M1A for hunting

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zherock

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I'm looking to buy a springfield M1A but someone tell me i would not be able to shoot hunting ammo ( hot load). Is this true ?

And if we put the weight of the rifle aside, is this a good rifle for hunting
 
They might be a bit hard on the action, but you could always turn off the gas port and use it as a straight pull bolt action. Weight wise there are better choices for sure.
 
thousands of people across north america harvest game with the M1A/M14 platform and have been doing so since the rifle was adopted by sportsmen.
The rifle's gas system is designed to handle the pressures of 147gr to 174gr bullets. Tuning the gas system may be necessary to use bullets lighter or heavier for the rifle to function correctly or to not cause damage. This damage from heavier loads is generally identified as bent oprods, damaged oprod tabs or worse case scenario a shattered bolt roller or sheered off bolt roller stud.

It is advised to use hunting ammunition of reputable manufacture. I use federal power shok 150gr and vital shok 160gr for hunting ammunition.

The "hot load" conversation regarding using .308 in a 7.62 chamber...... it's kinda hogwash.

The important thing to know about your rifle should you choose an M14 type , be it a springfield M1A, an LRB , a james river arsenal, a fulton armory.... a norinco...... and what ever other manufacturer.... is what is the headspace of the chamber on your rifle?
That will tell you what ammunition is adviseable NOT to shoot in your particular rifle.
Chamber dimensions for .308 start at 1.630"(match) and are slightly shorter than the .762 x 51 chamber which starts at 1.6345 (match) so basically a 7.62 x 51 chamber is "long" for .308 it allows for more case expansion. That being said if your chamber measures anywhere between 1.630" and 1.638" , I would not hesitate to use a regualr diet of reputable factory hunting loads between the rifle's design parameters of 147gr to 174gr. Fortunately there are a plethora of offerings in .308 that fit into those parameters.

My custom built rifles have chambers cut to 1.632" and I shoot Both .308 and 7.62x51 factory loads in that chamber without issue. Even though it is in theory crushing the 7.62 into a shorter chamber than it's spec'd for.
 
What 45ACPKING said, though I will add, I've yet to encounter NATO ammo that would not fit in a SAMMI chamber. I suspect the more generous chambers are related more to reliability on dirty battlefields than to the dimensions of the cartridges themselves.
 
If you shoot 180gr without an ajustable gas system it can damage your rifle. If you stay with 150gr or 165gr hunting rounds you should be okay. I use 165gr Hornady SST's in mine and it works great.

As both Claven2 and 45ACPKing mentioned, headspace is more of an issue than the .308 hunting rounds.
 
zherock said:
I'm looking to buy a springfield M1A but someone tell me i would not be able to shoot hunting ammo ( hot load). Is this true ?

And if we put the weight of the rifle aside, is this a good rifle for hunting
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No, its not true at all. The us military uses 175gr ammo in theirs loaded at 60,000 PSI.
I have shot from 125gr to 180gr in my Norinco without issues.
 
All I've shot so far was the 308 Winchester, 180 grains, my supermatch still hits high haha, Springfield told me I can interchange the ammunition, BUT clean and check it after ever 2 to 3 mags worth of ammo
 
6.5x54R said:
Your buddy probably thought you mean the M1 Garand which will certainly not tolerate modern ammo without some work to the gas system.
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Yeah buddy must mean M1 Garand versus M14...

Garands you should use specific rounds; American Eagles will actually say "For M1 Garand" on the side of the box (pretty sure SPBTs are also available):

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M1A/M14s, Springfields and Norincos will pretty much eat any kind of ammo.
 
for you guys with Springfield M1A and other American made (usgi) gas assemblies, Sadlak manufactures a grooved piston that is specifically designed to vent enough gas during the dwell to shoot 180gr ammunition without damaging the rifle's parts. Worth looking into but be warned, if you own a chinese gas assembly, those pistons don't fit.

There's nothing that can really be done for the chinese gas system unless you "really know" these rifles and have a milling machine or lathe and know exactly what to do for modifications.
Gus Fischer and Art Lupino are two masters of the M14 that anyone curious about the M14 gas system should really go do some google searching and have a read. It will really open your eyes to how integral that gas system and it's parts can be to fine tuning one of these rifles. If there is a modification that can be done to make improvements..... these two men have been there done that and more.

180gr won't destroy the rifle but it IS very hard on the parts and will lead to stuff wearing out much faster according to everything i have researched on the subject. There is an adjustable gas plug out there as well though I'm not sure how easy they are to aquire for the M1A/M14. I don't think there is any for the chinese gas system

if one was handy..... and had the sadlak groove dimensions in hand..... one could carefully machine that groove into a chinese piston....... theoretically this should vent off the gas required to safely shoot 180gr all day long :)
 
The Chinese piston outer diameters are chromed because the piston itself is carbon steel, not stainless like a USGI one, as they wanted to add some wear and corrosion resistance. It would be difficult to machine the NM groove mods into a Chinese piston without flaking off pieces of the chrome coating on other parts of the piston's outer diameter.

Personally, I would not attempt it unless a client was willing to assume the risk of ruining the part, and I DO have the right machine tools.
 
I love my standard for hunting, I use 150 grain power points, power max bonded or XTP’s. They all shoot pretty much to the same point of impact. Great deer and bear rifle. I would not hesitate to shoot a moose or elk with that combo either.
 
Claven2 said:
The Chinese piston outer diameters are chromed because the piston itself is carbon steel, not stainless like a USGI one, as they wanted to add some wear and corrosion resistance. It would be difficult to machine the NM groove mods into a Chinese piston without flaking off pieces of the chrome coating on other parts of the piston's outer diameter.

Personally, I would not attempt it unless a client was willing to assume the risk of ruining the part, and I DO have the right machine tools.
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yer right, it's not a routine mod anyone can do and I never did one for a paying customer back when i was working on rifles. We've done it and a few other mods succesfully on our mill but it helped that I had a bin of pistons because we wrecked a few LOL
I tried making an adjustable plug as well and last I heard it was working fine but needed regular cleaning to function reliably so really only good for a hunting scenario.

my friend sitting here having coffee for a visit says he thought Saldak made those pistons for chinese cylinders as well....... I can't remember off the top of my head but I know sadlak did make some stuff in the metric dimensions...... might have to go do some googling again LOL

as for hunting with my m14 type rifles..... 1 moose , a few deer and a couple black bear so far.... and some dogs too......
I love the M14 irons for open sight rifle hunting too and half or more of the animals I've taken with those rifles were with the open sights.
 
I’ve taken a couple of deer now with my M305 shorty, using a fairly mild load behind a 165gr Interlock. I don’t mind the weight at all and with a scout mounted red dot it’s perfect for deer drives. Before handloading for this rifle, I used factory Win 150gr PSP to take my best buck to date.:)
 
If your going to hunt deer with your M14, stick to 150gr blue box. Put the bullet in the wheel house, deer goes in the freezer gun goes back in the safe..all is right in the world.
 
I’ve used 125 gr PSP Remmy booolit hand loads for my groundhogs back in early 1990....we could hunt with the USGI TRW (now 12.x) and I did use iron sights for earth pigs! Blowed up real good! Hahahahaha

:evil:

Don’t ask me about hunting deer with my M1A since I’ve never harvested one.....yet! :wave:

And yes, just keep it simple with 150 grainers!!

Cheers, Barney
 
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