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want to duplicate m118lr load.

savagehunter44

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Minuteman
Apr 10, 2011
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florida
i know thay use 175 gr SMK, but what powder is the closest powder to what is used ? is it ball or stick powder ? im looking for all the specs.
 
Re: want to duplicate m118lr load.

Most recent is 41.7 grains IMR 4064, previous 43.1 grains RL-15. LC LR brass,Federal 210M primer,and 175 SMK.
5915a0a2.jpg
 
Re: want to duplicate m118lr load.

My load is Rem case, 42.2gr IMR-4064, Fed 210M FGMM primer, 175SMK, 2.800-2.815" COAL. This is a reliable 1Kyd supersonic load out of the M1A/M14. It has been published and in use for around a decade.

Greg
 
Re: want to duplicate m118lr load.

889 lbs of 4064! neat! is this an army or marine contract? do they order separate with different powder etc?
 
Re: want to duplicate m118lr load.

Many powders over the years have been used. They used 4064 before, but after they had problems with temp. sensitivity of RL-15 they went back to 4064. This is the most recient loading of th M118 LR that I know of.
 
Re: want to duplicate m118lr load.

M118 Long Range (DODIC AA11) for conventional forces is loaded with Reloader 15 at the lake City Army Ammunition Plant.

Mark 316 (DODIC AB39) is loaded for the United States Special Operations Command with 4064 by Federal on their Gold Medal Match production line.

Both use 175-grain Match Kings but are not the same ammunition.
 
Re: want to duplicate m118lr load.

Just checked with a friend who is an ammo tech. The 4064 load is SOCOMs.
the M118LR load is 43.1-43.3gr of RL-15 in LC brass.
 
Re: want to duplicate m118lr load.

That was a great read thanks for sharing the link.
 
Re: want to duplicate m118lr load.

wow, lots of info ! now the question is , is lake city brass worth a crap for loading ?
 
Re: want to duplicate m118lr load.

2.80-2.830 the ones I've measured. Most were 2.810-2.820.
 
Re: want to duplicate m118lr load.

The american marksman has a good deal on this brass 80 dollars for 500 pieces. I've had good results using this brass it is very good quality.
 
Re: want to duplicate m118lr load.

I've been being lazy with my reloading lately on this clone.

Whatever brass I have (Win/BH/FC/REM), WLR primer, 41.7 4064, and a 175 SMK loaded to 2.800.

Still shoots better than I do.

I'm going to start working behind the chrono soon and see if I need to move the powder up a little...then start playing with seating depth.
 
Re: want to duplicate m118lr load.

I've shot two different lots of 118LR through my gun and I always get higher velocity's with the 118LR then reloaded/replica loads.

Its usually pretty siginificant too, like 20-40 fps higher.
 
Re: want to duplicate m118lr load.

That's not that much higher, just compensate with a hair more powder.
 
Re: want to duplicate m118lr load.

Yea, I like the M118 LR it's a good solid longe range round. Yes it's not the end all be all you can do better with load development. But just like GMM it shoots well in most rifles and it's just plain fun to recreate.
 
Re: want to duplicate m118lr load.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Pusher591</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I've shot two different lots of 118LR through my gun and I always get higher velocity's with the 118LR then reloaded/replica loads.

Its usually pretty siginificant too, like 20-40 fps higher. </div></div>

I looked at that figure, 41.7gr, and thought that was low.
Im thinking that 41.7gr is for military brass.
From what I understand the military brass has thicker walls and therefor yields higher pressure than commercial 308 brass.

I think greg's 42.4 load is pretty close.

Then again, what do I know?
 
Re: want to duplicate m118lr load.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: cpt. obvious</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Pusher591</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I've shot two different lots of 118LR through my gun and I always get higher velocity's with the 118LR then reloaded/replica loads.

Its usually pretty siginificant too, like 20-40 fps higher. </div></div>

I looked at that figure, 41.7gr, and thought that was low.
Im thinking that 41.7gr is for military brass.
From what I understand the military brass has thicker walls and therefor yields higher pressure than commercial 308 brass.

I think greg's 42.4 load is pretty close.

Then again, what do I know? </div></div>

From "wiki" here's a list of components:

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Cartridge, Caliber 7.62mm Special Ball, Long Range, MK 316 MOD 0 (United States): A 175-grain round specifically designed for long-range sniping consisting of <span style="font-weight: bold">Sierra MatchKing Hollow Point Boat Tail</span> projectiles, <span style="font-weight: bold">Federal Cartridge Company match cartridge cases</span> and <span style="font-weight: bold">Gold Medal Match primers</span>. The Propellant has been verified as <span style="font-weight: bold">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 grains)</span>.[6]</div></div>

By this, it would appear that the "load" is for civilian brass, not the NATO small capacity brass.
 
Re: want to duplicate m118lr load.

U guys should chrony that 175 smk 41.7 imr 4064 load l/c brass load from 30 degrees to 104 my velocities were were:
Remington 700P 26" barrel

At 30 degrees, 2616-2625
At 104 degrees 2615-2650
I only shot 10 of each to get a general idea

No bullshit either Vargey schmargay.... I love when douches bags try to tell me that all the military snipers use varget in their loads. I just let them go on looking ignorant.

I'll add that it shot well but I think any given reloader could tweak the load to their rifle with better results. And that I've seen wider es on loads shot on the same day. Hey it happens b.s. if nobody else has ever experienced a 50fps velocity spread.
 
Re: want to duplicate m118lr load.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Deadshot2</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
By this, it would appear that the "load" is for civilian brass, not the NATO small capacity brass. </div></div>

FC brass and LC brass both have smallish case capacity.

