Why do civilians buy rifles that fire NATO rounds?

I saw a documentary on how ships are built. Riveting.
This is something I've wondered for some time. I may be wrong, but I believe NATO rounds were developed, at least in part, to be able to pierce the body armor of the enemy soldier. Either way, they are substantial rounds, and coming out of a rifle, that's a lot of stopping power--so much, that I can't see why Joe Average would need one, for self-defense at any rate. Perhaps they're used for hunting, I wouldn't know.
I mean, wouldn't even a good PCC do the job (of home defense, let's say) in most cases?

 

Depends on who you are defending your home from. The 2nd Amendment isn't about hunting or personal defense, it's about having the firepower to confront any force that might threaten your rights, including the U.S. Military.
PS Most military calibers started out as civilian calibers before being adopted by the military.

 

Modern body armor did not even exist when the NATO cartridges were developed and standardized in the 1950’s or 60’s. We buy them because we simply can.

 

just my opinion...in part ammo is easier to find if we enter a SHTF scenario...

 

Lots of it is because it's commonly available for platforms that we're familiar with. As far as need goes, I don't know if I'll be defending against a single attacker or many. A stout hickory cane might "do the job." Or I might need to shoot through walls, doors, and cars. Why would I want something that wasn't capable of getting the job done?

You don't sound like you're from around here.

 

Technical the 7.62x51 and the .308 Win are almost the same in size and power.
The where developed to make a lighter with less recoil and cheaper round to replace the good old 30-06 that is even more powerful.

 

The headspacing is a bit different, as is the pressure developed in the case. Same is true for .223Rem vs. 5.56X45. Depending upon the particular gun, they might be interchangeable but generally are NOT.

 

You do know that modern body armor isn't rare any more. Also, there is some stuff coming out of china that is dirt cheap that may or may not stop ball rifle rounds (kinda hit or miss .. pun intended) but will most likely stop a pistol or shot gun slug.

Anyway NATO rounds aren't special for the most part but it is a way for countries across the globe in an alliance to have firearms that fire the same cartridge manufactured to the same specification and be interchangeable just like good old Henry Ford intended the world to be.

I wonder how many of the last mass shooters were wearing body armor. That's why you want a rifle that penetrates body armor because it's not just the police and military wearing it.

 

That's what we were told anyway. I always suspected that the USSR might have had a hand in its destruction.

 

I think it has nothing to do simply with what the round can penetrate (we mere civilians choose 7.62, 5.56 and 9x19 - the most common “NATO” rounds) but it is all about availability, cost (on bulk quantities) and the various arms that are chambered in them. And your own personal defensive needs will vary greatly depending on your location handguns and PCCs are probably fine in your average suburban home setting but will be as useless and tits on a bull out in the middle of Australia (for example). My family's “normal” sized cattle station was 200,000 acres and three hours drive (if the road was open) from the nearest town. It’s also FLAT. In that environment a person with a moderately accurate centrefire rifle will just sit at distance that can’t be matched with a handgun round and wait.

 

Sounds like ai searching for opinions...

 

Many of us are or were milsurp collectors too. Buy NATO ammo or just brass in bulk was cheaper than buying new commercial ammo.

 

This is a VERY common misconception around Mil Spec Ammo, specifically BALL ammo, everything in the OP is FLAT WRONG!

Lemme Splain! MIl Ammo is expected to be 100% Compliant with the Geniva Conventions of war, a misguided and obsolete set of rules that limit the damage or "Lethality" of ammo used in conflict, thusly, that ammo is the least deadly of all types available to civilians!!!
Furthermore, the Idea of ammo that can penetrate body armor is a Bad Joke, pushed by Obummer to try and restrict civilian access to Cheap and plentiful mil-surp ammo, it had nothing to do with lethality and everything to do with it's availability and common use!

If I wanted to punch body armor, there are far more options available, actual armor piercing ammo, while it's somewhat restricted and some states have outlawed it in civilian hands, it is still widely available, in the most common calibers it was manufactured for, and what's more, the industry has actively continued to develop such ammunition for an ever expanding range of calibers!

