I've done a lot reading online about the M1, it's history, and what it likes to eat. And I'm still confused.

CMP does't have any surplus M2 ball right now. Is anything marked "30-06 Springfield" safe? I got 40rds of 150 grn Remington 30-06 Springfield today but am starting to wonder if it's ok without an adjustable gas plug.

What am I looking for in stock Garand-safe ammo? The folks I talked to in person said "it's a military gun - it'll eat anything." I think they're clearly wrong, but I'd like to know what factors to look for when deciding.

Link

Basically nothing over 165gr. Anything heavier can bend the op rod.

The Garand isn't the Fragile Flower most paranoids say it is.

You will be ok with most 150 gr commercial FMJ and generic soft point ammo just Avoid the turbo supreme hunting loads.

If you shop around you should be able to find the Privi Part M2 load for around the same price as CMP surplus check out AIM a board sponsor they usually have it.

Don't waste Money on a Adj gas plug, buy a new op-rod spring and ammo instead.

Cmp has hxp.
Plenty.

For now.

For what it's worth, if it don't say m2 ball or 3006 garand... I won't shoot it.
3006 Springfield is not garand ammo.

http://www.luckygunner.com/30-06-150-gr-fmj-m1-garand-federal-american-eagle-20-round

http://www.garandgear.com/ported-gas-plug.html

Buy one of these and don't ever look back.


If your M1 is a shooter, there is no reason NOT to run one of these.  You can shoot anything you want with no fear of bending the op rod with this gas plug.  No settings, just tighten it and your GTG to shoot whatever you want.  I shoot HXP, PRVI m1 garand ammo, soft tip winchester stuff.....whatever, with no problems.

ETA: Danish...posted the same thing first!

The receiver/bolt/barrel on an M1 Garand is tougher than nails, or most, if not all, of the presently made commercial rifles today.

What is not as tough as the rest is the gas system.  It was designed for the military ammo that shot a certain bullet weight with a certain powder that developed a certain pressure at the gas port.

The problem, with commercial loads, heavier bullets, and some people's reloads is using powder that has too slow of a burn rate.  If the burn rate on the powder is too slow, the bullet may be traveling the same velocity, but the gas pressure as the bullet passes the gas port is much to high for the M1 Garand gas system and can damage the operating rod and hammer the back of the bolt into the back of the receiver.

If you can get the ammunition company (Remington/Federal/Winchester/etc.) to tell you what powders they use on their 150 grain ammo then you'll know whether or not you can safely shoot it in your M1 Garand.

The M1 Garand powder burn rate, near as you can tell from the internet, is nothing faster burning than IMR3031 and nothing slower burning than IMR 4064.  There are lots of powders between, but you'll have to look up a burn rate chart and then see if you can get the ammo company to tell you what powder they use for those 150 grain and 165 grain cartridges they make/sell.

Or, you can get an adjustable gas plug, or a vented gas plug, or whatever it might be called that makes sure the gas system pressure is in the correct burn rate to operate the rifle without damage.

I put a Schuster adjustable gas plug in my shooter M1.  There are other brands that are supposed to work but I have not tried them.

Good luck, they can be great rifles and accurate, reliable and very hard hitting.  Seems like I remember reading the military cartridge/bullet would penetrate 20" of oak wood at 200 yds.  Can't hide behind trees when someone's shooting at you with something like that.

1) Generally (but not necessarily always), 150 gr commercial ammo is fine in a Garand.

2) In cases where heavier port pressure exceeds Garand design - at least one person did some tests and found that so long as the gun is properly greased, it can greatly exceed port pressure without damage.  As I recall, he was firing very heavy bullets (approach 200 gr) with hot loads.  After many rounds, he then removed all the grease from the gun and was able to damage the op rod upon resumption of fire, in just a few rounds.  Lesson being-  keep you Garand greased - especially if you will be shooting non-GI ammo.

3) Using a non-adjustable hollowed out (or "ported") gas plug is a low cost investment that will let you fire virtually any ammo - this is not to be confused with the vented or adjustable style plugs.  The ported plugs work by having a larger initial volume in the gas cylinder for the combustion gasses to fill.  Theory is, this slows them down enough, that peak pressure is dampened - which slows down the initial spike of velocity.  But by being large volume, provide enough volume of the lower peak pressure gas to reliably cycle your rifle with any ammo that will normally cycle a Garand.  These plugs are how the Garand should have been designed in the first place.  Some claim they improve accuracy, but I have not seen that.  My only real complaint with the Garand Gear plug is they used a non-standard slot for tightening, meaning conventional Garand tools (like the cleaning kit screwdriver tip) don't work for securing or removing the plug.  For the Obsessive Compulsive crowd, they also annoy because the screw slot on the end no longer has the GI appearance.  And if all that doesn't convince you - the sincerest form of flattery is imitation, and Schuster has now copied the Garand Gear design, and without GarandGear's goofy socket wrench based tighting system.  For this reason, I recommend instead getting Schuster's new high-volume plug (NOT their adjustable): http://www.schustermfg.com/m1-garand-high-volume-gas-plug/   It's also cheaper.