Winchester 308 is lighter and can hold more powder.

Conversely, Win 223 brass has less case capacity than LC 223.
 
Re: want to duplicate m118lr load.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: 2clicks</div><div class="ubbcode-body">U guys should chrony that 175 smk 41.7 imr 4064 load l/c brass load from 30 degrees to 104 my velocities were were:
At 30 degrees, 2616-2625
At 104 degrees 2615-2650
I only shot 10 of each to get a general idea
</div></div>

That load is about 2350-2380fps in my 16" and 2450ish in my 20" LTR. A friend's SPS varmint shoots it just under 2600fps.

41.5 Varget grouped better for me, same velocity.
 
Re: want to duplicate m118lr load.

Way to try and hide your useless little posts to pad your post count tex. whatcha tryin to sell?
 
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Re: want to duplicate m118lr load.

Anyone use varget to try to replicate the m118lr or mk316 rounds?

I've got fc brass, varget and 175smk's to use up in my 16" ar.
 
Anyone use varget to try to replicate the m118lr or mk316 rounds?

I've got fc brass, varget and 175smk's to use up in my 16" ar.

Try 43.5 gr Varget with that bullet @2.810" to start. You may find it good enough to go with without a lot of fiddling.

As for the 41.7 gr IMR-4064 in FC cases with 175gr, I found it to be way slower in my 24" bbl than "advertised". 42.8 gr got the speed up where it shot good in my rifle.
 
The last batch of M118LR I saw loaded at the Lake City plant was RL15, this was in 2011
LC brass is thicker, therefore heavier...weigh your empty brass and you can prove this, this will
also account for slower velocity in commercial brass.
 
A good thread here, I just started with the LC and 4064, at 41.7 I am shooting 1 holers out of my 5 r Savage. I never realized how versatile the 4064 powder was, I will relegate all my varget and RL 15 to the 223 loads until its run out then go to 4064 for that round too..
 
As for the 41.7 gr IMR-4064 in FC cases with 175gr, I found it to be way slower in my 24" bbl than "advertised". 42.8 gr got the speed up where it shot good in my rifle.

Mostly that's because NATO 7.62x51 brass is heavier and has a marginally smaller internal capacity. 'My' 42.2gr load uses the slightly roomier commercial Remington .308 Win brass, and adds about .4gr of IMR-4064, which probably brings it back up to an equivalent velocity. It's not really, originally my load; I copied it straight from a Precision Shooting article on getting a guaranteed 1Kyd supersonic load in an M14/M1A.

All barrels have some velocity and harmonics variances, so tuning in and around these load specs will be of some benefit. At the time I was working with this load, the 42.2gr charge was listed by Sierra as a max, but times change.

Greg
 
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Kind of off the subject, but according to the article in the Sept. 2013 American Rifleman/Advances in US Sniping Ammunition.
The Navy wanted a 7.62 NATO 175gr. precision round that was more temp. stable than M118LR. They developed the Mk. 316 Mod. 0 round, appears to be M118LR spec. with different powder, Varget maybe?

Anyone have any more info on this ammo?
 
Kind of off the subject, but according to the article in the Sept. 2013 American Rifleman/Advances in US Sniping Ammunition.
The Navy wanted a 7.62 NATO 175gr. precision round that was more temp. stable than M118LR. They developed the Mk. 316 Mod. 0 round, appears to be M118LR spec. with different powder, Varget maybe?

Anyone have any more info on this ammo?

There was some information circulated either on this site or a similar one that showed an "Assembly Sheet" for the MK316 Mod 0. Powder was 41.7 gr of IMR-4064, the case a "Special" Federal GMM, and Fed GMM primer, using the Sierra 175 SMK.

I've tried this load a couple of times and was OK in my old barrel. Now have to see if it will shoot well in my new Benchmark bbl.
 
Crane provides support, ammo and custom weapons for the Navy Seals.That is probably the reason for all the load development being done.

Regards,Mike
 
I still got a warstock of me clones usin rl15, shit knocks the shit out of an iron maiden at 1,200
 
I was shooting SOCOM issued ammo (individually weighted bullets, Match components) the other day and getting 1/4 moa groups from a semi auto gun (V=2770). I stole it in 2006 from the FBI, CIA, DEA, DHS, SAD, NSW, RRD, ISA, SSB, NSA, CAG, CMEE, ACE, MLE, TTOS, ad BSA. That about covers it for the self appointed, blow hard, just the tip, internet fact checkers.
 
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I was shooting SOCOM issued ammo the other day and getting 1/4 moa groups from a semi auto gun. It was left over from a delta train up and was 2006 production. Really good stuff.

Only two this time? Your name dropping average is starting to slip...
 
Yall in search of the best long range 175g SMK load should try Alliant Power Pro 2000MR. Here is my last batch in LC brass with CCI200 primers and 47g out of a 20" tube seated to 2.80. Magnetospeed Chronograph. No pressure signs. 98% case fill.

IMG_1455_zps564ca762.jpg


Here is the group. .83 MOA from a bipod.

photo_zps6f01e27e.png
 
Good info - I just picked up some 2000MR. Time to start a new load development process with this powder.

Yall in search of the best long range 175g SMK load should try Alliant Power Pro 2000MR. Here is my last batch in LC brass with CCI200 primers and 47g out of a 20" tube seated to 2.80. Magnetospeed Chronograph. No pressure signs. 98% case fill.

Here is the group. .83 MOA from a bipod.

photo_zps6f01e27e.png