"That'll do pig, that'll do."

Pop

Pop

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Well I finally got my new-to-me 22" M305 out to the range, after weeks of fiddling and filing my way through a laundry list of accurizing mods. I had 3/4 of a box of Remington 168gr Premier Match, 1/2 a box of 168gr Nosler Custom Match, a box of 150gr Remington UMC and a couple of double-handfuls of 145gr Norc FMJ.

After zeroing at 50 with some of the UMC I moved out to 100 yards. Three more zeroing rounds and then three groups of five shots with the Norc FMJ. Not awesome, but I wasn't expecting miracles with this stuff.



Next up was three groups of five with the Remington UMC. Ugh, this was not encouraging.



I didn't have a lot of the Good Stuff, but it was time to see what was what. Bottom two groups were five shots each of the 168gr Nosler Custom Match, with not so stellar results. The top two groups were five shots each of 168gr Remington Premier Match. The flyer on the upper left was my fault, I rushed that shot when a bee freaked me out.



I only had enough of the 168gr Remington for one more group (the one on the left), but I think I've found the flavour it likes! Three more groups of Norc FMJ followed just to fill up the space.



If it weren't for the 168gr Remington Premier Match I would have been mightily disappointed, but that stuff really made my day today. Now I think I've got no choice but to start working up some handloads so I don't have to keep paying $40 a box!

The star of the show - I have high hopes that this is going to be the beginning of a beautiful friendship:



List of Parts:
- Norinco M305 with 22" barrel, plastic stock and 1.645" headspace(!), bought for a decent price off the EE
- M14.ca Black Arrow op-rod spring guide
- M14.ca CASM II mount
- Bushnell Elite 10x fixed scope (mil-dot)
- Burris Zee Standard 1" rings
- Tac-Pro cheek riser
- Butler Creek flip up scope covers
- cheap bubba'd flash hider to replace the one I broke while removing it (I was planning on getting a USGI replacement eventually, but I'm not sure I should change it now)
- Krylon paint, liberally applied

List of Modifications:
- crown polished with a brass screw, drill and grinding compound
- gas lock flipped to tighten at 4:00 (love it when this works)
- ferrule removed and ground down to provide about 1/16" clearance from the plate, then JB Welded back on
- hand guard trimmed to clear the forestock without contact
- op-rod guide peened and red-loctited in proper position
- hammer/sear finger-f***ed smooth with toothpaste
- hollow area of stock behind the action filled with epoxy putty to provide a solid bedding base
- action bedded into the stock with JB Weld, using the coat-hanger trick to align and tension the barrel/forestock and Kiwi polish for a release agent

Group Measurements (all groups were 5-shots from the magazine with the gas system on, fired from a front bag rest on a bench at 100 yards):
- Norinco 145gr FMJ ('93): 2.25", 3.5", 2.15", 4.1", 2.7", 4.2"
- Remington UMC 150gr FMJ: 3.0", 2.65", 2.75"
- Nosler Custom Match Grade 168gr BTHP: 2.3", 2.2"
- Remington Premier Match 168gr BTHP: 1.5", 1.1", 1.05"
 
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Nice groups with the Remington Match. At least you have found a Commercial ammo flavour that your rifle likes.

Isn't it great when a plan comes together like that. When you have a load that works you should try the 1.5 MOA challenge since we don't have any winners shooting a Norc. With groups like that, it looks like you can clean it.
 
Thanks! Yeah I'm pretty stoked that all the arcane alchemy of accurizing seems to actually work, lol. I haven't done any reloading in about twenty years, so I'm basically going to be starting from scratch, but I'm excited to see what this thing can really do with the right load.
 
Johnny_Zanni said:
Get yourself some 168gr Sierra Matchkings and have at it. Looks like that rifle will be a great M14 to take out further :)
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I've been window-shopping online (windows shopping?) and there's a pretty steep learning curve ahead of me I think, should be a fun summer project!
 
You'll be amazed what tailored loads will do for that thing, I know I am. I'm getting stellar results with nosler 155gr. CCs over 4895. Nosler has some fine hunting bullets in the 168gr range I'm going to work on next.
 
Very nice indeed, and lots of potential to tweak out with hand loads.
Also nice to see a true DIY job. No Big Bucks spent, just time and enthusiasm.
A few hours at the kitchen table and a bit of surfing and you get around the 1 to 1.5 mark...brilliant.

Nice paint too .
 
Jmiverson said:
You'll be amazed what tailored loads will do for that thing, I know I am. I'm getting stellar results with nosler 155gr. CCs over 4895. Nosler has some fine hunting bullets in the 168gr range I'm going to work on next.
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What's your powder charge, and is it IMR 4895 or H 4895 (I know there's VERY little difference between the two)?