4) I personally do not recommend the vented or adjustable gas plugs.  While they may be great, and many people love them, the concept of venting gas outside the rifle bugs me.  Now you are loosing system gas, and when you switch back to regular ammo, it may not cycle.  Also, adjustable systems mean they can be out of adjustment.

Either I'm shooting M2 Ball or this 30-06-168-gr-A-MAX-M1-Garand

Thanks a lot for the help, everyone. That really made everything clearer.

Consider learning to reload...the components to mimic M2 ball are very available.

For the first time I'm actually considering it. At the very least I'll be saving my -06 brass until I can.

Save all your other brass also and then you can sell/trade it for more 30-06 brass.

When you start talking a round that costs a minimum of 80 cents a round, there is no other sensible answer except to reload.(unless you are a millionaire of course)
Plenty of garand safe data out there.

American Eagle 150gr is GTG.

You're welcome


I just ordered another 50cal ammo box full.

I've never shot any of it, but it doesn't have the best reviews either on arfcom, cmp or other forums.

That said ... I'll pass on shooting any of it through mine.

Eh. I bought some surplus ammo from CMP and had a case split on one round...spooked me. I'm not trying to destroy my piece of history. I pulled all the bullets and dumped everything else. Until I get my reloading bench squared away, I only shoot American Eagle's M1 Garand .30-06 or Hornady's M1 Garand .30-06.

Don't risk fucking up your op-rod....they don't make them anymore

Learn to handload

http://masterpostemple.bravepages.com/M1load.htm

Thanks SemperMO but I think I'll get me some PPU Garand when I can. The milsurp stuff is slight more expensive and the little bit (2 boxes) I did get from Midway was really dusty/dirty/old. Probably fine but didn't exactly inspire confidence.

Still haven't shot the rifle...need to sit down and figure out how it works before ending up at the range with half a clip and the RO calling for a cease-fire.

Learn to NOT get M1-thumb.  

( note how the back of the pinky finger is preventing the charging handle/op-rod from moving forward )



http://www.theboxotruth.com/educational-zone-62-great-firearms-the-m-1-garand/

to unload a full or partially full Garand, ...safety on, finger off the trigger, ....push the button on the left side of the receiver, and pull the bolt back

It's a beautiful design  


My late WWII Springfield Armory

CMP Service Grade from the 1990's

Thanks! So that's what that button is for.

And WOW is that a nice rifle.

I don't know if you've seen this video of a Garand firing in super slomo, but it's pretty fascinating to watch.

Also, it might be a good idea to learn how to load and fire single shot (without the clip). I quickly searched for youtube videos without any success.

With the action open slide a round fully into the chamber.
Hold the op rod back with either the heel of your hand (as in Derek45's pic) or your other hand.
Press down on the slide/follower (the part that the cartridge normally rests on)..
Ease the op rod forward until the bolt face is about halfway over the slide/follower and then let it go.
Make sure the op rod is all the way forward.

I don't know if it's an old wive's tale or not (it was taught to me by a veteran trained on the M1), but the reason why you ride the bolt halfway home is because of the free floating firing pin the Garand uses.

There is a chance that the op rod can slam home hard enough for the firing pin to dimple the primer enough to fire the round off when you're not ready or in worse case scenario cause a slamfire.

If you remove the round you just chambered by riding the op rod and look at the primer you'll see the dimple left by the firing pin.

Every time I watch those slow-mo vids from the last post, I want to go get out the Garand....and put in another order.  Restraint.  RESTRAINT!

It's not a nice rifle.  It's a beautiful rifle, a majestic rifle.  It is the ne plus ultra, the sine qua non, the acme, the peak, the absolute pinnacle, the froth, the foam, the flower and the cream of main battle rifles.

If you don't have one send in your order to CMP right away.  Not tomorrow, but this very night.

Dupe  Deleted

Hell, I never knew they had bad reviews.  I shot a bunch of the paki 308 in my m1a with zero problems.  But I do understand that the m1 is a bit of a different animal.

Canceled my order and ordered some of the American Eagle m1 garand stuff.

Don't worry, you already got me.

Sitting at my desk reading the old manuals on the rifle figuring out how all the knobs and stuff work. No M1 thumb...yet.

I have never heard of such a low weight limit, so I have to ask where this came from?  The normal max bullet weight quoted is 180 gr.  

Just as a sanity check, your limit would exclude the very commonly used 168 gr MatchKing bullet and the 175 gr MatchKing is "Right out!".

You are quite right - there is no 168 gr weight limit.  John Garand's design specification was to work with both M1 and M2 ball.  And indeed, the sights are technically regulated for M1 ball, not M2 - though the are so similar in trajectory over normal ranges, you can't tell the difference.  M1 ball is a 174 gr projectile.

The NRA publishes M1 Garand load data up to 200 grain bullets.

All that said, commercial 30-06 ammo in the heavier bullet class has evolved since the 1930's, and indeed one should in general avoid commerically loaded ammo above 168 gr unless, it's marked for the Garand.  Reloaders do not have this restriction, so long as they use appropriate burn rate powders.