Correct Ammunition For 1943 Springfield & June 1946 Barrel

[Victor Albetta]

I will have gunsmith check mouth and muzzle on rifle, but would like to know recommended round for my rifle. Appreciate help.

[David Milisock]

Have a smith check but 30.06 made for the Garand. U.S. Mil surplus is a place to start. It's 150 grain to 174 grain with a fast powder.

[TJT]

It's 150 grain to 174 grain with a fast powder.

Victor,
Make sure ANY ammo you buy for your M1 rifle is CLEARLY marked as being M1 specific. If you roll your own, use M1 specific data. Just because it is 30-'06 ammo, don't assume it will be ok in your rifle.
David,
Sure hope you're not rolling your own or instructing some one else how to with that kind of an unsupported answer. There are plenty of "fast" powders available and they're not all M1 friendly. You really should not pontificate about some thing that you obviously have no clue about. One needs to get educated on a subject before relaying unreliable and just plain wrong and bad information.
Remember this--when that cartridge goes off just inches from your face, there's 50,000 psi at work. You'd better damn well know what you're doing before you pull the trigger.
Just sayin'......
Jon

[m14brian]

+1 to TJT. Safety first.
The Garand's gas system is long and requires a powder that burns within specific burn rate margins as well as powder charge for safety and proper function, that means you can only use certain powders. Too fast a powder and it won't function or could cause damage and too slow a powder and you will bend or snap op rods or blow it up. Don't make hot loads either.
m14brian

[Smokey]

1. Use a reloading manual
2. 150gr bullets at around 2700 fps with IMR4895 or H4895 should work fine.

You have to work pressures at two points, peak pressure, and pressure at the gas port near the muzzle. It's the port pressure that limits the burning rate of the propellant you can use.

[Victor Albetta]

Thanks for all the advice. It’s safety first. Seeing my gunsmith tomorrow to check the barrel of the rifle and for any other issues. I will use only specified M1 ammo that conforms.

[David Milisock]

Victor here is some starting information for reloading.

http://www.provenreloads-handloads.com/articles/2016/10/22/30-06-springfield-part-2-service-rifle-loads

I highly recommend that after your smith gives you the ok that you try military surplus first, these are not new firearms. If you're going to try hand loading and you're new to it I suggest you find a knowledgeable local to help. Reloading for auto loaders would not be my first choice for beginners, especially a gas system like the Garand.

Like I said in my first post U.S. surplus is the best place to start.

[David Milisock]

Victor,
Make sure ANY ammo you buy for your M1 rifle is CLEARLY marked as being M1 specific. If you roll your own, use M1 specific data. Just because it is 30-'06 ammo, don't assume it will be ok in your rifle.
David,
Sure hope you're not rolling your own or instructing some one else how to with that kind of an unsupported answer. There are plenty of "fast" powders available and they're not all M1 friendly. You really should not pontificate about some thing that you obviously have no clue about. One needs to get educated on a subject before relaying unreliable and just plain wrong and bad information.
Remember this--when that cartridge goes off just inches from your face, there's 50,000 psi at work. You'd better damn well know what you're doing before you pull the trigger.
Just sayin'......
Jon

Read my post slowly, I gave no reloading advice, I said to have a smith check, (30.06) start with U.S. military surplus. It's 150 to 174 grain with a fast powder.

Yes 4895 for 150 to 174 grain loads is a fast powder, but I listed no powder bullets, primers, brass or any reloading instructions.

[TJT]

Just because it's milsurp ammo, doesn't automatically mean it's ok in the M1 either--especially foreign-made ammo. No matter where its origins are from, it COULD be re-branded or re-boxed machine gun ammo which is hotter than standard rifle ammo--still not a good thing.
Jon

[David Milisock]

I will have gunsmith check mouth and muzzle on rifle, but would like to know recommended round for my rifle. Appreciate help.

I don't know if you like reading or if you're interested in reloading but here are two links 1 for the 30.06 development history discussing the change of bullet weight and powder during the Garand development using IMR 1185 powder for the 174 grain ball.

The second is a link to Improved Military Rifle Powder, pay attention to the section on 4895, you'll see that 4895 was used prior to the introduction of the 174 grain load with 9% DNT coating. Then with the introduction of the 174 grain projectile they used IMR 1185, when they went back to the lighter weight projectile they went to a modified 4895.

While the granule length remained the same .084 the diameter was changed from .030 to .032 and 7% DNT coating effectively modifying the burn rateofv4895 for the 174 grain weight projectile in the Garand.

In WWII the 152 grain ball used a different version of 4895 .056 long .032 diameter with 5% DNT effectively increasing the burn rate.

Now these are wiki but I have cross referenced the pertinent information with IMR and old Hatcher note book sites.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/.30-...te-multiref1-3

https://military.wikia.org/wiki/Impr..._note-sharpe-2

[Victor Albetta]

Victor here is some starting information for reloading.

http://www.provenreloads-handloads.com/articles/2016/10/22/30-06-springfield-part-2-service-rifle-loads

I highly recommend that after your smith gives you the ok that you try military surplus first, these are not new firearms. If you're going to try hand loading and you're new to it I suggest you find a knowledgeable local to help. Reloading for auto loaders would not be my first choice for beginners, especially a gas system like the Garand.

Like I said in my first post U.S. surplus is the best place to start.

Thanks for the advice David, I am not a reloader.

Vic

[Victor Albetta]

Just because it's milsurp ammo, doesn't automatically mean it's ok in the M1 either--especially foreign-made ammo. No matter where its origins are from, it COULD be re-branded or re-boxed machine gun ammo which is hotter than standard rifle ammo--still not a good thing.
Jon

Seems that sticking with U.S. M1 ball would be the safest.

[David Milisock]

Seems that sticking with U.S. M1 ball would be the safest.

I believe the WWII M2 ball is available in many locations, I would want to make sure to stick to U.S. manufacture as I have no experiance with foreign ammo. I only use reloads myself.

[Orlando]

Here are a few companies that manufacture commercial Garand specific ammo: Priv Partizan, Sellier & Bellot, Hornady, Creedmore

[David Milisock]

Here are a few companies that manufacture commercial Garand specific ammo: Priv Partizan, Sellier & Bellot, Hornady, Creedmore

Thanks I have some odd work I'm doing with 2 differant 06's and putting the scope mounting back on my M1 so some factory M1 stuff would be good to have on hand. I have 2,000 of the Priv Partizan for my M1 Carbines and it shoots fairly well.