 Win a proven winner. If your rifle can’t shoot this accurate you need to replace your rifle .
No crimp for M118LR it’s loaded just like the Fed GM except the Brass is military spec.
41.745 of IMR 4064 with 175 MK and Fed 210M .
Powder amount might change in production based a powder lot used for desired Vel. of 2625fps
Definitely a Low Node round suitable for M14 Based weapons also unlike the original load for the M24/M40.