M1 Garand

[Lilly001]

I just had a CMP Garand follow me home. And the wife says I can keep it.
My question Is if anyone out there has used factory hunting ammo without excess pressure problems?
I will seldom use it to hunt but I would like the option.

 

[patcavscout]

I've never shot anything out of it but WInchester ball ammo. But I've heard that some of the claims about not mixing ammo are a bit embellished. Personally depending on how good of condition yours is in I would prob either get ammo that is of a similar grain, I mean 30 cal has the most variety out there, or get one of those gas regulator that screw in without any modification to your gun.

 

[patcavscout]

I use one of these in my garands and shoot the same ammo I shoot from my bolt action, BUT I DO NOT EXCEED any recommended loads from the manuals I have and I'm normally a notch or two below the top.

Using ammo not intended for the gun with out any modifications will damage the operating rod. It doesn't matter what condition the gun is in. Even if it it brand new, never fired, if you are using ammo not designed for them.

Use surplus ammo or simulate it with your loads or you can modify the gas system with a different gas plug to allow for more modern ammunition.

https://www.garandgear.com/ported-gas-plug.html

Thats the thing I was talking about. Couldn't remember what it was called.

 

[rayjay]

How about pulling the bullet from some ball ammo and seating some 150 gr spire point soft tips ? I would use a collet puller not an inertia one.

Plan B, you will never use the rifle to hunt with so why worry about this ???

 

[JeffinPTC]

Opinions are like...well you know... See this link for lots of them, from "I've been using since 1990," to "you'll shoot your (rod) out, Kid!"

http://forums.thecmp.org/showthread.php?t=172165

And congrats on a very addictive purchase.

Jeff

 

[Lilly001]

I think the vented gas plug is where I will go.
Plus I'll stay with basic 150 grain loads.
Like I said, I may never use it to hunt, but I like the option.
I mainly got it because my Dad carried one in Korea and he raved about its capability.

 

[rayjay]

Why would you ever do that or NOT hunt with it? Unless you have reason to think it is dangerous, just shoot that bullet out. I'd never mess with bullet puller and all that to try to save 5 cents worth of powder and a primer.
View attachment 938369

Opening day. One shot. One kill.

Pull the FMJ and seat a soft point of the same weight on top of the Garand spec powder charge.

 

[Mark R]

Well on most of the specs I seen the mil spec ammo has Higher pressure than your average huntin cartridges .

 

[Philbow]

The latest issue of Handloader magazine has an article on reloading for the Garand to keep pressures at the optimum level.

 

[JWF III]

Bullet weight has some, but little to do with it. The main concern is the powder burn rate. Modern hunting ammo is loaded with a slower burning powder than Garand specs. It’s not so much the peak pressure, but the pressure curve. Any commercial fmj load would be fine. Or any specifically loaded for the Garand. Hornady loads their A-Max for it, and others may as well. Otherwise, load it yourself in a Garand specific load, or do the “Mexican Match” reload that rayjay suggested.

Wyman

 

[JeffinPTC]

Prvi makes good stuff:

https://www.targetsportsusa.com/prvi-partizan-30-06-springfield-m1-garand-150-gr-fmj-pp348-p-95.aspx

https://ammoseek.com/ammo/30-06/Prvi Partizan-rifle-150grains-

http://forums.thecmp.org/archive/index.php/t-214264.html

https://estore.thecmp.org/?cat=AMC

From the Country that brought you WWI

 

[JeffinPTC]

And a plug for the Garand Collector's Association

http://thegca.org/
4 great mags a year. Watch the video for free:
http://thegca.org/americas-rifle-the-m1-garand-movie/
The Philippine Garands
http://thegca.org/the-cmp-and-the-philippine-garands/

History:

http://thegca.org/history-of-the-m1-garand-rifle/

 

[WayneB]

I hunted for and found some greek mil surplus ammo I run in mine.
Mine was acquired from my late father, who was a lifer Marine, and he carried it from Korea to retirement.
Maybe overly nostalgic, but I like getting a bandolier out of an ammo can, unwrapping the oil-paper and dropping a clip in like Pop showed me.

 

[rayjay]

Teaser. The cartridge laying between the clips is stamped LC 54 . It's as old as I am

 

[GunnSmokeer]

This is a very handy link. Thanks to JeffinPTC for linking to the other forum that had one post with this link in it.

http://www.garandgear.com/
(look on left side of page for "ammo data" and the image of a graph).

When it comes to pressure curves of military vs. civilian ammo, I've always heard that some loads are too much pressure, too soon in time, for the op-rod to handle, but most are OK. How would you know which loads are 'too hot' and how many of the "moderately spikey pressure curve" rounds you can shoot without damage to your gun?

I don't know.
But I do know this: 25 years ago, when I had only about 300 rounds of military surplus 7.62 NATO ammo, and maybe 40 rounds of commercial soft-point ammo, fired through my one-owner (me) Springfield M1A, the operating rod snapped, while shooting 147 gr. FMJ ammo at a rifle match at South River Gun Club.

Now, I can't say that shooting only 2 boxes of soft-point .308 Win (one box of 150 gr., 1 box of 180 gr.) soft point commercial hunting ammo is what CAUSED my op-rod to break months or even a couple of years later... but I will say that the safest bet is to buy the special gas plug and shoot whatever you want in .30-06.

 

[175FO]

I bought the Garand Gear ported plug for mine (1944 Springfield service grade). I have been shooting Federal 150gr Powershok with it and have killed a couple pigs so far with it. I have not had any issues so far after firing about 40-50 rounds of the Federal stuff. At the range I shoot the S&B or Prvi Partisan Garand specific ammo and it still cycles fine with the ported plug installed.