Feeding the M14

[milotrain]

Got a new M14 built by Isaac McCaskill on a double lugged Bula action with a Kreiger. Poking around a bit and talking with him he likes running the 2155 for in his M14s and runs 4895 or Varget at around 43gr. Wondering if anyone else want's to share their M14 accuracy loads.

Joel?

[highpower790]

2155s at 43gr would be good for shortline work and then switch to 175s with the same load for 600+.

[milotrain]

[17+1]

Military case (IVI, WCC, FA match are the ones I have), 42 grains of varget, sierra 175 or hornady 178, CCI 200, bullets seat to mag length, no crimp.

Powerful enough to knock down rams at 500 meters. My M1A is a standard model with 22" barrel though so YMMV. Accurate enough for what we do with it. Got 28-30 at the silhouette match with NM front sight, smith enterprise hooded rear national match sight.

[smoothy8500]

Nosler 168 CC "blems" with 41.5gr of IMR4064 at 2.810" in LC brass gives 2,541fps. Barrel is a Criterion midweight 1-11 in a McMillan stock. I use this load in all stages XTC.

[1911a1]

The 2155 with 44 grains varget can be used for 3 and 600. With the extra speed of the 2155 the ballistics are about the same at 600 as the 175 smk. Or for 600 go to the 2156 new Palma and shoot inside the 175smk with less recoil. With the 2156 you have to load past mag length but you can put in about 45 grains or slightly more of varget. For 200 I have been using the 125 tnt Speer or the 135 grain Sierra match king with 41 grains varget. The other thing about the 155 is it shoots flatter and your rear sight won't be as high promoting better check weld.

[1911a1]

Did he weld a front lug on the reciever?

[highpower790]

Did he weld a front lug on the reciever?

Front and rear lug.

[milotrain]

Did he weld a front lug on the reciever?

I thought it had a rear lug from the factory but I haven't seen the action since 2016. I can't find such a thing on their website so maybe it's not lugged. They are the forged M14 "rock-ola" receivers from BULA, and they are really nice compared to what else you can get. I got it around the same time I got a McCoy M1 that was double lugged by McCoy so maybe I just got my wires crossed.

[OpenSightsOnly]

The 2155 with 44 grains varget can be used for 3 and 600. With the extra speed of the 2155 the ballistics are about the same at 600 as the 175 smk. Or for 600 go to the 2156 new Palma and shoot inside the 175smk with less recoil. With the 2156 you have to load past mag length but you can put in about 45 grains or slightly more of varget. For 200 I have been using the 125 tnt Speer or the 135 grain Sierra match king with 41 grains varget. The other thing about the 155 is it shoots flatter and your rear sight won't be as high promoting better check weld.

For 600, how fast is the 2156 going to match or get close to the 175 SMK?

[milotrain]

The 2155 with 44 grains varget can be used for 3 and 600. With the extra speed of the 2155 the ballistics are about the same at 600 as the 175 smk. Or for 600 go to the 2156 new Palma and shoot inside the 175smk with less recoil. With the 2156 you have to load past mag length but you can put in about 45 grains or slightly more of varget. For 200 I have been using the 125 tnt Speer or the 135 grain Sierra match king with 41 grains varget. The other thing about the 155 is it shoots flatter and your rear sight won't be as high promoting better check weld.

I like the 2156 and I've got some 135s around. Thanks for this! No issues beating up the gun with 45gr of varget and the 2156?

[highpower790]

I like the 2156 and I've got some 135s around. Thanks for this! No issues beating up the gun with 45gr of varget and the 2156?

Light weight bullets are great when the barrel is new,but as it(barrel) wears the need for a heavier projectile may be necessary.,but you knew that already.

[milotrain]

For 600, how fast is the 2156 going to match or get close to the 175 SMK?

Looking at JBM (normal disclaimer applies) and using Litz's numbers the 2156 shoots inside the 175SMK if you can get it going around 100fps faster. Obviously it's not linear, but that looks like a general trend around the muzzle velocities I expect out of an M14.

45gr of varget is a traditional palma load which should be well hotter than the 2650fps needed to get the 2156 inside of the 175 going 2550fps.

[highpower790]

Looking at JBM (normal disclaimer applies) and using Litz's numbers the 2156 shoots inside the 175SMK if you can get it going around 100fps faster. Obviously it's not linear, but that looks like a general trend around the muzzle velocities I expect out of an M14.

45gr of varget is a traditional palma load which should be well hotter than the 2650fps needed to get the 2156 inside of the 175 going 2550fps.

Well then... wouldn't a 1000yd palma load be interesting?

[OpenSightsOnly]

Yeah I ran the values (175 going at 2650) using JBM before asking the question.

Actually, I should have phrased the question like how fast was it going where the felt recoil is less than the 175 SMK and the actual come-up at 600 using 2156 so that you don't have to crane your neck

A 2156 going at 2750 has 1MOA or so less compared to 175 SMK going at 2650.

So, is it around 2800 for the 2156? I know this is subjective but I was just trying to get an idea since the poster noted less recoil and less elevation while using 2156