M14 Forum

Pirate69

Pulled my Safe Queen M1A out and decided to shoot it again. Have had it for over 10 years and with the work this week, I have finally reahed 500 rounds through it.

Started out with a GoldenWestBrass 168 grainer and 41.0 grains of IMR4895 Surplus and a some LC 61 military surplus. Not bad but not spectacular. Decided to start my tests with 39.0 grains of IMR4895 and keep all loads constant. Fired 100 yard loads of: 168g Golden West Brass, 168g Nosler CC, 145 g PRVI (M80) and 147g Winchester. These are all bulk bullets I have bought over the years. Looks like the 168g Nosler CC has the best performance. Still some work to do. The fliers seem to be a problem. Where do I look for problems?

wbm

Iron sights or scope?

Pirate69

scope, wish I could say I was shooting iron sights.

Bamban

Good shooting.

You can't resolve the dot drill target good enough with irons. Punching those dots with a shot at each is not easy even with a bolt gun.

RAMMAC

The "flyers" could be anything at this point; too much variance of case volume (mixed brands will do that), shooting technique error, or the rifle/scope might have a problem.

First thing that I would do is separate the cases by manufacturer. Then build loads using the 168gr Nosler CC and the 39gr of IMR 4895. Run a test group.

I would also recommend loading the rounds by hand in to the magazine and then letting the bolt strip is off the mag while it goes home. Sometimes my groups are slightly better loading five cartridges in the mag but they are more consistent when I load one round at a time. Give the rifle at least 3 minutes between each round.

Rest the rifle on sand bags, front and rear. Put the front bag as close to the receiver ring as is comfortable, that will help ensure that there is no upward pressure on the stock that might transfer to the barrel.

Make sure you don't cant the rifle to the left or right, keep the cross hairs vertical and horizontal. Take your time squeezing the trigger, pull straight back on the trigger, don't push or pull to one side or the other. Try to setup the bags so that the rifle is as level, front to rear, as possible. This will direct the recoil straight in to your shoulder which reduces muzzle jump and improves group sizes.

With a scope, I always move my head forward until I start to see a shadow through the scope. Then I move head back, away from the scope, and stop just when the shadow disappears. Make sure that the focus and parallax are adjusted properly.

MemphisMachinists

I think you are like me to some extent. You just don't get enough range time. I see the same kind of groups when I try different types of ammo. I have some targets from my last range trip that really drive that message home. I put two targets out at 100 yds side by side, loaded two mags with different ammo. Then I shot 10 rds at one target and ten rounds at the other target. the result is a huge difference in groups. Gotta be the ammo. So why do I keep doing it. I don't know.
BTW your targets look pretty good to me and I don't see what I call a flier. To me a flier is when I jerk the rifle so bad one hole is about ten inches off from the rest. Atleast they are all on the paper now. When I started posting targets here 2 years ago they weren't.

Pirate69

I may be expecting more from my M1A than it can deliver. I was hoping the M1A would produce groups at 100 yards as good as my 300 Winchester Mag heavy barrel does at 500 yards with the same bullets. The first photo is part of a OCW test I did with the Nosler 168 grain CC in my 300 WM. This is at 300 yards with bags. Photo of my poor man's target rifle is also attached. Yes, that is an old Tasco scope on it. If you pick your conditions, it does OK at the higher powers; but nothing to brag about. Kast photo is the 300 WM at 500 yards.









This is a 500 yard target with the load selcected from the OCW test.

Ivan1GFP

That isn't bad accuracy for a non glass bedded / accurised M1A.

Your .300 Win Mag isn't bad looking at all. What kind of rifle is that? The thing that struck me about that photo is the VERY short eye relief you have on the telescope.

- Ivan.

SILENCED556

Just out of curiosity, how much time was between sets? Did you take cold bore into consideration?