I'd like to try your load recipe in my M305 that I had worked on by Thomas (45ACPKING) when he was still doing M305 work.
 
shredder said:
What's your powder charge, and is it IMR 4895 or H 4895 (I know there's VERY little difference between the two)?

I'd like to try your load recipe in my M305 that I had worked on by Thomas (45ACPKING) when he was still doing M305 work.
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The load that seems to replicate Federal Gold Medal Match is 41.5 grains of H4895 under a 168 HPBT pill. My experience is that each M305 likes something a little bit different. While the FGMM load is a great place to start, I'd be prepared to find that it isn't where you end-up.

I could never get 4895 to work quite as well for my rifle as Varget and 3031.
 
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Lost...again said:
Very nice indeed, and lots of potential to tweak out with hand loads.
Also nice to see a true DIY job. No Big Bucks spent, just time and enthusiasm.
A few hours at the kitchen table and a bit of surfing and you get around the 1 to 1.5 mark...brilliant.

Nice paint too .
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Thanks, I already had the scope and rings so aside from those the whole project cost about $800 including about $30 in JB Weld, epoxy putty, paint and shoe polish :cool:
 
So far, 41.0 grs of IMR 4895 seems to be the best. But I had a node at 42.0grs. I'm going to check again. Im not sure about the velocity I'm getting yet, but 41grs does seem low to be honest.

I haven't tried h4895, only because I found a bunch of IMR first.
 
Rifle looks great, really like that camo job!

I have a question and I don't want to hijack or anything... I have basic knowledge on the m14 platform, I can tear em down and rebuild them and crap like that but I don't know the nuances of the rifle like some folks here... anyways my question is I'd like to try some handloads for my m14 but I'm also new to handloading and am a little gun-shy (har har) when it comes to handloading for my norinco-dink. I've been using 150gr fed power shocks in my m305s (or 150gr rem corelok when federal isn't around) and then using that once fired brass for loading for bolt actions. So far I've had good results with handloading for my bolts but still get a little sketched out thinking about putting handloads into my m305's. Having said that the rifles have ate everything I've put into them, from winchester supreme? (I think its called, 165gr ballistic tips) to cheap MFS ammo. Last night I saved a couple links on my computer that had reloading guides for the m14 pattern rifles, but is there anything a guy should watch out for when handloading for m305's specifically? Again I don't want to hijack the thread, and would appreciate any insight.

Rifle looks great Pops, and it's encouriging to see how a little attention to detail can really pay off. Rockin the 5 round mags too, nice! ;)
 
Thanks! From what I've read so far (and this is all just theory for me at the moment) the two big things to watch for are to make sure you full-length resize and seat your primers fully. If you've got a large amount of headspace you'll want to make sure your brass isn't getting dangerously thin when you re-use it, so either check it with a gauge or limit your re-use. Hopefully someone with some real knowledge can chime in too.
 
Pop said:
Hopefully someone with some real knowledge can chime in too.
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I'm not sure I qualify but Pops has some good advice. Some may disagree with what I'm going to say now..

When you get more comfortable reloading for your rifle I think that you will find that neck-bumping your fired brass a few thou in your FL sizing die will be sufficient for the rounds to chamber safely. It will also preserve your brass. The M305s are chambered for 7.62 NATO which is longer than 308 Win, even given the sloppy chambers on many Norcs.

One thing to be aware of is that only powders of a certain burn-rate should be used. Most folks would say to use anything in between IMR 3031 and IMR 4064 is fine with IMR 4895 or H4895 being the go-to powder.

Cheers and start safe then play around the edges of the performance envelope.
 
Thank you both very much for the advice! I did hear to make sure your primers are fully seated as the m14s have the floating firing pin. I have been using 44gr of 4064 under a 168 gr bthp with nice results in my bolt. Ill double check my reloading book to see what may be a good, mellow starting point for powder charge.

One more quick question if you don't mind lol when I loaded for my bolt I cut a slot in the neck of a sized peice of brass so that a bullet would slide into and out of the neck but still be set and firm in the neck. I chambered this dummy round, measured, and then set my die back 20 tho of the lands. Would this trick work with the m14 or is the bolt lockup sloppy enough that I won't get consistent results? Thanks again! :)
 
2stonedbirds said:
One more quick question if you don't mind lol when I loaded for my bolt I cut a slot in the neck of a sized peice of brass so that a bullet would slide into and out of the neck but still be set and firm in the neck. I chambered this dummy round, measured, and then set my die back 20 tho of the lands. Would this trick work with the m14 or is the bolt lockup sloppy enough that I won't get consistent results? Thanks again! :)
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You are largely going to be limited by the COAL that will fit in the magazine. Mine tops out at about 2.83", well short of the lands. I've experimented with various COAL but have not found a significant effect. I just leave it at 2.82" for my 168 gn loads and about 2.75" for 155s and lighter.
 
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