Garand questions

[Robert J.]

I'm chipping away at my "bucket list", one of the gotta haves is a Garand. CMP will probably be the source but I have a few questions, I'm sure the learned HighRoad subscribers will have the answers to.
First, ammo. I see advertised M2-Ball Garand ammo. Is that the only ammo suitable for the Garand or can other 30-06 factory stuff be used? A few manufacturers seem to offer fmj rounds. What about reloading. At 1.$ per round I won't be doing a whole lotta shootin but would like to have some fun at the range.
Second question, The CMP brochure and web-site list the various classes of Garands available, part of their description states a "throat erosion of less than XX", muzzle wear of zz or a muzzle gauge of xx. What do these numbers mean ?
Thank you,

 

[wombat13]

I am far from a Garand expert, but since no one else has responded I will. Since you are just getting into Garands, CMP will definitely be your best source. Your best bet is to get a Service grade Garand from CMP. The Service grade will be nice rifle and a good shooter.

Throat erosion and muzzle wear measure how much life is left in the barrel. The higher the number the more worn the barrel is. A measurement of 1 is excellent and 5 is pretty whipped. As far as I know, measurements of 2 and under indicate the rifle likely will be accurate.

As for ammo, you can buy M2 ball from CMP for about $0.50 per round. They are selling greek ammo that is non-corrosive, good quality, and the brass is good for reloading. Start by buying several cans from CMP.

A couple manufacturers make ammo that replicates M2 ball, but it is more expensive than what you can buy from CMP (consequently, I've never bought any). You can shoot any ammo you want in a Garand IF you install an adjustable gas plug. Here is the one I purchased:

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct/?productnumber=777146

It is simple to install. You then adjust the gas plug until the gas cycles the action. Swapping the adjustable plug in and out for the original plug takes only a minute. This allows you to set the adjustable plug for your favorite factory ammo and then you can easily install the original plug if you want to shoot M2 ball.

 

[Lightning12]

I just got my first M1 at the Ohio store of the CMP myself. What Wombat13 posted is accurate.

As the CMP website shows, they are out of service grades for the near future, which was probably the most popular grade. I decided to get the next grade up which is the Service Grade special. It's like having a brand new M1. The stock is a new replacement, so your not getting a collector's rifle, but I didn't care much about that. My muzzle gauged less than 1 and the TE at 1.5.
Personally, I like the new walnut stock and the whole rifle looks exceptional.
The SG special is $895 which I think is a good price. Consider that a commercial Springfield Armory M1A goes for about $1300 and the M1 seems like a great value

Chaz

 

[MutinousDoug]

Just to clarify the above statements; Muzzle and throat wear gauges go from 0-10 with 0-1 being virtually new and 10 being worn out. The wear accelerates so the wear from 5-10 is much faster than from 0-5. There is little loss in accuracy from 0-6 or so but the measurement is useful in determining remaining life of the barrel. A throat gauge reading of even 7 can still shoot well but is unlikely to do so for thousands of rounds if you plan on shooting your Garand a lot. With all the paraphernalia hanging off it the barrel on only contributes about 40% of the accuracy potential of the gun. HTH

 

[bergmen]

I just got my first M1 at the Ohio store of the CMP myself. What Wombat13 posted is accurate.

As the CMP website shows, they are out of service grades for the near future, which was probably the most popular grade. I decided to get the next grade up which is the Service Grade special. It's like having a brand new M1. The stock is a new replacement, so your not getting a collector's rifle, but I didn't care much about that. My muzzle gauged less than 1 and the TE at 1.5.
Personally, I like the new walnut stock and the whole rifle looks exceptional.
The SG special is $895 which I think is a good price. Consider that a commercial Springfield Armory M1A goes for about $1300 and the M1 seems like a great value

Chaz

Yep, I agree. My son just got the Service Grade Special (RM1SASSP) for his birthday a few weeks ago:

Outstanding condition inside and out.

Dan

 

[RRBunn]

The issue with ammo was that you did not want fast burning powder as it tends to bend the op rod. Any military surplus 30-06 ammo should be good in the M-1. The target load has been a 168gr bullet with 46.5gr of IMR-4895. Thats what I've used for 30 years and I've had no problems in either of my M-1s. This is a match load and NOT a max load.

 

[Double Vision]

Great advice here. You'll enjoy owning and shooting a CMP Garand. Good luck!

 

[colt1911fan]

Good gun to be on the bucket list. I got mine in June and every time I pull that trigger I fall in love with it all over again, I can't decide if its the ping or just how smooth the action is. I got a service grade and it took about a month to get to my door, but the paper work was shipped snail mail from an APO so go figure. The M2 ball that the cmp sells will go boom. It is by far my favorite gun out of the many I have.

 

[Robert J.]

To one and all, thank you for this wealth of information. Since I live in west central Florida I'll take the drive to Anniston Alabama and drool in the store. bergmen that is a beautiful looking piece. Thanks again.
Robert J.

 

[Jenrick]

Several brands, American Eagle is the one that comes to mind, produce a "Garand friendly" 30-06 round. They are marked as "safe for garands" or something similar (haven't looked at a box lately).

-Jenrick

 

[chris in va]

Don't discount the Field Grade M1's. The wood on mine has lots of character and use, but both ends gauged at 1.5 at the store and the counter guy said it probably would have been a Service grade if the wood was in better shape.

Mine was $495. All the Service grades were out and I wasn't about to spend $900 on a Special Service as I needed ammo too.

