What can I expect?

[WineMan]

I am shooting a M1 Garand in a local JC Garand match which is CMP course "A" (five sighters and 30 for record, prone slow, prone rapid and offhand slow, all on a SR at 200 yards).

I have some rounds loaded with 16 gr of A2400 and a 170 gr GC ACWW boolit for a bolt gun. I thought that I would try to use this for practice at 100 yards on a local range in my M1 (trigger work, sling, position and breathing). For the slow it would be no problem as I see it, but in the rapid stage I know the action will not cycle completely but will it partially cycle and hang up or will it be more like a bolt gun and be able to cycle by hand which is fine by me?

I am just trying to be frugal and get some practice in at the same time.

This is an awesome group and the answers are great!

Thanks,

Wineman

[runfiverun]

i've heard 15 will cycle or stovepipe the sks.
you could work up to 18 grs with no problems i'd look for accuracy and let it do what it does on the cycling end.

[SierraWhiskeyMC]

Any time spent on a range is good. :)

However, unless you have a load worked up for the Garand that is both accurate and cycles the action properly, I suggest that you might have a good bit more fun if you use some J-word rounds that are up to both giving you good accuracy and cycling the action.

If you know already that your loads won't cycle the Garand, you might spend too much time worrying about the "immediate action" required to get the next round chambered, and not enough time on marksmanship. You might find it stressful and dissapointing rather than an enjoyable experience.

What shoots well in your bolt gun may shoot differently in the Garand. Try working up some loads using that A2400 and your 170gr boolit starting at 16gr and going up to 20gr at 1/2 gr increments. If your boolit is a cast spire point, you'll probably find it won't shoot well at over around 1,650 fps.

You can get adjustable gas plugs for Garands that will allow you to cycle the action fully even with lighter loads. The main thing is to find the load that your Garand is most accurate with, and forget about the action cycling until you have the best load worked up.

Here's a link to an adjustable gas plug at Midway: http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct/?productnumber=777146
Should be in stock on 9/16. Garand shooters should really have one of these anyway, particularly if they load their own.

[WineMan]

Good advice. My time on the range is pretty limited and I can usually make one match per month.

The ammo situation is not a problem as I have some HXP M2 ball, but here in the foothills of California it is fire season and a guy started a pretty big blaze last year with a SKS and some steel jacketed ammo (shooting metal targets in a dry riverbed). Our local range even had a fire from someone using Brown Bear factory 7.62x54R stuff that is steel jacketed. My range is on our property so a fire would be doubly bad news.

I can load some for the Garand in copper jacketed but the cast was already loaded up and ready to roll.

Thanks for the great info!

Wineman