This is the third half of the blog post on guns.
Interchangeability of Ammunition:
Ammunition is specifically designed. A .308 rifle cartridges will not fit in a 380 caliber pistol. One reason is the cartridge is too long. Another reason this doesn't work is the caliber is wrong; additionally, some cartridges are designed to produce a higher pressure when the round is fired. Some/Most guns can't handle these higher pressures of a different cartridge. Some can.
One of these is .38 Special cartridges in a revolver designed for the .357 magnum. These is an excellent article, explaining this interchangeablity, by Richard Malay at http://www.recguns.com/Sources/IIIB4.html
Rangy Lyman produced a chart showing the cartridges that are interchangeable. The chart is at http://yarchive.net/gun/ammo/cartridge_interchange.html
But what about the lack of interchangeablilty between the .308 and 7.62 NATO cartridge?
The .308 cartridge can be loaded for a higher presure than a 7.62 NATO round, so if you fire a 308 round in a gun designed to shoot 7.62 NATO, the rifle could be damaged.
Another danger is the 308 round is shorter then a 7.62 NATO cartridge. If you use a 308 cartridge in a rifle designed to shoot 7.62 NATO, the cartridge could rupture. A ruptured cartridge case would send very hot gases, from the burning powder, back into your eyes, face, and hands.
Scopes:
Chris Byrne, of The ArchAngel blog, has an excellent post on buying a scope for your rifles. His article is archived at http://anarchangel.blogspot.com/2008_08_01_archive.html You will have to scroll down to "Scoping Out." It is his August 4th post.
