190g .308 bullets from a M14?

As many people have said the M14's werent designed to fire anything much higher than 168 if i remember correctly . However i fired 180 grain sellier and bellot out my norinco m14 when i first bought it , i think all of 4 or 5 or so boxes on separate days and upon a recent cleaning i dont see any damage or impact from the op rod slamming around .

But do so at your own risk . I was merly impatient to shoot my m14.
 
Anything over 170-175 grains tends to work the action too hard.
Simple solution.
Turn your gas system off and rack the bolt back by hand after every shot.
On the right hand side just in front of the ferrule that holds the hand guard to the stock and behind the gas lock there is a small screw with a slot. When the slot is up and down the system is on and your in semi-auto, when you turn it so the slot is parallel with the barrel your gas system is off and your in single shot. Then you can shoot as heavy a round as you want.
 
only way to shoot 190g, is if someone designs a adjustable gas pressure system. To much gas, release more gas. So a 190g will shot like a 168g. I do not think anyone has designed such a system for m14.
 
190 grain match bullets were actually designed for .300 Win Mag target rifles. The muzzle flash and blast would be even more astounding out of a non-standard barrel.
If there were any restrictions on the bullet weight for an M14 style rifle, the first place you'd see it is in the SA Inc. M1A owner's manual. There is no such thing.
 
only way to shoot 190g, is if someone designs a adjustable gas pressure system. To much gas, release more gas. So a 190g will shot like a 168g. I do not think anyone has designed such a system for m14.



Actually you can buy a new piston for your gas system that has a notch in it length wise. The notch lets a small amount of gas escape so pressure doesn't get too high when your shooting bullets over 180 grains. I forget who sells it, Brownells possibly. M14doctor maybe.
 
Actually you can buy a new piston for your gas system that has a notch in it length wise. The notch lets a small amount of gas escape so pressure doesn't get too high when your shooting bullets over 180 grains. I forget who sells it, Brownells possibly. M14doctor maybe.

Brownells sells them . I dont think anyone here has actually tested the accuracy of the system but its not expensive .
 
Sadlak NM Piston

si_piston_groove_end_0912_c.jpg

si_piston_groove_0906_c.jpg
 
Does this piston still function as required with less than 180 grain ammo?

Depend with which ammo. Might work fine with hot 155gr and 168gr but not 100% with 145gr, you'll have to test it. Just remember you have an undergased system, malfunctions could appear only when it's dirty or cold.

I use the grooved piston for moose hunting with 180gr and then change back for smaller bullets. You probably know but it takes only 30 seconds to change your piston.

If there were any restrictions on the bullet weight for an M14 style rifle, the first place you'd see it is in the SA Inc. M1A owner's manual. There is no such thing.
On page 4 and 5 they say to use only 7,62x51mm NATO ammo. I don't think there's NATO ammo over 168gr. It's well recognized you should not use heavier than 168-175gr with the original gas system. No magnum or superformance either.

only way to shoot 190g, is if someone designs a adjustable gas pressure system. To much gas, release more gas. So a 190g will shot like a 168g. I do not think anyone has designed such a system for m14.
Yes it exist. Schuster makes one gas plug for the M1 and one for the M14. Brownells can't export it so it will be harder to get here (searched but failed). One way I don't remember trying is write straight to Schuster mfg.

It don't matters but Schuster gas plug are not battle proven like Sadlak pistons. It's still made in USA and has lifetime warranty. 2 items have similar prices.
 
Last edited:
On page 4 and 5 they say to use only 7,62x51mm NATO ammo. I don't think there's NATO ammo over 168gr.

M118LR uses a 175gr matchking.


It's been a while since i've messed with my M14, but I think I could have a use for that sadlak piston. Does it only fit a USGI gas system, or will it drop into the chinese one too?
 
springfield sa, inc, doesn't MENTION that THEIR RECIEVERS MAY BE OUT OF SPEC either, or their CRACKING BOLTS, OR A HOST OF OTHER PROBLEMS WE'VE SEEN SURFACE OVER THE YEARS- the under 175 grain rule is well known, as well as the 173 for the garand- m118lr lake city uses 175 grain smks- that's in the nato toe
 
I have a bunch of original M118 from the 70's. It was for the M21 and is 173 grain @ 2550fps.

190 is too heavy for the oprod. As already mentioned just turn the gas off.
 
I have a bunch of original M118 from the 70's. It was for the M21 and is 173 grain @ 2550fps.

190 is too heavy for the oprod. As already mentioned just turn the gas off.

that's the old spec- the newer one is a 175 smk at 2550 , using a 34 primer without the crimp- 43.8-44 grains of ww748- but that may have changed from the last time i looked- they were also arguing the fact that 175 grain smk has a slight HOLLOW POINT , and i don;t know whether that was cleard up- the load i use is called an m118 SLR- special long range- but i use 168's in it- the 175's are too expensive- and it's only good to 600 - the 175 is good t0 1000
 
I know, I believe the new 175 stuff is called M118LR now? I would like to get a hold of some of that as well to see how it compares to the old lake city that I have. Mine are all head stamped 72 and this old ammo shoots like a hot damn, very accurate. I'm saving my last 300 rounds for when I get another M40A1 clone built. Here's some pics.
DSC00246.jpg

DSC00245.jpg

DSC002482.jpg
 
Back
Top Bottom