Match-grade M14 question.

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yankytrash

New member
Thinking of picking up an M14.

Question - If I get one of these "National Match" M14's, do I have to use match-grade ammo, or will it chew up any ammo?
 
Any "Factory" Ammo

Will work in your M14. Especially any MilSpec 7.62 Ball. There is some garbage out there though. A friend blew up his M60 with some imported, Eastern Block, military surplus garbage, so caviat emptor!

It should digest any SAAMI .308 commercial ammo with no problem. It will LOVE Federal .308 Match ammo! Same thing goes for USGI 7.62X51 "White Box" match (M852), which is essentially identical to the Federal Match ammo.


Yr. Obt. Svnt.
 
Yankee,

My M1-A came from the factory as a "loaded model" with a stainless bbl. Due to a headspace problem, I sent it back (under warranty) and had the barrel replaced. I paid the difference in barrel cost to have it upgraded to the "premium, medium wt., air gauged, national match" barrel.

Since then it shoots great, and feeds anything I put in the mag.

I would suspect that any of the commercially mass produced rifles will feed just about any factory ammo, military or commercial. I would not expect to find a "tight chambered" rifle that was not from a custom shop, such as Fulton Armory.

my .02
Swampy
 
the match grade M1A has tighter chamber. It is designed for competition use. It holds close tolerance to achieve the best performance. Therefore, the quality of ammo is of important. Remember, as we say "any ammo", we are referring to surplus ammo mostly. The surplus ammo is nothing but a mass production. The powder quality and physical dimensions in brass are varied in a broaden spectrum. You may or may not get the problems depending on how lucky you are. Of course, it is not reliable to use them. If you opt to go plinking, there is no reason not to use it. If you are going any serious competition, don't use it.
 
People help me here-I do not understand why it is that people buy a "Match Grade" weapon only to shoot cheap ammo through it-it seems kinda like a waste to me? (kinda like buying a lamborghini (sp?) and putting " regular unleaded" gas in the tank). Every shot you fire erodes the purpose for which the weapon was built for and your accuracy returns are not as great-Now I understand the every now and again box or so. But why would you want to pay all that more money for a better rifle only to piss it away by regularly shooting cheap ammo through it? please help me to understand. I personally have 2 M-1A's (lots of work and saving), 1 of which is a standard "Rack Grade" (3.5 MOA) and a personally built (1 MOA) M1A match spec. gun-I fire the cheap stuff through my rack grade and fire the good stuff through my match gun.
 
How about simplifying it even further?

A rifle's accuracy is only as good as the ammo you feed it.

Why feed a National Match M1A surplus ammunition intended for a crew-served weapon, or squad automatic, that relies on a rapid cone of fire to get the intended results? Accuracy of ammo is not a concern in those applications.

To spend the money on an accurized M14-type rifle for the sake of plinking is kinda odd.

Olympic Arms actually sells a cheaper AR-15 variant called a "Plinker", for a heck of a lot less than a match-grade Springfield Inc M1A...
 
Yanketrash;

Since you put down a fair amount of green stuff to get that National Match, you should shoot it with reasonably good stuff. It don't have to be the best, unless the chamber is so tight, but a reasonable good ammo. I shoot my own reloads, some Federal and DCM match ammo in mine.

pwiz
 
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