What is YOUR M14 load

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Petrock

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I've just started the reloading game. I have acquired my turret press and am waiting for dies.

Share with me what load: bullet, powder and primer you're using. I hope to be shooting out to about 500 m.
 
-45.5 grains BL-C(2) powder
-Sierra 150 grain FMJBT
-CCI primer
-Federal cases (not my first choice, but I had a bunch lying around)
-Seat bullet to cannelure and crimp

This load gives me sub 2" groups at 100 yards from my M14 using iron sights.
 
fc case, 110gr hornady sp, 47.5gr imr 4895, col 2.565, 3050ish fps
ivi/da case, 150gr hornady fmj/150gr seirra pro hunter, 41.5gr imr 4895, col 2.765 2600ish fps
fc case, 150gr hornady fmj/150gr seirra pro hunter, 42.5gr imr 4895, col 2.765 2600ish fps
fc case, 162gr hornady amax, 41.5gr imr 4895, col 2.800, 2500ish fps

cci br2/200 primers

all these give me 2'' or better from my stockish m14s
the 110gr load is flirting with moa
 
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41.5 -42.5 grains of H4895, 155 Amax or Sierra HPBT or Nosler HPBT, Winchester brass, & primer of choice @ 2.800" oal should work very nicely.
 
The standard load for 52 years for the M-14 is a Sierra 168 Grn BTHP match bullet (# 2200 I think) on top of 41 grns of 4064. Gives me wonderful accuracy and consistant reliability dropping fired brass slightly forward about 1.5 feet to my right.

Scott
 
Thank you everyone. I'll be looking into reproducing some of these loads.

Would it be better if as a starting point I dropped a grain or two off of each and start safe for my rifle?
 
Petrock said:
Would it be better if as a starting point I dropped a grain or two off of each and start safe for my rifle?
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Look into a loading manual or two, and see where the listed loads lie. If they are max or near max, then yes, definitely start lower. But some of those loads, I think, are actually quite mild, and may well be prudent to try right off the bat - you won't know this though until you compare it to a few reliable sources of load data.
 
there used to be a listing for a thing called an m118slr, but it's no longer on the net- again, a zedicker load, lake city case, 175grain smk and 43.9-44 grains of ww748- developed esp for the m14- and i've subbed the 168 grain smk directly and had good results- the 175 is a bit rougher on the action
 
...yeah, I'd further argue that unless you are shooting it to 600 yards and are absolutely set on the better balistics of the 168s, the 155s offer excellent performance while being even milder on the action.
 
anybody know where to get 159 gr fmj's Just got a norinco m14 and I would like to use 150 fmj in it. have not phoned around just yet, so if someone knows who stocks these let me know. thanks
 
The Sierra 168, for all its virtues (very easy to get it to shoot well), is not at all a high performance bullet, ballistically-speaking (wind drift). It is outperformed by the Sierra 155 (and by all other 155 target bullets too).

An interesting tidbit about the Sierra 155 is that its nose profile is the SAME as the Sierra 168 (with one minor exception - the 155's nose extends just a bit further, and the hole at the tip of the bullet ("meplat") is therefore a bit smaller than in the Sierra 168. Where you can use this to your advantage is that if you know what works well in your rifle with Sierra 168s (e.g. seated to 2.800" magazine length works well, or .020" off the lands, etc), then if you try exactly the same setup with the Sierra 155, it will likely work well for you.

The back end of the Sierra 155 is the same as the Sierra 190. Being a shallower boattail angle than the Sierra 168, it will be lower drag. It also might end up being a bit fussier to get to shoot well, especially if your muzzle's crown has any flaws. Short-boattailed bullets (like the 168) are less sensitive to this, and flat-based bullets even less sensitive still.

So if a Sierra 155 will shoot accurately in your M14, you have a load that will ballistically outperform a Sierra 168 at 100 yards, at 300 yards, at 600 yards, and beyond. And it will have a tiny bit less recoil. And if you are a DCRA member, you can periodically get the opportunity to purchase Sierra 155s in bulk (1000 at a time) for very attractive prices.

But, a note to the Original Poster: if you're not shooting any further than 500m (or 600m), don't worry too much about the ballistic advantage of one bullet over another. Accuracy and availability (and price) are much, much more important.
 
The ballistic performance of the 155s vs. the 168s is debatable out to the effective range of most M14s, however if you look to the most competitive environment for the M14 being Hi-power of the early 90's you would see that 168s ruled the roost for a reason. Generally, if push comes to shove and a shooter is in it to win, they would likely live with a bit of punishment on the gun, and push the 168s to a velocity that will beat the 155s.

None of this matters for the average shooter.
 
pet load

I have been using the load M92 (Scott) suggested but instead of a sierra, I have been using berger bullets. And they are very accurate, even out to 300 yds. The load he suggested is not the max so you are fine with it. I actually had bought a few manufactures and tried them, I think the Bergers were the best. Couldn't get any sierras in 168 at the time. In fact I still cannot find any.
 
twig_40 said:
...I have been using berger bullets. And they are very accurate, even out to 300 yds.
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Dunno if you mean a Berger 168 or Berger 155; either way, they are a first-rate target bullet, that will be accurate out to at least 1000 yards.

Berger makes three different varieties of 155 grain bullet (the "VLD", the "BT" which used to be known as LTB, and the 155.5 Fullbore). All are expensive (that's the worst thing you can say about Bergers ;-), and all are super high quality.

The 2007 British Palma team used the "worst" (lowest performing) of them, the 155 BT. And they won the Palma Match with it (16 shooter team match at 700m, 800m and 900m).
 
The IMR 4895 can be in the same range as the H4895 - 41.5 to around 42.5 grains - they are light loads with bullets in the 150s
 
Thanks again guys. Way more information than I can deal with at the moment lol. There seems to be a total lack of availability of projectiles around here so I have no idea what I'm going to use.
 
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