Garand OAL for 30-06... What do you use?

[HeadLead]

I just loaded up 24 of the N.O.E. 311365 SP and Lyman Cast Bullet book lists 3.340" as the OAL for this cartridge. This leaves the upper most lube groove exposed by a lot. The pictures I have seen of many other 30-06 loads using the same 311365 do not show the groove exposed, so I was wondering what others are seating to.

Before using these, I intend to check the rounds in the chamber when the Garand is taken down so I don't have a bad incident when at the range.

Input is appreciated.

Salute! :drinks:

[HeadLead]

Greatly appreciate your response PB.

[Char-Gar]

The issue of exposed lube grooves has been around for generations. The downside is the possibility of the exposed lube attracting and holding grit which is then forced down the barrel by and with the bullet. For range use this is not much of a concern. For field use it could be.

Your rifle is the only seating gage you should pay attention too. You DO NOT want to seat the bullet out so far it is slammed into the rifling by the bolt. The ever present specter of a slam fire is always over your shoulder with a Garand and should not be ignored.

Primer seating should be inspected round by round looking for high primers.

[jonk]

For a bolt gun, I seat the bullet so that it just kisses the rifling (except for straight pulls). For a semi auto, I experiment to find out what depth just kisses the rifling, then turn the bullet seating screw down a whole turn more. As said, you don't want a slam fire. Assuming that depth feeds through the clip, you're good to go.

One other thing that could cause a slam fire is a binding neck. Even if the bullet is seated deep enough, a fat cast bullet could bind in the neck if you aren't careful. One of my M1s is fine with anything up to .312", the other one can't go over .310" unless I neck turn brass.

[HeadLead]

Ended up seating to 3.20" C.O.L. this left just a hint of the upper lube groove exposed prior to running it through a Lee Factory Crimp Die. I took 24 of these to the range today and had a good shoot with only one round stove piping in the action. Curious what might have caused this to happen, but it only occurred once. Q: Anyone have ideas on this?

Accurracy was not an issue as I was more concerned with performance of the Garand and cycling. I got decent groups for just starting out with the CB's in the Garand and look forward to making tweaks to see how things change.

Thanks for your comments.

[Wayne S]

" decent groups" what size and at what distance ? Also , what is your alloy ? I've all but given up on the 311365 in my M1A as it is always out shot [smaller groups] by the 311299 with everything being the same except for the bullet.

[HeadLead]

Well..... distance was short for the first attempt using the new CB's, just 40 yards out and the group size was not MOA, but respectable for this old man and his shaky arms (less than 2"). My alloy was wheel weights, water quenched. I checked the hardness just after casting, but not prior to loading, so I am unsure of the hardness at this time. I will re-test and post later.

Do your 311365's perform better in any other firearms you might have?

[Wayne S]

HeadLead,
So far I've only tested it in the M1A and a fast twist Contender bbl. I've got an AR-10 [w/1-10 twist] and a Rem 700 V [w/1-12 twist] that are scheduled for testing with cast as soon as I test with J-bullets .