Got M1 Carbine, shot FMJ, waiting for mold

[MikeSSS]

Traded an 03A3 for a Carbine this weekend. (Crying sounds here.)

It is USGI, an arsenal rebuild, the barrel looks very good and it passed the bullet in the muzzle test.

Aguila FMJ was cheaper than buying brass, so I got some.

Shot it off bags at a hundred yards today. The first five shots gave a 'group' of 3.8" and a second group was 4.1". The second one was actually two distinct groups, both were pretty good but they were 4" apart. But, heck, I was seeing 5 or 6 front sights, so I got lucky choosing only two of them.

The mold ordered from MidSouth is the Lee .309", 120R. Also ordered some Lee dies and a few of the Lee Universal Case Expanding Dies. Each Dillon toolhead needs it's own.

While I was at it I ordered a Lee .312", 185R mold and some handles for six cavity molds.

The big 'fly in the ointment' is that Carbines use small primers and the bolt actions and Garand use large primers. So, Carbine, SKS and AK ammo will be loaded in one bunch and ammo for the others in another bunch. (Hmmmm, wouldn't a second 550B fix this problem?)

What kind of accuracy do you get from your 30 Carbine(s)?

The adventure continues!

[versifier]

Mike,
Don't expect amazing accuracy from a GI Carbine, but there are occasional exceptions that will surprise you. I have a Universal (not GI) that will keep them in 2" at 100 from a good rest, but most of the GI's I have played with and observed will keep them in 4" with their favorite loads, and 6-8" without. I'd say yours is typical, but that doesn't mean there won't be a handload that it will do really well with. Half the fun is trying to find it. This is a great round/action to use with young volunteer testers, especially if it incorporates a little history lesson. Shooters at our range usually shoot them at 25 & 50 yards as plinkers with FMJ's, enough to generate a few hundred boxer-primed cases in the brass bucket each season, but most are using those *&%$#@! Berdan steel cases. I much prefer it as a handgun round, however - my Contender will outshoot at least 80% of the carbines out there and isn't the least bit picky about feeding, though it does have its favorites. There has been a lot of discussion here about the care and feeding of M1 Carbines, do a search.

[MikeSSS]

Wolf used to, before the flood of military contracts, make steel cases with boxer primers. I reloaded some .223's and it went OK. These cases had a gray polymer coating.

Generally I stick to brass though.

[JRParrish]

I've had good success with Lyman U311359 cast hard and shot hot. My friends here don't share my passion for Lyman/Ideal U311*** molds. So it goes. Good shooting to you.
JRParrish

[JRParrish]

M1 carbine is about the most accurate pistol uncle ever issued! He had a few good ones like the 1873 Colt and the Colt 1911. The best was probably the M2.
JRParrish

[Will]

When you get that Lee mould try 11-12 gr 2400. I've gotten three shot groups at 25yds that you could cover with a penny.

[mooman76]

Mikesss
I have loaded for the carbine and I had a few problems for you to look out for. First be carefull of leading, it will get up into the works and you will have to tear it down completely to get the lead out. Make sure you don't use a roll crimp. Lee is a partial roll crimp so I'm unsure of that but due to my (multiple)problems I was having I got a factory crimp die. By the way the problem I was having was rounds not firing ie the firing pin not striking the primer. A friend of mine who has been reloading and shooting for over 40 years told me next time to use pistol primmers. The mould you ordered is that a flat point bullet? That was also part of my problem I was using a Lee flat point bullet and it wasn't set deep enough due to the ogive for the cartridge to chamber all the way so no fire. I finally corrected the problem after many attemps and I hope you don't have the troubles I had. Good shootin!

[C1PNR]

I've had good success with Lyman U311359 cast hard and shot hot. Good shooting to you.
JRParrish
I used some Hornady 100 and 110 RN, half jacket "plinkers" when I first started loading for my GI Carbine. They worked OK, but I soon got a 4 cavity 311359 (120 grains in my alloy) and never looked back! :drinks:

Feed and function is flawless (I'm sure the pointed design has something to do with that) and accuracy has been ~3" @ 100 (off the bench for test and sighting purposes, when you get on your hind legs it does tend to expand some[smilie=1: ), which I think is just fine in this rifle.

Good luck and have a LOT of fun! It's almost as cheap as shooting .22 LR.:)