M14 makeover

R

Rotek

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Well guys ,
It looks like I'll be having 1 month or two with too much time on my
hands in the early part of the new year.
and I have already started thinking(dangerous at the best of times)
I'm wondering about the feasability and ability etc of making over my NorcM14
to somthing like a .260 or even better .260 ackley,6mm or one of the
short mags ( I undwerstand that SAUM work really well for self loading
conversions.)Iwould also be trying my hand at changeing my USGI
fiberglass stock into some thing with a pistol grip or ideally, if I have the tallent to convert the stock into a profile like the Accuracy International
with the thumb hole.
Any of the tallented m14 gurus have any thoughts and or sugestions?
My M14 is now producing 1inch groups at a 100m.
but I thought maybe using the 6 or 6.5 round would make me more versitile
for smaller game and target circles yet still do the deer and general
plinking thing with less recoil.or the SAUM I could really reach out
and touch my targets.
What ya think?

regards
 
Just to clarify.
the 1 inch groups are when I do my part (most of the time ,but there are days when I have no business shooting).No major mods Just the usual
shimming ,stock I got from Mike Baker.bedded it and worked up a handload a friend of mine got from a Magazine.
150gr balistic tip,48gr of H380.The load also produces close to 1/2 inch groups in my Canadian built version of a m40A1.
I guess I got lucky because the rifle shot around 2 inches out of the box.

regards
 
M14 Makeover ?

Offensive warning: You may not like what I've got to say, but you asked for it .... :rolleyes:

Leave it alone, or maybe glass it into your USGI stock. Tweak the gas cylinder assy. :p

Spend all that extra money on practice ammo / reloading components and a membership in your provincial Rifle Association to shoot long range. This way, you will truly appreciate your fabulous M14 combined with your personal shooting skills. :cool:

Still have money to spend ? See girlsgunsandfastbikes about a Smith M14 scope mount or an ARMS 18 mount. Get some great strong rings and super clear / repeatable glass, then discover what a great hobby we share ! :D

Enlightening ?
Barney
 
No Offens taken.
You know your M14s
Most of those have been done.Stock is bedded. Cylinder has been tweeked,
Have good base have scoped with Vari x 3 3.5-10x40
Handloads that is mentioned above.
I dont really need to change any thing just the old "because I can "idea.
 
I don't want to rain on your parade, but...The biggest problem that I see is getting a barrel in anything other than 308/7.62X51NATO. The other thing is getting the port pressure sorted out for reliable operation. Definitely not something for the faint of heart IMHO.
 
cz52 said:
Skullboy hasn't said nothing yet?:)
Click to expand...


Springfield chambered the M1A in a couple of different calibers.

IIRC, they were .308Win, .243Win,and one other I can't remember.Don't know if they still offer those optional calibers currently.I don't see anything but 7.62 X 51 offered in the current S.A. line up.

IMHO, the time and effort to set up a barrel in a different caliber on a M14 type rifle is not worth the time and money.

You would have to experiment with gas port size, and have a barrel/bolt set up for the desired caliber.If you don't have the proper knowledge,tools, and place for testing, this could be a risky experience.

SKBY.
 
My slightly tweeked 'Rinco has shot several 3-shot 1" groups and 5-shot 1.5" groups with Hirtenburger ball. However I think the real groups are about 50% larger. A few good groups do not a good shooter make.
 
I one thing left to do, to the rifle, is bed the stock. Everything else is done and reloads give me 1.3-1.45" 5 shot groups on MY good days. Just saved the Precision Rifle Shooting book ( from Navyshooter I think ) and noticed enough things I'm doing wrong that improvement is just months away. Winter project is to bed a couple 305's and unitising the gas systems. If we've been remiss in saying it lately, Thanks Skullboy and Hungry for the help...Bob
 
Bob said:
Rotek , what primers did you use with that load...Bob
Click to expand...

Be careful what primers you use in the M14 (or any other firearm with a floating firing pin).

