Reloading for Service Rifle

Sapper33

Sapper33

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Is bullet choice really critical for service rifle shooting? Would non-specific 150gr bulk soft point bullets be suitable for the type of shooting? Not all my shooting is "precision" shooting...sometimes you just want to blast off ammo, but would .30 cal plinking ammo be good for other stuff too?

Nextly, how much powder is required to operate a semi-auto rifle (in general)? To save some pennies (and because most of my shooting is only at 100 yards), I'd like to try using reduced loads, but I'm a bit worried that 25gr of powder won't have enough "ummph" to cycle the action that was designed for 45gr loads(specifically my M14 and R25).
 
If your priority is to save pennies, and you are only going to be doing informal shooting at about 100m, then it doesn't matter what bullet you use. You certainly wouldn't want to use expensive VLDs for that type of shooting though.
 
For M-14's stick to the recommended powers, IMR 4064 is one of my favorites. I use 155 grn match bullets but any bullet from 150 to 168 should work fine. I'm not sure why you are trying to stretch your pennies but service rifle is not the way. Last year I fired in excess of 2,000 rounds bot in matches and practice.

Scott
 
For the M-14, I would recommend trying the Nosler J4 bullets. Russell's sells them in 250 round boxes for a reasonable cost. They come in 155 and 168 gr. HPBT.
Hodgdon's H4895 is probably the powder of choice for the M14, and will do well in the R15 too.
For the AR, you could try the bulk 55 gr. FMJ that BDX sells for the shorter range stuff, and go with a Hornady or Sierra match king 68 & 69 grain HPBT bullets when you are ready to start experimenting with ringing the accuracy out of the gun.
Hodgedon's H4895, H335 are good choices (as are a host of others) in these weights to start.
Russells and Wholesale both sell Hodgdon's line of powders.
Proline have started selling Alliant and Ramshot, and I understand Ramshot 'TAC' is a decent powder for the AR, but haven't used it.

I'd recommend the Hornady 6th Edition loading manual, as it has elements specific to the M-14 and AR-15 loading (not sure if the newer manual has it).
 
Hornady or Sierra match king 68 & 69 grain HPBT bullets? I thought you were using weighed and measured 77s with some sort of a proprietary guidance system.

H4895 and sierra 168s work really well in every M14 I have owned. Never tried J4s. SMKs were more accurate/precise then I am in service conditions, and they are cheaper.
 
Hornday's 7th edition contains service rifle loads for the .308. A useful binder bound book to acquire is Precision Shootings Reloading Guide available from Sinclair Int'l. This book has a lengthy chapter on gas gun loading, and while it does not contain tabulated loading data, it gives great practical advice on loading procedures for both M-14 and AR type match rifles.
 
m39a2 said:
I'm not sure why you are trying to stretch your pennies but service rifle is not the way. Last year I fired in excess of 2,000 rounds bot in matches and practice.
Click to expand...
The volume of shooting is exactly why I want to save my pennies. I know I'm going to be doing 90% of my shooting at 100 yards, so if sacrificing the long range accuracy (that I won't use anyways) means saving even $0.01/round, firing 2000 rounds a year, that means it's $20 more I can shoot.

With reference to the loading manuals, I'm working for Spear #14 right now. However the only load it makes specific mention of semi's is for 168gr HPBT's (denoting which powders are suitable), but there is no mention of reduced loads, which I'm taking to mean a reduced load won't have the "ummph" to cycle, but am still hopeful.
 
40 grains of 4895 & 155s will cycle an M-14. It will be fairly soft shooting.
In all honesty, at 100 yards you should be able to get just about anything to work. If I wasn't shooting past 100m, I'd shoot .223 and stick with 55 grain FMJs
 
"...worried that 25gr of powder..." Don't even think about using 25 grains of any powder used for the .308. Using loads that far below minimum is unsafe. It's possible to blow up a rifle with below minimum loads.
If you want a lighter load, use lighter bullets with data from your manual.
 
I've tried Ramshot TAC behind 55gr .224" Nosler Ballistic Tip on my Remington R-15 VTR with excellent results. You can get sub MOA at 100 yards with the right load. I couldn't go more than 24.7 gr with TAC for the WSR primers started to show sign of excessive pressure. So my mentor advised me to stop at 24.7 gr, still I can get 1/4 MOA which makes me very happy with this powder.
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True North... Strong and Free!
 
I can offer you Hornady 150gr FMJ's which will shoot as well as your M1A can shoot. Stuff some Benchmark in Win cases lit by a CCI BR2 primer and I bet you get a load that will put a big smile on your face.

If you want to use reduced loads, H4895 is THE powder of choice. Others may become dangerous if loaded well below min recommended by the powder companies.

Least expensive 30cal bullet right now that offers very good accuracy.

Jerry
 
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