Cartidge OAL for my M14.- HELP

J

jarret

New member
EE Expired
Rating - 100%
10   0   0
Location
Fredericton, NB
Hello all,

Im starting to reload for my M14- M305. I purchased a Hornady OAL gauge to determine the best depth to seat bullets for this gun. I understand that the best accuracy is achieved when the bullet was to jump to the rifling from 0.020- 0.040 .
I also understand that it is necessary to crimp bullets when using them in semi-auto guns to prevent the bullet from being driven into the case when hitting the feedramp/ chamber.

for bullets, i am using hornady 150gr FMJBT. aftering taking the tool out of my gun, the resulting bullet depth seems waaay too shallow. The bullet seems like it is sticking out of the case mouth way too far. The case mouth is about 3mm away from the cannelure of the bullet.

Now, here's where i need the help. from what i have read, you should only crimp a cannelured bullet, and only in the actual cannelure. although the guy at my local gun shop said that its okay to lightly crimp a bullet even if there is no cannelure. ???

SO, Do i:

1: crimp the bullet at the distance shown by the OAL gauge, even if it is not on the cannelure.
or
2: Seat the bullet a bit deeper so that i can just barely grab onto the cannelure when crimping, thus increasing the distance that the bullet must jump to the rifling.

Your help is very much appreciated!! :)

sincerely,

Jarret

IMG_20141107_202509_zpsfcb01908.jpg.html
(rightclick to open image)
 
Last edited:
You can lightly crimp the bullet where it is - seated long.

Is your rifle accuraized? if so, that bullet is mediocre.

If not, then don't sweat OAL too much. Try 10 at that length, and then 10 seated to the crimping groove.

A stock rifle probably won't know the difference.
 
I would just seat to the cannelure if it's just plinking ammo.

Otherwise try some past the cannelure and see how they feed/cycle and how accurate they are.
 
Forget the cannelure altogether and seat for the OAL with the bullet of 2.800". You can forget crimping too. Neck tension should be enough to hold the bullet in place. You must, of course, check the case lengths, trim, chamfer and deburr as required and watch the OAL.
 
I did a couple batches lastnight, same powder, different OAL. Ten with a crimp at the bottom of the cannelure, as well as ten with an OAL of 2.789 ( max OAL minus .040). Then put a very light crimp on there. I'm off to the range tomorrow. I will let you my findings, if any.

Thank
 
Range results were good. Factory ammo (american eagle) at 100 yards was shooting about 5" groups.
For my hand loads, the best was the round with a longer OAL of 2.789". The jump to the rifling was 0.040" . I got a couple groups less than 2". Now the same powder charge with an OAL of 2.749 shot considerably lower( off the grid, and groups about 6"
I'm amazed at how well the longer overall length improved accuracy . I am going to try a 0.030 jump to the rifling next and see if I can get even better results.

Thanks for the advice guys !
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom