ol' scratch
Member
Those of us who like to shoot Garands were given a bit of a scare last fall when the CMP, who had 70 be-gillion million rounds of Greek surplus ran out. Those of us who like to hand load were also worried because the supply of primers was nonexistent. When you found large rifle primers (at least in my area), you couldn't find CCI 34 milspec primers.
I recently obtained a bunch of Remington 9 1/2 Large Rifle Primers and was curious as to how my Garand would handle them. For those of you who know, one of the worst things you can do, according to some people, is to use commercial primers and ammo in a Garand do in part to sensitive primers. Everyone worries about slam fires in Garands (among other things, bullet weight is also VERY IMPORTANT).
I have been prepping Greek Brass. I have sized, trimmed, reamed, and cut the primer pockets of my brass to SAAMI dimensions. I have used a Dillion cartridge headspace gage to make sure the shoulder is in check. As a test, I took an UNLOADED primed case and put it in the chamber. I did this OUTSIDE. I proceeded to let the bolt slam home on the case from as far back as I could. I did this 15 times, and the primer never went off. By the time I was done, the primer had a noticeable dent from the firing pin repeatedly striking the primer. I have taken a picture.
I think the big problem with slam fires in the Garand isn't so much primer sensitivity, but worn out bolt faces and firing pins. My Garand is stock. Nothing has been changed. My next purchase will be a gage to measure firing pin protrusion on the bolt face to make sure everything still works fine in the future.
That said I wouldn't do this with Federal primers. I have personally had a double using a Russian SKS and Federal ammo.
I recently obtained a bunch of Remington 9 1/2 Large Rifle Primers and was curious as to how my Garand would handle them. For those of you who know, one of the worst things you can do, according to some people, is to use commercial primers and ammo in a Garand do in part to sensitive primers. Everyone worries about slam fires in Garands (among other things, bullet weight is also VERY IMPORTANT).
I have been prepping Greek Brass. I have sized, trimmed, reamed, and cut the primer pockets of my brass to SAAMI dimensions. I have used a Dillion cartridge headspace gage to make sure the shoulder is in check. As a test, I took an UNLOADED primed case and put it in the chamber. I did this OUTSIDE. I proceeded to let the bolt slam home on the case from as far back as I could. I did this 15 times, and the primer never went off. By the time I was done, the primer had a noticeable dent from the firing pin repeatedly striking the primer. I have taken a picture.
I think the big problem with slam fires in the Garand isn't so much primer sensitivity, but worn out bolt faces and firing pins. My Garand is stock. Nothing has been changed. My next purchase will be a gage to measure firing pin protrusion on the bolt face to make sure everything still works fine in the future.
That said I wouldn't do this with Federal primers. I have personally had a double using a Russian SKS and Federal ammo.
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