Reloading for the M14
- Thread starter Iron Sighted
- Start date
- Location
- Federal Riding of Wascana
Never tried them, have 3100 rounds of various other primers through my m14s and as long as I pay attention to the primer depth and keep the bolt clean I have yet to have any slam fires, doesn't mean they don't happen, just that I've never encountered one yet in my Garand, sks, or Norc m14s.
Like anything, if you read about needing milspec primers on the interweb enough times, well, eventually it must be the truth
I thought about them once upon a time. The trouble was that teh US had squeezed the border shut, so used the next best thing...magnum primers. I religiously use CCI 250's with my 748 powder. I get fantastic and accurate results. Just waiting for the postie stike to get over with so I can get my new rollers for my bolt.
- Location
- Haliburton County, Central Ontario
Getting back to reloading for the M-14 / M-305, full length resizing will pretty well insure no failure to feed and fire issues and with .308 brass being so darned cheap (relatively) to buy why would one even bother with just resizing the neck? If you are one of the rare breed that uses these guns for hunting (I am not), then full length resizing is a given for reliability. No?
I thought about them once upon a time. The trouble was that teh US had squeezed the border shut, so used the next best thing...magnum primers. I religiously use CCI 250's with my 748 powder. I get fantastic and accurate results. Just waiting for the postie stike to get over with so I can get my new rollers for my bolt.
Any reason you use the magnum primers (250's) over the regular primers (200's) in the m14? Will I be more prone to slam fire with out them? (i keep the bolt sqeeky clean, so it shouldnt be an issue) or deeper strikes/pierced primers?
ww748 is a BALL powder- ball powder =magnum primers ; ball powders need a "hotter" flame to burn properly- has NOTHING to do with slam fires, primer cup thickness, - slamfires are a result of the round firing before the bolt is locked ,or as a result of the firing pin not retracting
Well, actually, I started using the magnum primers due to the fact that past threads on this forum indicated that the magnum primers had thicker cups. So I chose to use the magnum primers.
Then I noted that the military ammo ammo fed into the M14's used ball powder. I chose W 748 due the the fantastic results I was getting with my 223 (with the Ruger Mini).
It was an evolution of sorts. I was not overly impressed with the 4895, but that's me. I load to the same velocities recommended for the M14 and tweak a little form there. I do not crimp and play with the seating depths of the bullet. I also experimented with the amount of neck trim as well.
Then I noted that the military ammo ammo fed into the M14's used ball powder. I chose W 748 due the the fantastic results I was getting with my 223 (with the Ruger Mini).
It was an evolution of sorts. I was not overly impressed with the 4895, but that's me. I load to the same velocities recommended for the M14 and tweak a little form there. I do not crimp and play with the seating depths of the bullet. I also experimented with the amount of neck trim as well.
Chuckbuster
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
I'm looking at developing some loads specifically for my Norks. In the past, I have used 168 Sierras, 165 grain Hornady's and plain Jane 150s ahead of RL-15 (40-43 grains). If I recall, the 165/168 grain bullets with RL-15 did quite well. However, I'm seeing a definite preference for anything but RL-15, and I've just read elsewhere that anything slower than IMR4064 is to be avoided: Rl-15 is slower. Opinions? Is RL-15 something to be avoided?
Also, I've looked but cannot find out just what exactly WC735 is. It doesn't show up in my list of powders in Lee, nor in the powder burn rate in the Hodgdon manual.
Also, I've looked but cannot find out just what exactly WC735 is. It doesn't show up in my list of powders in Lee, nor in the powder burn rate in the Hodgdon manual.
Chuckbuster
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
But what exactly is it??? Stick? Ball? Where on the burning chart? And where can you find load data for it?
I can find no reference to it anywhere in the load data that I have.
Iron Sighted
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Peace Region
Very similar to what I've been loading. I've been using Win. brass, Win. WLR primers, 44grns of Varget, and 150/155grn SMK's. This thread sure has grown since I started it months ago, thanks everyone for contributing, some good info in here.
Chuckbuster
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
I have some 168 grain Berger VLDs ahead of 43 grains of RL-15 that I loaded up for my Rem700 bolt gun. Are these loads suitable for use in the m14? If they are, I'll leave them for the bolt gun, and load up the same bullets ahead of H4895.
