Reloading recipes for M305

Im still working with Varget at the moment , havnt had any issues . i have 1lb of IMR4895 but finding more without taking a 2 hour drive isnt going to happen for sometime and i dont want to order online.

So far ive only tried 41 gr of Varget , 168 Hornady BTHP Moly , 2.800 OAL , Federal Brass with a CCI200 primer . pulled a 1.4" 5 shot group @ 100 though which i really liked.

This weekend im hoping to try out my others in 41.6 , 41.8 , 42 and 42.6 my digi scale only goes up in .02 increments . Same bullet as above , varying OAL's though , some are M852 duplicates others are by the book Match rounds so well see ill post pictures incrementally if i remember .

I also have some FMJ's loaded into winchester brass and federal brass *on its 3rd loading so far* , 42 grains of Varget ,150gr FMJ , 2.735 OAL , cci200 primer .
 
Went down in the load to 41.0 gr IMR4895, IVI brass, 168 smk, Winchester primers. Worst groups were 1.5" (at 100 yards), best were 3/4". I'm getting more and more of the shots in the 5 shot group touching compared to factory 150 grain ammo where the groups were 1.5", but evenly scattered.
 
Great info here, I'm wondering if someone can educate me on adjustable gas plugs or pistons for the M1A people usually use when running high performance handloads through their rifles.


I've got an adjustable gas plug for my Garand and figured it would be jsut as easy to find something similar for the M1A but am having a hard time finding info on what people usually modify on the rifle in order to ensure reliable feeding and minimal op rod damage.



Thanks!
 
They sell adjustable gas plugs for the M1A, but the thread would be different on a Norinco. The consensus of what I've read, is that it is simply unnecessary on a M14 and just something to tinker with to little benefit.
 
the way round that is to replace the gas system with usgi/m1a- it's only 3 pieces, and it's a slip -fit once you get the flashider and collar off- the other benefit to this would be that you can use sadlak grooved pistons, and heavier than standrd bullets without wear
 
So by replacing the piston you can load heavy/high pressure loads.


By replacing the Norc gas system with a USGI one you can use the aftermarket pistons.



If I wanted to use a Norc reciever and Boyd's wood stock and Kreiger heavy weight barrel, would the new gas system slide into the heavy barrel or would that need tinkering? What about the inleting on the wood stock?


I guess getting a muzzle brake would be easy after that, question is, which one... :jerkit:
 
answering that question is like doing surgery over the phone- you'd have to know the PROFILE of the kreiger barrel and whether it matches the standard m14/m1a profile- same deal for the collar, gas cylinder, and flashider/muzzelbrake/front sight-
 
Either the USGI or the Norinco gas system will slip right on a Krieger heavy barrel. But you will have to use a non-metric threaded gas lock (USGI, Springfield, etc.)
You will probably have to "adjust" the inleting of the Boyds stock.
 
I see this road that you are traveling down and lets just say that once you go Kreiger it's hard to go back ;)
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This 18.5" Kreiger get's between 1 to 1.25 inches at 100 meter's at poco when either running Hornady 168 grain Match or Barnes 175 grain Match with 43 to 43.5 grain's of powder. Although I have yet to try the 41 grain mark as the load developement started on this rifle at the 42 grain mark and went all the way up to 44. Buy the way everything on this rifle except for the hard chromed Norinco reciever has been replaced with top tier parts.
 
That's a thing of beauty Satain. I find shooting the M305 / M14s one of the most enjoyable guns I have. It's worth a better barrel, as I find the stock Norinco barrel to have a strong tendency to heat up and wander. It's not so bad at 100 yards, but it wreaks havok at 300. The shorty should be even better.
 
Nice rifle! I'd love to show up to an F/TR competition and pretend I got lost on the way to the service rifle match lol! Are semis even aloud in F/TR...?


Anyway, as nice as a modern stock would be, I'm thinking full wood, bipod, SWFA 4-16 FFP, and a bead blasted heavy weight full sized Kreiger with the standard flash suppressor. It would be part of my growing service rifle collection but also fill that precision semi-automatic niche....
 
Grizzlypeg yep you are to right out at 600 meters rapid fire after 60 rounds it used to open up but not with this tight rig.
Haagen_Dazs LoL!!!
They only load 1 round at a time and before they hit that dime at 600 meter's you have just hit a target at 2, 3, 4, 5 & 600 meter's. That is no more than the size of your hand. All be it in wood stock's this will be crazy hard to do. You will need to get an unfinished wood stock and in-pregnate it with resin and vaccum seal it. After a week you will then need to remove the plastic wrap and give it a zylene based clear coat to harden the out side surface. But then by the time you have done all this you could have just went out and baught a usgi stock and be good to go. Of course you will then end up sending it out to a custom stock gun smith and get him to make you a stock like this witch get's 1.5 inches at 100 meter steady with 43 grains of powder and a 168 grain Hornady match bullet.
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Try my Federal Gold hand load copy.

168SMK with 43.4 of IMR4064, I used FC brass and CCI BR primers.

It has shot 1 hole 100 meter groups in 2 tikka tacticals, 3 Rem 5R Milspec and 2 AR10's by 3 different shooters. 20" or 24" barrels with 1-11 or 1-11.25" twist.
 
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Hi all. Now that Ive got my rifle sorted, I moved on to experimenting with different ammo, all off the shelf as I havent started handloading yet.
Last week I had amazing results with Remington Core Lokt 150s, around 2" at 200 yds. Yesterday I tried some 180 Federal and what a shock ...best group was about 7 inches at 200yds. I see a lot of you are going for 165-168s are these all handloads or are they available off the shelf, just for try it out sort of thing until I start handloading.
I am convinced that there is a magic weight for each rifle and Im going to find it, still gonna throw surplus down range when its time for a mad minute :))
 
Lost...again said:
I am convinced that there is a magic weight for each rifle and Im going to find it, still gonna throw surplus down range when its time for a mad minute :))
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Here I see we attend the same church.

Good way to get brass; buy preassembled ammo and empty it :)

Yeah, I too am tempted to pick up a few hundred rounds of MFS from Canada Ammo, for when it just doesnt matter, but of course our rifles will work best with loads we settled on for that gun.
 
Lost...again said:
Yesterday I tried some 180 Federal and what a shock ...best group was about 7 inches at 200yds. I see a lot of you are going for 165-168s are these all handloads or are they available off the shelf, just for try it out sort of thing until I start handloading.
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It should be noted that bullet weights in excess of 170 grain, especially in commercial spec loads for .308 Winchester (as opposed to loads in 7.62 NATO spec) are pretty rough on the M14 type guns.
 
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