180 grain issues in m14

flashG

flashG

Member
Rating - 100%
14   0   0
Location
Vancouver
Hi I went out and picked up some ammo so I would be able to go out shooting as soon as my m14 comes in from marstar, the guy at the gun shop recomended 180 grain fusion ammo that I purchased, but I saw a thread that said something about never shooting over 170 grain...
could someone give me some clarification?
Thanks
 
The heavier weight stuff has a tendency to batter your bolt into the receiver both ways... It's not the best weight to be using in he M305's 147 and 150 will be better.
 
Your #### won't fall off if you shoot 180gn rounds in your M14S... but they'll batter the receiver/bolt a lot more than a 150gn round.

Personally, I wouldn't shoot thousands and thousands of 180-grainers in the M14 but a box or two shouldn't kill it.

147gn ball is what mine gets, mostly.

-M
 
flashG said:
thanks, so if I just shoot a few of the 180 for hunting then I should be ok?
Click to expand...

Haha... bear and I posted at the same time... good stuff!

No, 180's won't wreck you if you just shoot a box a year for hunting/sighting in. I sure wouldn't use 'em for regular target shooting though. Not only for the battering factor, but the cost as well...

-M
 
The match bullet for the M14 was a 168gr FMJ round with an exposed lead base loaded mostly in Lake City Match brass. This is about as high a projectile weight as the US ARMY allowed to be fired in service M14's. The service load was a 147gr .30 cal FMJ designed to as closely as possibly duplicate the trajectory of .30-06 M2 ball.

150gr Hornady FMJ's and 155gr A-max Hornady match bullets are what I shoot mostly in reloaded NATO brass.
 
155gr A-Max reloads in mine. Shoot very well and my rifle has had no tuning. Seemed pretty tight out of the box. 5 shots in under 2" at 200m, Benchmaster rest and VariX-III 3.5-10x40 glass in a SA mount.
 
norinco factory 308 winch is berdened primed, steel case, non-corrosive, lead core shells 147 Gr FMJ. I think this was made for norinco m14s rifles. I have been using this for many years without any problems.
 
Its harder on the Operating-rod but the gun wont' blow up. Hell the USMC shooting teams shoots 190's for long range competitions with their M-14's but then again they have an Armorer with a mobile shop on hand.....no problems rebuilding them after x amount of rounds.

If I was to shoot an M1A a lot I would go lighter as already mentioned.....You can easily reproduce an 168 grain match load on your loading bench (if you have one).
 
Here in Ontario, the thick bush usually encountered when deer hunting seems to have lead to the 180grain bullets being the most common on .30 caliber cartridges in most Canadian Tire, Walmart and Hardware store outlets. If you keep on the lookout though, I'm sure that you could find some lighter bullets. For a common round like .308 it shouldn't be too hard to swap with a friend or get you money back for what you bought.

A few rounds won't hurt the rifle, but you might as well get used to practicing and shooting with a lighter weight bullet so that you can learn how it handles.

Good Luck,

Frank
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom