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Reloading for a Garand


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I was pondering reloading some cartridges for my .30-06 M-1 Garand but I seem to have mislaid some data.  I had a list of "good" and "bad" powders to use for Garand reloads and now I can't find it.  I know there was something about the pressure curve of the different powders used to avoid damaging the operating rod.

 

I used to use 4895 almost exclusively for the M-1, but I don't have any.  So, if ya'll could help me out here, I've got about 200 150gr. FMJ bullets to put on top of some .30-06 cases.  I'm not trying to make match winning loads, I just want to have some fun.  Plinking rounds, if you will.

 

The powder I have on hand is:  IMR 3031, IMR 4064, IMR 4320, BL-C(2), IMR 4350, H380, Win. 760 and Win. 748.  A lot of these are 1/2# or less so I don't expect to get all 200 rounds put together with the same powder.

 

Thanks,

 

Angus

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My bud in Arizona spends a lot of time loading his Garands.

He says H4895/I4895 is fast enough to not over power the gas system as 4350 would do.
He favors Sierra MatchKing #2220 and #2220 for the 500m rams.
2600 fps for the 168s, 2500 fps for the 180s.

My new '06 is also a 1-10" twist.
I'm looking at Nosler #30150, 150 grain at 2745 fps, IMR 4350 for this gun.
This bullet has a Miller stability number of 1.96 which falls into the "ideal" range.

 

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2 minutes ago, bgavin said:

My bud in Arizona spends a lot of time loading his Garands.

He says H4895/I4895 is fast enough to not over power the gas system as 4350 would do.
He favors Sierra MatchKing #2220 and #2220 for the 500m rams.
2600 fps for the 168s, 2500 fps for the 180s.

 

I'm also a fan of 4895 for the Garand.  The problem is I don't have any.

RE: 180 grain bullets - I thought anything over 168 was bad for the Garand because of the possibility of causing the operating rod to bend.

 

Still hoping for suggestions using a 150 grain bullet over one of the powders listed above. 

One vote for Win. 748.  Unfortunately,  I've only got about 1/3# of 748.  That won't load very many '06's but I may use up what I have just to get rid of it.

Looks like I can rule out 4064 and 4350 for use in the Garand loads.

 

Angus

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See the above for my comment on the Nosler bullet.
Out of stock at Midway, overdue.

I don't own a Garand... but do you think IMR 3031 is too fast?
Maybe BENCHMARK?

Accurate 2460 is for '06 light bullets.. also within the M14 threshold limit.

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Handloader magazine had a great article on loading for the Garand. I don't know how to link it using my phone but I Google phooed it easy enough.

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21 hours ago, bgavin said:

See the above for my comment on the Nosler bullet.
Out of stock at Midway, overdue.

I don't own a Garand... but do you think IMR 3031 is too fast?
Maybe BENCHMARK?

Accurate 2460 is for '06 light bullets.. also within the M14 threshold limit.

An article in the March 1986 issue of the American Rifleman, a bunch of loads are listed, among which are 48.0 gr. 3031, with a MV = 2785 ft/sec.  My own loads were the same with 3031 and different bullets, but resulted in MV = 2807 with a Remington PSP bullet in military, once-fired TW54 brass.

Some TW54 M2 Ball I tested gave me 2769-2805 ft/sec, with 49.5- 51 grains of military powder.  H4895 with 48.0 gr and a 150 gr. Remington or Sierra PtSP, which proved the minimum load for reliable functioning of an M-1 Rifle (24" bbl.) produced 2600 ft/sec.  I did find that H4895 (the surplus powder sold by Hodgdon's) did not give me the accuracy that 3031 did.

 

The question whether 165 gr bullets were too heavy for the M-1, the answer is NO. Recall that M2AP (armor piercing, with the steel core rather than the lead core used in M2Ball) weighed approximately 165 gr. Some LC53 M2AP, I pulled, has a powder charge of 48.5gr at 2765 ft/sec.  These velocities were taken from a 24" barrel M70 Winchester bolt action rifle.*

 

The original military load in .30-06 was a 172 gr M1Ball round. This was used initially in the M1 Rifle, but was discontinued because the target ranges in the United States could not accommodate the longer danger space of the M1 round.  I would probably stay away from a lot of loads using 180gr bullets, although I did take a wild boar in Tennessee years ago using a Tanker Garand.

 

*Interesting story regarding M2AP ammo.  Back in the early 1970's, I was working for a contractor for the Navy, which was having problems with shipping large munitions cross country.  It seemed that they had a particular marking on some railroad containers that made targets for some idiots or sabateurs.  Had a hunting load penetrated the container and hit the contents, a major explosion or fireball could have resulted! :o  This could have been a real disaster if the cargo was passing through a populated area! Two instances occurred where a projectile hit a bulkhead between two cargo pieces and the other hit an empty carrier.  (They moved the markings to a non-critical area, and as far as I know had no further trouble.)  The outfit I was working for decided to investigate the possibility of armor-plating the carriers. Weight, of course, was a prime consideration. Therefore, it was decided to test various materials, including various steels, aluminum, etc.  An analysis by some bright soul concluded that the threat that had to be addressed would be from hunting ammo fired from no closer than 100 yds.  The potential for the use of military armor-piercing rounds was discounted, "as none is available in the commercial sources"!  I was known as a shooter/handloader, and was temporarily assigned to the project.  I immediately took the analysis to the program manager and asked him, "How many hundred rounds of AP would you like from the local Army surplus store?"  When he picked his jaw up from the floor, he directed me to purchase several hundred rounds for testing. The idea would be to reduce the velocities to those approximating 100 yds.  Why  not just test at that range?  Well, the contractor only had an indoor smallbore range, and...NO CHRONOGRAPH!  So, I pulled the bullets, and reduced the loads.  As I had purchased one of the new Oehler Model 10 chromos, the ones that used the printed silver screens that had to be replaced after each shot, that is what I used.  We then fired those, plus some commercial hunting bullets to test various armor materials.  I don't recall what their conclusion was, except I think it was that the best thing was simply not to put any tempting markings on the outside of the containers!  The Air Force previously had similar problems with the roundels on their Minuteman transporter-erectors, but simply moved the insignia to a non-critical place. :rolleyes:

Stay well and safe, Pards!

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