Powders For Garand

[midnight]

Enough 4895 to push 150/155gr bullets 2600/2700fps is the only load I use in the Garand. I only use it for fun and not competition.

Bob

[Char-Gar]

I "assume" the OP was asking about powders for cast bullets in the Garand! If that is NOT TRUE than 4895 is the right counsel. If that IS TRUE then we are into a different ball game.

All that matters is the port pressure. When we shoot cast bullets at the normal 1.6-2.0 K fps, many powders including some quite fast pistol powders will produce a good safe port pressure in the Garand that will not damage the operating rod.

I would refer the OP to BruceB's stick on cast bullets in the MIA for some good information.

[alamogunr]

I "assume" the OP was asking about powders for cast bullets in the Garand! If that is NOT TRUE than 4895 is the right counsel. If that IS TRUE then we are into a different ball game.

All that matters is the port pressure. When we shoot cast bullets at the normal 1.6-2.0 K fps, many powders including some quite fast pistol powders will produce a good safe port pressure in the Garand that will not damage the operating rod.

I would refer the OP to BruceB's stick on cast bullets in the MIA for some good information.

My question was about powders for cast in the Garand. I assumed that resulting posts addressed that.

Is this the thread(Sticky) that you referred to? (http://tinyurl.com/7eoyj6l) If so, does the information (NOT loads) apply to the Garand as well as the M1A?

When I expanded my search, I found several threads that addressed loads for the Garand and cast.

Thanks

[Char-Gar]

Yes, that is indeed the thread. The loads are for the 308 round, but the principals involved are the same. It will give you some insight on how cast bullets in these gas operating rifles work.

When dealing with cast bullets in general, the "cookbook" loads are few and far between. We meed to understand the principals and go from there.

[curator]

You mean there is a better powder for the Garand with cast boolits than IMR 4895? I have used IMR 4350, Reloder 15, IMR 4064, and even Varget. Nothing works better in my experience for cast boolits (180 to 210 grains) in the M1 Garand than real IMR (well maybe H4895 too) 4895. 35 to 37 grains will work the action and still give good accuracy assuming boolits are at least BHN18 and seated correctly. A good lube helps too. Now it you can get one of those adjustable gas plugs, who knows? Actually, my best accuracy is 19 grains of Alliant 2400 and Lyman # 314299. Don't expect this to auto-load however.

[madsenshooter]

Oh, drat, I have to look that up again. Look up what? Here's a link to a a quickload spreadsheet done by parashooter which will show you what powders will safely produce a 2000fps load with 311284 and NOT produce enough pressure to harm the op rod. He has taken the pressure produced by a standard load of 4895, 10,587PSI as the "Never exceed" op rod pressure, and has thus discovered that quite a few powders someone will surely tell you "ISN'T SAFE IN THE GARAND", and come up with some interesting possibilities for cast bullets in the Garand: http://www.jouster.com/forums/showth...ghlight=garand It opens up a great variety of powders for cast in the Garand. By the way, you'll never need one of those adjustable plugs unless you're planning on shooting jacketed with something slower than the recommended powders for the Garand. An example would be a caseful of RL19 with 150gr bullets.

[Hamish]

Good info and all madsen, but do you still have that hat?

[avogunner]

Like the others have said on this thread...4895 is the standard. I use that primarily but on occasion use others in the same burning range including IMR-4064 and WIN 748.
Semper Fi