M1 Garand 30-06 reloading results

[Lance Boyle]

That slightly reduced load is just fine. I do the same in HXP or LC military cases. My most accurate loads are with the full load of 4064 and a 168 match. The same bullet with 4895 is real close in accuracy and the recoil impulse seems just a touch mellower.

Anyways the majority of my milsurp shooting was in local walk and paste matches at 100 and 200 yards and I eventually used those downloaded loads. Dropping 100-200 fps was inconsequential at that distance. Those rounds made it all the way through the target paper!

These days I tend just shoot virgin HXP ammo. It was better than the USGI delinked machine gun ammo that CMP sold when I first got in to it.

Speaking of HXP, the Greek Ammo maker, they also made .303 British ammo. I just got some dusty tarnished stuff from a fellow. My Long Branch likes it a lot. It is as accurate as they say. The cases are supposed to be as good as you’ll find for the .303 too. Getting the cases is the biggest reason I bought the stuff,

 

[Mike SC Hunter]

That slightly reduced load is just fine. I do the same in HXP or LC military cases. My most accurate loads are with the full load of 4064 and a 168 match. The same bullet with 4895 is real close in accuracy and the recoil impulse seems just a touch mellower.

Anyways the majority of my milsurp shooting was in local walk and paste matches at 100 and 200 yards and I eventually used those downloaded loads. Dropping 100-200 fps was inconsequential at that distance. Those rounds made it all the way through the target paper!

These days I tend just shoot virgin HXP ammo. It was better than the USGI delinked machine gun ammo that CMP sold when I first got in to it.

Speaking of HXP, the Greek Ammo maker, they also made .303 British ammo. I just got some dusty tarnished stuff from a fellow. My Long Branch likes it a lot. It is as accurate as they say. The cases are supposed to be as good as you’ll find for the .303 too. Getting the cases is the biggest reason I bought the stuff,

I LOVE Greek HXP ammo in my Garands.......I have a stash.

 

[Baxter6551]

I took the CMP Advanced Armorers Class at Aniston. They had a Garand on display with the receiver heel blown out they said from over pressure reloads. Bolt thrown rearward with too much pressure. They cautioned against using reloads or any commercial .30-06 unless it was loaded for M1Garand like the American Eagle loads.
As a precaution I obtained the Garand Gear ported gas plugs for my rifles and their website has a full explanation of this. I don’t reload or use commercial hunting loads but thought it cheap insurance.

Ported Gas Plug (TM) - M1 Garand- GarandGear

The Ported Gas Plug™ has an open area in the base of the screw that increases the starting volume of the gas cylinder. This causes the peak gas pressures in the gas cylinder to drop by over 30%.

www.garandgear.com

 

[M1A4ME]

The M1 is a pretty stout rifle.

I don't advocate shooting anything that generates higher, above the amount the military surplus ammo may generate, in chamber pressures. But staying within the limits of that you're not going to hurt an M1 as long as you also replace the operating rod/recoil spring when needed.

The issue with the M1 has always been the gas port pressures. That's what damages the operating rod or other gas system components or even the receiver. Especially if you're not replacing that operating rod spring as/when you should.

If you get a chance to read Hatcher's Book of the Garand it's a really great book about the development, testing, problems, and fixes they went through bringing the M1 from the drawing board to the arms rooms in the US Military.

After WW2, realizing that there were no reports of M1 rifles blowing up during all the combat it went through in so many varied climates they did a test to see just what it took to blow up an M1 Garand. Not going to try to go into all the details of the pressure test guns, the similar caliber guns and the loads they used. Just want to say that by the time they stopped the test they'd gotten to a calculated chamber pressure of 180,000 psi or greater (calculated because they'd stopped using the pressure test guns at some point for fear of damaging those and the similar caliber bolt action rifle had blown up) the M1 was still running till it finally had a case failure which resulted in the loading parts, stock, etc. being damaged beyond use. They put the receiver/barrel in a new stock, added a new trigger guard/loading parts assembly and continued to fire regular/normal GI issue ammo till they got tired of firing it with no more issues. The receivers and barrels are unbelievably tough. They weren't measuring gas port pressure in this test, just chamber pressure.

