Do you hunt with your M1A?

F

FoghornLeghorn

New member
I just bought a M1A Standard. I just was told Springfield says not to use soft point ammo. I was told to use surplus ball ammo.

My understanding is that "ball" is fmj.

But in my state you can't hunt w/fmj.

What ammo do you use?

thanx
 
Possibly a feeding/tip deformation concern with exposed lead tips on hunting rounds?? Wonder if one of the "polymer" tipped spitzers would negate that concern.

Mike
 
Soft point hunting cartridges are often loaded with slow powders suitable for bolt action rifles in an attempt to get them to perform like a 30-06. The slow powder causes excessive chamber pressure during extraction and can break your extractor. I saw it happen when my shooting buddy was using store bought ammo (broke 2). When we reloaded to approximate M80 ball, the broken extractors stopped.
 
Michael, what effect would a deformed tip have on anything as far as the gun is concerned? Accuracy *might* suffer but that wouldn't be any reason to not use them in the gun from a "Dont use this ammo in an M1A, it's bad for it" approach.

Foghorn, you could always call Springfield in the morning couldn't you? I suggest it and then spread the knowledge on the forum.
 
I don't hunt, but I do reload.

When a friend acquired a SOCOM intending to use it for hunting, I clued him about the ammo limitations and then loaded a handful of rounds using 165 grain Sierra Game Kings for him. This is an acceptable hunting slug, with a hollow point design that cycles just fine through both the M1A and the M1.

I don't know what kind of accuracy one can get from a SOCOM (nor, for that matter, what kind of accuracy one needs for hunting whitetail deer in New England), but my "Loaded" has repeated shot under 2" groups at 200 yards (with iron sights, but from the bench) with the following:

168 SMK, 42.2 gr. Win. 748, CCI LRM primer, and Winchester brass (from new). All brass is FL SB sized; cases are trimmed as needed; and every primer is checked for at least 4/1000" sub-flush.
 
Why in the name of Odin would you not be able to shoot properly loaded hunting bullets in your M1A?
Click to expand...

I just got off the phone with J.... at SA. He said that the soft point bullets shear off on the feed ramp and the lead winds up in places it ought not be.

He said if I wanted to, to chamber a few soft point rounds and see if my particular rifle does this.

He said to use open tip match, ballistic tips, any but soft point (which is unfortunate cause I've got a shelf full of 'em).

Thanx for the responses.
 
I hunted with my M1A. Hunting ammo is not shot in great quantities so I don't see a problem with it, and had no problems with it. If using 180 gr bullets or slow powder like noted, the gas valve should be turned off. Then you can shoot whatever you want to in it. You will have in effect a straight pull bolt action which will not put undue stress on the system.
 
I used both factory-loaded & hand loaded Nosler ballistic tips in mine for years without a single problem.
I'm guessing lawyer proofing CYA is the cause here.
 
Rip...wasn't suggesting anything just posing some thoughts on the OP's question. Primarily wondering about feeding problems.
That being said I don't hunt with my MIA.... no desire to hump it along with the bipod etc. over hill and dale. I have several other "more appropriate" rifles for that. So I only shoot paper and things that go "GONG" with mine and have always used FMJ or HP loads.

Mike
 
I do hunt with my "loaded". Killed 5 deer so far this year with it. 4 with federal premium 165 grain gamekings and one with 168 grain Zombiemax. I've been using it for 2 years hunting, probably 60-80 rounds of soft tip hunting ammo down the pipe. I've not noticed any problems at all. The federal gameking tip doesnt hardly deform at all when cycling and this has been a moa load out of my rifle.

What I have done is shoot a 20-40 rounds before season to sight in/ practice, then clean chamber and bore thoroughly, then shoot another 4 or 5 rounds to ensure a fouled barrel and that my poi hasn't changed after cleaning. After hunting season, I'll do the same. I think the main thing would be to keep the chamber clean as possible after shooting soft tips and I've had no problems whatsoever. Each rifle IS different though, so you'd probably want to keep an eye on things after say a box of soft tips.
 
I hunt with my M1A and use Barnes bullets in it. No exposed soft lead and a reliable expander. They function just fine, but will probably be pricey in factory loadings. However, it may solve your problem.

tom
 
I have hunted with mine several times and have killed a few hogs with it.

These were killed with Silver Bear Steel cased 145 grain soft points.

No exposed led "sheared off" and feed an function was flawless in over 1000 rounds of that stuff.

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I used mine for deer hunting a couple time (usually M77 30-06). Actually shot at one, then heard another shot from someone nearby. He took the deer... I don't know if I had actually hit it.

That was actually a BM-59... with scope, bipod and etc. :rolleyes:
 
Sure do, using 165gr Hornady Superformance SSTs and 165gr Federal Trophy Bonded Tip. Quit using the Superformance because I heard it was hard on the Op rod
C7096C2B-E49B-4DF3-B1FD-61D21D7BFEE4-9087-00000777E22B1198.jpg
 
I have shot hundreds, probably near a thousand, rounds of soft point exposed lead through my M1A and never noticed a problem. Winchester and Federal factory loads and handloads using Hornady and Remington soft points.
 

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