rcbs 165 Sil in Garand... thoughts?

[RU shooter]

I'd back down a .5 gr a step every 8 rds and see what happens till you get to the amount it won't function the action

[wksimple]

Thanks. I will give that a try.

Also, the Lyman 311041 bullet has much more "bearing surface" than the 165 SIL bullet. Would this make a difference? Just wondering. I'm new at this.

[Scharfschuetze]

Wksimple,

Lyman's 311041 will work fine in your Garand and it would be fun to compare it and the RCBS 165 grain silhouette boolit side by side at the range. As they are close in weight similar powder charges should propel them to similar velocities give or take 50fps or so, but the design of each will determine that to some extent due to the different bearing surface coefficients of friction. I shoot a lot of 311041 boolits in the 308, 30/30 and 30 Remington, but I've never tried them in the Garand. Perhaps I should correct that this summer and see what it will do.

One of the fun things about casting and reloading is the numerous load permutations that present themselves to the caster/reloader. Give the RCBS boolit a good work out and determine what it can and can't do before diverting to the Lyman boolit or work them up in parallel to see which one is the best for your rifle.

[wksimple]

thanks. I think I will try both bullets simultaneously. Should be a fun summer.

[wksimple]

Finally some progress to report. It appears I am "on my way". I just tried 8 rds using Lyman's 311041 173 FNGC sized .310" in the Garand. Powder charge was 32.0 gr of DP74 (last try was 33.0 gr). Distance was 50 yds. The first 4 rds established elevation, then the next 4 rds were in the black, about 1 1/2" to 2" group.

The cases ejected 8-10 feet to the 1 o'clock position. I think the next 8rds will be 31.5 gr and so on until I reach the point where the rifle no longer cycles then increase by .5 gr. Any other suggestions? I'm really a noob at cast bullets in rifles.

[Scharfschuetze]

Looks like you're on track WK. Like most reloading endevours, getting specific rifles to shoot well is a scientific process with changing one variable at a time till you get to where you want to go. The M1 is just a little more demanding than most rifles when it comes to getting both function and accuracy distilled into on load.

Good luck and keep us posted.

[Char-Gar]

I have not tried the RCBS 165 Sil in a Garand, but it has given me excellent accuracy in a variety of other 30-06s and .308s. Given the proper powder charge, I see no reason why it would not be a crackerjack bullet for your use.

[wksimple]

Just got back from the range with more progress.

Last time I shot the Garand I was using the Lyman 311041. It drops from my mold at .3085 to .309". I ran it through a .310 sizer and after 16 rounds I had significant leading. (see post above.)

So, today I was using the Lee C312-185R sized to .310". It's a true .310 on all the bands. Load was 30.0 gr of Dp-74. Much better results! Leading was minor; just small traces at the muzzle. (I use carnuba red and a coat of alox.) Firing the 1st round in each clip failed to pick up the second round (had to hand-cycle) so will try 30.5 gr next time. Will also size to .311 and see what that does.

The ever-present problem: My 65 year old eyes are not what they used to be! Here is my target at 50 yards. After firing the first clip, I moved the sight two clicks left and two up. The second 8 rds seemed to "be there".

I'll try the above mentioned changes and report back.

[wksimple]

Finally getting there!

Today's 16 rds were with the Lee C312-185-1R sized .310" and pushed by 31.5 gr of DP74 (basically AA2520). Cycling was perfect, with the brass landing about 10 ft to the right. The enbloc clip cleared the action and landed on the bench. As you can see, after a couple of sight adjustments the rds are "in there".

The RCBS 165 SIL wouldn't group at all. Vertical stringing from the bottom to the top of the paper plate. I think it may have to do with the fact that the mold drops the bullets .308 to .309. I cannot get a true .310 diameter which my rifle seems to like. I will stick with the Lee 185 RN at .310" and experiment with a few more powder charges.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

[Scharfschuetze]

Well done Wk.

[wksimple]

Well done Wk.

Thanks, Scharf. I notice your location is Puget Sound. Whereabouts? My daughter lives in Bonney Lake and the wife and I are in the process of moving there.

[Scharfschuetze]

Thanks, Scharf. I notice your location is Puget Sound. Whereabouts? My daughter lives in Bonney Lake and the wife and I are in the process of moving there.

I'm not far from Bonney Lake and I used to teach Hunter Safety at the Swiss Rifle Club there. When you get moved in and get sorted out, send me a PM and we'll go shoot our M1s at the Paul Bunyan rifle range south of Puyallup.

Paul Bunyan Club:

http://www.pbrsc.org/

[wksimple]

That sounds good. My daughter used to live in Puyallup, and I have shot at Paul Bunyan before. It will be a while before we move.... just now started to get the house ready to sell. Retired a year ago and chomping at the bit to live near my grandkids. And I can't stand CA anymore!!!

[fatelvis]

Thanks for the writeup! What Overall length are you loading the 311041 and Lee boolit to?

[wksimple]

Thanks for the writeup! What Overall length are you loading the 311041 and Lee boolit to?

I didn't measure. I seated the bullet to the crimp groove. If I use that bullet again in the Garand, I'll measure.

[mac1911]

I have not been able to do much testing with my M1 loads.
I run a ranchdog mold 310"/165gn FNGC with LLA and gas check. Currently running 37 grains of H4895 it cycles the action and accuracy so far is minute of black bull.
I also tried a 314299 sized to 310" so far it's been ok and I need to do some more testing.
I have not experienced any leading. I use 2500 lube with the 314299

[Scharfschuetze]

I use 2500 lube with the 314299

I've never tried that lube or any other of the new wonder lubes. I replaced the old Lyman graphite lube in the early 70s with the NRA 50/50 (beeswax-Alox) formula and I've been stuffing that stuff into my two lubrasizers ever since. The difference between that old black graphite stuff and the Alox lube was day and night. Perhaps I should give the new stuff a try someday.