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Loading for a Garand
booter_one
Member Posts: 2,345 ✭
Seen some comments from the general discussion page yesterday that got me thinking about reloading for the new toy. Not sure where to begin, so I will toss it out there for anyone to chime in and share info for me. Have reloaded for bolt action 06, 6.5 mauser, 357 handgun and 223, but not for the semi auto Garand version. Also, any factory loads out there that are good to start with. Any help or experiences are appreciated. [:)]
Comments
1. Keep your bullets in the 147-180 gr range. 150 and 168 are the most suitable.
2. As with any semi auto, full length size and trim all brass.
3. Use a medium burn rate powder. While perhaps a dozen are suitable, in general you want to be between 3031 and 4320. It's hard to beat 4895, 4064, or Varget.
4. Keep in mind, published data is for commercial cases. If using military cases, reduce loads by 10 percent and work up.
The M1's long slender op rod is the issue. Too heavy a bullet or too slow a powder, and you bend it. A faster powder with a published charge would be ok but might not stabilize the bullet or get the full velocity potential.
Hornady makes M1 safe ammo as do a few others; they list it specifically as such. Hard to beat ball surplus GI stuff though to start with.
Also, some loading manuals ear-mark loads for Garands. My older Speer manual, for example, lists them.
I use mostly IMR4895 with 150 gr. and IMR4064 with 168.
A few load books have reload data just for the M1.