GGG 7.62 x 51 mm

As an old Practical Rifleman, I got my first AR15 in 1983 and FN FAL in 1984 I have a keen interest in bulk ammo, for this read military surplus. Back then; especially with real self-loaders it was more a case of never mind the quality feel the width, as I could hose down a lot of 5.56 and 7.62 for no other reason than to hear the rifle go bang. So we were always on the lookout for cheap fodder!

7.62x51mm NATO was available from Pakistani POF, German MEN and similar outlets, whatever, as long as it was the right price it would do, I think the going rate for 1000 back then was about £100. Most of it was Berdan-primed (twin, off-set flash holes) so not a reloading option and at the price even if it had been Boxer (single, central flash hole) I doubt if we would have bothered.

STILL A NEED

Over the years a lot of this military surplus has dried up, though other companies from other countries have risen to fill the vacuum. In truth 7.62 NATO ammo is not just for PR-type shooting as the calibre and its civilian counterpart 308 Winchester is probably the most popular for many types of fun, casual and serious competitive work.

One such company is GGG from of all places Lithuania, a country I never thought much about, certainly as producers of quality 7.62 NATO. Much to my surprise when I was speaking to Greg Felton of Law Enforcement International (LEI) who supplied the LMT 308SP he told me he was sending some GGG and it was very good, which if you read last month’s gun test turned out to be true. So let’s look a bit closer…

NATO - APPROVED!

GGG was set up in 2000 and in 2001 was producing 7.62x39 ball ammo and by 2002 had developed an integrated quality assurance system to ISO 9001 and 14001 standards, which resulted in production of 5.56x45 and 7.62x51 in 2004, which was submitted to NATO for approval. In 2005 they were granted the right to stamp the head with the NATO interchangeability sign of the circled cross.

The ammo is presented in green, 200-round nylon carry pouches, inside are 10 x 20-round cardboard boxes. The head stamp is GGG, the circled cross and in this case 12 indicating year of manufacture (2012). Inspection showed a clean and well put together cartridge. Compared to the last lot of Radway Green 7.62 I saw the GGG seems much better presented!

Cases are brass and Boxer-primed and the primer shows a red lacquer annulus which will give it a degree of waterproofing and is ring-crimped in place. Up front is your typical FMJ, boat-tailed bullet with canelure, inspection showed a very light roll crimp. Unusually for military ammo there is no form of bitumen sealing compound on the shank, which some other 7.62 NATO does.

PLEASINGLY CONSISTENT

Pulling a cross section showed excellent consistency. Bullet weights is a quoted 147 grains and the average came out at a pleasing 147.16 grains with an ES (extreme spread) of just 0.1 grain. Likewise the powder, which is a fine, double-based ball-type visually similar to BLC2. This averaged 44.6 grains with an ES of 0.1.

GGG quote an average speed of 823 MPS +/- 15 m/s, which in old money means 2732 fps, so very much your typical 7.62 NATO ball round. The short, 16” barrel of the LMT 308SP does rob velocity with an average of 2550 fps. For testing I used my Ruger Scout, which has an 18” barrel, this did not show a massive improvement at 2592 fps, though ES was good at 34 fps with a standard deviation of 13 fps. Not too shabby for a cartridge designed for self-loaders and medium machine guns!

Testing was done at 100 yards supported with a 3-9x50 scope and the Scout was shooting a decent 1”. Overall a well made, potentially accurate and consistent round of ammo and well worth a look. Cases are eminently reloadable, just be aware you will need to remove the crimp in the primer pocket and also internal capacity might be a little less than with 308 Win as generally military brass has nominally thicker walls.

As might be expected this GGG ball is selling very well and is available from many dealers large and small, so just give your local gun shop a bell as I’m sure if they have not got any they can get it in quickly.