Load in the 7.62 NATO Long Range Cartridge

cuirc

cuirc

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Minuteman
    • Nov 8, 2023
    386
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    Poughkeepsie n. y.
    #1
    Special ammo was developed for the M-24 sniper rifle. It was designated "7.62 mm long range M118." I have about a case left. I had been shooting it in my M1A for a number of years. I recently acquired an original M-24; through discussions with the previous owner, I learned the significance of this Ammo. I have started using it in the M-24 and is shoots great despite its age. I am wondering if anyone is familiar with this ammo and knows what the load is. I spoke to the technical people at Hodgdon, they suspect that it is IMR 4895.
    I would like to duplicate it before I use it up! So I was wondering if anyone knows more about it and could share that information, such as the powder type, its weight and bullet. I plan to sacrifice one of the cartridges to get the powder weight and bullet form and weight. Then I will compare it to an identical charge of IMR 4895 and see what results bear out, then compare to the original cartridges.
    If anyone has any other suggestions I would love to read them. Thanks
     
    #2
    In the upper right corner of every page here is something called the search window. try it.

    this has been discussed for twenty years and there are hundreds of discussions about this.
     
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    #3
    Thank you for your response. Believe it or not I did use the search engine but not the right terms. This time I used m118 long range and got 10 pages of answers. Scanned them all; only a few were really relevant a few suggested 4064 or RE 15 or a Winchester ball but non answered the question (there might not be a real answer!) about how to replicate the load. So I will be doing my own research. The review of this information was worth the time.
     
    #4
    That round likely has a 173 gr bullet and ball powder. The link below is probably the best synopsis of the history of of M118.

    snipercentral.com

    History of the M118 Ammunition

    In the late 1950’s the United States military adopted the M14 battle rifle and M60 machine gun as standard combat arms incorporating the 7.62x51mm NATO cartridge which was the newly adopted NATO ro…
    snipercentral.com snipercentral.com
     
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    #6
    Make a better cartridge by reloading with a less temperature sensitive powder like Varget, Staball Match, IMR 8208 XBR or AR Comp.

    You're going to have a difficult time finding 8208 and AR Comp, two of my favorites with 175's. Varget and Staball Match are more available.

    I would buy some Varget and some Sierra 175 OTM's. Varget will get you in the same velocity territory as your M118 and has been known to be very accurate with the Sierra 175. 41-42 grains of varget will get you where you need to be. You can play with C.O.L. to fine tune the load.

    The Military found out that the Reloader 15 M118 load was loaded too hot for Desert temps. Reloader 15 is a very temperature sensitive powder. Varget is an excellent, very less temperature sensitive powder.

    I stopped buying Reloader 15 a few years ago and went to the better powders.
     
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    #7
    When I shot that load marked LR is was a 175 SMK. Look at the tip of the bullet and if a HPBT it is a 175 SMK and if closed or FMJ it is a 173. I never saw a cartridge marked M118 LR with a FMJ. Good luck and let us know how it turns out.
     
    #8
    I found this searching through the Forums.....

    "Cartridge, caliber 7.62mm special ball, long range, MK 316 MOD 0: A 175-grain (11.3 g) round specifically designed for long-range sniping consisting of Sierra MatchKing hollow-point boat-tail projectiles, Federal Cartridge Company match cartridge cases and Gold Medal match primers. The propellant has been verified as IMR 4064 (per NSN 1305-01-567-6944 and Federal Cartridge Company Contract/Order Number N0016408DJN28 and has a charge weight per the specs of 41.745-grain (2.7 g)"

    In my case, I have a bunch of Accurate 4064 that is a tad bit slower then IMR 4064, so I am going to start with 42.3 and see ware that puts me with current M118 LR and I am also using Berger 175 OTM with FC brass/ Federal 210 primers.
     
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    #10
    There are several versions of M118 per my earlier post. I believe that LC produced both 173 and 175 versions of the M118 LR. The 175 probably used RL15 but it had serious issues in Afghanistan. The nitroglycerine would tend to separate out at high ambient temperatures. This lead the Navy to contract for the development of the MK 316 version of the round.

    Here is the MK 316 Mod 0 build sheet from 2009. I have seen deconstruction of later years that have a higher load.

    Screenshot 2024-06-03 at 10.24.15 AM.png
     
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