Danger of useing heavy grain bullets in M14 ???

[t-star]

Hmmmm...a .308 that can't use 180gr. or heavier bullets.....good idea!!

the standard ball 30'06 m2 was a 150 grain moving at 2800 fps roughly- that's just about what the 308 in the same loading does- neither the garand or the m14 were even thought about with 180 grain bullets- you have to go back to about ww1 or earlier to get the 220 grain loading in the '06 for military issue
the m14 was envisioned to replace both the garand and the bar with the 1 gun- hence, it had to be capable of full auto, and have a 20 round mag, moreover it had to use ammunition which was not inferior to the m2 ball- by the time the m14 was issued the mag fed saw was obsolete anyway- it was also envisioned as a sniper weapon, although the mounts, even the single screws did not come along until much later-

 

[Chris Dingell]

I've shot zillions of rounds through M14-type rifles: 150gr shoot well, 165/168gr bullets shoot great, most lots of 172gr ball bullets shoot ok, and I've never been able to get 180gr bullets of any sort to shoot well enough to bother with.

My load of choice has been a LC case, 41.5gr IMR4895, 168 SMK, and a Winchester primer.

 

[furet]

Getting back to issues with 180gr, I just found 4 boxes of the stuff in my inventory, I would hate to waste them. Is the issue with the cycling being too violent or with chamber/barrel pressures ??? the reason I ask is that what if I turn off my gas port and use the rifle as a bolt action therefore no stress on the action, would that eleviate damages to my rifle ??

 

[t-star]

it's the gas system that can't handle them- supposedly it can if you do the single shot/regulator- set in the grenade launcher position- i would interpet that as the cycling is too violent-i say supposedly as i've never had occasion to try it-when my norc was new and i didn't know any better, i used my standard hunting load( 180 at 2600 fps) that i use in my savage 99 and the remmy 742- now that i know better, i keep 165 and 168s for the norc/m14s exclusively- besides, these things are DAMNED HEAVY to tote for hunting- there's better choices around

 

[jamiejaf]

Well, i go up to a 168 gr hpbt with no problems. The type of powder you should use is more of an issue due to the nature of the gas operating system. If your operating rod is getting hammered too much, back off the bullet weight (150 gr)and use a medium burning powder. A 180 gr is on the edge of the safe zone. The return spring itself can be weak. especially, if its made in China.