M1A loads

[119er]

I will be loading a run of .308 Win for an 18" M1A I purchased recently. Things have gone well so far with the exception of the extractor deciding to take a hike on the first magazine w/ factory ammo.

The bullets are new surplus 147gr FMJ's going in LC brass with probably WLR, although I have Rem. and Federals too.

Powders I have in quantity are Varget, H4895, and H335. Anyone using these powders in their semi-autos? I would prefer loads that are easier on the gun and the brass, but haven't seen many loads for the lighter bullets in a search here. I'm just looking for a good start point for this application based on experience.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Sounds like you're on the right track but of you're going to load a lot of ammo you might want to buy some powder on the cheap. The powder used by the military for their 7.62 NATO ammo is WC846 which is the none canister version of BL-C(2). It works as well in the 7.62 ammo as WC844/H335 does in the 5.56 NATO ammo.

That said the other 3 powders you mentioned can all be used in your .308 ammo. Varget will probably produce the highest velocity with H4895 not too far behind. All should be accurate if you do your job correctly...

 

[Kevin Rohrer]

I use 46.0gr. BLC-2 in mine and IMR4895 in the M1, but they are interchangable. I also have lots of Varget, which is an alternative.

 

[Kingcreek]

4895 at around 40 grains works great in mine.

 

[119er]

What is the best place to scoop up some surplus powder? Is WC846 a ball powder? In the future I plan to avoid extruded powders for volume loading.

 

[Kingcreek]

If you want a less expensive ball powder try A2520.

 

[Slamfire]

I am unfamilar with H335.

The best powder(s) for the M1a are IMR 4895/H4895/AA2495. These powders are essentially copies of each other, slight differences in burn rate. H4895 originally was an exact copy of IMR 4895, now the chemistry is different but I can't tell much difference in charge weight versus velocity.

The M14 and the 308 cartridge were developed with IMR 4895 as the propellant.

I have shot with good success 155’s with 42.5 grains IMR 4895. I have no doubt that a 147/150 with 42.5 grains H4895 would be appropriate for the case system of your M1a.

AA2520 is a ball powder, Accurate Arms told me the pressure curve is identical to IMR 4895, and it was a widely used M1a powder back in the 80’s.

I got the velocity I wanted with 43.5 grs and a 150 in my M1a:

150 gr Hornady FMJBT 43.5 grs AA2520 wtd Lot 9595 Czech Mixed LC WLR
OAL 2.785
18 May 2008 T = 70 °F

Ave Vel = 2700
Std Dev = 30
ES = 85
High = 2736
Low = 2651
N = 10

 

[cacoltguy]

As far as powder goes there really isn't a good reason to use anything but IMR 4895 or something nearly identical like H4895 (it's not exactly identical so don't try to interchange data between the two). You can try other powders but they won't be any more accurate and depending on the burn rate they will not be safe to use in the M1A. It's the powder the rifle was designed to work with and military shooting teams did all the research for us regarding finding accurate loads.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

What is the best place to scoop up some surplus powder? Is WC846 a ball powder? In the future I plan to avoid extruded powders for volume loading.

WC844 is the none canister version of H335.
WC846 is the none canister version of BL-C(2).

All are Ball Powders and all meter very well.

You can buy surplus powders from:
Pat's Reloading
Hi-Tech Ammo
Widener's Reloading
Jeff Bartlett
And probably a few more I don't know of...

 

[Kevin Rohrer]

What is the best place to scoop up some surplus powder? Is WC846 a ball powder?

Gunshows, Pat's Reloading (on-line), other online sites.