I have zero worries using my reloads in my M1 rifles because I never load maximum loads (best groups are usually 100 to 150 fps below maximum in my experience) and I check each case for powder level prior to seating a bullet (do that for pistol ammo, too.) Almost 50 years of reloading and never a single squib load.

You can, in any cartridge, have a case failure with a normally safe powder level/charge. I've had one in 9MM. I've had some cases that failed during the resizing process or the bullet seating process and never made it to the firearm.

There are some people who probably shouldn't reload. Just as there are people who probably shouldn't drive a car. I can't fix that. I just look out for my own guns/ammo and that ammo sure does shoot some nice groups in the right gun.

 

[71vette]

With rifles I dispense every charge with a Frankfort auto trickler so every charge is weighed. I also check the loaded cases using a Wilson case gauge. This load is the starting charge for 150 grain bullets from the Hodgdon “M1 service rifle” section. These are about as tame and Garand specific as I can get.

I did just score 800 pieces of “once fired” 30-06 brass of another forum for an extremely good price. Unfortunately I’m extremely low on IMR-4895. I do have 10 lbs of H4895 on hand as well as a large amount of 175 grain FMJBT PRVI bullets. That might be the next adventure.

 

[AJ]

The M1 is a pretty stout rifle.

I don't advocate shooting anything that generates higher, above the amount the military surplus ammo may generate, in chamber pressures. But staying within the limits of that you're not going to hurt an M1 as long as you also replace the operating rod/recoil spring when needed.

The issue with the M1 has always been the gas port pressures. That's what damages the operating rod or other gas system components or even the receiver. Especially if you're not replacing that operating rod spring as/when you should.

If you get a chance to read Hatcher's Book of the Garand it's a really great book about the development, testing, problems, and fixes they went through bringing the M1 from the drawing board to the arms rooms in the US Military.

After WW2, realizing that there were no reports of M1 rifles blowing up during all the combat it went through in so many varied climates they did a test to see just what it took to blow up an M1 Garand. Not going to try to go into all the details of the pressure test guns, the similar caliber guns and the loads they used. Just want to say that by the time they stopped the test they'd gotten to a calculated chamber pressure of 180,000 psi or greater (calculated because they'd stopped using the pressure test guns at some point for fear of damaging those and the similar caliber bolt action rifle had blown up) the M1 was still running till it finally had a case failure which resulted in the loading parts, stock, etc. being damaged beyond use. They put the receiver/barrel in a new stock, added a new trigger guard/loading parts assembly and continued to fire regular/normal GI issue ammo till they got tired of firing it with no more issues. The receivers and barrels are unbelievably tough. They weren't measuring gas port pressure in this test, just chamber pressure.

I have zero worries using my reloads in my M1 rifles because I never load maximum loads (best groups are usually 100 to 150 fps below maximum in my experience) and I check each case for powder level prior to seating a bullet (do that for pistol ammo, too.) Almost 50 years of reloading and never a single squib load.

You can, in any cartridge, have a case failure with a normally safe powder level/charge. I've had one in 9MM. I've had some cases that failed during the resizing process or the bullet seating process and never made it to the firearm.

There are some people who probably shouldn't reload. Just as there are people who probably shouldn't drive a car. I can't fix that. I just look out for my own guns/ammo and that ammo sure does shoot some nice groups in the right gun.

Was this the testing of receiver strengths that Phillip Sharpe was involved in also?

 

[cowboy94916]

168 gr Hornady over 46 gr of 4895 has worked well for me in military brass.

 

[M1A4ME]

Was this the testing of receiver strengths that Phillip Sharpe was involved in also?

Sorry, I don't know about that. It's just a section in the book Gen. Hatcher wrote.

 

[AJ]

Sorry, I don't know about that. It's just a section in the book Gen. Hatcher wrote.

Sharpe was involved in checking military receiver for their strength. All military receivers, not just U.S. He does not mention anything except the strongest. It was not the Garand.