M14 ACCURACY - ammunition, parts, procedures & perspective

Extremely helpful!

Thank you kindly!

In regards to 165 grain bullets, are they the maximum weight that you can consistently use without reducing the lifespan of the rifle or its components?
 
Yet we have guys spending hundreds on mods and still using whatever milsurp or cheap hunting ammo they can find. Spend a few bucks on a reloading setup.

Then there's the SKS guys, same thing but worse.............
 
nice write up, i have shot 1.5'' groups with reloads, and 4'' groups with factory stuff, temp also plays a factor with m14, she likes to be warmed up...
 
Finally, someone making sense about these things...interestingly enough I just got another one from Marstar...A bit of a mess but fixable...barrel index, soft stock etc.,etc.......If I send it back I am just out $60 or so in shipping...So your comments were very timely.......Just for the heck of it I think I will apply the various fixes when I have time and check each one for change in baseline accuracy before proceeding to the next one (as you did)....First step G.I Stock.....
 
As far as reloading is concerned,
fill your boots.

but remember,
here in Canada,
regardless of how horrible the supposed headspace may be,
we have no documented case of any M14 kaboom,
as long as PREVIOUSLY UNFIRED AMMO WAS USED
this holds true for both 7.62 NATO BALL, and commercial .308 Win.

The same can not be said for the M14 with reloads.

Are you saying there are cases of M14 kabooms using reloads:eek:. I had great intentions of reloading for my new M14 but now I need more info. There must be alot of people shooting reloads thru their M14's, can anyone comment further?
 
Newbie1488 said:
There must be alot of people shooting reloads thru their M14's, can anyone comment further?
Click to expand...

The M14 is not a forgiving mistress when it comes to reloaded ammunition. First off the thing was designed to fire 7.62 ball ammo(that would be new, not reloaded 7.62), not softer, thinner walled commercial .308.
Second, the chamber is generous in size as are most military firearms, this causes the case to expand more when fired. Third, the action is very fast, causing the fired case to be stretched as it is yanked out. The cases are weakened by this, much more so than a tightly chambered bolt gun. Resizing them back into shape takes quite a toll on the brass. Fourth, having a floating firing pin, the rifle upon loading, can slam fire, or worse fire out of battery if the reloaded cartridge doesn't go smoothly into the chamber (IE: ovaled case or chamber) or the primer is protruding from the case.
You can more easily get away with less than perfect reloads using a bolt action, as it can cam the round into place unlike the M14.
If the person reloading does something dumb, IE: too much/wrong type of powder, the M14s can or will KB, causing most everyone to point their fingers first at supposedly 'shoddy Chinese' workmanship. There are other technical factors as well, such as the head space on most is over what is considered safe by SAAMI specs.
All in all it adds up to a perfect storm for the potential of a KB if something ain't right along the way.
But there are many, many people that reload for the thousands of these things out there and they haven't had a KB, so YMMV.
 
This is not new news people.

Most indiviuals (in my circle) got into reloading in order to tune a load to their rifle. 15 years ago a big incentive to reload was to make use of premium bullets, not available in factory ammo. Things have changed, I can now get very good results from factory ammo that use premium bullets.

Still, tuning the load to max out the rifle's performance will remain the primary reason to reload.
 
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Never takes the "Doomsday Crowd" long to surface.

Rumours, myths and exagerrations cause far more harm than good - they keep people out of the sport. Let's get the list of "KB's" posted - we'd all like to hear about them.

Not one you "heard of", but something real and substantiated. First hand accounts never seem to exist, but how about at worst, a second hand account. Pictures and some information on what might have caused it would be nice.
 
I reload for mine and haven't had a problem. I do keep my precision rifle ammo seperate from my 14 ammo though now.

My p/rifle is a little more sensitive to once and twice fired brass.

I check the OAL on the brass each time I load it and give the 14 brass a full length sizing.

I was shooting 175gr SMK's out of it but reading that they don't like it I will switch it up for some of the lighter stuff I have in the gun room.
 
http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php?t=327939&highlight=kaboom



Andy said:
Never takes the "Doomsday Crowd" long to surface.

Rumours, myths and exagerrations cause far more harm than good - they keep people out of the sport. Let's get the list of "KB's" posted - we'd all like to hear about them.

Not one you "heard of", but something real and substantiated. First hand accounts never seem to exist, but how about at worst, a second hand account. Pictures and some information on what might have caused it would be nice.
Click to expand...
 
This is excellent advice. It is important to note that this rifle supports the 7.62mmx51mm round. As far as modifying this rifle, I think the point has been lost on turning this stock rifle into an EBR (Enhanced Battle Rifle). I modify my rifle not so much for accuracy which is still accurate, but for weight, agility/maneuverability and of course, with the right brake, handling, generally. Ammunition is critical but I am not a match guy.
 
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