Need Garand Load for NM

My next door neighbor has purchased a nice M1 Garand and he wants to start shooting matches. He asked me to query the S&W reloaders for a factory duplication load for match shooting.

Thanks for your help!

Tom

For all things M1 Garand, look no further than the CMP - Civilian Marksmanship Program. They have great forums on all subjects, including reloading:

Reloading - CMP Forums

Yup, CMP forum is where you need to be for all things Garand.

Also look here:

http://web.archive.org/web/20000620055732/home.att.net/~Masterpo/M1load.htm

bronco45 said:

My next door neighbor has purchased a nice M1 Garand and he wants to start shooting matches. He asked me to query the S&W reloaders for a factory duplication load for match shooting.

Thanks for your help!

Tom

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Sir, it depends on what kinds of matches he wants to shoot. Some, such as the CMP-sponsored John C. Garand matches, typically require that you shoot ammo that they issue on the line, so no handloads there. NRA high power matches allow handloads, as do CMP Excellence in Competition matches (commonly called "leg" matches). Even among HP and leg matches, some are shot full-distance and others at reduced distance, which changes what loads you want to use.

FWIW, the vast majority of my Garand handloading has been for full-distance match use with heavy bullets and IMR 4895 powder. This is in both .308 and .30-'06 Garands.

For the short lines--300 yards and less--you can get by with M2 ball or a handloaded equivalent. That's a 150-grain bullet running between 2,700 and 2,800 fps at the muzzle. I never bothered to handload M2 equivalents, so can't help with a specific recipe here.

A better load for the short lines is a Sierra 168-grain Match King at 2,500 to 2,600 fps at the muzzle. In the .30-'06, you can get there with around 45.0 grins of IMR 4895 in GI cases. In .308, look around 41.0 to 41.5 grains of IMR 4895 in GI cases.

For the 600-yard line, I like a Sierra 175-grain Match King at 2,500 to 2,600 fps. In .30-'06, you can get there with 44.0 to 45.0 grains of IMR 4895 or 46.0 to 47.0 grains of IMR 4064, both in GI cases. (The 4064 load fouled less and seemed to group a shade better than 4895, but 4064 meters poorly, so I stuck with 4895.) In .308, again, 41.0 to 41.5 grains of IMR 4895 will get you in the ballpark.

Of course, the usual Garand caveats apply. Full-length resize your brass, make sure the primers are seated below flush, only use powders in the IMR 4895 to IMR 4064 burn rate range, and stick with bullets in the 150- to 175-grain range. Don't try to hot-rod your loads--that's a good way to bend the op rod, and those things ain't cheap to replace.

Hope this helps, and Semper Fi.

Ron H.

The "classic" M1 Garand load is a 150gr FMJ bullet over 47.0gr IMR4895. I usually use H4895 (45.0gr) because I bought a lot at a good price and it generates less pressure than the IMR4895. I have also used IMR4064 with good success.

My favorite .30-06 NM load for 100 yards is 47.0 grains of IMR4895 behind a Sierra Match hollow point boat tail.

For .308, it is 41.0 grains of IMR4895 behind the same Sierra bullet.

Thank you all for your enlightening input. I will link up to CMP and use the data and info on 150grain and H4895. Thanks again as I am not a rifle shooter other than a big game rifle.

bronco45 said:

Thank you all for your enlightening input. I will link up to CMP and use the data and info on 150grain and H4895. Thanks again as I am not a rifle shooter other than a big game rifle.

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I will tell you this, the Garand makes the 30-06 feel like a light target round and it's really a lot of fun to shoot. I can see how that rifle helped win WWII.

The following is only a suggestion. If the rifle is only to be used at short range, say out to 200 yds., it would be wise to try the HXP M-2 ball ammunition currently being sold by the CMP. Lot to lot variations occur, but in my experience, it is excellent ammunition that has given outstanding results in my M-1 rifles. Short of handloading ammunition tailored to a particular rifle, it is hard to beat the HXP M-2. In a good rifle you can just about hold the 10 ring.

The Army freely shared their factory load data in a couple manuals. This was reproduced in the back chapters of Cartridges of The World for most (if not all) of their editions.

The M-2 Ball load was a 152gr (nominal) FMJ bullet and 48.0grs of IMR-4895 or WC-852.

The M-72 Match load was the exact same load with the 173gr (nominal) FJM-Match bullet.

(Cases were military naturally, and primers were the FA-70 arsenal primers.)

OAL was not listed, but most of my US military 30-06 ammo is 3.330" length, or close enough to it. (There's some few thousanths variation, which I blame on wartime production.)

