Hand loading the Garand

dh1633pm said:

I was so excited when I got my first one that I put two rounds of Remington Factory loads in it. It went boom boom. Funny I had handled a Garand so many times. Mostly doing military funerals while in the Air Force. I also shot the CMP Matches. Could have double stroked it, I am pretty sure I didn't. I stopped after that and then figure out the reason. Like I said during my ignorant years. I purchased 1K rounds back around 2006. I shoot those. In the Garand matches I shoot the clubs ammo. I load for it and keep a separate 30 cal can filled. It says Garand loads on it and the clips are inside.

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Back in '95 I came across a real bargain on S. Korean M2 Ball in en-bloc clips and dark green "ROK" bandoleers. It was KA HS and known to be corrosive but since I know how to clean a rifle, that didn't bother me. I just bought a couple extra bottles of Sweet's 7.62 "onion juice" That KA stuff shot really well. Sorry to have run out of it. I also tried Remington-UMC yellow box 150gr, FMJ's I found at a LGS real cheap by the case, probably same ones you tried. I think I spent about $2/box and it came in boxes of 30, not 20. Cheap back then but kind of "meh" for shooting. They're okay for the Model 1917 and Rem 721 but not in any M1 I tried them in. Not dangerous, primers aren't proud, maybe a little soft for the Garand, it just wasn't/isn't very reliable; I've still got lots of that if it tells you anything Unreliable as in the M1 extractors can't seem to hold on to the rims. Other than that, it's fine.

Walkalong said:

If it hasn't been said, make dang sure primers are seated below flush and all the way to the bottom of the primer pocket. CCI 34 "Milspec" primers are recommended.

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+1 bazillion

1KPerDay said:

+1 bazillion

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X all semi-auto rifles

Pro Tip: Either buy a gas plug wrench, or take a suitable BFS (big f'ng screw driver) out with you. Best to check that sucker a couple of times before you decide your load is too light. And stay in the garand specific data range. Don't use .30-06 load data, use garand load data. The loads above are there, but I too don't like H335. The risk of warm ammo, and factory .30-06 is definitely warm for a garand...is that you'll bend your op rod.

FLIGHT762 said:

That data for 49.0 grs. of H-335 W/ a 150 gr. bullet is DANGEROUS. I used that load in L.C. 53 cases and promptly blew primers. Way too hot. I backed off to 46.0 grs. and that worked fine, although H-335 gives a basket ball sized fireball. I would believe the BLC-2 data would be nearly the same.

I used this data 25 years ago.

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I've used 50.0 BLC2 with 150s and 49.0 with 174s with no issues duplicating M1 and M2 ball almost perfectly.

CCI34s aren't needed at all. Just ensure your primers are below flush...and federal (and benchrest type) primers should be avoided as they are more "sensitive".

Varget if you can find it and 168/175s is just nice....

My preferred load is 46.5 grns of IMR 4895 with a 168 grn Nosler CC. To date, I shot one of my best offhand High Power scores with that load, a 97/100, which I seldom reach with an AR.

derek45 said:

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That is an AWESOME photo........!!!

I usually use IMR 4895 and 168gr bullets but have also had good results with Varget.