[afolsomb17]

I am getting back into DCM/DPM shooting. One of the rifles I plane on trying my skill out on is the M1 Grand. I have a large stock of old (50's - early 60's LC ammo). My question is should I just pull this stock and re seat, re prime etc... or just leave this stuff alone and use it for practice? I have in the past practiced with the same loads I shoot competition for my AR and M1A. I just kinda dread the work that goes into pulling 1000's of rounds of LC and reseating primers, neck sizes etc... I know though to get the best harmonics for the barrel I need custom loads. Any suggestions? I currently use Accurate 2520 powder for the AR and M1A can use it also for the M1? :(

[David Wile]

Hey afolsomb17,

I am not sure what ammo you are talking about. If you have brand new 30-06 Lake City ammo, I cannot understand why you are considering pulling bullets. Why not just shoot it in your M1 Garand? I have always valued Lake City ammo in 30-06, 7.62, and .223 calibers. Also, if it is new Lake City 30-06 ammo, you should be able to use for competition shooting. It really is good stuff, and I have always gotten better groups with it than I could get from factory Remington & Winchester ammo. Maybe I am missing something here? If so, please explain.

Best wishes,
Dave Wile

[TimRB]

If you are shooting in CMP Garand matches, probably you will shoot at 200 yards or less, and the surplus ammo will be more than adequate there. If you are talking about serious highpower competition, you would be far better off abandoning your M1 in favor of your AR15 or M1A.

I don't know anything about Accurate 2520, but I can say that the classic powder to use in an M1 is IMR/H 4895.

Tim

[mkl]

I'm not a match competitor, so go with the advice from those guys.

Only thing I would add is if your old ammo is dated before 1954, you might want to check on the web as to just when Lake City converted to non-corrosive ammo.

Not that "corrosive" ammo is bad, just need to use a different solution on the first couple of patches through the barrel.

[highorder]

Only thing I would add is if your old ammo is dated before 1954, you might want to check on the web as to just when Lake City converted to non-corrosive ammo.


as far as I know, all US arsenal produced ammo went to non-corrosive priming in 1952.

The notable exception was at least one batch of ammunition produced at the Frankfort Arsenal in 1954 (FA 54) which used corrosive primers for accuracy.

[mkl]

I did some looking and found this pdf file on my computer.

Hope it uploads okay.

Seems the file uploaded. My old brain remembered 1954 as the last date; true, but that was for 1911 45 ACP ball... Please excuse the senior moment...

[SlamFire1]

If the ammunition fires, just go shoot it. And save the cases. The best military ball ammo for the Garand was the stuff made in the 1950’s up to the early 60’s. I have ammo cans of LC69, the brass is good, but the bullets are awful. If you had NM ammo, that stuff is good, but it is collectable. Come to my estate sale and bid on the unopened case that I have. LOL.

A good rack grade Garand is going to shoot between 3 and 4 MOA with good ammo, and about 4 MOA is what you are going to get will ball. A exceptional rack grade Garand will hold the nine ring at 200 yards. I don’t have an exceptional rack grade Garand, my best one will hold the eight ring.

My first choice of a powder for use in the Garand is IMR 4895/AA2495/H4895. The first two powders are identical, H4895 is almost the same. For all practical purposes, they are “4895”

My second choice of powder would be a toss up between IMR 4064 and AA2520. AA2520 is a ball powder whose pressure curve is totally appropriate for use with the M1/M1a.

If you can buy it cheap, use it.

I purchased AA2520 from Pat’s Reloading, when Pat was on Commerical Row at Camp Perry. I tested my lot. It is one grain slower than some older lots of AA2520 I have used.

My test data is below.

If you plan to use AA2520, I think an excellent load with a 150 grain bullet will be around 47.0 to 48.0 grains. With a 168/174 grain bullet, somewhere between 46.5 and 47.0 grains.

PAT's Reloading AA 2520 Lot 6095


M1 Garand Rack Grade

150 Sierra Match 48.0 PAT2520 Lot 6095 WCC54 CCI#34
29 April 04 T= 80 ° F

Ave Vel =2625
Std Dev =40
ES = 127
Low = 2547
High = 2674
N = 8


30-06 M98 26" Wilson Barrel

174 FMJBT 46.0 grs PAT2520 wtd R-P Cases, CCI #34, OAL 3.300
lot 6095
10-Mar-02 T = 42 °F

Ave Vel =2585
Std Dev =33
ES = 86
Low = 2548
High = 2634
N= 5

174 FMJBT 47.0 grs PAT2520 lot 6095 wtd R-P Cases, CCI #34, OAL 3.300
10-Mar-02 T = 42 °F

Ave Vel =2636
Std Dev =19
ES = 52
Low = 2604
High = 2656
N= 5

174 FMJBT 48.0 grs PAT2520 wtd R-P Cases, CCI #34, OAL 3.300
lot 6095
10-Mar-02 T = 42 °F

Ave Vel =2700
Std Dev =23
ES = 55
Low = 2668
High = 2723

[afolsomb17]

Thanks slamfire1. Info helps:o

[kimbernut]

Shoot it! I'm still shooting 1941-1953 .30 M1 Carbine.