Reloading buddies: Who has a good reloading recipe for the M-1 Garand?

PVT Mark Brown — Mon, 30 Jul 2018 20:34:38 -0400

I am trying to duplicate the military load for the .30-'06 as used during WWII, Korea and Vietnam. I have Lake City (LC) from '66, '68, '72 and '74. I have disassembled one of each and examed the powder for weight and type (64.1 gr of ball powder) bullet (150 gr FMJ pointed nose) and popped the primers which were red in some and green the other two. The brass case weighed about the same in all four rounds. The most often found result for me has been IMR 4895 (NOT H4895) over CCI Large Rifle Primer pushing out a 150 gr bullet. The bullets I will be using initially is the Xtreme 150 gr FP. General George S. Patton called it "the greatest battle implement ever devised." The rifle I am loading for is one that was produced in 1954 and is NOT Lend/Lease return nor is it refurbished. Since this was a CMP purchase and rated as Correct Grade with all the expected cartouches I am interested in continuing to fire this gun with the best possible ammo I can. Since this rifle is 64 years old and has a pristine barrell and easily goes on the GO-NO GO gage, throat and muzzel are well within specs. Stock is beautiful walnut.

Response by SSG William Jones made Jul 30 at 2018 8:39 PM

SSG William Jones — Mon, 30 Jul 2018 20:39:32 -0400

Mine are out in my reloading building. I'll try to remember and post one very soon.

Response by SPC Henry Francis made Jul 30 at 2018 11:29 PM

SPC Henry Francis — Mon, 30 Jul 2018 23:29:44 -0400

I use a load from my Hornady reloading books (two volume set from the mid 90’s). I could not find a good match for the bullet used in the LC produced rounds so I used a Hornady FMJ-BTHP. It comes to a point but it is not closed. The “hollow” in the point is really small. I’ll need to go to my workshop to get the particulars of the load and the bullet weight. I’ll try to remember before I get a reminder from RP.

Response by SSG Tom Pike made Jul 31 at 2018 8:15 AM

SSG Tom Pike — Tue, 31 Jul 2018 08:15:58 -0400

I mostly use 4064 for the .30-06, but I don't have an M1 Garand and I know that gas pressures can be an issue with them.

Response by SSG David Phetteplace made Aug 4 at 2018 1:01 AM

SSG David Phetteplace — Sat, 04 Aug 2018 01:01:01 -0400

I have a correct grade also. I shoot competition with it. A close approximation of M2 ball in Military brass I use is with Hornady 150gr FMJBT (#3037), Winchester large rifle primers, 48.5gr of IMR4895 and a COL of 3.258”. The bullets are not seated to the cannelure, they are about 1/16” out.
Zoom in on the photo for my competition loads. They are loaded with down a bit and run out at 2600fps out of my rifle.
Oh, and this is Korean brass. KA73 headstamp. Pretty marginal but OK for competition out to 200 yds.

Response by SSG David Phetteplace made Aug 4 at 2018 1:08 AM

SSG David Phetteplace — Sat, 04 Aug 2018 01:08:01 -0400

For what it’s worth, the Hornady reloading manual has a specific section in it just for the M1 Garand.

Response by SSG David Phetteplace made Aug 4 at 2018 6:16 PM

SSG David Phetteplace — Sat, 04 Aug 2018 18:16:45 -0400

Here is an excellent article on reloading for the M1 from the March 1986 American Rifleman. Worth the read and has excellent information. I have a copy printed out on my reloading bench.
https://www.scribd.com/document/40852596/Reloading-for-the-M1-Rifle-J-Clarke

Reloading for the M1 Rifle -J. Clarke

Reloading for the M1