When I mention "nominal" bullet weight, it's because the military had a range of acceptable variation (a.k.a. tolerance) that they would accept and not reject the ammunition, but those weights are the "exact" weights aimed for in the ammunition. FYI, not sure how reliable this info is, but I just read it for the first time recently: When Sierra came out with their 168gr Match-King bullet, they were duplicating the size, shape and nose profile of the 173gr FMJ M-72 bullet. The reason for the weight difference is the HP nose on the Sierra, which they did for aerodynamics and center-of-gravity improvement reasons. But the boat-tail and nose ogive are identical... Therefore, those are the bullets I'd use to duplicate the M-72 Match load.

MMA10mm said:

The Army freely shared their factory load data in a couple manuals. This was reproduced in the back chapters of Cartridges of The World for most (if not all) of their editions.

The M-2 Ball load was a 152gr (nominal) FMJ bullet and 48.0grs of IMR-4895 or WC-852.

The M-72 Match load was the exact same load with the 173gr (nominal) FJM-Match bullet.

(Cases were military naturally, and primers were the FA-70 arsenal primers.)

OAL was not listed, but most of my US military 30-06 ammo is 3.330" length, or close enough to it. (There's some few thousanths variation, which I blame on wartime production.)

When I mention "nominal" bullet weight, it's because the military had a range of acceptable variation (a.k.a. tolerance) that they would accept and not reject the ammunition, but those weights are the "exact" weights aimed for in the ammunition. FYI, not sure how reliable this info is, but I just read it for the first time recently: When Sierra came out with their 168gr Match-King bullet, they were duplicating the size, shape and nose profile of the 173gr FMJ M-72 bullet. The reason for the weight difference is the HP nose on the Sierra, which they did for aerodynamics and center-of-gravity improvement reasons. But the boat-tail and nose ogive are identical... Therefore, those are the bullets I'd use to duplicate the M-72 Match load.

Click to expand...

Wow, where to start. First, the charge weight of M72 Match ammo varied year to year, since different lots of powder were used each year. It varied from as little as 46.0gr of IMR4895 in 1964, to as much as 48.5gr of IMR4895 in 1961. Next the 168gr Sierra MatchKing does not have the same 9 degree boattail that the M72 bullet has. The 168SMK was designed for 300 meter shooting and not as a replacement for the M72. That is why the 168SMK is not a good bullet for LR shooting. Sierra designed the 175gr MatchKing to replace the M72, and it has the same 9 degree boattail and is a good LR bullet.

Don

Yeah, I thought the Match 175gr Sierra bullet was the "replacement" for the M72 also, not the 168gr BTHP.

Interesting. Just goes to show different sources will cite different info. I agree that the powder charge weights were nominal and varied. Just like factories do, they test the exact burning rate of each lot of powder and load accordingly to get appropriate port and chamber pressures and velocity. The loads I quote are from the early 1950s and also match up to the average burning speed of cannister IMR-4895, but of course, a chronograph is your friend to get exact loading for your variation of burn rate. I am guilty of over-simplification! Thanks guys!

Here is some data from another web site, FYI. I pulled it from the following link:

Reloading Stuff

Recommended .30 caliber M1 loadings from the NRA

147 - 155 grain FMJ or HPBT bullets
IMR 3031 - 48.0 grains
IMR 4895 - 49.0 grains
IMR 4064 - 50.0 grains
W748 - 48.0 grains
AA2460 - 49.0 grains
AA2520 - 51.0 grains
AA2495 - 50.5 grains
H4895 - 49.0 grains
BLC-2 - 49.0 grains
H335 - 49.0 grains
RL-12 - 48.0 grains


165/168 grain FMJ, HP or SP bullets
IMR 4895 - 47.0 grains
IMR 4094 - 48.0 grains
AA2520 - 47.5 grains
AA2495 - 47.0 grains
H4895 - 47.5 grains
BLC-2 - 49.0 grains
H335 - 47.0 grains
RL-12 - 44.5 grains


173/175 grain FMJ or HPBT bullets
IMR 4895 - 46.0 grains
IMR 4064 - 47.0 grains
AA2460 - 46.0 grains
AA2495 - 46.0 grains
H4895 - 47.0 grains
BLC-2 - 48.0 grains

180 grain FMJ, SP or HPBT bullets
IMR 4895 - 43.0 grains
AA2460 - 46.5 grains
AA2495 - 45.5 grains
H4895 - 44.0 grains
BLC-2 - 47.5 grains
RL-12 - 41.5 grains
Cases:
*The loads listed above use comerical cases* WW seems to be the best cases. If yhou are using Millspec cases you should reduce the powder charge by 1.5 Gr and work up slowly.

