I have never had a gas operated rifle before. I understand they can be finnicky about what they will shoot. Is there a load most people use in the Garand? Mostly I'm interested in losing High Power matches with it, but I'd also like to take it out for doe season.
H. C.
Posts: 3691 | Location: West Virginia | Registered: 23 May 2001
Henry, There is really no reason to reload for the matches. They usually require standardized ammo and it is supplied for the matches. The surplus stuff is fine for most things even if you want to hunt. YOu can buy subsidized ammo from the CMP if you dont want the surplus ammo.
Posts: 4106 | Location: USA | Registered: 06 March 2002
Buy Hornady's 5th Edition reloading manual. It has a section specifically for the M1A and the M1 Garand. Medium burning powders are best to avoid bending your operating rod due to excessive port pressure
Posts: 598 | Location: Missouri | Registered: 16 June 2000
Henry, a great M1 match load is 47 grains of IMR 4064 in GI Match cases with the Sierra 168-grain match bullet. I substitute the Sierra 165-grain HPBT in this load for hunting. VERY ACCURATE!! O/A length 3.340".
Yeah, you need to load similar to the standard military spec ammo. That's 4895 powder.
Even with slower burning, powders generating higher velocities at lower pressures, you risk bending the operating rod.
I'm new to the Garand, but this is what I've been told in every forum. And I checked with a lot of forums.
Also, your gas cylinder is probably "peened" onto the barrel. This is part of accurizing the gun. Don't force it off. If it doesn't come free with a "tap" from a plastic face mallet, it's been peened on.
Great guns, fun to shoot. Wish I could find some really cheap ammo. CMP provides ammo for matches and practice, but I need to look into that option.
Ditto on the IMR 4064. If you get a powder with a bad pressure curve, you can encounter extraction problems and even torn off rims. It has been years since I tinkered with the load for my Garand, but 4064 gave me excellent performance from start to max with no functioning problems. My load is 49.5 gr. 4064 behind a 150 gr. Sierra (Matchking or Gameking BT) bullet over a Fed 215M primer in non-prepped Winchester brass. It will honestly put a full clip (8) though a 1" hole at 100 yards.
I agree with the above. 4895 is THE powder for the Garand. 46.5 grains with either the 165 or 168 grain bullet. Note: DO NOT USE HEAVY BULLETS!!! The 173 grain match bullet is max weight for the garand. Heavier bullets (factory ammo) tend to have a longer pressure curve, and can bend your op-rod.
Posts: 1963 | Location: The Three Lower Counties (Delaware USA) | Registered: 13 September 2001
My favorite load for may CMP Garand is 47.5 IMR4895, Winchester Primer, and 150gr Hornady FMJ/BT in just about anybodies brass. This load is close to gov. specs and shoots great for me.
I am interested in reloading for the M1 also. I read someplace that Small Base dies are on the list as what to use. I have standard FL RCBS 30-06 dies. Are these ok? Also I bought a lot of 1k pulled M2 from an online supplier for $50+ shipping. I have 250 Federal once fired cases and some 4064 and 4895 IMR of course. What about CCI primers? Too soft?
CCI primers are one the hardest out there. I use the very soft Federals and have had no problems. I use match dies for my Garand (RCBS) but they are not small base dies. Work just fine.
quote:Originally posted by Valkyrie: I am interested in reloading for the M1 also. I read someplace that Small Base dies are on the list as what to use. I have standard FL RCBS 30-06 dies. Are these ok? Also I bought a lot of 1k pulled M2 from an online supplier for $50+ shipping. I have 250 Federal once fired cases and some 4064 and 4895 IMR of course. What about CCI primers? Too soft?
Valkrie: Unless you have rebarrelled your Garand with a tightly chambered match barrel, small base dies should not be necessary. I Have owned 5 or 6 garands (still have 2) and never needed to use small base dies. The pulled bullets you bought should be fine, but I would suggest that you mic them to ensure you don't have an 8mm mixed in. A budd of mine found one in a batch that he bought. Finally, I have tried just about every primer available and haven't had a problem, BUT... You need to be sure that your primer pockets are CLEAN and that they are seated completely in the primer pocket. The problem with Garands, and most semi-auto's is that if the primer is not at least flush withe the base of the case you can experience an unexpected slam fire or doubling.
Additionally, if you single load you Garand while working up a load, USE A SLED for the same reason. A SLED is an altered clip that stays in the gun and allows you to single load the rifle without danger of a slamfire.
I hope this helps.
Posts: 1963 | Location: The Three Lower Counties (Delaware USA) | Registered: 13 September 2001
PA Frank, Thanx! I do make sure pockets are clean. My Garand is a CMP Springfield Service Grade. It has a SA 11-64 barrel with a TE of 3 and the bullet test shows 1/4" to the cannelure I compared to a new factory Springfield Armory M1 barrel and was for what I could tell the same. I just bought some Danish M2 in bandoleers at the Valley Forge show yesterday. After I shoot this up I'll mostly shoot reloads I guess. Seems that I can do it cheaper and I like reloading to boot. I have some IMR 4895 and 4064. I have a crono also. WHat is spec velocity for M2 ball? Just want to get a baseline so I know where I need to be. TIA
quote:Originally posted by Valkyrie: I am interested in reloading for the M1 also. I read someplace that Small Base dies are on the list as what to use. I have standard FL RCBS 30-06 dies. Are these ok? Also I bought a lot of 1k pulled M2 from an online supplier for $50+ shipping. I have 250 Federal once fired cases and some 4064 and 4895 IMR of course. What about CCI primers? Too soft?
Posts: 263 | Location: Corpus Christi, Texas | Registered: 23 December 2002
quote:Originally posted by Valkyrie: I am interested in reloading for the M1 also. I read someplace that Small Base dies are on the list as what to use. I have standard FL RCBS 30-06 dies. Are these ok? Also I bought a lot of 1k pulled M2 from an online supplier for $50+ shipping. I have 250 Federal once fired cases and some 4064 and 4895 IMR of course. What about CCI primers? Too soft?
The need for small base dies comes when we load military brass that was fired in an automatic weapon. The chambers of automatic weapons are larger and many times the bases of these fired cases need to be brought back to spec for best function in rifles.
Posts: 263 | Location: Corpus Christi, Texas | Registered: 23 December 2002
Henry +Valkyrie,Fyi,Gsf1200,Pa.Frank,And,jbmi's 4895 recipie is the one to use.No more,no less.If using mil."once fired" brass,you should probably get the smallbase dies and save a bit of agirvation down the road.It would'nt hurt to pick up a casemaster to check for cracks either. The last few cmp matches I shot at,,,They were serving loose,de-linked macine gun ammo,intead of /06 ammo in garand clips,,Could the "surplus" be coming to an end?I think so.Take it or leave it,,either way,,,Happy Shooting!!!!,I love my garands!
Posts: 2119 | Location: woodbine,md,U.S.A | Registered: 14 January 2002
This is my two cents,I own a Springfield CMP service grade M1 Garand And use to own a Springfield Nat. Match M1A.Out of everything I ever read about them,one very important thing to keep in mind was velocity kills recievers.Fulton Armory has an excellent web site on these rifles and they recommend not shooting loads over 2600FPS.As it is extremely hard on the back of the reciever.
My Dad bought some pulled M2's for about the same price from a mail order, too. He mic'ed several and found that 50% were severely out of round...up to .009". Only 25% were true round. He sent them back. When he talked to the company, they said they came from the bottom of the barrel and the weight probably smashed them.
You might want to take a few minutes to see how your's are. If interested, shoot me an email inquiring what mail order shop Dad got them from.
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