[jr_roosa]

There's a CMP special grade Garand on it's way to my house and when it gets here it's going to be hungry.

I have a box of sierra 168 grain match kings and once-fired surplus brass on hand with Win LR primers and Win 748 powder.

Since we're in the great component drought of 2009, this is the best I can do.

I only have the hornady guide, and I was wondering if anybody can crack open their Sierra guide and see what is written for service rifle .30-06 with these bullets and powder. I was thinking that the Sierras would likely be interchangeable with the Hornady A-max data as long as I stay away from max loads.

Also it's time for me to start measuring headspace...what gages do you guys like? The Stoney Point looks simple enough and cheap enough. The RCBS set up looks cool too, but I don't know about screwing the thing together and apart for every round.

Thanks for your help.

-J.

[loadedround]

Your Win 748 powder will be a little too fast for your Garand and will batter your action. Three of the best powders you can use in a semi auto with your 168 gr bullets would be H380, IMR 4895, or IMR4064 as recommended in the Speer#14 Manual. good shooting! :)

[Sport45]

W748 is within the acceptable burn rates for the M1. It is recommended to not use powders any faster than IMR-3031 or slower than IMR-4320.

Just start with the minimum load and work up until you have acceptable accuracy. Don't try to make a magnum out of the old warhorse.

[61chalk]

With that Special Grade Garand you won't need to worry about headspacing for a very long time..however do a search on this thread..."Advice on a M1 Garand Headspacing"

[srsmith]

My Sierra #5 recommends IMR4895, IMR4064, XMR2495 and 2420 for the Garand and for GI cases to reduce the load by 1 to 1.5 grains.
Win 748 is listed for the 30-06 with a min of 42.9 and a max of 49.5 gr for a bolt gun.

If you reduce this range by 1.5 gr and stay in the bottom half of the range to be conservative, you could guess your min load to be 41.4 gr and a max around 44.7.

In the Hornady#7 with a 168Amax in the Garand, the min is 41.1 and the max is 48.4, but these are for Hornady not GI brass and so are too high..

If I had to do this, I would start at 41 gr to see how it shoots and check the velocity with my chrono.
Then work up towards 44-45 gr to see how the accuracy and velocity change.
If you just want to shoot your new gun, there is no advantage to pushing the velocity.

Maybe someone else here has actual experience using 748 on the Garand and can suggest a load based on experience and not just books.
You can also search this forum... lots of stuff on Garands here.

Sport45 gave good advice !

Have fun and be safe.
-steve

[USSR]

With that Special Grade Garand you won't need to worry about headspacing for a very long time..

He's talking about cartridge case headspace, not chamber headspace. I use the RCBS Precision Mic for the purpose of setting up my FL sizing dies. Just take a measurement of a factory round, and set your die up so that you don't bump your shoulder back any farther than that. .001" or .002" longer than factory will probably be fine and will help prolong case life.

Don

[ArchAngelCD]

I use 4895 for my Garand and nothing else. I know there are other powders that will work safely but I like the results so why change?

With a 147/150gr BT I charge 47.5gr 4895.
With a 165/168gr BT I charge 47.0gr 4895.
With a 175gr BT I charge 46.0gr 4895.