I have a few boxes of this stuff from SG. It's headstamp is LC 03 LR.

Is this stuff safe to shoot out of a M1A/M14 with a standard gas system? The bullet is over 170grs and that is a bit heavy for that gas system with constant use.

Does this bullet fragment at all? Some HPBT match rounds can fragment and I wonder if this round has a maximum range it would still frag at.

If its not much more that a match round or bad for my M14SA, i'll shoot this out of a bolt gun and keep the brass to reload.

It is basicly a match / sniping round. The bullet is Geneva convention accepted so it does not expand or fragment. should be ok out of an M1a.

I wonder if we have the same ammo?

I have a white box, on it is written:
7.62mm NATO
M118 Lot LC
MATCH
Bullet 173 GRAINS
VELOCITY 2550 FPS

headstamp is LC 68 Match.  What is a good price for this ammo?

thanks!

Not sure if you caught this one:
118

When I was active duty the original M-118 SB (173 grain FMJBT) was standard issue and I shot plenty of it out of my issued M-21 and never had any problems with the operating system. I will say the earlier M-118 SB was "average" when it came to accuracy. In addition to zeroing and training with the M-118 SB we also did the same with 168 grain Federal Gold Medal Match, and if we had the choice it was actually what we shot.

I believe the new M-118 LR (175 grain SMK HPBT) is an improvement over the original M-118 SB. I have only had the chance to shoot a couple of boxes of the new M-118LR and it did seem to perform better that the original M-118 SB, however it still was not as good as the Federal or Black Hills Match Ammo.

Also note per the post above, chances are any M-118 LR that hit the market recently is either “XM” or “PD” stuff which is basically a quality reject. While some quality rejects may be simple cosmetic issues and will shoot just fine, you may also find some with some significant mechanical problems that could impact performance, hence the “Training Only” stamp you will find on it.

Good Luck,
“Capt Richardson”  

PS: it would seem that The Gooch has the new 175 grain M-118 LR and FNBrowning has the older 173 grain M-118 SB.

Black Hills red box will smoke ANY of the 118 ammo for accuracy. The M118LR was nice to practice with when it was free.

Quoted: It is basicly a match / sniping round. The bullet is Geneva convention accepted so it does not expand or fragment. should be ok out of an M1a.

Not quite.
I do not know if it does, or does not frag, but it is allowed because the purpose of the HP is for accuracy, so it is allowed.
Also, it is the Hague Accords that governs ammo, not the Geneva Convention.
also, america did not sign the hague treaty.

Quoted: Quoted: It is basicly a match / sniping round. The bullet is Geneva convention accepted so it does not expand or fragment. should be ok out of an M1a. Not quite. I do not know if it does, or does not frag, but it is allowed because the purpose of the HP is for accuracy, so it is allowed. Also, it is the Hague Accords that governs ammo, not the Geneva Convention. also, america did not sign the hague treaty.

Whether we're signatory to any particular convention or treaty on this subject or not, the U.S. government behaves as if it is.  the "open tip" of the round in question improves both accuracy and ballistic performance (NOT terminal ballistics).  There's a thread from a few weeks ago about this sort of thing with a link to the Army JAG's letter on this ammunition.  The open tip does not appreciably increase the terminal effects of the bullet (ALL spitzer bullets tumble on impact) but does significantly improve the accuracy of the round.