I was out sighting in my Norc today. I used 150 grn Winchester Super X at 100m/110yds. The rifle is completely stock and I was prone using my soft back pack as a rest in a gravel pit. 5 three round groups with enough time between for the barrel to be cold to the touch. 4 of the groups were 3"-4" and one was 2". Often 2 holes would be within an inch or two and the third would open it up. I was shooting at 100yd small bore rifle targets. As Norc owners know, the front sight blade is about the same size as the bull. I found the trigger pull being long and heavy to be the most difficult part, closely followed by the large peep and front blade. I shot one offhand group using my arm wrapped in the sling for support. I put 6 rounds inside the five ring, with a group size of about 8 1/2". I don't know that I will spend much to improve this rifle, considering a scope mount and stock will cost almost as much as a whole second rifle. The Norc does what it should with my aging eyes not helping out much.
M305 accuracy
- Thread starter emerson
- Start date
Yup, sounds about the same for my rifle after a Hungry seminar. I routinely see 4" groups at 100 yards and the occasional 2" groups with m852 handloads. Half of the time I will get 3-4 rounds within 2" and have 1-2 flyers. The other half of the time holes in the 4" groups are really spaced apart from each other. I haven't really changed anything except put the rifle in a USGI synthetic stock (without bedding) and tightened up things at Hungry's seminar. I didn't really expect that to change much. I hope I can see a little difference after I change some internals and drop a scope on top.
Macmillan M1A and Les Baur (sp)
I was doing some reading at the magazine rack and read reviews of the Macmillan M1A and the AR based Les Baur (most accurate 7.62 semi billing). With the Springfield grouping between 1.8" and 2.7" @ 100yds with match ammo + optics and the AR coming in around 1.5" with most high end ammo I'm pretty happy with my M305, Wally world ammo, rough trigger, and clunky sights. I think my next purchase will be a Savage bolt, rather than an M14 build.
I was doing some reading at the magazine rack and read reviews of the Macmillan M1A and the AR based Les Baur (most accurate 7.62 semi billing). With the Springfield grouping between 1.8" and 2.7" @ 100yds with match ammo + optics and the AR coming in around 1.5" with most high end ammo I'm pretty happy with my M305, Wally world ammo, rough trigger, and clunky sights. I think my next purchase will be a Savage bolt, rather than an M14 build.
I've owned several Norc. M14's. It might be blind luck or tremendous skill, but they all shot under an inch @ 100yrds. I do use an optic (Leupold MK4 6.5-20 TMR) and the trigger does take some getting used to. I've also always swaped out the factory Norc. stocks for Springfield ones.
What factory ammo did you find gave the best results? I know reloading is the "hyperaccurate" way to go but it's not in the cards for now.
Bear Down
I got another bear this morning with my M305 at about 70ish yds. I'm finding that the sights obscure much of the target area and make accurate, timely shots difficult in field conditions. As a hunting rifle, with stock sights I would recommend around 150 yds as a practical limit, unless a good rest and lots of time are available.
I got another bear this morning with my M305 at about 70ish yds. I'm finding that the sights obscure much of the target area and make accurate, timely shots difficult in field conditions. As a hunting rifle, with stock sights I would recommend around 150 yds as a practical limit, unless a good rest and lots of time are available.
X2 on the blue box (if you want SP ammo), mine also LOVES S&B 147gr FMJ for paper punching.
- Location
- victoria bc
Last week i shot a group at 230m, 3 where within 1.5'' the other 2 where 4'' out, just have to figure out the flyers and my m14 will be something special....
My m-305 really got a sweet spot when i started to feed it with MFS 145 gr SP bought at SFRC it really shrunk group under one inch i guess the -14 love light bullet i dont shoot nothing else now and it is not corrosive so the best of both world, try them you will see... Cheers. JP.
Do a detail clean then try Winchester supreme competition 168grain loads.
I found after moderate upgrades this stuff shot incredibly well , without modifications when i first got my rifle it shot pretty good still , its factory loaded match ammo . only downside is its usually about 30.00 a box , same as Gold medal match . ;
With the match ammo and my upgrades i managed to squeeze out a 1.3" group taking my time , however my trigger is also polished.
I found after moderate upgrades this stuff shot incredibly well , without modifications when i first got my rifle it shot pretty good still , its factory loaded match ammo . only downside is its usually about 30.00 a box , same as Gold medal match . ;
With the match ammo and my upgrades i managed to squeeze out a 1.3" group taking my time , however my trigger is also polished.
