Safety of commercial ammo in an M305

VictorLazlo

VictorLazlo

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Hi everyone, I'm a long-time reader but first-time poster. Greetings :)

I'm thinking about buying an M305, but that whole inertial firing pin thing has me worried. I know that ammo loaded to military specs (like Norinco's 7.62x51) will be safe as long as there's no crud in the firing pin channel preventing it from moving freely, but I don't think it'll give me the accuracy I want (recognizing that the M305 won't be a sub-MOA rifle to begin with of course).

My question to the M305 gurus here is this: could I safely use, say, Federal 180 gr Power-Shok ammo, or something similar? Would the primers be hard enough to be cycled safely?

Also, would 180 gr ammo be excessively hard on the action, or on the recoil lugs of a Sage chassis?

Many thanks!
 
The 180gr will be at the top end of the spectrum for the rifle. It is just too punishing on the Gas system, op-rod guide and op rod. I personally stick to 168 gr on the top end, but if you were carrying it hunting and all you had were 180 gr I would not hesitate to use since it should only be one or maybe two shots. Happy Shooting!!
 
I used commercial ammo in mine. DO NOT LET THE BOLT HAMMER HOME ON AN ALREADY CHAMBERED ROUND. Insert a loaded mag, pull the bolt to the rear and release, letting it strip a round from the mag and chambering it. 180gr is not neccesary, a 150 or 165 with a premium bullet (TTSX/GMX) will perform well. Yes, I have used these bullets with success.

NOTE: I experimented with doing exactly as I said not too above. The round did not fire, but there was a small dent in the primer. Again, learn from others experience.
 
Check the "receiver bridge" at a time of purchase. Step on it MUST hold the firing pin at rear until bolt is in full buttery.
 
There should be no problem if firing pin is clean and free,the issue is more to do with primer seating depths.When the rifle is cycling another round into chamber there will always be a light dent in primer which is normal for a free floating firing pin in a semi.It relies on the resistance of stripping the round out of the magazine to slow the bolt down.

Using commercial ammo can have its problems,powder burn rate and preasure are important considerations to avoid damage to op rod as well as bullet weight.
 
Federal 150 grain powershock work well in these rifles and is fairly accurate as well . Its not cheap if you shoot a lot but it is a good ammo to use as its sold pretty much everywhere .
 
Victor the only possible ammo safety issues I noted with mine after around 2000 rounds was three S&B had pieced primers. All in same 20 round box. No issues were apparent during the firing or on bolt face afterwards and only noted after I picked up the brass. I assumed it was very soft primers and very energetic firing pin energy designed to reliably detonate harder NATO primers. Maybe I'm wrong. I don't buy S&B ammo anymore because other ammo is available cheaper as well.

I'd stick with 140-168 weight bullets, you'll get a lot of bantering on here about different ammo brands, but most work as designed. Some MFS steel showed cracked cases and heavy fouling and Barnual left a lot of residue in firing pin hole from that red lacquer and seemed the least accurate in my rifle.. No issues you can't overcome as a recreational shooter. Now a nation planning on investing in hundreds of thousands of rifles and billions of rounds of ammunition to feed them, that would be a whole different story.;)
 
chalkriver said:
Federal 150 grain powershock work well in these rifles and is fairly accurate as well . Its not cheap if you shoot a lot but it is a good ammo to use as its sold pretty much everywhere .
Click to expand...

^^^^ best advice in this thread.
I buy it by the case lots and have been shooting it in m14 type rifles for well over a decade. It was also the ONLY ammunition I would use for test firing customers m14 type rifles when I was running my custom m14 shop.
the only time I would NOT use this ammo (or any other .308 spec commercial cased load) is/was in chambers larger than 1.640" , in which case I recommend real 7.62 nato ammunition
by and large, norinco rifles of the past 5 years or so have average headspace values under 1.640"

the 7.62 nato vs .308 debate will never go away but the above has serviced me well, in a few hundred rifles, over many thousand rounds.
I also would never, ever, run red box American eagle ammunition thru my m14 rifles due to it exhibiting thin and brittle webs on several occasions causing case head separation and necks stuck in chambers. The LC brass cased American eagle "might" be an exception but I'll admit to have little or no experience with it thru my rifles..

this platform is designed for 147gr to 174gr loads. 180 gr is not recommended as it stresses the action and operating parts
 
I reload for my M305. I use Winchester commercial brass, standard CCI 200 large rifle primers and 168 grain SMK bullets with 41.3 grains of IMR4895. I have also shot commercial assembled rounds in my rifle UP TO 168gr. There have been no issues. When shooting bullets heaver than 147 grain or so I install a Sadlak groved gas piston to reduce gas pressure and op rod blow back. Max bullet weight recommended with Sadlak groved gas piston is 175 grains. 180 is getting too heavy and puts too much stress on op rod, oprod spring and action.
 
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