Re: polytech m14/s any good?

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tldr: would i do it again? yes, but i'd concentrate more on function and be a bit slower to load up on accessories.
bajajoaquin wrote: Tue Feb 04, 2020 9:51 am If someone with 45-70 doesn’t speak up, I’m interested ahead of my future Henry Single Shot purchase.
let's wait a day or two, then pm me an address and it's yours. but first, you must tell us about this henry. if you've already done so, i'd appreciate a link. :)
i'm retired. what's your excuse?

Re: polytech m14/s any good?

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Marlene wrote: Mon Jan 27, 2020 8:25 pm Buy a box of Federal Gold Medal Match if you want to see how much of the equation is the ammo. It's not cheap, but it's not so much as to not still be the easiest way to test. Load development can get better, but it takes plenty of testing to get there.
Can you fire the 308 Win Federal Gold Medal Match out of the M14?
It is an unfortunate human failing that a full pocketbook often groans more loudly than an empty stomach.

- Franklin D. Roosevelt

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a very nice person (ok, maybe i exaggerate. a little) has mailed me some fancy expensive .308 ammo to try per marlene's suggestion. i've heard that i'ts a bad idea to shoot .308 out of a rifle chambered for 7.62, so naturally i went out looking for answers to questions:
1. what's the diff between .308 and 7.62x51 nato?
2. is .308 safe to shoot in a 7.62 rifle?
and the eventual conclusions are thus:
1. the 7.62 has thicker case walls, and headspaces a smidgeon* longer, and the .308 is loaded hotter.
2. the "hotter" load, depending on who you talk to, may be on a scale of 40+ %, which definitely sounds risky, even dangerous. but further digging reveals that the two cartridges' pressure are measured by different methods, CUP vs peizo-somethingorother, and when tested using the same methods the diff resolves to something closer to 5%. so as long as i don't feed it a steady diet of hot match ammo, there should be no problem.

* all this technical talk makes me feel all warm and tingly. if you'll excuse me for a minute, brb... :shifty:
:bananadance:
:w00t:

:whistle:
i'm retired. what's your excuse?

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lurker wrote: Thu Feb 06, 2020 12:37 pm
bajajoaquin wrote: Tue Feb 04, 2020 6:22 pm Some people here find utility. I don’t judge.
Much
pm rcvd, but it's raining like mad out there so i'm not going to the post office today.
I don't blame you. Tornadoes, high wind, and rain storms in the south right now. It has been a day to stay home if you can.

Your local NWS radar is down, lurker, but our tornadoes are heading your way eventually.
It is an unfortunate human failing that a full pocketbook often groans more loudly than an empty stomach.

- Franklin D. Roosevelt

Re: polytech m14/s any good?

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there's a hardware exposition this weekend so i'll look for dies and if needed powder. need to peruse my manual first. ah, here it is!
IMG_0268.jpg
i have a coffee can full of lake city pull BTFMJs (#3037) i use for 30-06, 30-40 krag and now 7.62x51, which last i expect is what they came from originally. now i need to see what powders i've got., and decide what velocity. maybe find out what milspec is.
IMG_0267.jpg
i'm retired. what's your excuse?

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Marlene wrote: Thu Feb 06, 2020 8:11 pmI do?
i think one or more of us is confused.

in retrospect, 9 of 10 on a 9 inch plate over irons at 100 yds is decent. i guess i'm spoiled, my personal best was a 3 inch group at 100 with reloads from my ancient krag. so a 9"+ diameter group looks pretty sloppy. granted, the krag is a bolt gun, has better sights for the range, and reloads can be much more consistent than storebought, especially "milsurp".

when i started this adventure, i couldn't keep rounds in a group at 25. the rifle was pretty awful at first, and the incremental changes just never seemed to measure up to expectation. maybe just personal insecurity on my part. :surrender:

now i'm wondering how much trouble it would be to scope a krag. :see_stars: maybe i'll see if there's a "ruined" sporter at the show this weekend. :eh:
Last edited by lurker on Thu Feb 06, 2020 9:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.
i'm retired. what's your excuse?

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lurker wrote: Mon Feb 03, 2020 7:25 pm i've got about 100 cases of various manufacture and will resize and reload them. when i do, i'll be looking at more consistent powder charge and neck tension than i normally get in commercial cartridges, and consistent loads should give consistent POI. i've had good results with this process with 5.56, 30-40 krag, 30-06 and 45acp.
and i was wrong, i don't have a lee loader for 7.62x51, i have 2 LLs for 45-70. not sure how that happened. who wants a never-used lee loader in 45-70?
Lol, I missed the whole last page. I was replying to this.

I do?
Image

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yes, i did. the pics probably got lost in the great "fix" of 2020. i'll post another later in the day.

looking at my stash of .45/70, i got to thinking: i've got plenty, and 2 .45/70 lee loaders. so i'm going to send them both, one to marlene and one to baja. enjoy. merry christmas.
there's a gun show in town this weekend, i'll look at dies for 7.62 for the press. just what i need, more stuff. i haven;t used the press in decades, been moving too much.
i'm retired. what's your excuse?

Re: polytech m14/s any good?

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i've been contemplating changing the iron sights on polly.
the GI rear sights on the 14 are essentially the same as on the garand. standard is .06?, and NationalMatch sights come in .059 and .052 or something like that. there's also a hooded variety. i'm eyeing a non-hooded rear aperture from sarco, marked NM, but sarco doesn't say how big the aperture is, so i'll see what they send. same story with the front sight, different sizes. supposedly the smaller blade and aperture improve resolution for distance shooting but impair target acquisition in "adverse" conditions.
here's an interesting website i just found www.ammogarand.com/rearsightparts.html
i'm retired. what's your excuse?

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