Some primers are soft then others and could result in a slam fire if use in an M14.

The reccomended primer for the M14 is the CCI #34 primer which was specifically designed for these types of rifles.

SKBY.
 
Interesting, use to use nothing but Federal but when setting up loads for the 305 CCI large rifle gave me the best groups. Those#34, will Wholesale bring them in, do you know, or who sells them..Bob
 
To address the initial question, the cartridge choices are in fact quite limited. If your intent is to modify removeable parts of the rifle, without changing the receiver, then you have to stick with cases based on the .308 Winchester. My dogeared copy of Cartridges of the World talks about proven wildcats and production cases with everything from .22, 6, 6.5, 7 and 7.62 bullets. These all have standard bases, bodies and reasonably consisent shoulder locations.

The .260 Remington is a nice low recoil production round that is just a bit better than the .243 without the flakey ballistics of the smaller one.

To use a case not based on the .308 is asking for magazine lips, feed ramp and of course bolt face and extractor issues.

Others have mentioned barrels, gas ports and gas balancing. So, I'll leave that alone.
 
Bob said:
Interesting, use to use nothing but Federal but when setting up loads for the 305 CCI large rifle gave me the best groups. Those#34, will Wholesale bring them in, do you know, or who sells them..Bob
Click to expand...

Federal primers are infamous for causing slam fires in M14 type rifles. This is not a fault of the primers, but rather of the rifle. The M14 was designed to activate hard milspec primers reliably. Federals are just too sensitive for this application. Save them for your boltgun loads, where I hear good things about them.

If you MUST use Federal primers in your M14 loads... excercise safe muzzle control, and don't let the bolt slam closed on a round in the chamber with no magazine inserted. Please.
 
Just to add to Khalnath's advice....

Ensure you load from the magazine (en-bloc clip for you M1 Garand lovers). Even if you load slow fire (one at a time) then by all means use the magazine. That way the bolt is slowed down the way it was designed to work.

In NRA High Power comptetition, I would load slow fire by having about 1/8" of the bullet nose pointing up the scalloped ramp of the chamber. Go and pull your bolt rearwards and see the scalloped/ hollowed cut. You will notice 2 of the cuts. Also observe that the magazine follower easily lend itself to right handed loading while you are in the prone or sitting or bench'ed position.

With about 1/8" of bullet nose on the chamber "ramp", your .308 cartridge will be about 3/4 inside the magazine follower lip(s).

Then, just yank / slap/ snick back on the op rod and mount your rifle on your shoulder. By the way... this happens to be my personal "sound of victory".

Remember in Apocalypse Now (movie) when Robert Duvall says, "I love the smell of Napalm in the morning. Smells like victory." ?? Well, this is Hungry's Sound of Music. The hills are alive.... yuk, yuk

I've had success avoiding slam fires this way.

Now about primers... I've used them all with success and no slam fires. As long as I observed the above rules of safety. BE SAFE and respectful of that floating firing pin.... Load from the magazine or en-bloc !

Cheers,
Barney
 
With all this talk of slam-fires, Yesterday I re-primed 8 fired cases, 2 fired and resized cases, and pulled apart 2 unfired Hirtenberger rounds. All these I reprimed with Federal Large Pistol (yep, Fed 150) primers.
I then tried to produce a slam-fire. Jam case into chamber, let op-rod fly... No luck.
In fact, after over a dozen hits on _each_ case, the dent on the primer was still awfully small.
I finished by popping each primer. Every one fired. (I never noticed how much smoke a primer alone produces before)

My very limited experiment leads me to believe that slam-fires are actually tough to produce in a reasonably clean rifle (I'd only fired 80 rnds of Hirt and 6 rounds of Federal 150 grn SP)

Has anyone else tried to produce a slam-fire in anything aproaching a controled circumstance?
 
It may be tough to reproduce it in a test, say like 1 in a thousand, but it only takes one live load to ruin your day....
 
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