powders work much better than others. Hello guys, I just started reloading for my garand and i have a few questions. I also had on hand 100 new, unprimed Norma cases from Graf and Sons. THey will email you a scanned copy of those pages. While not becoming distracted by the graceful Steyr, and its set trigger and excellent sights, results were excellent with a couple of the loads using the Nosler 168-grain bullets producing brilliant sub MOA groups. About halfway through, I hit my second node at around 45.0 grains. Tom is a retired engineer who is always busy with several personal engineering projects, including an elk-retrieval system for his pickups trailer hitch, so he was not adverse to loaning me his Garand to work up some handloads. The power accuracy and ease of use are unrivaled. <> All velocities were established with the powder positioned to the rear of the case. To load the Garand, first lock the bolt to the rear. Not many bullet makers offer 172-grain .30-caliber bullets anymore, and while some published data includes heavier bullets, many Garand shooters advise against using anything heavier than 172 grains due to possible op-rod damage. When reloading for the M1 it is important not to load ammo that will over-gas the system. Barnes X Bullet 150-grain Moly Coat 3.285 OAL, Nosler Partition 168-grain Hollow Point Boattail 3.295 OAL, 1.4 inches (This a super hunting load and a great surprise in the Garand. "Permanent damage can occur while shooting standard factory loaded 30-06 ammunition in the M1 Garand," said Dave Emary, Hornady Chief Ballistic Scientist. Never ever load a cartridge in the chamber and then allow the bolt to fly forward! However, unlike several other DuPont IMR powders developed during the 1930s, IMR-4895 was not available to handloaders until the late 1940s, when Bruce Hodgdon bought railroad cars full of war surplus IMR-4895 and sold it as H-4895. Powders burning slower may create excess pressure in the Garand. Accurates #2 manual has a whole section covering Garand & AR specifics. As for bullets, I used what I could obtain during a time of shortage, but the loads used were very good choices. Thanks for watching. The only previous time I had fired a Garand was decades ago, when a friend brought one along for an informal plinking session. The Garand and M1-A have issues with proper port pressures. Case Gauges PSI/CUP Hodgdon Powder Company 6430 Vista . Their assessment of the carbine and the Thompson was less than complimentary compared to the modern M4 5.56mm carbine they were issued. a powder as you want to use and even Varget is questionable. <>/Font<>/ProcSet[/PDF/Text/ImageB/ImageC/ImageI] >>/MediaBox[ 0 0 792 612] /Contents 4 0 R/Group<>/Tabs/S/StructParents 0>> I literally cannot prep HXP surplus brass to this level of consistency. However, handloading is the obvious means to the end when inexpensive ammunition and accuracy are combined. These loads will bring meat home to the freezer and a big smile to your face! The Hornady book has M1 Garand-specific load data. OAL START CHG START FPS START PRESS. stream For these reasons, I selected 45.20 grains as my final test load. PC PSU Data. My personal rifle is not a wartime rifle, but a rebuild comprised primarily of Beretta parts. These included the Hornady 150-grain JSP, Sierra Palma 155-grain, a match grade bullet, and theNosler 168-grain BTHP. Don't go looking online for load data. powders are IMR 4895, Hodgdon H4895 and Accurate 2495. However, through good maintenance, cleaning and cooling procedures, it still gauges just shy of 3 at the muzzle with a throat erosion slightly below a 5. I also decided to limit handloads to two bullets weighing 150 and 168 grains, approximating the bullet weights used during the development of the Garand. Powder Here, the gases meet a long-stroke piston attached to the operating rod, which is pushed rearward by the force of this high-pressure gas. some information as to Service Rifle hand loading for rifles like the M1 Garand . After three range sessions with handloads, Varget provided the finest accuracy with 150-grain bullets, and VV-N150 provided the best groups with 168s. Individual shooters often logged several kills with one clip including one brilliant and well documented incident in which an officer armed with a Garand, scouting at Normandy, took out eight Germans with eight shots. i use 48.2 grains of IMR4064 for a 150 grain bullet and that's for my bolt action Rem700. yT;F}{mNjom#Jgk;W6f;E^`M]| N& ,q0Mm|}]/ww,f_Cx n*c+~_&XqNdtXahHD''c- E4Jw_}}?!Xl7f^T1]',J>Ld Good quality brass is essential. The Hornady manual lists bullets from 150 to 178 grains. This wasnt the average, but this was quite exciting. The hybrid secant/tangent ogive on these boat-tailed beauties makes them less dependent on their positional relationship with the barrel's lands. brass, and not just .30-06 but 7.62x51 NATO cases used in .308 and .358 Winchester rifles, but in this instance the Federal brass turned out to be heavier than Tom Bookers 200-grain military cases, averaging 207 grains. The M1 Garand Data Sheets Download in ".jpg" format for printing or use a PDF of M1 Fill-able Data sheet: This datasheet is intended for all levels of collectors, from novice to advanced, and can be used to record personal inventory of weapons. 4895 goes up to 51.7. The brass used was new Federal, already primed with Federal 210s, purchased in a really good Internet deal a couple years ago. It's a bit of over kill but I load 16 rounds of each. For bores smaller than 7mm, consult published data. Just don't try to drive the bullets too fast and the thread above about staying below 180 grain bullets is good . Don't Lose My top-quality clips came from Amherst Depot. M1 Garand Clip Pouches $26.99 at Brownells.com. Substitute 180 grain Spitzer Flat-based or Boat-tail bullets (i.e., Speer, Sierra or Hornady) in the 180 grain "600 yard" Match load info referenced above. 