Regular bought .308 ammo safe to use in m305 shorties?
- Thread starter stoop14
- Start date
Yeah giver, check headspace as there's a possibility that you should be shooting 762x51 but the new runs of the m14s outa china are pretty good. I'd expect it to take whatever civi ammo you choose to feed it. And I'd say get the shorty from the factory, easier to put a break on. Plus no additional gunsmithing charges.
.308 factory ammo is just fine. Given the non-availability of 7.62 NATO ammunition, what do you suppose the vast majority of M14-type rifles in Canada are using?
168 grain bullets are also fine and widely used in M14-type rifles. Figure on 175 grains as an absolute maximum weight to keep from rapidly wearing out the gas system. Back when US military teams were using M14s in service rifle competition, they used 190 grain bullets, but they also had access to a greater degree of armourer/parts suport than any civilian owner/operator.
168 grain bullets are also fine and widely used in M14-type rifles. Figure on 175 grains as an absolute maximum weight to keep from rapidly wearing out the gas system. Back when US military teams were using M14s in service rifle competition, they used 190 grain bullets, but they also had access to a greater degree of armourer/parts suport than any civilian owner/operator.
I use factory hunting ammo regularly, from all major brands, except for federal fusion (innacuarate as all hell for me) and american eagle goes nowhere near my M14 type rifles. Other than that , federal power shock has never failed me, neither has their 165gr vital shok (luv it) and winchester CPX hunting ammo from sp up to moly coated nosler ballistic tips, all have been excellent.
I just ensure these commercial ammunitions only go in my rifles with chambers under 1.640"
I just ensure these commercial ammunitions only go in my rifles with chambers under 1.640"
i have had slam fires with Federal ammo but nothing like that from Win and Rem. No factory ammo shoots better than 1.5-2" 100 yrd groups from my scoped m1a loaded. I need to try reloading for it but its frustrating burning through an afternoon of reloading in a half hour of shooting.
With the auto dispensing scales you can get perfectly consistant loads very quickly and the return on the initial investment for the reloading equipment is very quick if you shoot much at all.
RCBS also has a self lubing sizing/decapping die now so it's pretty fast to get super accurate high performance loads.
Henry at Budget reloading on this site can set you up and his prices and delivery times are excellant.
RCBS also has a self lubing sizing/decapping die now so it's pretty fast to get super accurate high performance loads.
Henry at Budget reloading on this site can set you up and his prices and delivery times are excellant.
Read alot of stuff on 7.62-51 vs 308W and there is a difference in the head space but not so great that new commercial ammo in 308W will work as long as you dont reload the cases more than 2-3 times and stick to 150-168grs. so the gun does not fall apart. The slam fire is a concern with some versions of factory ammo and reloads so check the primer specs. Every time I load the thing I make sure to point it in a safe direction, because slam fire is not good and head space is not exact with factory loads. Still trying to find a commercial load that is 100% safe cheap and accurate for hunting. If you just do target, get the Mil spec 7.62-51 150 gr. rounds in full metal but, dont expect to shoot those at your local shooting range. Many dont allow that ammo.
it's not a matter of the gun "falling apart" so much as ACCELERATED WEAR on the oprod and other pieces to the point of where you actually break the welds on the rod or induce cracks on non-welded rods- i use the 4 and out rule, including the "initial" firing- the us army went back to 175s after being up at 190 b/c of that wear factor- they went up to 190 in the first place so they could shoot 1k yards and 180's were still subject to windrift- and most ranges will allow full metal, or full metal jacket, but STEEL CORE is a no-no- that stuff goes right through the boiler plate backstops- it's the full metal jacket that is not allowed for HUNTING
"basically a scoped m14"- the other side of the coin is that an m21 also uses some national match components - not your average rack grade m14- besides, if you look at the specs for m118 that was developed for the m14, you will see that while the bullet is 173-175 grains, the velocity is only 2550 fps- factory winchester rounds use a 180 moving out at some 2610 fps for 308 - so factory already exceeds nato spec which is what these rifles were built for
its not the bullet you worry about it is the burn rate of the powder.What you have to look at is the velocity and the pressure curve.any reloading manuel that lists loads for the M14/M1A and the Garand as well will give you the type of powder that will stay under the curve.
