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Posted: 3/22/2010 3:43:19 AM EDT
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I wanted to get the Garand experts in on this one before I hit the range.
I want to load up some 147 FMJBT's up with H4895. Most of the recipes I find that are Garand specific are for IMR. Anyone have a H4895 load?? Would 49 grains of H4895 be too hot?? It is middle of the road per Hodgdon for 30-06 but not Garand specific. |
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Google NJ higpower and go to their reloading page. There's a collection of nice service rifle data.
Word of advice, the loads are full power, you could shoot less than full power and be quite happen unless you're shooting to 600. I'm only shooting about 46 grains of IMR 4895, it works the gun and does well at our 200 yard shoots. |
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Quoted:
H4895 and IMR4895 are for all practical purposes, interchangeable powders. For safety sake reduce loads by 10% and work up from there. HTH 150 GR. NOS BT IMR IMR 4895 .308" 3.250" 49.0 2856 49,400 PSI 53.0 3009 56,700 PSI 150 GR. NOS BT Hodgdon H4895 .308" 3.250" 46.0 2806 44,400 CUP 51.0 2976 48,500 CUP I thought they were interchangable but these numbers seem much different?? From Hodgdon's site. |
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I guess maybe I read too much into "bending the op rod" so I was looking for a safe middle of the road load. I am not interested in making a monster load, looking for something safe in all barrels that will cycle.
If it stops raining I will try the 46grain loads I loaded last night. If it cycles I will call it a success. |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
H4895 and IMR4895 are for all practical purposes, interchangeable powders. For safety sake reduce loads by 10% and work up from there. HTH 150 GR. NOS BT IMR IMR 4895 .308" 3.250" 49.0 2856 49,400 PSI 53.0 3009 56,700 PSI 150 GR. NOS BT Hodgdon H4895 .308" 3.250" 46.0 2806 44,400 CUP 51.0 2976 48,500 CUP I thought they were interchangable but these numbers seem much different?? From Hodgdon's site. Reduce the loads 10%. Hodgdon is out to sell Hodgdon powder not IMR powder so they are naturally going to show lower pressure@ lower grain weight=better value with the Hodgdon powder 
One poster mentioned 47.5 grains, a good medium load. |
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Typical ball M2 only runs 2600 fps from my Garands, despite information to the contrary. 46 grains of IMR-4895 is plenty to cycle the action and then some.
The NRA developed some U.S. G.I. ammo duplication loads years ago for those interested in recreating it. All of these are maximums, treat them as such; .30-06 150 grain FMJBT IMR-3031 - 48.0 grains IMR-4895 - 49.0 grains IMR-4064 - 50.0 grains 168 grain Match IMR-3031 - 45.5 grains IMR-4895 - 47.0 grains IMR-4064 - 48.0 grains 173 grain M-72 IMR-4895 - 46.0 grains IMR-4064 - 47.- grains I pulled several lots of Ball M2 and discovered 46.0 grains of powder inside. Take that for what it's worth. IMR-4895, as used by the military, has a wide variation in burn rates when compared to canister grade powders. Each lot is loaded taking this into consideration. As far as the OP is concerned, I would consider 49.0 grains of H-4895 as too hot. At least as a starting load. You will get good groups and fine functioning starting your loads around 46.0 grains. You won't have any "issues" starting lower, you might have problems with 49.0 grains. Never start at the top. My experience with H-4895 in .308 shows it uses less powder to reach maximum in that caliber when compared to IMR-4895. Be careful. |
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I built a gas plug for my Garand with an adjustment ring similar to those found on FNFAL rifles. I can now shoot any safe 30-06 load with any weight 30 cal bullet.I am no longer constrained by port pressures, burn rates, or bullet weight. There are commercially available gas plugs for Garands that will alleviate the need to be concerned with such matters. It truly is liberating. You do like liberty, don't you? |
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I built a gas plug for my Garand with an adjustment ring similar to those found on FNFAL rifles. I can now shoot any safe 30-06 load with any weight 30 cal bullet.I am no longer constrained by port pressures, burn rates, or bullet weight. There are commercially available gas plugs for Garands that will alleviate the need to be concerned with such matters. It truly is liberating. You do like liberty, don't you? Adjustable gas plug is the only way to go. I like liberty! |
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Quoted:
Reduce the loads 10%. Hodgdon is out to sell Hodgdon powder not IMR powder so they are naturally going to show lower pressure@ lower grain weight=better value with the Hodgdon powder
One poster mentioned 47.5 grains, a good medium load. I had a failure to feed at 46 grains. I loaded some up at 47 and will try again. Thanks for the tip. |
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Quoted:
If it stops raining I will try the 46grain loads I loaded last night. If it cycles I will call it a success. My rifle seems to do well with 41-43 grains. It cycles and if the slightly lower velocity is accounted for in sight adjustment it works well. IIRC it runs 4 clicks higher on the rear sight than M2 Ball. I was able to hit a 5 gallon bucket at 400+, so it will do the job once you know where the sights need to be. |
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Hornady's new number 7 reloading has a section for the M1 Garand, (and Service rifle sections for 308 and 5.56) and for a 150 grain bullet with H4895 they show a starting load of 43.2g (2400 fps) to a max load of 46.4g (2600 fps). They are using Hornady/Frontier brass. So if you are using miitary brass you may want to stay 10% under.
Good Luck |
| I actually weighed a bunch of different .30-06 cases, some U.S. G.I from different years and an assortment of American made commercial brass. For the most part the commercial brass was heavier, some of it by a fair margin. I think the only real concern when loading G.I. brass specifically applies to .308. |
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