Press for m1 garand

[KY DAN]

Would a dillon550 or a loadmaster be most ideal for reloading assuming brass is sized and trimmed and possibly primed before hand? Would accuracy be better on a single stage?

 

[Havok7416]

I load for my M1 (and everything else I reload for) on a 550. My mixed-parts gun is undoubtedly capable of more accuracy than I can manage as a shooter. I guess "most ideal" would be best decided by your needs and processes.

 

[Reloadron]

Loading 30-06 Springfield for an M1 Garand is really no different than loading for any other rifle. Just give consideration to your load data. Here is a link to Garand safe load data. I have loaded for my Garands on a Lee Pro 1000 and a single stage RCBS Rock Chucker as well as other progressive and single stage presses. While I feel personally I can make better ammunition on a single stage press and hand weighing individual powder charges for a Garand it likely doesn't matter much. The accuracy of the rifle is likely more a matter of how well it has been tweaked and peaked more so than which press the ammo was loaded on. Another good source of load data for the Garand is Master Po's load data courtessy of the NRA. The Master Po web takes a long time to load, it works but a pitifully slow server response.

Ron

 

[1KPerDay]

Accuracy can be just as good on a progressive as on a single stage. Depends on how careful you are and how well you prep components, weigh/meter charges, etc.

If you plan to shoot a lot I'd definitely go progressive. Even if all you do on the press is prime, charge and seat you still save a lot of time

 

[bbqreloader]

I'm still fairly new to reloading for my M1, but I use my rock chucker only. I run 4895 and the metering on it is rough, so I end up weighing each individual charge. I don't make that many rounds, 50 or so a pop, so my consumption isn't of someone who participates in competitive shooting. Works for me though.

 

[Charlie98]

I size my Garand brass on a Rock Chucker, prime them by hand... because primer seating is critical on the Garand to avoid slam-fires. Then I assemble them on my ProJector progressive... 47grn IMR4895 and any ~150'ish grn FMJ bullet. BBQ, with my 47grn IMR4895 load, thrown in my Hornady powder drop... even with a .4grn difference, is only 1% variance. Unless you are lining up at Camp Perry (or wherever, these days...) that is not a significant issue, assuming you aren't maxing your data. I load for, and shoot my Garand for fun, I don't think that small a difference in powder charge is going to alter my fun-factorness one bit.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

I have loaded M1 Garand 30-06 ammo on my Rockchucker and a Lee Classic Turret Press and I don't see any difference in the results. It's easier to do on the turret press because all the dies are set up and ready to go.

 

[cfullgraf]

Most of my 30-06 Garand ammunition has been loaded on a single stage press but I have plans to move the loading part to either my Pro2000 or my Dillon BL550. The progressive will combine a few steps at each stroke of the handle which reduces the time to load ammunition.

I'll still resize the cases on the single stage as I will still need to clean and trim them after resizing.

The only reason that I have not made the transition is I have not been shooting the Garand much of late and have lots of loaded ammunition on hand.

I do load 204 Ruger on the Pro2000 for prairie dogs and it shoots as sccurately as any that I loaded on the single stage so I would not be concerned loading 30-06 on a progressive.

 

[FROGO207]

If you are looking to speed things up then the progressive is the way to go. For the Garand you will be FL resizing and a small variation in propellant will likely be insignificant. Reload Ron is spot on. I still use a single stage for all my rifle reloading as I feel I have more exacting control over the overall process and that will be translated into better accuracy (I hope!!). Every reloader has his/her own point of diminishing returns though and just where for them to compromise or stop is the real issue. Most of us cannot shoot as accurately as the firearm is capable of and making the best ammo is a small part in total accuracy. YMMV

 

[GaryL]

As far as accuracy goes, I don't think the press is going to matter much.

I posted this over 10 years ago here, to ask a couple questions.

So, I was at the range sighting in a 30-06 rifle (with a new scope) with some commercial ammo I had. I had 3 rounds of my handloads for my hunting rifle with me, and thought I'd give them a try. Shot one, went down and marked it, back to the bench and shot the other 2. The commercial ammo had a 4"-5" pattern about 6"-7" up and right. These were just off the target paper into the cardboard backing I used.

I later re-zeroed the rifle for the handloads.

Anyway, loaded on a 550b. As always, YMMV.

 

[Random 8]

The caveats to loading for an M1 are related to appropriate data and loads (covered above), priming, and brass prep. If your press is capable of fully resizing rather oversized brass, and seating primers to a solid .06" below flush, the rest is the same as reloading any other rifle cartridge. Note, even in a tight M1, you will likely need to trim after nearly every firing.

 

[mdi]

When I started reloading for my Garand I was using a Lee turret press. My first reloads were with 147 gr pulls and HXP brass; zero problems. I since have picked up a Co-Ax and got the same; zero problems. Either press will produce ammo that is more accurate than I am (out of curiosity I checked concentricity in a few of my latter loads; Hornady brass w/Hornady V-Max bullets and got .001"-.002" runout.). I have a lot more time to reload than I have time to shoot so I don't need to produce a lot of ammo right now and my Co-Ax and I can pump out 80 rounds in no time, and I often do that 2 or 3 times between shooting sessions. As mentioned above, it's all in the nut behind the handle...