[Lurp]

decided to test some ammo for a hunting trip this spring.



I was pretty wound up from work so i dry fired for a half hour to calm down at the range. nice 80 degree weather and the range was mine to myself.
having trouble getting some of the pics uploaded but here is my best group with the nosler rounds. all groups are 5 shot at 100yrds.


5 shots of federal GMM

 

[SGT John SWF]

I want your EBR!
Just saying.

 

[loader21]

The Federal you have shoots great in my Scout and Standard. Looking forward to hearing how they all do in yours

 

[Lurp]

well my computer is dumb and i cant get the other two up. basically the winchester shot like the nosler rounds but low and the hornady rounds were terrible for me they really opened up.

all shots were made from the Mistress (SAI scout in a sage)

 

[SA762]

I'm sure you already know this but I'll just throw it out there.

Although the FGMM shoots good groups it's not a good bullet for hunting. A hunting bullet (say for whitetail deer) should expand and mushroom quickly in order to cause as much damage and dispatch the animal as quickly as possible. A boat tail hollow point isn't a hunting bullet. I'm sure a polymer tipped bullet will do the job better. Good luck on your hunting trip.

 

[KurtC]

Hunting bullets in general will be less accurate than a BTHP. They are not designed for accuracy, with a minute-of-deer standard.

I would not use the Hornady Superformance in an M1A, even with a ported gas plug. It is about 200 fps faster than the Federal GMM, which is what I consider max for the M14 operating system.

 

[Lurp]

Oh that's good to know, I shot two 5 round groups of each ammo type. I was using the FGMM as a comparison. Hornady had the worst groups. And the Winchester was the worst put together bullets, the bullets I could spin in the case with my finger and two of the primers were smeared over with brass from the case. I just tossed those two. The nosler wasn't to bad I will have to check the box on fps since you mentioned Hornady was too much for the m1a.

any recommendations on hunting ammo for the m1a? Of course I will check the search function for answers too.

 

[loader21]

For hunting you might also try Remington 150 gr. Core-Lokts. Both my guns shoot well with them

 

[SA762]

Take a look at Barnes vortex ammo. It's a all cooper polymer tipped hunting round. If my memory is correct it leaves the barrel at 2680 fps.

 

[KurtC]

Barnes ammunition is too hot for an M1A. If you roll your own you can certainly use their bullets.

Remington Core-Lokts are only slightly hotter than standard M1A loads. A lot of M1A hunters swear by them.

 

[SA762]

Barnes ammunition is too hot for an M1A. If you roll your own you can certainly use their bullets.

Remington Core-Lokts are only slightly hotter than standard M1A loads. A lot of M1A hunters swear by them.

im confused as to why Barnes ammo is too hot for the M1A, I just double checked my box of ammo and it advertises 2680 fps. Maybe because there test rifle has a longer barrel? If you look at Winchester white box 7.62 nato ammo it advertises 2700fps, I know plenty of shooters fire this out of there M1A and it's a tad "hotter" than the Barnes.

 

[Circlehook]

The Austrailian outback 165 SGK are pretty good hunting ammo from my experience.

However, i have killed many animals with M852.

 

[KurtC]

im confused as to why Barnes ammo is too hot for the M1A, I just double checked my box of ammo and it advertises 2680 fps. Maybe because there test rifle has a longer barrel? If you look at Winchester white box 7.62 nato ammo it advertises 2700fps, I know plenty of shooters fire this out of there M1A and it's a tad "hotter" than the Barnes.

Barnes VOR-TX is 2700 fps for a 168 and 2900 for a 150. I would not use them in an M1A that I personally own.

Pull some of the bullets, if you find more than 43 grains of powder under the 168, then it is definitely too hot.

 

[32639]

Great shooting, thanks for posting test results.

 

[SGT John SWF]

The Austrailian outback 165 SGK are pretty good hunting ammo from my experience.

However, i have killed many animals with M852.

Shot placement has a lot to do with it. And you are a good shot.
A deer gut shot with a 30-06 runs away and a Deer hit with the old 30-30 in the right spot drops.

 

[SA762]

Barnes VOR-TX is 2700 fps for a 168 and 2900 for a 150. I would not use them in an M1A that I personally own.

Pull some of the bullets, if you find more than 43 grains of powder under the 168, then it is definitely too hot.

I have a box of the 168 Gr muzzle velocity 2680 printed right on the box and on there website. I have no problem shooting it. If you look at Hirt ammo there advertised muzzle velocity is 2741. Federal xm80cl 2750. American eagle (made for m1a) 2650.

Unless you hand load all your ammo for your M1A what do you feed it?

 

[SGT John SWF]

Shooting XM80 147/149 at 2700 is OK because it is the correct load for the Gun. A 168 gr at 6500 is also fine with the right powder. When you get into some Hunting Ammo (designed for a Bolt Gun) you can pound the bolt back. It's the powder (some are fast some slow) that makes a big difference.
I hand loaded some 150 Gr Loads for a friend. I was in the Middle of the Reloading Book's range for 150 with WW760. It beat the Hell out of my M1A.

 

[north cal]

I'm using the Winchester 150's this year. They seem to group Ok.
It says on the box that the velocity at the muzzle is 2820.
Is that an acceptable velocity for an m1a?

 

[KurtC]

I'm using the Winchester 150's this year. They seem to group Ok.
It says on the box that the velocity at the muzzle is 2820.
Is that an acceptable velocity for an m1a?

Velocity doesn't effect an M1A. It is the powder used to achieve that velocity that is critical.

The Winchester load is very similar to M80. I would pull a couple of bullets. As long as there is less than 45 grains of powder, I would consider it safe.

I don't use any load in my M1A's without pulling a couple of bullets and checking the load. Powder type, charge weight, bullet style, seating depth, etc. are all taken into account.

43 grains of powder is max for a 168/175 bullet. 45 grains is max for a 150/155. I personally avoid ball powders, but only because they burn dirty. I don't use FMJ bullets with lead all over the tail. I also avoid 175's or A-max style bullets that are seated down to 2.80 inches.

The M14 gas system was designed with a single source of ammunition in mind. Commercial ammunition is hot-rodded for the velocity crowd. All current M80 ammunition, regardless of country, is designed for machine guns. None has been tested in an M14 for about 4 decades.

 

[Lurp]

Went out and tried one more type of manufactured hunting ammo. after thinking about what Kurt said about muzzle velocity i started looking at the boxes that i tested and all of them stated they have a muzzle velocity of 2820fps. so i did some research and found Federal Fusion 165gr with a muzzle velocity of 2700fps. So i shot a box of it this evening to see what it can do.

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i first noticed that they used the same brass as they use with FGMM for the Fusion bullets. here are the best two 5rnd groups shot at 100yrds with my SAI scout in a sage. ignore my one shot that i pulled





Overall i think these bullets did exceptional better than Nosler, harnday sst, and winchester sp. Plus there a lot cheaper. i was going to try some remington core-lokt but they advertised muzzle velocity at 2820fps as well. (this must be a new standard muzzle velocity for hunting rounds? 2820fps). i will save the the left over ammo for my old man to test in his gun when he is ready. We are currently looking for a scope for his DPMS 308. so no shooting for him until he decides.