Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Mule Deer's M1 garand article

I wouldn't, not without knowing the characteristics of the powder charge or without benefit of an adjustable gas cylinder. Maybe ok, maybe not, but who wants run the risk of a banjaxed op rod when those things are no longer a dime-a-dozen.

I didn’t see it mentioned, but the damage to the operating rod is from slower burning powder that has a higher pressure at the gas port which can cause the operating rod to bend. The operating rod is quite long on a Garand and will suffer accordingly if that port pressure is too high...

You're right. One would assume that over the 80+ years of the Garand's existence everyone who messes with them would know that by now, and any newbies would verse themselves on the ins and outs of the M1 (20 minutes via Google). But, I suppose one needs to factor by the lowest common denominator.

150 FMJ Hornadys and 48.0grs of 748 work very well in mine.

And here I am still waiting on the latest handloader............. Looking forward to it even though I've settled on the tried & true IMR-4895 / 150 gr. stuff. Not gonna mess around with new stuff until it's in general use for a few years and gets a "A" rating. If I wanna take it hunting I just substitute a 150 gr, Accubond for the FMJ. Those peep sights are also just the ticket for aging eyes.

Kirk,

I went over the op-rod subject quite extensively in the article--but as mentioned there (and earlier in the thread), some recent powders (especially double-based) that APPEAR from published loading data to have about the same burn-rate as IMR4895 actually produce too much port-pressure.

The latest Handloader was in the box this afternoon. Great article on loading for the Garand, JB. I was surprised that Varget worked so well, but should not have been.

I've still got about 20lbs. of pull down 4895 that I bought for $8/lb prior to going over to the dark side. I still like to take one of my Garands out once in a while, even if for no other reason than to introduce new shooters to what is a truly great rifle.

you should have asked, i have a m1D in the herd.

i have quite a bit of that in one of the big containers hodgden use to store it in. Still as fresh as it was probably in the 40's.

I found, at a gun show, a can of original Lake City national match ammo.
I also bought some Greek HXP from a guy In Colorado.
They are a hell of a lot of fun to shoot-- peep sight, old eyes and all!

I found, at a gun show, a can of original Lake City national match ammo.
I also bought some Greek HXP from a guy In Colorado.
They are a hell of a lot of fun to shoot-- peep sight, old eyes and all!
Look forward to MD/s article.

Aalaska's Bear hunting Judge, Sam Folda used the Garrand on brown bears before that he used a semi auto in .35 Remington. Guess he was not into light weight rifles! I have the book on him and I believe he is credited with around 200 brown bear kills. I will read it again this winter.


My Dad carried a Garand in the Battle of the Bulge as did my Uncle Ed before he switched to the BAR. Uncle Ed is still kicking and sharp as a tack at 93, I will call him tomorrow.

I've shot everything from varmints to elk with Garand...

Hornady and Federal make ammo specifically for the M1.
https://www.hornady.com/ammunition/rifle/30-06-springfield-168-gr-eld-m1-garand#!/
https://www.federalpremium.com/products/rifle/american-eagle/american-eagle-rifle/ae3006m1

Sort the Lake City match by runout and the straight stuff may surprise you by how well it shoots. I shot a bunch of LC M852 Match for the "308" out of accurate bolt action rifles and the straight batches rivaled good handloads.

A friend of mine had a batch of banging ammo for his Garand, I believe it was the Greek stuff but I won't swear to it. The powder charges differed enough round to round so the variation could be heard by shaking each round and listening.

Nosler also makes ammo suitable for Garand rifles under their SSA brand. It's listed at Midway:
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/5...etition-hollow-point-boat-tail-box-of-20

Prvi Partizan makes (made?) Garand-specific ammo. Many dealers show it discontnued or out of stock, but others, including Grafs, show it to be still available. It's about half the price of the other brands and is OK for function testing and informal target work. Here's another onl-line listing: https://www.targetsportsusa.com/prvi-partizan-30-06-springfield-m1-garand-150-gr-fmj-pp348-p-95.aspx. I bought a bunch of it for local club use.

--Bob

My Handloader just arrived today. The first article was on the M1. The M1 is a favorite of mine, though I’ve only used it on paper and steel.

The article answered a question I’ve had about MD’s seemingly preference of IMR4895 over my favorite H4895. My H4895 is evidently old as I don’t believe the powder I have was made in Australia. I don’t remember when I bought this batch of H4895, but I believe it was at least 30 years ago. It is the best powder for accuracy on a few of my rifles, including a 30-06 Springfield 03 and it is as good as any powder on other cartridge/rifles including my 350 RM 600. I have a bit of 150 grain loads for my M1 and it’s 150 grain bullets and that old H4895.

Now I can’t expect powder to stay the same over the years, but I will not squander my batch of H4895 cause “It can’t be bought.”

Bugger,

As you've apparently guessed, your H4895 is probably original military IMR4895--which was indeed good powder!

Hodgdon didn't start selling the made-in-Australia H4895 until around 20 years ago, if I recall correctly.

In between military surplus and Australian H4895 I believe Hodgdon sold H4895 made in Scotland. I'm pretty sure I have some Scottish H4350 and H1000 stashed somewhere too.