.30 Lake City M72 Match

[Colorado Pete]

I've had a bunch of this for a while now, but finally got around to shooting some in a bedded and tightened Winchester '43 M1 with a '63 Winchester barrel.

This stuff SHOOTS! I was only firing 3 shots for zero verification from prone w/sling, but at 300 I was getting 2 MOA and at 420 (our furthest berm) I shot a four-inch triangle from prone! I'm sure more rounds would open things up, but...can't argue with those results!

[Nickle]

I've got a Winchester barrel roughly the same vintage as your M1 barrel on my M14 (early Fed Ord, all USGI parts other than receiver), and it's a shooter, for sure.

Yup, M72 is good stuff, as is M118 or M852 7.62 NATO.

[Colorado Pete]

I've weighed some of the 173-gr. LC projectiles (loose, not pulled from match ammo) and found quite a deviance in weight, so did not have much confidence in them beyond 300, plus, these bullets in GI 7.62 match loads don't have the greatest reputation for accuracy (service team members used to pull these bullets and re-seat Sierra Matchkings to make improved ammo).

Don't know how this stuff would work at 600, plus only 3 shots at 420 isn't much of sample, but I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt now.

[Nickle]

Ask any of the Vietnmese that fell at the hands of snipers during the Vietnam war and ask them what they think of it. The same bullet was used in M118 7.62 NATO Match ammo, and it's been used in both M72 (.30-06) and M118 (7.62) calibers to drop bad guys well in excess of 1000 yards. I've heard of 1400 yard kills.

I'll grant the 168 grain Sierra is a better bullet, up to, but not exceeding, 600 yards. It is not accurate at 1000 yards, from everything I've heard. The current M118LR uses the 175 grain Sierra.

[boltgun71]

As I understand it, the 173gr bullet started out extremely well and was highly effective when loaded in the M72 and M118 match cartridges.  Over the years the tooling was worn out though and accuracy started to drop off, this eventually lead to the redesignation of M118 Match to M118 Special Ball.  The process of pulling the 173gr bullet and replacing it with 168gr Matchkings by the service teams was known as making "Mexican Match".  The degraded accuracy of the M118 Special Ball lead to the search of a replacement round which resulted in the selection of the 175gr Sierra Matchking and the new designation of M118 Long Range round.  The early loaded M118 and the M72 match rounds were made with the earlier lots of 173gr bullets made with fresh tooling before it worn out and they were well known for their terriffic accuracy.  But even the later lots made with the worn tooling still shot considerably better than standard ball ammo.

[ashrn03]

The 30 cal 168 gr Sierra Match King was originally developed for 300 meter International shooting and was reportedly optimized for that distance.  In the 80's the service rifle shooters (M14's & M1a's) I knew would use it at 600 yards but many believed it wasn't as accurate as a heavier bullet at that distance.  Bolt gunners used 190 grain Match Kings but these were too heavy for service rifles.  The "Mexican Match" I saw involved pulling 150 grain GI bullets from ball ammo and replacing them with 150 grain commercial bullets.  This may have been before the 173's began to get a bad rap.  Looking back on it, I suspect that you'd have to be a Master or High Master shooter to see any benefit from trying to improve on 30 cal Lake City Match ammo.   

[Nickle]

"Mexican Match" actually got adopted, and produced, and was designated M852 Match. Loaded with the 168 Sierra. Probably only used at National Matches, but in the inventory (check the USGI Ammo Spec thread in Reloading).

M118LR came back, mostly for the reasons mentioned by others, and the simple fact that 168's peter out by 600 or less. The reason 168's peter out is a lack of retained velocity, causing a drop to subsonic speed and resulting turbulence causing inaccuracy. The 175 works out to 1000 and up, and was likely a compromise, as the M21 was still in use by some units (still is) and the heavy (190) bullets aren't so good for a gas gun, due to increased port pressure. The funny thing is the Army recently adopted a semi-auto sniper rifle, the Knight M110 SASS, based on an AR-10. Now we have some units that have M110's, M21's and M24's on hand.