Primers:
I also recommend the use of WW large rifle primers due the fact that they are almost as hard as mil spec. The CCI #34 is a mil spec primer but, it's a MAG primer as well and should be used with ball powder. Federal Gold Medal Match primers are very good primers but, some say they are are very soft and should not be used in a "M" gun due to the fact of SLAM FIRES!

Powders:
As far as powders go IMR 4895,H4895 and IMR 4064 are great powders to use with the M1 in .30 cal. Some use Varget,RL 15 and VV140 but, your results may vary. A word to the wise: The old rule of thumb on powder is nothing faster than 4895 and nothing slower than 4064. Good words to load by.


Bullets: The 168 Sierra Match King and the 175 Sierra Match King are the two bullets I would look to if I was looking to make "Match" ammo for a 1-10 twist GI rifle. The 168 is a 300 meter bullet with a older designed boat tail. It still works great but, the 175 MK is the way to fly. The BC is something like 19% better and that translates to less knob twisting at 600 yards or so. The 175 Mk is basically a redesigned 173 gr GI match bullet built to stabilize in a 1-12 twist barrel. I would not shoot bullets any heavier than a 175gr in a GI gun that I really cared about. People used to shoot the 180 gr MK but, thats before the 175mk came out.


Match Loads:
The old standard "M72" LC match ammo shoots pretty good in GI rifles and Federal Gold Medal Match shoots really good in some rifles but, if you want to come up with a load that shoots like a house a fire try these out for size. * I can not profess to be the guy who came up with these super duty match loads. The M1 has been around a long time now and there really is nothing new as far as loads go. Sure the VLD bullets and new designer powders have come out and made things better? Right?.......Right. For my money these will work all day every day.*

175gr MK
WW large Pri
WW case
47gr 4064
3.340 OaL MAX

168 MK
WW Large Pri
WW case
48 4064
3.340 OAL MAX

4895 works just as well in these loads just adjust the charge per the chart above. H4895 never hurt a thing either.


CCI #34 Mil Spec Primers

Hey Guys, Just a heads on Mil Spec Primers. I have been using the CCI#34 Mil Spec (Large Rifle) in my N.M. Garand and I have found out something I think you should know. The Mil spec Primers are hard MAGNUM PRIMER best used with ball powder or in any other load that you need a MAG primer. I have used them with IMR4895 and IMR 4064 and they tend to burn HOT! CCI says about 25% hotter than a normal large rifle primer. They do work great as far as preventing slam fires and I am sure they work well for their application just not so well with stick powder. Here it is from CCI:

CCI® No. 34 and No. 41 MILITARY RIFLE PRIMERS


Military-style semi-auto rifles seldom have firing pin retraction springs. If care is not used in assembling ammunition, a "slam-fire" can occur before the bolt locks. The military arsenals accomplish this using different techniques and components—including different primer sensitivity specifications—from their commercial counterparts. CCI makes rifle primers for commercial sale that matches military sensitivity specs that reduce the chance of a slam-fire when other factors go out of control*. If you're reloading for a military semi-auto, look to CCI Military primers.
*Effective slam-fire prevention requires more than special primers. Headspace, chamber condition, firing pin shape and protrusion, bolt velocity, cartridge case condition, and other factors can affect slam-fire potential.




FEATURES & BENEFITS:
Mil-spec sensitivity
Initiator mix optimized for ball/spherical propellants
Available in large (No.34) and small (No. 41) rifle
Use the same data as CCI Magnum primers
USAGE:
Military-style semi-automatic rifles
_________________




Another useful link is here:

M1 Garand loads - AR15.COM



Master Po's comments
These loads only duplicate military spec. velocities for the given bullet weight, using commercial cases and powders. If you are using military cases, drop all charges by 2 grains.
If you are looking for accuracy, drop all charges by 1 grain and work up .2 grains at a time.
Master Po's Ancient M1 load secret
This is my personal M1 load I use in my CMP M1. It will shoot better than Master Po can. I worked this load up, as you should for your own rifle.
Remington .30/06 cases, flash holes deburred and weighed within 1 grain.
Federal GM210M Primers (Master Po has heard the horror stories of Federal match primers in the M1/M1A rifles. If you're squeamish or new to reloading, use Winchester Large Rifle)
47.0 grains IMR 4064
Sierra 175 grain MatchKing
Overall length 3.340 inches
This load, in my M1, duplicates almost perfectly the M72 match load specification with a very low standard deviation. Groups off the bench run 1 - 1.5 inches with the original 1945 barrel on the rifle. Of course, Grasshopper YMMV.

You might want to advise your friend that he needs to establish the capabilities of the rifle before he goes crazy with the ammo for it.

Good luck!