if you shot commercial 30.06 ammo through a Garand on a normal basis?  Would it really mess up the rifle?

John C Garand would claw his way up through the dirt and buttstroke you in the head.

Results will vary wildly depending on what ammo you use.  The number one answer, survey says, bent oprod.

Don't mean to hijack, but along these same lines...

I bought a box of Remington Core-Lokt 150 grain PSP and Federal Fusion 168 grain BTSP ammo just to put aside for my M1A. I've only been shooting my own reloads in my M1A since I bought it new (165-168 grain BT's with 41 grains of IMR4895). So I know those are okay to shoot in it, but is the average factory hunting round okay to shoot in my M1A? Sorry once again Jay for hijacking your thread but I hated to start another asking a similar question.

I'm no ballistics pro but I did stay at a quality inn last night

I shoot soft point Federal through my M1a during hunting season but I've had the bolt AND barrel replaced and when the armorer cut the chamber, he did so in a way that would allow that. The rifle will NOT close on a "no-go" gauge.  A lot of M1a rifles will close on that gauge but pass the "field reject gauge".  That means it's fine for surplus military stuff but shooting commercial ammo might be a cause for caution.  The primers are softer and the cases are thinner.  My poly was on the verge of popping primers even with military the headspace was so bad.  So, I'm fortunate to be able to shoot both.

With regard to the Garand, I know there is a pressure difference between military and commercial in addition to the other two issues I mentioned.  If, however, your Garand has a nice, tight headspace, I don't see why not.  At Camp Perry last Summer, we were issued Federal brandy new ammo for the Garands and the 03A3 matches and to my knowledge, after many thousands of rounds, there weren't any problems.  If it's good enough for CMP, I guess it's ok for us.

Rome

Quoted: if you shot commercial 30.06 ammo through a Garand on a normal basis?  Would it really mess up the rifle?

I use Igman 150gr PSP all the time as my plinking ammo. It is loaded to military specs, has a muzzle velocity of about 2800fps like the rifle should, and cycles great. Accuracy is about 2MOA which is what should be expected.

Have fun.

Quoted: I shoot soft point Federal through my M1a during hunting season but I've had the bolt AND barrel replaced and when the armorer cut the chamber, he did so in a way that would allow that. The rifle will NOT close on a "no-go" gauge.  A lot of M1a rifles will close on that gauge but pass the "field reject gauge".  That means it's fine for surplus military stuff but shooting commercial ammo might be a cause for caution.  The primers are softer and the cases are thinner.  My poly was on the verge of popping primers even with military the headspace was so bad.  So, I'm fortunate to be able to shoot both.

Did my reloads sound okay to you for long term shooting in my new SA Standard M1A? I started with the Speer 168HPBT Match stuff, but have since been using the Speer 165BTSP bullets in Winchester .308 brass with 41 grains of IMR4895 and Remington 9 1/2 Large Rifle primers. If these reloads of mine are fine, what is the difference between them and the commercial stuff out there? I always figured that it was mainly powder type (too fast or too slow) that made some ammo hard on M1A's. Thanks for your input and advice.

Quoted: Did my reloads sound okay to you for long term shooting in my new SA Standard M1A? I started with the Speer 168HPBT Match stuff, but have since been using the Speer 165BTSP bullets in Winchester .308 brass with 41 grains of IMR4895 and Remington 9 1/2 Large Rifle primers. If these reloads of mine are fine, what is the difference between them and the commercial stuff out there? I always figured that it was mainly powder type (too fast or too slow) that made some ammo hard on M1A's. Thanks for your input and advice.

Sounds fine.  The match load that everyone has been shooting for years and years is 168grs, 41.5grs IMR4895, in a surplus case.  You can add a grain or two for commercial brass.

Port pressure is what you should worry about.  High port pressure will cause excessive force to be applied to the oprod.  Cycling will be harsher and you risk in the short term bending the oprod and over the long term, battering the oprod into cracking at the base of the tube.  The M1 is going to be more susceptible as the gas system is not self-regulating and the oprod is longer/heavier.  Excessive port pressures are caused by slow powders (IMR4064/Varget are about as slow as you want to go) or heavy bullets (180grs and up).

There were pictures floating around the 'net 2-3 years back showing an M1 that had fired a Hornady Light Magnum round.  The oprod was bent and had jumped the track, the stock was reduced to splinters.  The shooter got away with some scrapes and bruises.

Ty

Thanks for the info 30cal. I did notice that at 300 my groups are a couple inches lower than what they should be (I have a scope with the bullet drop compensator). So perhaps I should add a grain or two of powder in there and see if that "lifts" them a bit. I've been shooting the 165BT soft points instead of the match stuff because I wanted a bullet that was okay to hunt deer with if I ever choose to and wanted to stockpile that stuff. The ballistic coefficent looks to be near enough to the match stuff to satisfy my tastes and so far it seems nearly as accurate to me as well.