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Federal Gold match in M1a

Re: Federal Gold match in M1a

This may or may not shed a little more light. The M1 Garand can be damaged easily by hotter loads, usually by bending the op rod. The M14 is a lot more robust, especially in the op rod. I think since they are similar rifles people carry over ideas from one to the other, but the M14 can take a lot more abuse.
 
Re: Federal Gold match in M1a

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: marduk185</div><div class="ubbcode-body">http://www.zediker.com/downloads/14_loading.pdf
everyone who runs the m14 should read this but especially reloaders.</div></div>

Damn straight, this is sage advice. As a side note, IMR4064 is the cutoff point in powder "slowness". RL15 is fine.

Federal now makes match ammo specifically for the M1a. Never used it, and personally I think it is all marketing, but it is available if you want to give it a test drive. But if you have plenty of FGMM to spare, by all means shoot it.
 
Re: Federal Gold match in M1a

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Da-Law-Dawg</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Perfectly safe to run FGMM in your M1A. I have ran an abundance of it thru mine. </div></div>
Ditto on this post, same results here.
 
Re: Federal Gold match in M1a

Yes. For the M1A, my handload uses commercial .308 brass, match primer, 175gr MatchKing projectiles, and 42.2gr of IMR-4064. Loaded for the magazine at 2.810"-2.815" OAL.

For the M1 Garand, my handload is commercial brass, WLR primer, 150-155gr Match projectiles and 50.0gr of IMR4064. This is from the NRA Reprint, which is copied on the above service rifle team site. I don't use the Garand beyond 300yd these days, but if I did, it would be with 175gr Matchkings and the 47.0gr charge of IMR-4064 specified in both sources.

Greg
 
Re: Federal Gold match in M1a

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: 1Bolt</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I picked up on that Garand comment, can you help with how hot is hot? Can you recommended Garand specific reloading data sites of info?</div></div>

I don't shoot my Garand enough to justify reloading for it. I just use Hornady's Garand-specific match load: http://www.hornady.com/store/30-06-168-gr-A-MAX-M1-Garand/

It's not cheap, but it's accurate and I trust it in the Garand.
 
Re: Federal Gold match in M1a

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Greg Langelius *</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Yes. For the M1A, my handload uses commercial .308 brass, match primer, 175gr MatchKing projectiles, and 42.2gr of IMR-4064. Loaded for the magazine at 2.810"-2.815" OAL.
Greg </div></div>
Greg:

If you have previously posted what velocity you get with that load, I've long forgotten. What's your speed?

I was at 42.0 but found the velocity a bit soft and groups maybe a quarter-minute larger with the next lot of powder, so I went up to 42.5. Then each chrono session with warmer temps yielded less and less speed all over again. Yup, changed batteries, too. Depending on which test 2530 to 2580 fps, but each session has nice small ES and SD...almost always less SD in velocity than Varget loads.

BTW, when I consider port location, bullet travel, and comparisons with the reported CUP measurements of port pressure with some NRA loads published back when I was starting out, QuickLOAD predicts safe M1A port pressures with Varget and RE-15 all the way up to 2600-2620 fps. The "too slow" stories we sometimes hear about those two powders in the M1A may be, in the words of Sam Clemens, "greatly exaggerated".
 
Re: Federal Gold match in M1a

No, but I borrowed the load from a <span style="font-style: italic">PS</span> article which touted it as a guaranteed 1Kyd supersonic load out of the M1A.

Greg
 
Re: Federal Gold match in M1a

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: startrek</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Is it safe to shoot Federal Gold Match 168 gr in a Springfield M1A. I hear they use Reloader 15 and have been told it burns too slow for the M1A pressure curve. </div></div>
Star; Try the Federal, American Eagle 168gr OTM I have had good results in both my M1A and LR308 with it.

I actually has "For the M1A" on the box, you can find it for $16-18 a box.