To say Military ammo is more deadly is a really obtuse and bad joke, and shows just how uninformed some people are, most hunting rounds are vastly more dangerous then military ammo, so much so that it has largely been banned from lawful armed combat, in otherwords, Grandaddies old .30/06 firing a 150 grain soft point at 2970 Feet Per Second is going to do vastly more terminal damage on target then any military chambering under the mighty .50 BMG rounds! Meanwhile, that same rifle firing standard M-2 Ball ammo will either pass clean through with a caliber specific wound channel nearly the same as the bullet it's self, or it will dump it's energy inside a target, often times, such a shot to the vitals can be survivable, especially if it simply ice picked through, for shots at oblique angles, nope game over buddy, here's a strette of morphine and I'll read you your last rites!

I'm speaking from over 45 years of experience, 20 of it in combat trauma care, the rest in hunting and civilian trauma care having dealt with hundreds of gun shot wounds, I can tell you, one of the very worst I ever saw was a .243 Winchester gun shot wound, using a standard 80 grain deer hunting projectile, basically a soft point that impacted mid torso and then expanded explosively to nearly double it's original diameter, the would cavity was so bad, the patient died instantly, as intended, the internal organs basically exploded, not from the bullet it's self, but the energy of the bullet moving at such high velocity and dumping it's energy entirely within the torso, it turned the internal organs into purple mush, imposable to define what was what, there was no possible treatment for that person, couldn't even apply morphine!

Worst one I treated was a dude that took a round of 7.62X51 NATO in the left heel of his foot, that round traveled up his leg, blew out his knee, continued up the inside of his thigh and blew out his hip before continuing on up through his torso, before blowing out his left shoulder and exiting stage right just past his ear lobe, he was dead before I could even really start, and once they are dead, ain't no bringing um back no matter how good you are as a medic!!!

Please, STOP trying to push this argument that Military Surplus ammo is extra spicy and extra extra deadly, NO,........ IT IS NOT, for good reason!

 

No matter what hits you out of a rifle, you are going to have a seriously bad day. Full stop.

 

Why do civilians buy rifles that shoot NATO rounds. For the same reason that people buy houses with 4500 sq ft for two people. They could live quite well in a 1200 sq ft ranch, but want a big house for what ever reason. Or a 125 grand BMW. Why not buy a leaf electric car for 30 grand? I like shooting 556 NATO. Lots of good weapons chambered for it, reasonably flat shooting, low recoil, widely available, lots of goodies available for its rail system, can build it up from kits, light weight to carry, and such. I think I have more reasons to shoot NATO rounds than to justify owning a cabin to ski in Vail Colorado, but I don't have the green and anti gun groups defending my selection.

Big difference is that while I enjoy my firearms, I am not trying to outlaw their selections in housing, cars, or anything else. Funny how they have the God given right to control my life, but they are totally protected in their life selections. I find it revealing that one of the nations with the lower number of firearms per 100 people, Cambodia with 4,5 per hundred also had Pol Pet with a death tole of about 25 % of the total population. Might of been nice to be able to defend yourself while being beaten to death with clubs as the regime didn't want to waste bullets.

 

I heard the 7.62x51 had its peak pressure reduced slightly compared to 308win to increase machine gun barrel life, also slightly.

 

Many civilians use military ammo because of the availability of surplussed ammo in quantities. Lotsa 7.62x51, 5.56, 9mmP and even 7.62x39 and 7.62x54 soviet available on the market from time to time. 7.92x57 (8mm) too. Guys I've known kept small piles of surplus Vietnam War-issue ammo to break out and use "in a pinch"- the stuff was sealed, properly stored, and in as good shape as when it was issued- just "old". I bought a bunch of the 1930's-made Turkish 8mm stuff years back and it fired as required too, and who knows how it was stored over the 80 or more years since it's manufacture.... Also have (foolishly) fired ww2-issue German 9mm which functioned fine and I should have saved as relics...

 

Yeah, OP is sketchy as hell. AI or someone doing research most probably against our community.

Not just on this thread, either.