HELP: Starting to load for my M1A

[I Am Hero]

Well I was doing some Google searches and looking around a bit at some recommendations for reloads for my M1A. This is what I learned from the interwebs...

1) LC brass is best, it is the thickest and can handle the rigorous beating from the M1A bolt. (is this completely necessary or will my winchester and Fed brass be fine?)
2) Don't use Federal 210 or 210M primers, they are too soft and can result in slam fires. (great, I just bought a couple thousand). Win and CCI are preferred.
3) Buy a small base die to ensure easy and uniform sliding of the round into the chamber to avoid premature detonation of the round.
4) Crimp it? Don't crimp it? This was unclear but I think I am going to crimp them. It slammed one of my reloads into the feed ramp and seated it about .02" further into the brass..yikes.
5) Don't shoot anything over 175 gr, it can hurt your piston/op rod. 155 is a more tamable recoil, but 168 is the go to.
6) Don't use mid or slower burning powders like Varget, use faster stuff like 4895...(weird, Hornady says RL15 and Varget gave good performance)
7) The most common round is LC brass, Win or CCI primer, 41.5-42.5 gr IMR 4895 powder, and finally a 168 gr pill up top.

I guess what I am looking for is some confirmation on this or some recommendations. Am I going to get slam fires with my Fed primers and should I just sell these to my brother for his bolt gun and invest in some more Win or CCI primers?

I just want to make sure I am doing things right and won't hurt my gun or myself with an improper load. I used the following load left over from my bolt gun:

Federal Brass trimmed .01" below SAAMI max brass length (per Hornady guide)
43.5 gr Varget (apparently this is too much now that I look at their service rifle load specs that show 42 gr tops, I think)
Win LR primer
Loaded them to max length while still able to fit in the magazine

I only had one load that appeared to give me pressure issues but it only blew out part of the primer (perhaps the pocket was too loose or the primer was seated crooked?). The accuracy was decent for an M1A (around 1-1.5MOA @ 100). My concern is that these loads are below Hornady factory specs and I have about 500 rounds of factory match ammo I was planning on shooting. Is this stuff safe to shoot?

Thanks ahead of time guys.

 

[moparguy]

My M1-A load is Lake City or IMI brass, 41.5gr. IMR4895 and CCI Mil Spec primers with a 168 SMK. Works for me.

 

[I Am Hero]

Yea that is what I have heard is the big go to round. How does it do with accuracy?

 

[Victor N TN]

My M1-A load is Lake City or IMI brass, 41.5gr. IMR4895 and CCI Mil Spec primers with a 168 SMK. Works for me.

I personally use 41.0 grains of IMR 4895, Berger 175s (not VLR)(Hornadys are also very good) and Winchester regular Large Rifle primers. I don't understand it. But it groups from a rest 3/4" at 100 yards and 3/4" at 200. I throw the charge slightly light and trickle it up.

Good luck.

 

[Thump_rrr]

I use 41.5gr of IMR4064 in a LC case with 168gr SMK's and FGMM 210M primers.
Yes I know risk of slam fires but I uniform my primer pockets and my primers sit 0.008" below flush.
I have never had a slam fire on either of my 2 M14 pattern rifles and never had a primer fail to ignite.

 

[Smcarroll]

I use reloader 15 almost exclusively. 210m primers have never given me problems. Remington, federal and lc brass. My favorite plinking bullet is the hornady 150 gr bt-fmj and I load 175 smk's for long rang. People bitch about the m1a but mine has been super easy to load for.

 

[FLIGHT762]

Glen Zediker has a couple of good articles on reloading for the M-14 / M-1A. If you haven't read them, they are a good resource. "Loading for the Match M-14" and "Once fired twice fired".

https://www.zediker.com/downloads/m14.html

 

[rg1911]

Before I had to quit competing, my 200-yard and 300-yard load was LC match brass, Sierra 168-gr MK, WW primers, and 44 grains of a slow batch of IMR 4895 pull-down powder. The barrel was a Krieger.

I loaded these on my Dillon 650.

My 600 yard load was Lapua brass and a 175-gr bullet. I don't remember the powder charge or if I switched to Federal match primers.

I loaded these on a single-stage press.

Richard

 

[BillCh]

After trying to reinvent the wheel I settled on the Zediker recommendations. I should have just done that in the first place.
The 168gr. SMK over 41.5 of H4895 just works for me. The only big deviation is that I use a CCI No. 34 primer.

B

 

[HAZORD]

One thing you can do to your rifle that will give you a bit more latitude in bullet selection, is to install a Schuster vented gas plug. The Schuster plug has an adjusting screw in the middle, which varies the gas path so you can cut down the amount of gas that pushes on the operating rod. This will allow you to use heavier bullets, if you screw the adjustment down to limit the higher pressure gas that gets to the op rod. So even though the heavier bullets give an initial higher pressure, the op rod doesn't see it, so recoil is softer and it doesn't beat up your op rod.

 

[ArmyJerry]

41.7 -8 4064 with a 175 smk on to[p in LC brass will do you well.

 

[Tx_Flyboy]

I've only shot my Supermatch M1A at 600yards and 1,000yards.

Here are my loads:

175gr SMK/178 AMAX
41.4gr AR-Comp
Winchester/LC Brass
Tula LRP

185gr Berger VLD
44.4gr Varget
Winchester Brass
Tula SRP

I have shot my best scores at 600yards and 1,000yards with these loads...all iron sight in prone matches.

I have shot these loads with the stock gas plug, maybe 300 rounds through the rifle with no ill effects. I will likely upgrade to a Schuster gas plug as it relieves pressure on the op-rod.

 

[Mad_Charlie]

41.7 -8 4064 with a 175 smk on to[p in LC brass will do you well.

Yes, it will!

The main thing with the M1a is port pressure, 12-14000 psi is the operating range.
Uniforming the primer pockets is something I just do for ALL of my gas guns.
The Schuster plug is great if you want to load bullets over 175-178gr.
I adjust mine from closed, to open enough to just cycle, then back in one click, this is load dependent.
The gas system is basically self regulating, I mainly run the Schuster to give me more control over it.
My M1a runs 3/4-1" @ 100, but I have done a lot of timing and tweaking.

A note on primers, for my banging and general use load (42 IMR3031 under Hornady 150 fmjbt) I have used CCi 200's,and CCi 34's.
Match type work, I use 210m's, no problems here.

Cases, I use any I can get my hands on, but prefer L.C.

The M1a is not a benchrester, but it IS a powerful and accurate enough battle rifle that will do what it was designed to do, and do it well!