M1a best load today

Just have been working out the 308 cal, M1a, load that would be best for accuracy and light on the gun and it's parts. Spent most of the day at the range, really nice temp and no wind and no one else to compete with for a good bench. So, just happened onto two boxes of Berger, 185 grain, match bullets for the 308 cal, and loaded them up with new Lapua brass, and added 40 gr of IMR 4895 with CCI primers and what the devil, small groups, repeatedly at the one hundred and two hundred targets. I am now very happy to have this 20 year old rifle in my safe after all this time. Other bullets and loads of powder did not shine like this combination. I really think the Bereger's made the difference here. Thanks to Walt and all for years of making the bullets.

Could a steady diet of 185 gr bullets be hard on an M1A? I know that many shooters use 175s for the long yard line in matches, so perhaps not. I was just asking because Berger makes good bullets in lighter weights, did you try 165-168s range, or is there some reason you tried 185 gr?

I am also starting to do reloads for my M1A. What length are you trimming the cases to?

I have just got offline with a freind in Australia, a world team member for the Aussie bench rest team, which won the world's in Sou Africa this year. He really was worried about the overweight 185 wt bullets too, but I reduced the powder load to compensate a little. I know that I will not continue to fire the 185's because of the strain on the gun. I have been trimming the case lenght to about 10-15 thousn. short of the published case length and seating the bullet out to the most length I can use. Single bullet feeding by hand allows me to just form a small, square nick on the ogive, very small and faint. this will not increase the pressure much and is really the key I think to the gun shooting well with this load. i will say though, the 175 grain bergers shoot almost as well and i will continue to shoot them at the long ranges that are really fun to shoot. :madsmile:

My load for my M1A since 1988 has been 40.5 gr IMR4895 with a Sierra 168gr HPBT. I remember trying different weights of powder but that's what works best in my rifle. I shoot 168s across the course. I'm still shooting it as my son shoots our AR. I'm usually the only guy on the line with an M1A today, get kidded about my "cigar tube" brass. ARs are getting hard for me to focus on the front sight but the M1A sight is a little farther out there and stays sharp.

hey jim is SLC, send me your phone number so we can talk and maybe get shooting together if possible. I live in Beaver, so, I don't have a real shooting range with good benches, so maybe will get up to your area some weekend to shoot. Jay Henselen, beaver, 590-0731 anytime my lady doesn't have me doing things for her. by the way, I was shooting about 39-40 gr. pulldown british powder, and it really performed well.

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Originally Posted by mark1

I am also starting to do reloads for my M1A. What length are you trimming the cases to?

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