Nearly 5,000 rounds of ammunition were reported stolen to the Wetumpka Police Department last Tuesday.
The 7.62x51 rounds are similar to those used in the .308 Winchester hunting rifle and were taken from a storage unit on U.S. Highway 231.
“They were stored there by the owner,” Wetumpka assistant police chief Nick Betts said. “It was a crime of opportunity.”
Betts said it is not uncommon for gun owners to have ammunition such as this. He also said there was one other storage unit broken into in the same time frame.
“We haven’t had a rash of break ins with storage units lately,” Betts said. “We are still investigating to see what possibly happened and who might be responsible.”
The 7.62x51 round was introduced in the 1950s for use by the military in weapons such as the M14 and M60. It can be fired in the .308 rifles but the .308 Winchester rounds have more power and cannot be fired in the 7.62x51.
