Cast Bullets in a M1a

[Birddog 1]

Hello everyone I have a M1a and was wondering if shooting cast and or PP bullets in it will it hurt the gas system? And what would be the better in a cast bullet 150,170 or the 200gr bullets.This will be for mostly plinking and very little hunting TIA BD1

[7br]

Short answer is cast can be ok in M1A, etc. See this sticky on how it is done.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...pringfield-M1A

[BruceB]

Look at the top of this forum.

There's a HUGE 'sticky" thread about cast loads in the M1A,

I don't think that using paper-patched bullets is a very good idea, but.... I COULD BE WRONG. Why not give it a cautious try, and let us know what happens?

Loads with dacron fill work fine, with no fouling of the gas system. It's possible that the paper-patch loads would do likewise.

A major concern would be tearing of the patches as they feed through the action (if you are wanting semi-auto functioning of the rifle).

I am not interested in loads that do NOT function semi-automatically, as I have plenty of other rifles that are manually-operated.

Good luck with your M1A: I surely do enjoy mine, and it works GREAT with cast loads.

[offshore44]

I tried a few PP in my StG-58, a distant cousin of the M1A. I could never get the patch to survive the trip from the magazine to the chamber. Never even pulled the trigger on one. Cast boolits done right don't lead the gas system to any extent, powder crud is a bigger concern in my experience. This is in an StG-58, so take that for what it's worth.

[Larry Gibson]

I tried PP'd in my M1A. Single loaded they shot fine. Fed from the magazine the PPing got torn and pulled away during feeding. Results were jammed rifle with bolt not closing. Never did get it to work reliably, quit trying and went back to regular cast.

Larry Gibson