M1 Garand in .308 WIN - just purchased ! LOADS ?

[elmacgyver0]

Actually the reason I chose 308 when I rebarreld my garand was because the sources of 30-06 military ammo were drying up 308 was still plentiful. At a leg match you would get battle ammo for 30-06 and M852 match in 308. At NRA matches, regionals and state matches handloaded ammo wasnt a big issue as both use pretty much the same components other than the cases. At the time Portuguese 308 ball ammo was on the shelves for $119.00 per 1000 rds.

The rear sights were peened and tightened by that method as suitable epoxies werent readily available early on then epoxy became available it was used. Its a much easier process and faster.
Clean rear sight and lightly sand surfaces, apply release agent to slide several coats, mix epoxy according to directions. you dont need a lot even on a very loose sight. spread epoxy and slide together, clamp with vise grips so epoxy is in the upper portionand base bottom of slide are steel to steel. remove all excess you can. Let cure. remove slide may take a small punch and brass hammer. if its snug or tight you may need to lapp a little to get the free movement. Here a little flitz simichrome or yellow diamond will get what you want. when assembling the sight you need to "adjust" the cover to provide the correct tension. This process wasnt used to much on battle rifles but was used when building them up to NM rifles.
The peening process was effective but was more equipment intensive as you need an oven to anneal a skilled touch peening ans a lot more lapping when finishing. The other was once annealed it was soft and would wear faster.

An excellent reason to choose the .308 over the original 30.06 chambering.
Let's face it. as far as a military chambering is concerned the 30.06 is dead.
I have to live with this, but as long as you can keep these old guns shooting it is a good thing.

[country gent]

My garand was my first match service rifle. 308 just made sense at the time and it still does.It was a great shooter and served me well till I switched to the M1A . I never questioned if the 9 was me or the rifle.
My rifle has all the mods done when I built it. front hand gaurd liner removed the metal band screwed to the front hand guard. Front splines peened. rear hand guard had to be opened up to fit the med heavy barrel and the small support pad done. Trigger is tuned to 4 3/4 lbs still 2 stage holds at 3 lbs another 1 /12 breaks the shot. Rear sight has been epoxied lapped and cover adjusted slide has had the end re cut. Slide has had the aperture sleeved to .052. National match front blade. This was cut down to a 2 click 200 yd zero. stock is bedded with bisonite. Stock has lead weight in trap holes to balance out the heavy barrel

One other plus to the garand in 308 is youi can chase the throat wear much farther out.

I have thought about pulling the barrel and reaming to 30-06 as its getting a high round count on it.

[DoctorBill]

I have a new question.
Probably should initiate a new thread, but since it is related to .308 WIN use in an M1 Garand,
I will stick with this thread, if that is OK.

I have a bunch of CAST .308 slugs that I would like to reload with someday for the M1 Garand.
Here is a pic of just two that I can find right now.....

I do "Reduced Loads" to save my old shoulder bones.

The LYMAN Reloading Handbook (49th ED), says that people like to use IMR sr4759 with them,
that it works well [p 69], [p 222]. I see a variety of fast and slow burning propellants used.
I have 3 lbs of sr 4759 in my stock.

My question has always been, are Copper Jacketed harder to push thru a barrel than Cast bullets of the same Mass and Calibre ? The loads are different for cast versus jacketed for similar mass (grain) projectiles. WHY ?

For same mass Jacketed vs Cast slugs, you generally use different burn rate powders and grains of powder.

Can anyone comment on this ? I presume CAST projectiles cannot withstand high velocity because
they would fly apart from centripetal Force of spinning at 130,000+ rpm. . . .for 1800 fps in an M1 @ 1 in 10 tpi.
Cast Projectiles just do not work well in some rifles. Don't know why. I need education on this.

DoctorBill

Bullet rpm = [Muzzle Velocity x 720] ÷ Twist Rate in Inches https://bulletin.accurateshooter.com...and-stability/

Rpm = [ 1800 fps x 720 ] ÷ 10 tpi = 129,600 rpm For 1 sec transit time, that is 2,167 turns before impact,
or 362 turns in 100 yards (0.167 seconds). I imagine the rpm doesn't go down much as velocity drops....

[Ford SD]

Bruce B is Smiling Down on you

Cast and the 308 go Here V

https://castboolits.gunloads.com/sho...pringfield-M1A

Bruce Used a 1/12 twist rifle so you will not be able to get the same velocity as he did

If a load works in a m1A 99.9% of the time it will work in a 308 M1 Garand

Best bullet choices weight wise over 165G up to the 200g 311299

Never had good luck with Sr 4759 either too fast RPM or not enough gas to work the action

Dacron filler

[charlie b]

FWIW, the bullets do not fly apart at those rotational speeds. Many of us have pushed the limits on that. What does happen is they start to precess into larger rotational path making them inaccurate. The higher quality of the cast bullet the higher the rotational speed they can withstand.

[DoctorBill]

.
I don't believe that I asked this before in this thread. but has anyone tried the
Ed Harris 14 grains of 2400 in the .308 WIN M1 Garand ? . . Or 13 grains of Red Dot ?

I loaded up some 30-06 with 15 gr of 2400 for my son's 1917 Enfield Bolt Action Rifle
and got to wondering how it might work in my M1 Garand....

Ed Harris specifically mentioned 308 WIN 13 grain Red Dot Loads for reduced recoil.
"The velocities obtained with 13 grs. of Red Dot appear mild, but "The Load" is no pipsqueak!
In a case like the .308 or .30-'06, you get (from a 24" sporter barrel) about 1450 f.p.s. with a
200 gr. cast bullet, 1500 with a 170-gr., or 1600 with a 150-gr. Cast load. "The Load" is fully
comparable to "yesterday's deer rifle", the .32-40, and provides good expansion of cheap,
soft alloys (10-13 BHN) at woods ranges.
Jacketed bullet velocities with "The Load" are about 120-150 f.p.s. less than a lubricated lead
bullet of the same weight."

DoctorBill

POST SCRIPT - (9-18-24) 13 grains of Red Dot did not cycle the action. It shot same as Reloader 15, but would
not cycle the action. A REDUCED LOAD OF Varget @ 35.8 grains worked like a charm !
Love this rifle, but it doesn't like Ed Harris' loads. Too bad. At $60 per pound, it would have been nice.....