M1 Garand bullet selection

[koehn,jim]

Hi I am looking for a good mold for an m1 Garand, I am considering a Lyman 311-332 or 311-334. Any information is appreciated, Thank you in advance

[missionary5155]

Good morning
Years ago I bought a RCBS 180gr gc flatnose mold to use in a lowly 30-30.
When I bought my first Garand I thought why not give it a try... I discovered it would cyle the action just fine and there was no leading problem. I do not have my loading records here in Peru But I do know I was loading to about 2200 fps. Used WW (water dropped).
I still use the same boolit in my Garands and M1A´s and a lowly FAL.

[Crash_Corrigan]

I expect Bruce B will soon chime in with his comments. He is a very experienced shooter with the M 14 and and the M-1. I tend to favor the 311284 Lyman mold. It puts out a 220 gr boolit. I paper patch it after I size it down to .308 and then a dab of JPW and recize down to .309. I load 29 gr of 4064 and I am getting full functions with the m-1, decent recoil and the empties pile up in front of me and I do not have to chase them down.

Accuracy is about 2 1/2 in at 100 yds and it is very nice round to shoot. You can pick up a new barrell and new wood stocks at CMP and the prices are pretty reasonable.

Once you find the groove with the M-1 it a just a blast. I have had much success with a steel target at 375 yds. Painted black it shows the hits and if you have a spotter with a decent scope behind you he can see the rounds fly downrange and tell where your rounds are hitting.

I neck size only and use Lee neck sizing collet dies and have had much success with this round. It is just so much fun to fire off a round and then hear the satisfying clang when the bullet hits the steel. Cheap to feed and alot of fun to shoot. Those empties from the HXP are dandies to reload. You might want to anneal the cases with a propane torch to keep the brass soft and workable. Some of mine have fired over 30 rounds and are still good to go. Accurate 2700, 4064 and 4985 are good powders to use and you can use large pistol primers if you need to. I did when I couldn't get LRP's and they work.

Ask Bruce B for some photos of his Schuetenzwagen (an old VW Minibus). He has it all fixed up to reload rounds inside at the range and keep him out of the wind and cold and takes him to and from home. In the summer it provides him shade and is a mite cooler than being out in the sun.
__________________

[shotman]

well we do have some one that tells the truth. 2 1/2 in at a 100yds now that is beleive able. These guys that put the stuff up of 1/2in at 100 with open sights are full of processed ???
Another boolit that works very well as cast is a Lyman311413. I like it as dropped and TL for the "used" barrels. It does run about .310 but sizes ok to 308 for a "new" barrel

[BruceB]

This topic covers a lot of ground!

I have no interest in loads that do not operate the rifle in semi-auto fashion.

Firstly, I must say that I've found the Garand (and M1A) to be very forgiving when it comes to bullet shape. Pointed or roundnose, it doesn't seem to matter. There MIGHT be a problem in some rifles with flat-nosed bullets, but I have used some with smallish flat meplats without difficulty.

Bullet weights from 130 to 220 grains all functioned well in my tests. My personal choices seem to fall on 311466 (150 grain Loverin) and the already-mentioned 311284, at about 210 grains. I have a new NOE 311284 mould, but have yet to try the bullets in my gas-operated rifles.

I'm a bit concerned about Crash's loading methods. It is imperative that rounds for the M1 and M1A be full-length sized, and even preferable (in my book) to use a small-base die for the job. This is due to the fact that the firing pins in these rifles impact the primer when the bolt closes, and any restriction on free chambering might lead to a slam-fire. Such events are usually disastrous.

I'll also counsel against the use of pistol primers in these rifles, for the same reasons listed above. I do use a lot of Large Pistol primers in other rifles, but ONLY CCI 34 (military) or CCI 200 in these gas guns.

311413 worked well in my M1A, as long as speeds were kept under 1700 fps.

With the long distance from chamber to gas port in the M1, we find that slow-burning powders often give good results. These offer a gentler acceleration, with the attendant lower stress on the cast bullet. H and IMR 4831, as well as IMR 4350, have given excellent results in my Garands WITH CAST BULLETS....NOT with jacketed bullets, where the faster 4895s etc excel. It's also definitely worth trying quicker powders such as those suggested by Crash, as we never know what any one rifle prefers until we try it. Just start LOW and work up....where have we heard THAT before????

One of my most-successful M1A 7.62 NATO loads uses 5744, of all things. This is a VERY FAST powder in this application, but the accuracy is sufficient that I hit a 14"x16" plate 5-for-5 at 417 yards, with the iron sights and a bunch of witnesses. This is simply to illustrate that there are uses "outside the envelope" for our components. I seriously doubt that 5744 would function a Garand at safe load levels.

(Ahem) My very dear Sir, my Schuetzenwagen is NOT a piece of German junk!!! (I HATE VW buses with a passion.) It's a '95 GMC 15-passenger van. Some early pictures can be seen on Castpics (bottom of this page) in the "Projects"section. Many changes and additions have been made since those photos were posted, and I really should put up another set. I had the rig out just yesterday, firing in comfort in cold and windy conditions. It may be the best "shooting toy" I've ever owned.