M1A and sp ammo

[TIMBERTRAMP]

I have a sa m1a that i've thought of using for deer hunting but have been warned not to use anything but ball ammo in it,considering I shoot my ar and m1 carb with soft point, what are the contraindications to shooting 308 hunting ammo in this wpn.thanks-tt

[patm41]

the heavier bullet weight when firing will cause more gas pressure to build up causing extra strain on the op rod.. 

[LEO]

Timbertramp, give Springfield Armory a call, they will tell you commercially loaded 308 is fine, avoid the heavy bullet weights and the "light magnum" ammo.  I have put a bunch of 165 grain and 150 grain Sierra SBT bullets through my rifle.  I have had zero problems.  I reload so I just take my 168 grain match loads and substitue the 165 grain soft point bullets.  For the 150's I use middle of the road load data and have had good results.  I think a lot of the only shoot ball comes from the M1 Garand and the warning to only shoot ball or you would bend the op rod.  Well 3006 M2 ball ammo is loaded to a lower velocity/pressure than commercial 3006 ammo so that was valid.  As long as you don't try to hot rod it you will be fine with 308 commercial ammo.  But once again give Springfield a call and get their advice

[Cheesehead]

I bought a new M1A one year ago. What Leo said is right. I also use a middle of the road load loads of RL-15 for the 150 grain bullets.  One inch groups at 100 yards are common. Also this works well on whitetail. I have used 150 grain Corelokt, Bronze point, and partitions, all work great. The only problem I have ever had was Federal brass not extracting, just dont use federal brass anymore.

Cheese