Slugged my Garand barrel

[chris in va]

Best I can tell it comes out to .306 across the grooves on the slug. Would this suggest that one of the Lee 200gr 309's should work decently enough? Should I get a 307 or 308 sizing die?

Interestingly the pulled mil bullets I bought measure 306 as well. Guess they get sized down a bit when loaded.

[ilcop22]

You might want to check your caliper for accuracy. I had one that was .002 off; gave me similar measurements.

In any case, you shouldn't need any sizing die. You want your boolits at least .001 over diameter. I have a few guns which use .309 boolits. They all drop slugs in the same range and I haven't had any problems.

[2ndAmendmentNut]

I agree you should have your calipers checked, the fact the factory bullets measured 306 is a dead give away.

Also you will need a sizer die if you intend to lube and seat gas checks. As far as boolits and size go, bigger is better so 308~309 should be about right if your barrel actually slugs at 306.

[chris in va]

That's the thing though, they're not 'factory bullets' per se, but pulled milsurp from old 30-06 I bought online. I suspect they were squeezed a bit during the first loading.

I do intend to use gas checks and will be buying a sizing die, just not sure which one yet.

[ilcop22]

Well, old or not, J-bullets cannot squeeze that much unless the whole lot was deformed during production.

I reccommend the Lee sizing dies. Whether you use their lube or not, they're the cheapest and easiest ones out there.

[shotman]

stick one of the bullets nose first in the muzzle. there sould be about 3/16in to the canalure that would put the bullet and bore at 308

[chris in va]

You guys are assuming this old Garand is up to new specs. The muzzle gauges almost two, along with the chamber. Rifling is still pretty good though.

Maybe I should just cast for my Saiga instead. Brass will be difficult to find though.

[HodakaGA]

Across the lands, your barrel should measure .300 if it had a "0" muzzle guage, a "2" is .302. Neither number is relevent to casting. What's your groove measurement. Even with a "2" muzzle it should be .308 or maybe .309.

[ilcop22]

You guys are assuming this old Garand is up to new specs. The muzzle gauges almost two, along with the chamber. Rifling is still pretty good though.

Maybe I should just cast for my Saiga instead. Brass will be difficult to find though.

The thing is, your barrel can't get tighter, only looser. The spec barrel is .308. A worn out barrel would be .309, .310, .311, etc. So, if your Garand is out of spec, you would be dropping larger slugs, not smaller slugs.

[chris in va]

Hmm, good point...got my numbers reversed.

I had a heck of a time pounding the slug through the chamber so I did it from the muzzle end. It was very tight at first, but really got very easy about 2/3rd the way through, if that means anything.

[ilcop22]

I always slug from the muzzle down. That's pretty typical, chris. The first bit is pretty tough because you're squeezing that slug down to size (esp. if you use oversized slugs). It gets easier at the end because you've squeezed the slug to bore dimensions, so it's just sliding along the grooves at that point. It's more of a concern if it suddenly drops out halfway through.

[Dutchman]

Oil the bore prior to pushing the oversize slug through.


Dutch

[MtGun44]

Expecting to measure a boolit, bullet or the bore with a caliper is essentially hopeless. The
tool has a rated accuracy of +/- .001 inch. You need to get a micrometer before you waste
any more time with an instrument incapable of giving you a useful answer.

Here is a fantastic deal, note that I have no connection to Enco except as a satisfied customer.

http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INSRIT?PARTPG=INLMKD&PMPXNO=5284468&PMAKA=890-9844

Bill

[jimr]

MtGun44,,, you beat me to the gun on your post about the micrometer.

[missionary5155]

Good morning
Do not forget the throat area... My Springfield 1943 barrel has a badly worn-corroded throat that Must have a .310+ boolit. I use a .312 sizer on Lintype cast and they mike at .311+ and shoot OK. A .310- just does not do so well.
Mike in Peru

[Bob S]

New barrels circa 1950's and 1960's had to be between .3075 and .3085 on the air gauge. Barrels selected for Navy match rifles were .3077 and .3078.

WW II new barrels could be between .3075 and .3095 and still "pass".

Resp'y,
Bob S.

[dualsport]

That might explain my happiness with the CMP SG I got a couple years ago. It's a SA in the high 5 millions and shoots jacketed or cast better than what I expected it to after reading a lot on Garand accuracy potential. I haven't slugged it but the whole gun and bore looked unused to me. Maybe I got one of those .307s. I do know it's becoming my favorite rifle and making me wonder why I keep a EBR. Now if I could get the hang of a fast reload. Anyone know what a soldier or Marine could do time wise reloading in a hurry like when he's facing a human wave of screaming Chinese?

[missionary5155]

Good morning
If you are in prepared firing position ammo is laid out for fast reload.
If you are on patrol a clip(s) can be carried on the sling.
But the actual insertion comes by doing it several hundred times.