30 M1 Ammo and the M1 Rifle
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.
30 M1 Ammo and the M1 Rifle
