A new rifle....

[tddeangelo]

Wasn't planning on it, but this one is going to become part of the collection....

This one is a big missing piece for me. I have examples of the Krag-Jorgensen, M1903, Model of 1917, M1 Garand, M1 Carbine, and AR15. I needed something to represent the M14, and here it is.

It's a Springfield Armory Inc standard rifle, recent production (no USGI parts) with national match sights and a wood hanguard. Haven't made it officially mine yet, but it'll happen.

Anyone have some familiarity with reloading for them? I have data and loads for the M1, and I know the gas system requires some considerations to prevent op rod damage. While my reading says that the M14/M1A's gas system has some features to assist it in "self-regulating," I'll be surprised if there aren't parameters within which reloads should remain that are not going to encompass all 308 Win load data.

The rifle's paperwork says it can fire 7.62 NATO and 308 Winchester ammo, and I know those two aren't completely identical. It does not definitively indicate which round it's chambered for.

I'm getting some ball ammo with it, so I won't sweat that too much, but I'll need to load for it at some point, so any pointers are very welcome!

 

[DrMike]

That is a most desirable piece, Tom. Congratulations. I don't have any of that set in my collection, and likely never will here in Canada. Doesn't stop me from wanting, however.

 

[tddeangelo]

Thanks, DrMike!

Same source has another firearm that's tempting me, but that'll have to go in the handgun section.

 

[Anonymous]

I love these... I had a National Match for a few years.

It ate prodigious amounts of 7.62x51 Ball and shot too good to mess with. For reloads, I'd stick to the the 7.62x51 data. No advantage to hot loads in these guns.

 

[truck driver]

Stick with the 7.62X51 data and don't shoot anything hot threw it, not that it isn't a strong action just that the gas system will get clogged with carbon and stop working properly.

 

[tddeangelo]

What I'm seeing so far is H4895 is the powder to have for this and the Garand, and some 165/168gr bullets are the weight to look for. I know ball loads used lighter bullets, although there seems to be a lot of affinity for the 165 weight.

And, like the Garand, no bench rest primers unless I want to go through ammo REALLY fast, lol.

 

[Darkhorse]

Sweet rifle. Due to my age I just think the M1 and M14 type actions are just really cool. The AR's are still growing on me.

 

[tddeangelo]

I got to shoot the M1A today. I got some Federal M80 ball ammo and zeroed it up at 50, then reached out to 100.

I shot three, cleared the rifle, shot my handguns and Garand a bit, and then sat back at the bench and shot three more with the M1A using the same hold as the first three.

Here is the target:

I was pretty happy with that group. The target is one of the worst types for metallic sights at any kind of distance, but I did my best to recreate the same sight picture each time. I'm sure a little bit of that dispersion was me not getting exactly in the same sight picture each time, and it's still a pretty good group, all things considered.

The rifle has National Match sights, but a standard barrel, and is not bedded nor accurized.

This one's a keeper.

 

[Elkman]

That's great shooting tom, nothing wrong with that at all. More shooting time and a different will surely target will improve those groups

 

[SJB358]

Looks like that will be fun to work with.

 

[tddeangelo]

For non-optical sights, I'm usually pretty happy anytime I start seeing groups around an inch. That has about a bullet hole's breadth over an inch....no handloading, tuning, etc. Just factory ammo, the only ball 7.62 ammo Cabela's had, and two different strings...heck, the guys that were shooting scoped hunting rifles at the same time weren't doing that well, lol.

My Garand only shot about 2-2.5" at 100, which isn't altogether unusual for a non-match/accurized rifle, but I am pretty sure that rifle also isn't a huge fan of the Greek HXP ammo I had on hand. Handloads will likely please it more.

I have very few military guns that will shoot like the M1A "as is," though, so I'm pretty pleased.

Looks like H4895 is the powder to have, so I'll have to buy heavily into it. It's a good Garand powder, too, and it's darn handy for reduced recoil loads as well.

 

[DrMike]

Well, that is downright exciting. Fine accuracy from that rifle.

 

[SJB358]

I love me some H4895. Very useful for a lot of stuff!

 

[tddeangelo]

Yep. I better start watching for jugs of the stuff at this rate...and some 165-ish grain 30 cals for cheap. They'll work for the Garand and M1A alike.

Since I'm headed to SC for deer and pigs in October, I'm half tempted to work up a load for the 165PT for this rifle and take it down there to shoot a piggie if I tag out on deer.

 

[DrMike]

It would be a ton of fun to go slamming ham with that rifle.

 

[truck driver]

Tom it's been too long ago and I can't remember my battle sight zero for the M14 but I can tell you that you can reach out and touch something with it and not touch the sights after their set. My issued Winchester manufactured M14 was very reliable and always felt good in my hands. I was sad to see it replaced by the M16.

 

[Polaris]

IMR 4064 or Varget/168 SMK is the gold standard with these.

 

[SJB358]

IMR 4064 or Varget/168 SMK is the gold standard with these.

I wonder how the new 4166 might be. Bet it's not a bad option either.

Pretty hard for a 308/7.62x51 to shoot poorly. Even our machine guns when fired single shot like to zero optics were incredibly accurate.

 

[tddeangelo]

The big issue is port pressure. I know 4064 is often looked upon sideways by some in Garand reloading cycles because of its fast burn rate. Not sure how that translates to the M14-type gas system....

 

[SJB358]

The big issue is port pressure. I know 4064 is often looked upon sideways by some in Garand reloading cycles because of its fast burn rate. Not sure how that translates to the M14-type gas system....

Could be, but it isn't hugely different than H4895 in burn rate most of the time. I think IMR4895 was the original pull down powder of from all those mil surp loads. Depending on the day, lots and such they are pretty similar.