M-14/M1A Rifles- Do they wreck the brass for reloading?

F

Freedom in theSkies

New member
I have never fired one, but I did place an order for one today. - My Christmas gift...
I have fired FN FAL rifles and they usually tear a piece of metal from the rim of the case during extraction/ejection.
Do the M-14s' do this, because I want to reload ammo for it.
Thanks
 
My M1A puts a slight flat ding on the neck at the mouth. The resizing die just puts it back into the proper shape. No problemo. My L1A1 also does the same, but it does not rip off a chunk of brass. Those cases resize well too.
 
No problem with my M1-a.

Sounds like your FAL needs the help here... Could be the gas system is dialed up too high and is using excessive force to run the action.

Swampy
 
Never had a problem with M1As tearing up or bulging brass. With your FN-FAL, try adjusting the gas settings, but it shouldn't be tearing off pieces of brass. Now, if it was an HK91...
 
No problem with my M1A

If you can dial down the gas setting on the FAL, that might alleviate the problem. For casual plinking, I've got mine down far enough that the brass only ejects about a foot from the rifle.
 
Ditto the gas setting. have you adjusted it since you first shot the rifle? I had to have mine working way hard when I first got the gun- after break-in I have dialed that back quite a bit.

Mike
 
The M1A has very strong, and reliable extraction/ejection. However, it was designed for battle, and brass life was not a concern, and is pretty rough on cases. I suggest using Lake City, or other military cases, for longevity, they`re thicker and more durable. Remember to reduce commercial load data by 5%, when using military brass, to allow for less case capacity.
 
Thanks for the responses, guys.
The FN FAL was the C1 (Canadian Forces) version. The brass would definately take more of a beating when the the gas plug was set too far open.
We were using Mil Spec. 7.62 Ammo manufactured by IVI for the CF.
The IVI brass in 5.56mm remains in pretty good shape when fired from the CF M-16 variants and Mini-14s.

I wonder if the extractor or ejector is different on some variations of FAL...
Thoughts?
 
On the FAL, the gas adjustment releases gas to reduce the piston impact, so the bigger the hole, the less pressure is available to operate the action. To adjust, Set the adjusting ring so that the largest hole is showing (highest number) and fire. The rifle will probably not function. Turn the ring down (to smaller holes) until the rifle functions. You may have to adjust for different ammo. Mine works with U.S. GI ammo at a 6, but has to be closed to a 4 with some Spanish ammo (not CETME) that I have.

I have not had rims torn off with an FAL but I once accidentally fired an FN 1949 8mm with the gas system turned full on. It tore rims off brass cases and a German 8mm steel case that hit a tree mouth first was shoved into the bark halfway up the neck. I was not familiar with the gun at that time, and a friend told me what was wrong.

Jim
 
"Now, if it was an HK91..."

If you put the port buffer on the 91, you won't have much trouble at all. My brass comes out all nice and in good shape...save for the burned stripes.
 
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