45 Colt Loaded With 185gr Everglades Competition JHP, 6.5 Creedmoor Savage 110 Desert Tactical X-Caliber Barrel Upgrade, 450 BUSHMASTER VELOCITY ~ 16 VS 18 BARREL. nos bt 150 varget .308" 3.250" 47.0 2808 42600 cup 47.8 2842 44100 cup 150 gr. Recently, I have been firing the old warhorse more often and find the Garand a well-mannered rifle well worthy of some effort in mastering. Any 168 or 175 46.5grns IMR/H-4895 Primer: same as above COAL: 3.30 for the 168's 3.34 for the 175's Some brass will last three or four loadings, others a few more. Using standard CCI primers For 8 rounds per group: 46.5 Gr averaged 2546 FPS, SD 42.6 (ouch) 47.5 Gr averaged 2579 FPS, SD 38.0 This load can be a few tenths either way and still produce exceptional results. Sierra HPBT MatchKing, 45.0 gr. This one gave us a nice 1.8-inch 100-yard group on the first try. An exception to the foreign tag is Fiocchi ammunition, but then much of these are manufactured in Ozark Missouri. Press the clip into the rifle and the clip will lock firmly in place. That being said, I decided to stay away from the 41.00 loading, even though it produced terrific accuracy and mild recoil. After waiting the standard two minutes with the rifle pointed downrange, I manually ejected the cartridge then pocketed it for break-down back in my loading room. I also used a few loads incorporating the Barnes X bullet. As we weighed a sample of 20 cases, we recorded no more than a 1.1-grain extreme spread with our lightest case weighing 187.8 and our heaviest only 188.9. If you would have told me that my cell phone would be involved in dumping powder charges, I would have never believed it. Many reloading sources have load data specifically for the M1 Garand rifle. The Hornady Manual has regular .30-06 loads. For this reason, the M1 often gets a rap as being inaccurate, and this has always bothered me.Looking down at my post-Korean War M1, I decided it was time to see exactly how much accuracy I could squeeze out of it and set out on yet another handloading adventure. Although it was a great shooter, the node was really narrow, meaning that just a bit over or under, and I would not have the same accuracy. pills a whirl. There were no failures to feed and no M1 thumb. While we used a good supply of Winchester ammunition, we also used reliable handloads. With Berger 168-grain VLDs, VV-N140 won by a nose with RL-15 and Varget right behind. The barrel in this rifle was as new, the stock was a perfect fit that had not been compressed by firing, and the trigger was excellent for a Garand. The bullets feed straight into the chamber, skipping the feed ramp. You can also sub in the 125 Speer TnT. Is your hand worth the 30$ you will spend buying a book? There are those who recommend we used only once-fired military brass. Here, the gases meet a long-stroke piston attached to the operating rod, which is pushed rearward by the force of this high-pressure gas. Trail Boss Reduced Rifle Load. All loading data is for rifles know to be in good operating condition. Overall, the loads with Berger 168-grain VLDs were more consistently accurate than 150-grain loads. However I decide to fill cases and seat bullets, one thing is for sure: the Garand can be an exceptional shooter if you give it everything it needs to succeed. In this way, the data is not cluttered with a lot of irrelevant and unused information and is limited to pertinent data on this particular weapon. Accurate 2520 Powder in Garand I picked up an 8 Lber of AA2520 - the so called "Camp Perry Special", and loaded up some test rounds for my CMP special 30-06 garand and 155 Nosler HPBT. psi/cup 150 gr. 1 0 obj The handloads were worked up not only with just accuracy in mind, but also a certain velocity range to avoid overloading the operating rod. One standard piece of .30-06 handloading advice, especially for Garands, is that military cases are heavier than commercial cases, so loads need to be reduced. The rifle is accurate enough that the pursuit of an accuracy load was worthwhile. oal start chg start fps start press. The M1 Garand and its gas system was designed to operate with M1 Ball ammo. It also is going to be on the slower side of the velocity scale, and I plan on reaching out to at least 800 yards with it. There is some factory-loaded ammo made specifically for the M1 Garand, and you'd be well-advised to stick with it. endobj Copyright 2023 KVAR. The Garand was designed to operate with IMR 4895 powder or its equivalent. The operating rod (and subsequently the bolt) then returns to its original position. Since my sons and I enjoy the Garand, the problem of feeding the rifle is a matter that must be solved. .30-06 M1 Garand Loads: Warning! Loading Precision I began by ordering a set of small base dies fromRBCS. Luckily, I had only fired a few rounds, which had not damaged Toms rifle. Experimentation resulted in handloads that were more than accurate enough for big-game hunting. Expanding gases from a fired cartridge are diverted into the gas cylinder. Recently, I ran a class of shooters through a simple course that centered upon the M1 Garand. Hornady Handbook of Cartridge Reloading 9th edition. WxM wpX[&nbO1;7{;7wqf]RK/o[x i'i=&fP,:\y~l->6V_}nzm~;M?e__]4%|$m{Drq]]*8N jr!:6%U[Moc}p}yp]w8+v^ma?CcWn}'ltb^}.~n(EhEE0P#} mmgY.+}ra8'9`oL|x(t{Tr.3x. <> Powder selection is critical. If safety alone isn't enough reason to start at the bottom and work up, let accuracy tip the scale. This opens the possibility of metering charges and maybe even complete production on a progressive press. You are using an out of date browser. I use ball powder because it flows better through the powder measure. Of course, it wouldn't make sense to leave the other 13 loads in the box, so I proceeded as originally planned. With a minimal instruction period all did well with the World War II battle rifle. All primers were Winchester large rifle. Not to my surprise, I hit a node right off the bat with a group that was just outside of MOA. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); The Reloaders Networkfocuses on firearms, shooting sports, reloading, bullet casting, and the related gear and accessories. When loading the Garand, the first hurdle is getting a firm grasp of the differences between loading for a bolt gun and loading for a self-loader.