The only mod I did to mine was to install a spring guide from M14 Doc. For the $ I think this is money well spent and M14Doc was a very good person to deal with. Also don't forget to keep all of the operating components well lubed, thank you for the persistant reminders HUNGRY. Monday I fired a 5 shot group at 200 yds. All 5 had a spread of 4 1/2" cent-cent. 3 of the shots went into 1 1/4" and the other 2 went into under 3/4" but the overall group was 4 1/2". (I still have to try to learn how to post pics.) This was a lucky group for me as most of the time I only get to shoot out to 100yds but even there the rifle gives fairly consistant 2 1/2" 5 shot groups. I'd like to try it with a scope but I'm having a lot of fun just using the open sights. My eyesight is starting to fade and it is a bit tricky to get the front sight in focus so when I get on target I shift my vision away for a second or two to reduce the eyestrain, it really works. From a sitting position (on the ground, not the bench) I can hit a 12" steel plate at the 200 almost every time. I found loading some quality bullets really pays off so I've been using 155 SMK's and 168 Hornady's that I got for a good price from Roy at Dragon Bullet Lube. Yes it is a bit more $$ but it's very gratifying being able to get a $415 rifle to shoot well. Finally, as the eyes don't cooperate that well, make sure you're using a large enough target that you can easily see but small enough so you have to force yourself to concentrate on hold-breathing-trigger. Blue is better than black or red and do not use orange unless you're using a scope. With open sights orange tends to blurr around the edges so the target appears fuzzy, not a good choice. Good luck.
Eyes being as they get as one ages, I won't shoot without optics. Hell, I can't use a red dot. I'm red-green colour blind, and in the right background I spend too much time looking for the damn red dot!
So now I use a 1.5-6x mil-dot for CQB (yes, with my M14!). Works very nice I can line up the crosshairs so much faster, and my score yesterday is a big improvement from previous shoots. Got a bit more to go though.
i have yet to find a m14 platform that shoots REALLY well with 150 grain class bullets- they're all "acceptable" but no great shakes compared to the 165/168 bullets; and i'm using a 4x12x40 off a bench, harris bipod, and a couple of other tricks that i've gleaned over the years- with the 165/168s i can shoot 1 inch 5 round 100 yard groups all day long and it doesn't even get hot- and i have 3 real ones and a norc- my loads are the m118slr with some variations to match the rifle's prefernces- as far as a red dot goes, i long ago found out that the red dot covers the ENTIRE TARGET at 200, and it's more of a shotgun/smg thing, not for precision
Have you ever tried the Barnes MRX BT 165 grain. Wicked hunting round but I am truely excited for the new 1 from this company called LRX that is 175 grain and should be right perfect for the M14 "hunting style" platform.
Here are the spec's
Have you ever tried the Barnes MRX BT 165 grain. Wicked hunting round but I am truely excited for the new 1 from this company called LRX that is 175 grain and should be right perfect for the M14 "hunting style" platform.
Here are the spec's
what scares me is the weight thing- if the us army found that the 175smk caused "unusally high wear " on the oprod and other surfaces, that speaks to running ALL 175s and greater on that platform UNLESS you change to the sadlak piston- even then, i'm still seeing alarm bells all over the place- the 173smk , i think was just about the top practical end without causing"undue wear"- the other point is that the specs call for a 1/10 twist- the m14 is a 1/12 - so that means a new barrel as well as sadlak piston- that's makes the price too high for this old bird
Oldsmobiler
CGN Regular
- Location
- Coquitlam, BC
if you want to use 175's pick up a Sadlak NM gas piston with the grove...it couldn't even cycle my 168 loads so it'll work fine with the heavier 175's
I haven't tried shooting with a scope on the M305 but with the irons I've found that the 155SMK's are better that either the 168MK's or the 168HorAmax's. Not by much but the 155's have a slight edge. I'm not shooting anything hot, using THE recommended load for the 168's and a mild load for the 155's.
Charlemagne70
Regular
- Location
- Monteregia,Kebekistan
I'm suprised with the accuracy of my 2007 Norinco! I managed .9375 '' 3 shot groups at 100 yd on a bench with M1A front and rear sight. Using commercial Hornady custom Interlock 165gr BTSP.
I was trying to decide what gun to bring to go to Anticosti Island next fall between my scoped PH 1200C bolt gun and my almost stock Norinco. The Norinco won the contest hands down. I know this is not normal (I have yet to find out what the problem is with the PH, I couldn't manage anything better than 2.5'' groups) but I guess I have to scope up the M-14S and bring her along!
I was trying to decide what gun to bring to go to Anticosti Island next fall between my scoped PH 1200C bolt gun and my almost stock Norinco. The Norinco won the contest hands down. I know this is not normal (I have yet to find out what the problem is with the PH, I couldn't manage anything better than 2.5'' groups) but I guess I have to scope up the M-14S and bring her along!
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