NEW Ammo in Garand

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Got-R-Did

The problem is not the bullet weight or the peak pressure generated by the cartridge. The problem stems from the burning speed of the powder. A faster burning powder such as IMR-4895, which was used widely for loading military M1 ammo reaches peak pressure earlier. This allows pressure to drop to a safe level before the bullet passes the barrel's gas port. The slower burning powders cause peak pressure to be attained later causing excessive port pressure. This can lead to bent operating rods, etc.. There are vented gas cylinder plugs available to allow the use of ammunition with less than ideal pressure curves. I have always read that the reason for changing from the M1 ball with the 173gr boat tail to the M2 ball with the 150gr flat base was range safety. The 173gr M1 ball has a much greater range and the concern was for bullets getting off the firing ranges. I believe the most common WWII issue for the M1 rifle was the M2AP round. This round was a pretty high pressure round compared to the M2 ball but I have not read of problems with it's use in the M1.

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Originally Posted by Swede

I have some old .30 cal Match boxes of ammo that say 173gr at 2640fps. The only thing is I don't know if it is for an 03 or the Garand. I do know there are a lot of shooters using 170 - 180 gr bullets in their Garands.
I personally use only 150 & 168 gr bullets. 150 for most of my shooting and 168 for match.
So did 2 clips do damage to your rifle? I double it. Factory ammo is supposed to be okay to shoot in an auto. But I would stay with 150's.

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I have and shoot from a few cans of 173 grn Match ammo that came from surplus in the enbloc clips. Stuff shoots great! M2 ball in the same rifle produces a 3 to 4 MOA group (off sandbags) at 100, while an eight round group of the Match stuff can be covered with a half dollar. HUGE difference. Only a couple thousand rounds down range, but nothing bad yet. This is with an all correct and seemingly original '43 springfield withe the unmodified oprod and a shortfork follower. Maybe I've just been really lucky.

If you want to shoot commercial ammo and still have an intact rifle get one these, an adjustable gas plug. I have these on all mine, it will save you from a lot of damage later on. I set them so I only have enough pressure to cycle the rifle. Start with the largest port first and work your way down. You may have to change setting to get Greek .06 to cycle after shooting the commercial stuff. As someone else said, you can bend operating rods, and that would be the least damage. You can also shear the rear legs off the action, then it's a piece of scrap metal.

The part is about half way down the page:

http://www.fulton-armory.com/MParts.htm

30 M1 Ammo and the M1 rifle
The 30 M1 ammunition was not discontinued because it was too powerful for the M1 Rifle. I would hesitate to try to estimate the total number of 30 M72 Match rounds fired through M1 rifles during the 50’s 60’s and 70’s. The 30 M 72 Match ammo was loaded with a 172 gr boat tailed bullet to a velocity of ~2650 fps – practically a duplicate of the old 30 M1 ball ammo. This round was fired in the M1 in “Leg” matches and the National Matches and in any match requiring the use of “as issue” ammo for many years – I believe from about 1954 through ~1971.
The complete story of the development of the 30 M1 round is covered in ‘Hatchers Notebook’ but I shall give a brief summary here.
During WWI the US had only a limited number of machine guns so originally had to borrow from the French (Hotchkiss) and the British (Vickers) MG’s. The Hotchkiss fired the “Balle D” (a 192 gr bronze boat tailed bullet, and the Vickers fired the .303 Mark Vii ,a 174 gr flat based bullet). When the US Browning MG arrived upon the scene firing the standard 30-06 round, a 150 gr flat based bullet at ~ 2700 fps, the ballistics fell far short of the previous two guns. A hue and cry went up to improve the 30-06 round. Long range MG barrages (previously fired with the Hotchkiss and the Vickers) were not possible with the 30-06 which had a maximum range of only 3400 yards. The army immediately started development to correct the situation. The correction did not come to pass until the WW was over.
The result was the “30 M1 round” firing a 172 gr BT bullet at 2650 fps adopted in 1925. Originally it was designed to fire at 2700 fps, but too many lots of powder caused excessive pressure at the MV so the MV was dropped to 2650. National Match ammo of the 30’s was loaded to 2700 fps and the pressures ran up to about 52K psi – acceptable for match but not for general issue. The round had a mazimum range of ~5400 yards. This is the round for which the M1 was developed. The army had millions of the old 30-06 150 gr ammo left over from WWI which was used until it was exhausted. In 1936 when the 30 M1 round came into general use, a new problem arose. The 5400 yard range caused the bullet to land beyond the safety zone of many of the existing ranges. The National Guard Bureau requested that the War Department make up some of the old 30-06, 150 gr ammo for use. The new round was almost like the old 30-06 round but there were slight differenced and it was name the “30M2” round. The bullet ogive was slightly different, the bullet jacket was different and the velocity was raised to ~2850 fps. (By 1936 and up through 1940 there were few M1 rifles in use by the National Guard and unfortunately a pathetic few in the army.) Therefore I doubt that the use of the 30 M1 round in the M1 was much of a problem. There were other and more serious problems with the M1 at that time.
The Service Boards liked the reduced recoil of the new load and recommended that it be named the standard. The 30M2 was standardized as the 'Cartridge, Ball, Caliber .30 M2' in 1940 and in 1942 the 30 M1 round was declared to be obsolete. By this time the .50 caliber Browning Heavy MG had replace the 30 caliber for long range MG fire. During WWII, in the European theater (due to the large amount of metal on the battle field) the 30 M2 AP round (a 168 gr semi boat tailed bullet at 2775 fps) came into general use. Some of the 30 M2 AP was pretty wicked. In the 1960’s this 30M2AP ammo was issued by the army for DCM qualifications by DCM affiliated rifle clubs and it was pretty wicked stuff. I have chronographed some of it at ~2900 fps.
Hope this helps and is of some value.

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I was also under the understanding that during the Korean conflict, the 30 M2 AP was standard issue to the rifleman because it gave better performance out at extended ranges. If that be true then a great deal of the hi velocity ammo was consumed in M1's.

I load my own M2 ammo using GI LC69 Brass and Surplus M2 bullets. The powder of choice is IMR 4895. I have not had any trouble with the load I use as I keep it moderate. There are couple of things that you need to keep in mind when loading for the M1 top of the list is to check each and every round for high primers to avoid a firing out of battery and probably even better is to also use the CCI military style primer with the thicker cup material.

Skeet1