As for buying special ammo, you can either get the CMP Greek surplus or get an adjustable gas plug from Midway that will allow you to fire any 30-06 on the market. They're only about $40.

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=412046

 

[atblis]

The issue with ammo was that you did not want fast burning powder as it tends to bend the op rod. Any military surplus 30-06 ammo should be good in the M-1. The target load has been a 168gr bullet with 46.5gr of IMR-4895. Thats what I've used for 30 years and I've had no problems in either of my M-1s. This is a match load and NOT a max load.

4895 is on the fast side for 30-06 powders. I think it's actually slower powders that are cited as being potentially harmful to the Garand.

 

[cfullgraf]

I see advertised M2-Ball Garand ammo. Is that the only ammo suitable for the Garand or can other 30-06 factory stuff be used? A few manufacturers seem to offer fmj rounds. What about reloading. At 1.$ per round I won't be doing a whole lotta shootin but would like to have some fun at the range.
Second question, The CMP brochure and web-site list the various classes of Garands available, part of their description states a "throat erosion of less than XX", muzzle wear of zz or a muzzle gauge of xx. What do these numbers mean ?
Thank you,

Factory hunting ammunition is not safe for use in the Garand without the use of a relief gas plug. The port pressure is too high with hunting ammunition and bending the op rod is the potential result.

There are two gas relieving plugs on the market. One is the Shuster (spelling) and I forget the name of the other.

There are a couple brands of Garand safe commercial ammunition available. Hornady and Federal American Eagle are two that comes to mind. They indicate on the box that they are Garand safe.

Reloading is a distinct possibility. There are a limited number of powders that are suitable for the Garand. I use H4895, Varget, and IMR4895. There are others. The Hornady manual has a Garand reloading chapter. There are other sources of Garand loading information.

I understand the CMP Service grades are not available at this time. Service Grade Specials are and they are essentially new, unused rifles with new current production stocks. Very nice. Post Korean war only.

The CMP Specials are also very nice. Rebuilt, new current production barrels, new production stocks. Last I looked at the South Store a year ago, they had some WWII serial numbers. This may be obsolete information though.

Field grades need some TLC. I have replaced the stocks on mine. The metal parts, while showing wear of the parkerizing, are in reasonably good shape. I bought my last one expecting to replace the barrel but so far it shoots fine. For a first Garand, I would not recommend a field grade.

Hope this helps.

 

[Onmilo]

Schuster gas valve
http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/pid=20456/Product/ADJUSTABLE-GAS-SYSTEM

McCann gas valve
http://www.mccannindustries.com/gasnut.htm

 

[P-32]

The issue with ammo was that you did not want fast burning powder as it tends to bend the op rod.

It's not the fast burning powder that bends the op-rod it's slow burning powder That bends stuff.

Reloading is another way to go. I have a load for my M-1's which will hold the 10 ring at 600yards if I do my part. Plus it's not a heavy load.

 

[BruceB]

You should also be aware that the M1 Garand works exceedingly well with CAST BULLETS.

There are numerous old-wives' tales and Internet alarmists that say "Oh HORRORS!!! CAST BULLETS in an auto-loader!!! EEEEEK!!!!"

Such posturing is pure BS, usually propagated by folks who have zero experience with such loads. For the truth of the matter, go to

www.castboolits.gunloads.com

and search for "M1 Garand" on that Board's forum titled "CB Loads/? Military Rifles", for a start... just scroll down the list and you'll find it. Then sit back and prepare for a lot of reading. How does PENNIES-per-round grab you?

 

[bergmen]

Hunting Rounds for the M1

It would seem to me an easy way to make excellent hunting rounds would be to take some of the Greek milsurp ammo, carefully pull the FMJ bullets and press in a 150 grain hunting bullet (Nolser Ballistic Tip, Accubaond, etc.) to the same OAL. Recrimp if necessary with a Lee factory crimp die.

No guesses as to powder type or amount, resizing, etc.

I plan to experiment with some of my Winchester Q3130 for my M1A and do the same thing.

Dan

 

[GCBurner]

Get one while you can, and the ammo to shoot in it. The CMP sold out of the last of the Greek surplus HXP ammo pre-loaded on 8-round Garand clips this morning, October 3, and the listing has been removed from the estore. They still have cans of 200 rounds loose packed HXP available, but expect to sell out of that before too long. After that, all they'll have for sale is the Hornady commercial .30-06.

 

[george d dennis]

i have several garands i load for. imr 4895, 150 fmj , 47.0gr.
that load shoots great. lubraplate 130 is the grease i use from
brownells.

 

[bergmen]

Get one while you can, and the ammo to shoot in it. The CMP sold out of the last of the Greek surplus HXP ammo pre-loaded on 8-round Garand clips this morning, October 3, and the listing has been removed from the estore. They still have cans of 200 rounds loose packed HXP available, but expect to sell out of that before too long. After that, all they'll have for sale is the Hornady commercial .30-06.

Plenty of good Greek surplus ammo here:

http://www.ammogarand.com/3006ammo.html

My son just got the 300 round can and it is in excellent condition, clean, shoots just fine.

Dan

 

[GCBurner]

While you're thinking about getting a Garand for your bucket list, the latest CMP newsletter also noted that prices for the remaining Garands will be increasing in the near future, probably in January, 2012. Estimates are about a 10% price increase across the board, or $50-$300 per gun, depending on the grade. There will never be a cheaper time to buy, if you really want one.

 

[BrocLuno]

Just starting down this road myself. Lot's of good info out there. Suggest a local club John C Garand Match and workshop as a good place to get all the info you could want, or need