sgtsandman
US Veteran
The .308 is the hotter round of the two, so my guess is that less gas is needed to cycle the BCG.
This is is a bolt over, resulting from short stroking. Winchester White Box is loaded to 7.62 NATO specs which makes less pressure than commercial 308 ammo. If your rifle is running fine on commercial ammo, it's clear that your problem is NOT the feed ramps and the photos show that your ramps are ok.
S&W tuned the M&P-10 to run on commercial ammo because that's the spec hunting ammo is loaded to. If it were tuned to be used with 7.62 NATO ammo, it's possible it'd be over gassed for hunting ammo with sharper recoil than necessary. You can tune your M&P-10 to run on lower pressure ammo, but the result will be the same as tuning a 5.56/223 caliber AR to run reliably on low pressure ammo- when using full pressure ammo, recoil will be sharper and the reciprocating mass will bottom out harder
Mistwolf. I guess I made an assumption that everyone here would know that .308 is a higher pressure,thus, it would cycle the bolt better with less fail to feed due to short stroking problems. At least that is my experience with my M&P 10 and seems to be a common problem. I'm thinking an adjustable gas valve would be the ticket like on the Ruger 762 and a few more. The gas port would be another place to look but I like to start with less drilling at the beginning of troubleshooting.
Thanks by the way. My shooting partner that has years of experience over me didn't know .308 has higher pressures.
An adjustable gas block will not help an undergassed gun. The issue is the gas port size.
I suspected gas port size but wanted to make it work without drilling. It sounds very good to have someone that has done it and had good results. When hell breaks loose it would be nice to know I can use 7.62 if I find it.
You can allways gas down with an adjustable block, but you cannot gas UP, because it is running wide open now! It only receives what comes out of the port!
Please read my comments in the other related thread just below this one.
Read them and now have a firm direction for this rifle. I'm sure there are others but when I do use match grade Federal I sure like the results. I was also looking at 168 to start and move up or down to get the results I need. I can load it myself after I get the mix I need.
In the case of S&W 10, COMMERCIAL means US made hunting ammo and match ammo by US makers.
Mistwolf. I guess I made an assumption that everyone here would know that .308 is a higher pressure,thus, it would cycle the bolt better with less fail to feed due to short stroking problems. At least that is my experience with my M&P 10 and seems to be a common problem. I'm thinking an adjustable gas valve would be the ticket like on the Ruger 762 and a few more. The gas port would be another place to look but I like to start with less drilling at the beginning of troubleshooting.
Thanks by the way. My shooting partner that has years of experience over me didn't know .308 has higher pressures.
I'm a little chagrined. I went back and read your post again and realized I misunderstood it the first time.
The more I shoot the Big Smith, the less picky it is about ammo. I've recently swapped the carbine buffer out for an H buffer and the rifle functions fine on handloads that duplicate military ammo without opening up the gas port. However, I'm also using a BABC which I suspect increases back pressure a bit
I don't know what brand the buffer is. It's a spare I picked up along the way. It's the type with 1tungsten and 2 steel weights
Sounds like an H buffer which is 3.8oz if my research is good. I'm still researching the change to another buffer which may cause short stroking if I don't chose the correct weight. I already have short stroking with the 7.62 ammo so I may have to accept the fact that this gun is made for .308 which I think you mentioned in one of your posts. My range day was perfect with .308 ammo. I was way more accurate with the Gold Medal Match 168 grain. So, I'll sit down to a long research session to see which rifle will fire both nato and .308. I think this rifle will be more appealing to a future buyer if I don't drill or cut into it and leave that to the next shooter.
Yea, well, told you so! What kinda groups did you get with the GMM?
You do not have to research anything, it was made to CYCLE US made .308, but it works just fine with 7.62 if you give it a little more gas to work with.
If you want to make it more appealing to a future buyer, you might try selling them a gun that just works with what you put into it!
Oh, and BTW, even at my .073 gas port setting, I am still pushing a H2 buffer to soften things with no issues thus far.
To me, I just want it to work! I may decide to punch a bunch rapid fire one day, then go to precision the next. The gun needs to work! And with what I feed it!
And yes, at the cost of GMM, I can load it myself at half the cost, or buy decent reloads in Amax 168, which have done better thusfar in my gun.
You might try Freedom Munitions.com as an example for some good quality reman Amax at less than a buck per. First order is free shipping!
Do as you like, just sayin.
I guess it depends on the rifle. Lake City 7.62 has been running fine in mine so far.
Yep, at least it has US powder which probably helps! Burn rate is an issue!
How is your ejection pattern?
These things are NOT AR-15, yet same principals apply to an extent. Not sure to what extent.
On a typical AR, a pattern from 1 o'clock to about 5 o'clock is a scale. (over and under gassed) with 3-4 o'clock being more ideal range.
rojodiablo said:HOLY COW!!!What an EXCELLENT set of pictures!!
This is a relatively simple polish job. Take a dremel tool with a small round polishing stone, and carefully massage all that. ................
This is a problem which can be fixed in about 10 minutes total time. Be patient, and do not push too hard.![]()