Cast Bullet for an M1 Garand

[Jethro]

Looking for a suggestion for the best cast bullet and powder load to use for reload of 30-06 for the M-1 Garand. I have heard somewhere in the range of 168 to 170 grains. I have a Lymans book, but it makes no distinction between a regular bolt action and the garand as I know that you can damage the M! with too powerful a load. Any help would be appreciated.

"Never argue with a fool in a crowd cause after about 2 minutes, the crowd can't remeber who the original fool was."

[avogunner]

I like the Lyman 311299 with IMR-4895 for mine. Here's a recent thread on the subject.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?169431-Cast-in-an-M1-Garand

[Kraschenbirn]

Try using the 'advanced search' function on the main toolbar and you'll find sufficient discussion, suggestions, and recipe's to keep you occupied for several evenings. The 311299/IMR4895 combination cited by Avogunner is always a good starting point but, at cast boolit pressures/velocities, you can also use some slower burning powders not normally recommended for the Garand. My current 'pet load' uses the RCBS 30-165-SIL (174 gr. from my alloy) over just enough AA2700 to ensure reliable function and, if I'm having a good day, will print 8"-10" groups @ 300M.

Bill

[hydraulic]

I've been having pretty good luck with that surplus 872 that Wiedners was selling-46 grs. with Lee's 200 gr. gas check bullet. Slow powder and heavy jacketed bullets will damage the op-rod, they say, but cast is a different story. My favorite was the old WWII 4831 but I used up all I had of that. 42 grs. with a 200 gr. bullet is the famous "Bob S load", and I've read you can use the current H4831. CM.

[jonk]

The only issue with super slow powders like WC872 is, while they may shoot accurately enough, in my experience they leave unburnt powder. Upon extraction, that gets in the chamber. For a bolt gun this isn't such an issue, but in a semi auto that can cause jams and possible slam fires. So nothing slower than 4831 for me.

I did quite a bit of fooling around with this to see what would work after I ran out of M2 ball and M2 pulled projectiles. I haven't yet, but did work out a good load for when I do. I found the Lyman 311299 did best, having tried about half a dozen different .30 cal bullets all seated just off the lands to chamber with NO resistance. Other good ones were the Lyman 311284 (though it had to be seated pretty deeply) and the Lee 200 gr. All were sized to .311, which is fine for my gun, but of course YMMV.

I tried IMR 4895, WC 872, IMR 4198, and H-4831. In general all cycled the gun with some load still within an acceptable 'safe' range. For all powders a filler was needed to avoid hangfires, except for 872 which I filled to the base of the bullet, and 4198 which was fast enough to burn anyhow without one.

The best load was the 872 load for accuracy, but had issues with unburnt powder and chambering as previously noted. Second best was IMR 4895 with 31 gr and dacron filler, which is what I will use if and when the time comes. Anything less than 29 grains would not reliably cycle either of my M1s.

As I say, YMMV.

[Le Loup Solitaire]

Although 4895 is often listed as the powder to use in the Garand, there are several other choices that will work well. As for bullets, a pointy,semi-point, or round nose design is better for feeding. Quite a few choices among current manufacturers offer choices. The minimum weight should be around 170 grains and Lyman 311291 will work, but many M-1 shooters use heavier designs such as the 311299 and similar shapes. I have successfully used the old 311334 and the Saeco 301, but have found that designs with more bearing surface in the body of the bullet give better accuracy than the bore-rider designs due to the fact that the Garand is barreled with four groove rifling and that needs a longer bullet body bearing surface. LLS