7.62 x 51 vs .308 Win

Widener's has an article talking about the differences between the venerable .308 Winchester and the much beloved 7.62 x 51 NATO cartridge.

I've been a big fam of the .308 Winchester for many years.  And a big fan of the military variant.  It's a great cartridge, and I consider them interchangeable.  The differences can be most accurately attributed to small manufacturing issues than it can to design differences.

I did chuckle when I read this:

Though you can safely shoot 7.62×51 through modern .308 rifles, it’s wise to have a gunsmith check the headspace in your 7.62 NATO rifle before using it to fire .308 rounds. Many newer rifles probably won’t have an issue. But, as they say, it’s better to be safe than sorry.

The .308 Win was designed in 1952 and the 7.62 was adopted in 1954.  I don't think we'll find any antique rifles chambered in either of these cartridges.  Hence, they are all modern rifles.

I do recall that back in the early 80s the government released a batch of 7.62 into the surplus market.  It was made by Lake City in 1968 and we soon learned that it was spectacularly uniform. Wonderfully accurate, we simply could not build or buy bett3er ammo than Lake City 68.  It was magnificent, and fairly cheap.  We bought as much as we could carry.