Surplus .30-06 in bolt gun?

[Prof]

I have a quantity of the Greek surplus .30-06 that I purchased from CMP and shoot in my M1 Garand. I am going to buy a Remington bolt-action rifle in the same caliber and wondered if it is safe to shoot the Greek ammo in it? I know that there are issues with shooting military surplus 5.56 ammo in .223 bolt guns. Is the principle the same here or not? Thanks!

 

[Jim Watson]

Quite safe, the situations are not comparable.

 

[SaxonPig]

I have never had any trouble shooting any military ammo of any caliber including 7.62x51 and 5.56 in my commercial bolt action rifles.

 

[Slamfire]

I have only fired Greek ammo in Garand Matches. That stuff is relatively hot, compared to the LC I have shot. That said, it is not as hot as commerical ammo.

Ammo that is fine in a Garand will always be fine in a bolt gun. Ammo that is fine in a bolt is often too hot for a Garand. The Garand was designed in 1936 to use ammo that never exceeded 50,000 psi, powders in the IMR 4895 burn rate (later), and used insensitive primers.

Most commerical ammo makers are appealing to people who want magnum performance in their rifles. Chronograph that stuff and you will find 150 grain bullets going close to 3000 fps. That stuff is too hot for Garands, which was designed to use 150 grain bullets at 2700 fps

 

[jpwilly]

Ammo that is fine in a Garand will always be fine in a bolt gun. Ammo that is fine in a bolt is often too hot for a Garand. The Garand was designed in 1936 to use ammo that never exceeded 50,000 psi, powders in the IMR 4895 burn rate (later), and used insensitive primers.

I'd like to disagree with that. The 50,000 is not PSI but CUP. Often mis quoted as PSI. You are talking about chamber pressure. Chamber pressure has no relevance to the argument of whether or not certain ammo is safe to shoot in a Garand. Gas Port Pressure is the only reason certain ammo cannot be shot in the Garand. Too slow a powder will create too much Gas Port Pressure and therefore damage the Gas System / Op Rod. Most commercial hunting ammunition uses powders like IMR4350 or slower, and in some cases bullets heavier than 180 grains, which though they may stay within the chamber pressure limits, far exceed the gas port pressure specs. A Schuster Valve upgrade will allow any Garand to shoot any comercial or surplus ammo provided you set the valver for each load.

John C. Garand personally tested and documented loads in excess of 120,000 psi in the M1 rifle, and though the left bolt lug cracked, it kept on shootin' regular military loads for another 5000 rounds. The M1 rifle has perhaps the strongest action availlable in a common modern rifle.

 

[Prof]

Wow, thank you, gentlemen! That is an excellent primer on the subject and I appreciate the information!

 

[win71]

Chamber pressure has no relevance to the argument of whether or not certain ammo is safe to shoot in a Garand.

Excellent information as I have had some trouble with some reload combinations in a Garand. However I believe the question was whether or not it would be safe in a BOLT rifle. Somebody straighten me out if I read it wrong.
Thanks in advance.
Maybe you can help me, jpwilly, with C.U.P. vs P.S.I. I know they are interchanged indiscriminately quite often. A simple answer would be great. For instance how many P.S.I.'s is in 50,000 C.P.U.'s