[op-rod]

I have just purchased a Springfield M1A National Match .308 rifle. I am more excited about this rifle than any I have ever bought. The M1A along with the M1 Garand have to be the two most handsome, well built and awesome rifles I have ever handled. I am so thrilled to finally have both in my collection.

My question is, what type of ammo would you folks recommend using in this rifle for maximum accuracy and best savings? I someday plan to purchase a good quality Remington bolt gun as well for an accurate scoped rifle. I may go with the Remington 700 Varmint synthetic, Remington PSS or even the LTR which looks very handy and more lightweight. I realize that the most accurate ammo would be one of the match grade types that's out there such as Federal Gold Medal Match. But this ammo is so expensive that stocking up a good supply would be too costly. And I want my rounds to all be standardized......not 2 or 3 different types for the same caliber. Would the Federal American Eagle 150 gr FMJBT be a good alternative? Or would I be better off to go with surplus such as British Radway Green, Portugese, South African, etc? I am not a reloader and I am thinking that the Fed AE might just be the best middle road to take. What do you folks think?

Thanks,

Op-Rod

 

[SixTGunr]

Federal Gold Match is definately some good stuff but as you say rather pricey. I am not familiar with the American Eagle and the others you mentioned are pretty good as well. Might want to just try a little of each until you find the right combination and stay with it if it suits you. Good Luck ...

Six Out!

 

[Ivanimal]

I am so jealous of you guys. The reason I havent bought one of those magic sticks is purely greed. My shootin buddy has 2 older rifles that he lets me use at will. I reload for him, so if you like I can post some accurate recipes, that I have had work for me. He buys the Argentinian stuff from JG sales and seems to like it. Its reloadable and the cases all seem to weigh the same. Also I trim them on the 3rd firing not the 2nd because they dont seem to flow as fast as the lake city stuff. As for my model 99 in 308 the only factory ammo it shot well was Remington. with the reloads all I use is 147 grain FMJ at his request.:usa:

 

[djskit]

I've had poor luck with the factory loadings (American Eagle, Rem UMC, Win USA Etc) none have shot very well out of my med wt. match barrel. The best, as mentioned, is the Fed Gold Medal, but at $18.00 very pricey. - 1" goups on a good day.

The best bulk ammo I have found has been the mil surp.
I've had great success with some british ammo that was being sold a couple of years ago - 2" groups.
And now that portugese ammo is shooting equally well - its cheap too.
The problem is I wouldn't reccomend shooting the mil surp in a factory bolt gun.
I'd go with mil surp for the M1A and something else for the bolt guns.
Unless....Remington has a cool M700 tac rifle with a nato spec chamber...that would rock!

 

[SixTGunr]

Ivan ... Would appreciate ya postin those reciepes for the M1A diet ... Thanks!

Six

 

[maddon]

Shot quite a bit of the portugese out of my M1A NM, with a 3rd gen springfield mount and sightron 4x16x42 scope. I consistantly get about 1 1/4 groups at 100yds, have dropped this to 5/8 using 168 gr match bullets but for a lot of shooting that gets spendy.

 

[Rock]

To stock-up on ammo for your M1-A your best bet is surplus, the cheep american eagle, winchester, ect. ect. Never seem to work well in my rifle, it does like the Radway Green British ammo I get 1" to 11/4 with it. You can save the match stuff when you want to get serious...

 

[Ivanimal]

The only place I have been able to find 147 grain FMJ as requested is through river valley ordinance. Since I made my buddy order them I cant be much help on finding them, I originally found them in Shotgun News.

That said I have found that for light recoil IMR 3031 at 42 Gr. still exceeds 2800 fps. with only 42,000 cup's.

The best load however has a lot greater recoil it is Hogdons H335 powder using 46 Gr. 2950 fps and 52,000 cup's I use the same load for large game using a 150 Gr. Nosler partition bullet.

They are both deadly accurate in the M1A and My model 99 likes them too. We expirimented with heavier bullets and I shot the 168 Gr.Sierra spire point bullet with 51 Gr. WW-760 (Winchester) and was getting 2750 fps with 51,000 cup's, not to mention great accuracy at 200 yards. I stole that load from Ken Waters Pet Loads from handloader magazine.

All copper units of pressure have been sourced through Lymans reloading manual ecxept the last which I put through the RCBS reloading program.

These are safe loads, none of these are compressed or achieve inordinate case expansion. As always do your home work befor. trusting anyone elses recipe.:usa:

 

[SixTGunr]

Thanks for the info Ivan ...

Six

 

[Robert D. Lyons]

Hornady's 5th edition reloading manual has a section specifically for the M1A and a section for the M1 Garand. If you shoot surplus, the Portuguese does okay, mine likes the South African PMP stuff.

 

[Ivanimal]

Thanks for the tip Mr. Lyons now I guess I will own 15 reloading manuals. The diference between a hobby and an insane obsession are not as obvious as one would think. :usa:

 

[tesla85]

Im going to buy an M1A, in .308 Winchester. Can i shoot the portuguese surplus ammo? Thanks.:rapid:

 

[Mark whiz]

I've had good luck with both South African & British surplus ammo. Portuguese has shot ok for me, but my current batch of it has been having some feeding problems - about 1 out of every 5 shots either doesn't get ejected or else the next round doesn't get chambered. The Port. ammo is the only one that does this - I figure this particular batch is suspect as others have had great luck with it.

Six.........
With a little bit of experimentation, I've been able to closely duplicate MilSurp ammo performance by using Lake City brass, bulk 147gr Winchester FMJs with either 44gr of IMR 4895 or 46.5gr of Win748. However, the win748 load has significantly more felt recoil than either Surplus or 4895 - dropping to 46gr might help in that category.

 

[djskit]

Portugese ammo is doing great in mine. Only shot 100 rounds or so, but everything is functioning as it should. All groups under 2" some even better. I'm buying another case soon!

 

[tesla85]

Where do you guys buy your surplus ammo from?

 

[Mark whiz]

tesla,

I obtained my British & So African from http://www.midwayusa.com/ and my Portuguese from http://www.natchezss.com/brands/brand_index.html.

Their prices are just about as good as anybody's and their service is top noche - I haven't had any "surprises" from either yet.

 

[KING]

In my m1a I have had good luck with WCC846 MS powder at 44gr w/150bullett. With w748 @ 46 gr I get 2790 with IMI cases and CCI 250 Primers and Nosler 150 Bt.

 

[Robert D. Lyons]

I've bought my last few thousand from Century Arms

 

[tesla85]

What is centry arms website?

 

[Robert D. Lyons]

www.centuryarms.com