took out my SA M1A again today, using  South African Ball ammo. shot a couple groups open sight at 400 yds. first group was about 6 inches, i tightend the 2nd one down to about 5. i figured that was pretty good with open sights and ball ammo. cant wait to get a scope on it and hand load some for it. any suggestions what grain shoots the best through it, what is the twist in the barrel?

what is the twist in the barrel?

What model do you have?

i just have a standard M1A, used but in perfect condition.

Quoted: cant wait to get a scope on it and hand load some for it. any suggestions what grain shoots the best through it, what is the twist in the barrel?

I asked this question a few weeks back. You might be able to find that thread if you look back a ways. The "standard" bullet used for accuracy in the .308/.30-06 calibers has been the 168 grain boat tail for a long time. That bullet seems to take the weight advantage that the heavier 180gr bullets have for distance, and the flatter trajectory of the lighter 150gr bullets. So I'd pretty much decided to standardize on the 168gr BT a while back. But finding the right powder is the question for me. I will be taking delivery of my NIB Standard next Sat (maybe tomorrow if I'm really lucky). And I was told that the Standard doesn't have many of the accuracy advantages that the Match models have because the barrel is standard and you won't get sub-MOA from it. But I figure that you'll still get better results with a handload than surplus anyways. So I intend to load for it. Plus, I just LIKE to load for my large caliber rifles.

Which brings me to my current dilemma... I'd like to find a powder that I could use in both my M1A and my .30-06 bolt rifle that would bring good accuracy. That way I could stockpile 168gr bullets and one type of powder for both. Anyone got any suggestions on that?

I bought my STD last week and two days ago printed sub-MOA - MOA out to the 200 and MOA at the 300.  I'm using Portuguese Nato 147gr.   A skinny barrel can be accurate, just have to find the right harmonics.  

Quoted: Quoted: cant wait to get a scope on it and hand load some for it. any suggestions what grain shoots the best through it, what is the twist in the barrel? I asked this question a few weeks back. You might be able to find that thread if you look back a ways. The "standard" bullet used for accuracy in the .308/.30-06 calibers has been the 168 grain boat tail for a long time. That bullet seems to take the weight advantage that the heavier 180gr bullets have for distance, and the flatter trajectory of the lighter 150gr bullets. So I'd pretty much decided to standardize on the 168gr BT a while back. But finding the right powder is the question for me. I will be taking delivery of my NIB Standard next Sat (maybe tomorrow if I'm really lucky). And I was told that the Standard doesn't have many of the accuracy advantages that the Match models have because the barrel is standard and you won't get sub-MOA from it. But I figure that you'll still get better results with a handload than surplus anyways. So I intend to load for it. Plus, I just LIKE to load for my large caliber rifles. Which brings me to my current dilemma... I'd like to find a powder that I could use in both my M1A and my .30-06 bolt rifle that would bring good accuracy. That way I could stockpile 168gr bullets and one type of powder for both. Anyone got any suggestions on that?

I've used IMR3031 , but have been using WW748 . It meters so nice and shoots good for me . I shoot a "standard" made in 02' when I had the Springfield scope/ mount combo on it it would shoot 1MOA or less on occasion , mostly 1 1/2"- 2" which I'm happy w/ as this is off a sleeping bag prone . My standard came w/ NM sights (Front) a TRW tube and the trigger is darn good .

I should add I havent reloaded for my M1A , but used 748 for BLR and Rem700VSS both .308 . The M1A moa groups  were shot with Port milsurp.

Most common powder for both rifles is IMR 4895

ACK

M1A NM - used in NRA across the course matches. A couple of things I have learned:

4895 is good but accuracy varies with outside temperatures.

Varget is best in my rifle for all around performance. Around 42.5grains.

Also - I got a signifigant accuracy improvement when I changed to Remington 9 1/2 large rifle primers.

168gr Sierra BTHP ammo with an overall case length around 2.95 - just enough to fit inside a magazine.

[email protected]

Quoted: Most common powder for both rifles is IMR 4895 ACK

IMR 4064 has been the #1 choice among highpower shooters for a very long time.
Not the easiest to scale but, it has worked very well.
Then other powders came along & more choices became available.
748 is dirty powder. I would use the 4895 only because it's easier & faster to scale than 4064

Quoted: Quoted: Most common powder for both rifles is IMR 4895 ACK IMR 4064 has been the #1 choice among highpower shooters for a very long time. Not the easiest to scale but, it has worked very well. Then other powders came along & more choices became available. 748 is dirty powder. I would use the 4895 only because it's easier & faster to scale than 4064

I have used 40.4 grains of 4064 almost exclusively in my 308 handloads for about a year now for my Rem700VS. It provides excellent consistency in variable weather and usually averages less than .5 MOA on a typical day. I tried Varget for a while but found it to be too dirty and a little inconsistent. I am planning to also transition my 22-250 loads to 4064 to see how it works. And, since I hand-weigh each load anyway, the scaling is lees of an issue to me.

Andrew

Try this load.

Remington small primer bench rest brass, using sr match primers
sierria 168 hpbt for 2-300 yds, sierria 180 sierria hpbt for 6-1000 yds
42 Grns of IMR 4895

I haven't seen anything that will match that combination in my NM M1A, barnett heavy match barrell and heavy match stock.

Works good in my Accross the course bolt gun, Rem action, douglas barrel

Thanks for the info guys. I really appreciate it. I did get my new M1A and now it's a couple of weeks old. I've shot 100 rounds of AUS surplus through it and sighted-in with irons. I just added a new Springfield 2nd Gen 4-14X56 scope to it last weekend. Got a good deal on that scope and I like it. So I'm in the mood to get started with reloading. So I think I'll go with the Sierra Matchking 168 and IMR 4895 powder to start with. Thanks again guys.

I went ahead and bought some Winchester brass, two cans of IMR4895, 1,000 Remmy 9 1/2 Large Rifle Primers, and a couple hundred rounds of Speer 168HPBT's. I looked for the Sierras, but they didn't have the 168's where I went. I would imagine that the Speer stuff would be good too. Right? The boxes are labeled "Match" and they are more expensive than the regular stuff.

Also, it looks like I might want to start at around 41 grains or so. Is that right? That's a good load, but not too hot for long-term use? I don't have a chrono right now. I have reloaded for .44 mag and .30-06 for years and am tired of buying and trying lots of different kinds of powders and bullets, etc. I never seem to come to any conclusions. So I just want to pick a good load and shoot the crap out of it, thereby actually getting GOOD at it by consistant practice. I realize that different guns shoot differing loads differently, but I just want to get standardized on my loads somewhat.

Also, any load info for 168gr HPBT's with 4895 powder for .30-06 would be greatly appreciated as well. And a good 69gr Sierra HPBT load using 4895 for .223 would be great as well. I appreciate your help and input guys...