Maximum Bullet weight in an m14

[mcpherson284]

7.62 NATO ammo was invented for the M-14 and M-60 MG, then jammed down other NATO country's throats by the U.S. government. The M118 ammo was introduced in 1964 with the National Match M14, also introduced then. Uses the same 174.5 grain FMJBT bullet used by the M1 National Match Rifle. http://www.snipercentral.com/m118.phtml
Literally millions of rounds of commercial .308 hunting ammo was fired and reloaded for semi'd M-14's and M1A's long before there was an internet with no fuss. 180's work just fine and do not bother the rifle. However, how heavy do you want to go? There's nothing in Canada that needs more than a 180, but there's also nothing that needs a 180 either. The .308/7.62NATO loves 165 grain hunting bullets and a 165 will kill anything you care to hunt.

I think the think to keep in mind with this is, the M14 service started in 1959. Its testing goes back further than that. So, that stated, from 1959-1964, 5 years minimum, the US Army, Marines and National Guard had been experimenting with the M14 baring in mind, lessons learned from the M1 Garand to make a target version. Fast forward to the XM21 variants and the adoption of the M21, and later the M25, Mk. 14, Mk 48 and a few other modified versions of the M14, the American armed forces have been playing with this gun and ammo for over 50 years. Sure there are a few civilian developments that have added to the M14 line (No, stocks don't count), but really everything we know about this gun and ammo comes -> US MIlitary. Yes civilians have done some interesting things with playing around with 308/7.62 nato, but the reality is the military figured out all the bugs on these guns years ago. The reality of this is, use common sense with both the gun and the ammo. If someone with experience with this guns says not to do something, with it... ask why. Find out the reasons. if you still want to go ahead and experiment, fine, do it safely so no one gets hurt. Just understand an experiment gone wrong can result in destruction of the gun, or in worst case situation, injury or loss of life. Advances in equipment have gone forward because of experimenting, but there is always costs to experiments.

If Eugene Stoner had stop after this minor malfunction, there would be not M16, XM177, M4, SP1, AR15 or C7 or C8 let alone an AR10.