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AMMUNITION
All Lewis Machine & Tool Co. products are designed and built to specifications to shoot standard factory
commercially available NATO compliant ammunition. The specifications for standard commercially available
NATO compliant ammunition include harder primers to withstand the slight indentation from the firing pin when
the bolt chambers a cartridge. This slight indentation is normal. The use of civilian ammunition with more
sensitive primers or hand-loads with commercial primers and/or improperly seated primers increases the risk
of primer detonation when the bolt slams forward, firing the firearm. Every shooter should use extreme caution
when loading a firearm. All Lewis Machine & Tool rifles have military specification chambers. All 5.56mm
chamber will fire commercial .223 Rem ammunition as well as the LM308MWS is chambered for 7.62x51mm
and will also fire the commercial .308 Win cartridge. All 6.8mm SPC chambers are manufactured to SAAMI
specification (Spec 1 chamber).
Use only recently made high quality, original, factory-manufactured or factory remanufactured NATO compliant
ammunition of the caliber for which your firearm is chambered. The proper caliber is permanently engraved on
your firearm barrel; never attempt to use ammunition of any other caliber. Old ammunition may deteriorate
from age causing it to be dangerous. Do not use cartridges that are dirty, wet, corroded, bent or damaged. Do
not oil cartridges. Do not spray aerosol-type lubricants, preservatives or cleaners directly onto cartridges or
where excess spray may flow into contact with cartridges. Lubricant or other foreign matter on cartridges can
cause potentially dangerous ammunition malfunctions. Always store ammunition in a cool dry place to prevent
contamination and/or deterioration of the primer and powder. Use only ammunition of the caliber for which
your firearm is chambered and manufactured for. Defective ammunition can create excessive pressures
resulting in an explosion and cause injury or death to you and/or those nearby. YOU MUST ASSUME
RESPONSIBILITY FOR USING PROPER AND SAFE AMMUNITION. Keep ammunition separated by caliber
at home and on the range. This can be done by keeping it in the original box. Throw ammunition away that has
been dented or deformed, shows signs of wear such as split or cracked necks, cratered or flattened primers,
or punctured cases. If you have any reason to question the safety of any cartridge does not use it and safely
discard it immediately. DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES USE OLD OR RELOADED AMMUNITION
PURCHASED AT GUN SHOWS, ESTATE SALES OR AUCTIONS.
The use of reloaded, hand-loaded or other non-standard ammunition voids all warranties. Reloading is a
science and improperly loaded ammunition can be extremely dangerous. Severe damage to the firearm and
serious injury to the shooter or to others may result. Reloaded ammunition that may function in a bolt or slide
action firearm may not properly function and may even explode in a semi-automatic weapon. The risk of a
mishap is reduced by using current clean ammunition that complies with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
(NATO) specifications.
FIREARMS MAY BE SEVERELY DAMAGED AND SERIOUS INJURY TO THE SHOOTER
OR TO OTHERS MAY RESULT FROM ANY CONDITION CAUSING EXCESSIVE PRESSURE INSIDE THE
CHAMBER OR BARREL DURING FIRING. EXCESSIVE PRESSURE CAN BE CAUSED BY
OBSTRUCTIONS IN THE BARREL, PROPELLANT POWDER OVERLOADS, OR BY THE USE OF
INCORRECT CARTRIDGES OR DEFECTIVELY ASSEMBLED CARTRIDGES. IN ADDITION, THE USE OF
DIRTY, CORRODED, OR DAMAGED CARTRIDGES MAY CAUSE PERSONAL INJURY FROM THE
SUDDEN ESCAPE OF HIGH-PRESSURE PROPELLANT GAS WITHIN THE FIREARM'S MECHANISM.
Immediately stop shooting and check the barrel for an obstruction whenever:
• You have difficulty in, or feel unusual resistance in, chambering a cartridge
• A cartridge misfires (does not go off)
• The mechanism fails to extract a fired cartridge case
• Unburned grains of propellant powder are discovered spilled in the mechanism
• A shot sounds weak or abnormal. In such cases it is possible that a bullet is lodged part way down
the barrel. Firing a subsequent bullet into the obstructed barrel can destroy the firearm and cause
serious injury to the shooter and to bystanders.
Bullets can become lodged in the barrel:
• If the cartridge has been improperly loaded without propellant powder, or if the powder fails to ignite.
(Ignition of the cartridge primer alone will push the bullet out of the cartridge case, but usually does not
generate sufficient energy to expel the bullet completely from the barrel.)
• If the bullet is not properly seated tightly in the cartridge case. When such a cartridge is extracted
from the chamber without being fired, the bullet may be left behind in the bore at the point where the
rifling begins. Subsequent chambering of another cartridge may push the first bullet further into the
bore.