Reloading for M1A

Someone told me for me to reload for my M1A I need the short base dies for the aitomatic rifles, whats yalls take on that? Whenever I get back home from my coast work im gonna really reload for my pistols and rifles.

Thanks,

It is called a small base die set. It is the sizing die. Only needed if you have a tight chamber. I would start with regular dies and see if they give you problems.

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Thanks SGF, will try it out first before I buy the other dies.

I have never had an issue with the regular dies for the M1A ...

Good to know. I'm going to try to get into reloading next Spring.

I use standard dies in all my M1's.

I think i have a small base die for 308 if you need to try it.
Ive never had to use a small base dies for any of my semi autos.

Good to know. I plan to start loading my M1A for matches at Burns in Bogue Chitto.

At highpower class I was told the magazine on an M1A can change the point of impact. He said to shoot groups with each magazine and "marry" any pair that shot the same point of impact.

Good to know,

PhillipM wrote:At highpower class I was told the magazine on an M1A can change the point of impact. He said to shoot groups with each magazine and "marry" any pair that shot the same point of impact.

New one on me.

I asked about it at m14tfl.com and got a good explanation. By the way, this mainly pertains to match tuned rifles. Stock it may not be noticeable.

It's one of those issues that the average shooter couldn't care less about, only anal guys like me pay attention to it.

The magazine can cause slight damage to the cartridge as the round is being stripped off and chambered; slight changes in concentricity (how the bullet is seated in the case) and the meplat (the very tip of the bullet) will effect the accuracy of the bullet.

The cartridge is held very tightly by the pressure from the follower spring, the follower, and the cartridge retaining lips on the top of the magazine. The cartridge is held so tightly by those parts that it takes a lot of pressure from the bolt to push it forward. As it (the cartridge) moves forward the tip of the bullet must angle upward and the two slight chamfers on the chamber opening are what force it to angle upward and in to the chamber. When the tip strikes those chamfers it will force the bullet to tilt slightly within the case and that will usually bend the meplat a little. In addition, the shape of the magazine follower can have a slight effect on that loading angle too.

So between the shape of the follower, the pressure produced by the combination of the magazine parts (which is never the same with any two magazines), and that loading angle, the force applied to the bullet within the cartridge will vary and that can result in varying degrees of damage to the seated bullet.

http://m14forum.com/accuracy/105588-marrying-magazines.html

PhillipM wrote:At highpower class I was told the magazine on an M1A can change the point of impact. He said to shoot groups with each magazine and "marry" any pair that shot the same point of impact.

INTERESTING -- not yet ready for that -- got to learn to "hit" the target first!!

captain-03 wrote:..........INTERESTING -- not yet ready for that -- got to learn to "hit" the target first!!

Then work our way to the CENTER................

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For what it is worth – as other posters say – try the regular dies first, as I have never found the need for a small base dies for the 4 or 5 different M1-As I have loaded for over the years.

But I do have a suggestion – set your resize to only push the shoulder back enough to chamber in your gun. Just setting the resize to make contact with the shell holder will generally greatly over work the brass and will significantly reduce case life…..increases the rate of case separation just above the base. There are several techniques to do this or you can actually purchase a gauge that can measure how far you set the shoulder back.

Furthermore – using a neck expander ball on the de-priming stem is deleterious to both accuracy and case life; as pulling the expander ball back through a sized neck will stretch the brass case and may affect concentricity as well as case life. I use a Redding body die with a neck bushing for the job but you don’t have to go that route. You can place your expander ball in a drill press and polish the heck out of it-----or simply replace it with the next smaller caliber if the expander ball holds your de-capping pin – or if it doesn’t hold the de-capping pin – just take it off. Before I went to the Redding bushing die, I would resize and de-prime – then run the cases into a neck expander die ---- creating a separate operation.

Main objective – don’t over work the brass. IMO.

Thanks everyone, its still gonna be several months till I get to reload cause im working out of town till forever so gonna try everything then if then ever comes.