I have two M1A', a Squad Scout and a Socom 16. With both came an instruction manual that said both guns were cleared to shoot all commercial and military ammo in good condition. But not the higher velocity stuff like the Federal "High Energy" ammo. The headspace settings, which come with the guns show you that the headspace is set in the overlap range for both types of ammo.
What I've noticed when handloading is that the best accuracy comes with loads that are a couple of grains less than maximum for the heavier cases. I've only loaded with H4895 and TAC powders. E
absolutely correct.
some years ago i acquired a rather limited build m1a. it would not cycle properly. found out eventually it was a spring replacement issue. however, had a gunsmith want to gig me 600bucks for a barrel replacement stating it was out of safe headspace.
took it to a competent gunsmith, and it was set the same as a new springfield so that it could handle commercial .308 or the military 7.62.
I read stuff all the time about how it's safe to hot load, or use commercial ammo in a garand.
i don't like the idea of beating my collection up, and try to keep stuff at the original specs for reloading.
one thing i have dealt with is in loading for m1'a rifles, i have had to use a die that squeezes them in a little more. I also segregate military brass from commercial ajusting the powder load accordingly.
