M305 is terrible.

staryoskol said:
OP here,

I seem to be getting a lot of flak over this. Let me just clarify that I am relatively new to shooting. I don't know anything about hand loading, but I will be doing some research into that.

Also, I did not put this rifle together so I don't know much about the internals etc...the reason I was hopeful for better groups is because the guy I bought it from on here said he was shooting 1.5MOA no problem with it.

I was expecting better from the rifle, but I clearly see now that I was wrong to do so. You guys are a lot smarter than me, and most of what everyone is saying is over my head to be honest...I think I'm going to sell it and get a bolt action and work on my marksmanship as well as trying to better understand the difference in bullet weights and loads etc..

Thanks everyone for your replies, glad to see that when I do have questions, there's no shortage of knowledgable members on here to help.
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If you are new he could of just been a bit more of a marksman.
Listen and learn this place is a bottomless pit of knowledge... I don't want to think of the amount of $$$ I have spent on stuff I didn't need, or couldn't fully use ect ect...

Now one of my cheapest bolt gun "builds" is my tightest grouping... (you have no idea how many guns I plowed through before I realized I'm only interested in bolt guns.)
 
staryoskol said:
OP here,

I seem to be getting a lot of flak over this. Let me just clarify that I am relatively new to shooting. I don't know anything about hand loading, but I will be doing some research into that.

Also, I did not put this rifle together so I don't know much about the internals etc...the reason I was hopeful for better groups is because the guy I bought it from on here said he was shooting 1.5MOA no problem with it.

I was expecting better from the rifle, but I clearly see now that I was wrong to do so. You guys are a lot smarter than me, and most of what everyone is saying is over my head to be honest...I think I'm going to sell it and get a bolt action and work on my marksmanship as well as trying to better understand the difference in bullet weights and loads etc..

Thanks everyone for your replies, glad to see that when I do have questions, there's no shortage of knowledgable members on here to help.
Click to expand...

What kind of ammo have you use? Befor you sell the gun?
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Ok I just re-read in your post you tried diffrent ammo. You can pm if you want to exchange text to tru to figure your rifles problem, I am no expert but I have 2 m14 on in a blackfeather, could be something small thats causing trouble.
 
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Staryoskol, don't sell that rifle. Accept it for what it is. It is not a precision rifle and that's okay. There's no making a silk purse from a sow's ear, but there are many good, practical uses for that dirty old sow's ear. Keep it, learn more about it, tweak it, have fun with it, get some trigger time. It will likely serve you well if you have realistic expectations of it.

If you're then finding you're yearning for a more precise rifle, buy a bolt gun as well but do some research first. There are gobs of threads here with guys asking which rifle he should buy and why. Browse through those. Be warned, if you do go after the precision rabbit, you will need to learn to reload, depending on just how far you want to go with picking off tiny little things from great distances.

You've received some good responses here but I think you would gain more 'acceptance' over at the Battle Rifles forum. Plenty of guys there who have been down the road you're on. Tactical Teacher, 45acpking, M14medic.ca, and others are great resources for this and you would be wise to digest their input. My buddy John at M14medic.ca will make your head spin with the knowledge and experince that he has. He's also been through the Blackfeather and could certainly help diagnose your issues.

Rooster
 
I've had the EXACT same issue as yours. On good days, I get an MOA @ 100m for a group of five shots but always spoiled by a single flier. On bad days I'm all over the target at 200m, and I was never able to achieve consistency at 300m.

I reload mostly with Hornady match HPBT although I've tried different bullets but it makes no difference so I decided to remain with the cheapest match bullet available. My best results are with 42.5 grains of H4895 and 168gr bullets. BUT I do not fully resize my cartridges. If I do, results are even worst.

Obviously you'll have to find you own sweet spot but try only neck sizing and hand the ammo in the gun. I've tried shutting the gas piston off also to minimize moving parts induced variables but that didn't help.

Good luck. For me, this gun is now a 2500$ plinker/SHTF backup rifle.
 
Wow I had my 2013 shorty printing 1.5" @ 100 yds with just a peened and epoxied oprod guide, nm guide rod and handloads. 41.5 grs IMR4895 under a Hornady 168 HPBT. The rest of the rifle was as it came from the factory. In your case I would either try to attend an M14 clinic or seek out a knowledgeable M14 guru. There's a few things that need to be addressed in order to tighten groups up as much as possible. If you trust your skills and judgement, start reading up on accurizing the M14. There are a few official US guidelines derived from match programs etc and there are many write ups and videos that can help steer you in the right direction.
 
OP, you didn't mention if you are adjusting the parallax on the scope when going from 50m to 100m. Are you?

Have you tried simple 147 grain 7.62 NATO spec ammo?

Also, have you checked the barrel tension screw on the bottom of the Op Rod Guide? It's used to adjust how tightly the barrel is held down to the stock. There is a standard setting that is recommended by the makers of the Blackfeather. The tension is important because it affects how the barrel moves when the rifle is fired.

Here's a slow-mo vid of an M14 firing. Look at how much the barrel whips around in the standard stock (can be seen at 10 sec mark and at 2:28):



btw, I have a 18.5" Norc (full Norinco) in a Blackfeather stock and Scout Hand Guard and I get 1.5" to 2" groups on a good day at 100m and can hit a 8" gong at 200m pretty consistently (off a bench rest, of course).
 
OP, I think you need to accept the challenge your rifle has thrown down. It will be a great experience tuning it, you will know it better than your spouse, and it won't let you down.
 
I been reading thru this thread debating whether I should comment or not .

OP..... have you tried seeing how it groups past 100 yards? Like at 200 or 300? I would be curious to know.
this could all be about barrel harmonics.... the load should not matter if it is between 147 and 174gr.
I would also source a standard wood or synthetic stock, maybe you can borrow one and get it out of that blackfeather gizmo and see how it shoots then. If performance is still poor, perhaps that rules out the blackfeather stock affecting things. I've monkeyed with a few blackfeather builds but am still not a fan of thier adjustment idea being a superior chassis.

being dead on touching at 50 yards should rule out any barrel defects but I would scope the bore anyways and look for flaking at the throat and at the gas port internally.
I would check for good vacuum pressure of the gas piston in the cyclinder by doing the piston drop test.
Checking headspace would just be a smart thing to do in any m14/m1a type rifle but i doubt that has anything to do with the issue.

other than that..... everything else is just guesses without tearing her down and building her up myself LOL (which I don't do for folks anymore)

but ya... FIRST thing i would do is try it in a normal stock , if that solves the problem then you know that the blackfeather stock needs some adjusting
 
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