I found a not so encouraging review of this ammo from last July, it may have headspace issues;
"I bought 100 of Priv 145gr 308 from Palmetto State Armory. Great price, 0 shipping.
Brass Cases marked PPU, annealed, OAL decently consistent.
I had a wild idea, a hunch, I dropped a couple into my wilson headspace guage.
They are all a few thousands above the top of the guage! I used the straight edge of my lyman stainless steel dial calipers across the top of the guage to verify my findings.
They have a heavy crimp, is that in leu of proper headspacing/quality control? Doesnt seem like it would help...
I set my dies to size at the bottom of the "go" to avoid KABOOM.
What gives?
More importantly, what should I do with them?
Best I have is pull the pills, punch primers and resize/load them.
Thanks for taking a look at this. "
I would have just yanked the thread but thought again, it might be handy for someone thinking of ordering.
MrMarty51 wrote: Boat tail too. Are they Berdan primed ? just curious is all.
I don't beleive they are berdan primed, in the past I've seen the same load specifically say reloadable but these guys are a little short in the description.
I have not had any problem with the mil-spec stuff as it has a different powder in it. (from what I have been told)
Not sure why that is though, as I do not reload. But that is why ArmaLite actually puts it in the owners manual as a recomendation to use 150gr bullets as a minimum.
Last edit: 11 years 8 months ago by mrraley. Reason: clarification
Originally I read a few positive reviews on the M14 site so I figured I'd put this on right away. I read some more this morning and found this;
"I bought 100 of Priv 145gr 308 from Palmetto State Armory. Great price, 0 shipping.
I had a wild idea, a hunch, I dropped a couple into my wilson headspace guage.
They are all a few thousands above the top of the guage! I used the straight edge of my lyman stainless steel dial calipers across the top of the guage to verify my findings.
They have a heavy crimp, is that in leu of proper headspacing/quality control? Doesnt seem like it would help...
I set my dies to size at the bottom of the "go" to avoid KABOOM.
What gives?
More importantly, what should I do with them?
Best I have is pull the pills, punch primers and resize/load them.
Thanks for taking a look at this. "
This was dated last July, maybe I better edit my original post some, sounds like they have the same headspace problems I ran into in my reloading, I just haven't dropped any powder yet!
Earlier dated reviews showed this stuff to function well in the M14 and I know I've shot lots of 147 gr stuff but never this brand, Thankfully MrRaley prompted me to investigate some more.
MrMarty51 wrote: Would the heavy on the crimping be part of the sealing process ???
I'm sure that is part of it but preventing setback is also a key factor. I've seen the soft points on some rounds get mushroomed some from hitting the front of the magazine so there are some good forces involved, I'm not sure if it was recoil induced or just from the round above it dragging it forward when it cycles, only the top couple left in the mag showed this and only after firing a few rounds.
Everything I've read about reloading for AR's has told me crimp is critical compared to using a bolt gun.
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