My CMP Garand should be showing up soon, and I want to get an idea of what it will take to reload for it.  Does anyone have a link to information on how to correctly reload for it?

I'm a total n00b at reloading, have never done so, none of my friends or family do so.  I will be 100% on my own.  That's OK though I can learn.

Apparently, there's a range of bullet weights that are meant for the Garand in order for it to correctly cycle.  The Greek CMP ammo that is also on its way is 150 grain as I recall.  I don't know anything about the powder behind that bullet.

I might like to look for a lighter weight bullet for a flatter trajectory.  Any ideas on what kind of powder to use and how much to make the Garand cycle correctly?  Would it be possible to load a 90 grain bullet that would cycle reliably?

I know zero (0) about reloading so if this is a stupid question, feel free to go on ahead and laugh.

Before you decide figure out how much per round it costs to reload M2 equiv load, you might find it cheaper just to buy some good surplus LC, Greek or Korean PS BALL ammo.

Just the powder alone at about 47-48 grains is going to be around 12-15 cents per round with IMR/H4895.

As far as the primers go.. the post above is partically correct, you DO need to take care to seat the primers BELOW flush, A primer pocket uniformer is what you need for this operation, Sinclair International has them and they are set up to use in a cordless drill. It is not really nessessary to use Mil-spec primers as long as they seat below flush, this is the key. This is a very debatable subject, In my  experience,I've used nothing but commerical Win. large primers. I've loaded 1000's of 30-06 using Win. large primers for my M1, and Never had a slam fire, I also made sure the primers were also below flush as well. Also I don't think starting out loading for a rifle like a M1/M14 clone is a good place to start for a noob with little or no experience, These rifles have a narrow range of powders and bullet weights that will work in them, you need to read up on the subject first, Hornady publishes a very informative reloading manual. In the rifle caliber manual it has a section on reloading for the M1, if you can find a copy, BUY It and READ IT carefully. A case gauge will also be nessesary to set up your sizing die in your press. Before you start reloading, gather as much info as you can and read it carefully. You CAN kill/maim youself, blow up your rifle reloading. As long as you follow safe loading practices, keep your loads reasonable for the caliber, and the type of action being used, you should'nt have any problems. Above all use common sense. If something dosen't look/ feel right STOP and check it out. before going any farther.

Check out www.jouster.com for information about reloading for the garand.  and don;t let these guys scare you.  You just have to follow some basic reloading safety issues and you'll be fine.  However, if you can, try and find someone near you that reloads (and knows what he's doing) and see if he;ll teach/show you what to do.

Also, you don't need a prim er pocket uniformer to get the primers below flush.  It is supposed to help accuracy but in my expierence, you don't need to have one.  The above advise is good but read all you can on the subject before you hit the bench.

Oh, and with the price of surplus 30-06 right now, your better off buying the surplus and saving your cases for when the surplus dries up.  I believe that the KA korean ammo is right about 18 cents a round right now on clips.  It corrosive but it's good brass for reloading and it's about the same cost of reloading, not including your time or the cost of the reloading equipment.  I started a few years back and have sunk well over $1000 dollars into just my reloading equipment the past few years.

If you need to know anything else, IM me and I'll try and answer as truthfully as possible.  Good luck and stay safe.

A primer pocket uniformer is a needed piece if equiptment. While the statement above that people use it to achive better accuracy is true, It also uniforms your primer pockets depths, primer pockets in brass cases are not the same in depth from manfacturer to manfacturer and often not the same from case to case even thought the cases are from the same manfacturer. The primer pocket uniformer solves this problem, by making all the primer pockets the same in depth, If they're all the same depth them you can seat all of your primers below flush easily. It dosen't take alot of residue left over from the last fired primer in a primer pocket to make it difficult to seat primer below flush. What you're doing here, is smashing the new primer up against the residue left from the fired primer, I don't think this a good idea, With  bolt action rifles,handguns, this isn't  really a problem, but with a Semi-Auto like a M1/M14/AR15, these rifles have a floating firing pin, it just slides back and forth,If you have a high primer, the firing pin can slide forward hard enough to fire the cartridge before the bolt is locked. This is precisely why you need to uniform the primer pockets.you'll greatly reduce your chances of getting a high primer using a primer pocket uniformer.  I use my uniformer every time I reload the brass, Sure it's a extra step, but I know without a doubt that the primers are below flush and I'm not going to have any problems. Ask Around over at the jouster forum, I think you'll find that many other people do the same thing as I do, I'm not trying to scare anybody. But I think you do need to be aware that when loading for a Semi-Auto rifle you must take a few extra steps when reloading, and take any steps nessessary to reduce any potential problems. A primer pocket uniformer will do just that. As I said read up on the subject, since you're going to try to go it alone, read everything you can on loading for M1/ M14/Ar15 type of rifles.Like you, I taught myself. I've been reloading now for 25 years, several times I almost gave up on it. Frankly, If you can find someone in your area who reloads, who would be willing to help you, and show you a few things, this would help you immensely, and save you alot of time and frustration. 25 years ago the internet was'nt around, so, it was alot harder for me to get good reliable info, you should'nt have that problem. There are alot of boards that have a reloading forum and help is alot easier to get. If you need help I'd also be willing to help you.  

Ralph, with all due respect, are you saying that you get so much reside from firing that it won't allow you to seat a primer below flush?  I have never had that happen to me...not once.

A uniformer removed metal from the primer pocket each time you use it.  Since you are using it every time, aren't you making your primer pockets thinner with each firing?  Why not just get a primer pocket cleaner if you have that much reside?

I bought a uniformer awhile back and found that most of the cases didn't have any metal removed or a very small amount, from them when I used it.  The primers would seat below flush on the residue without any problems on the cases that were not uniformed.  I have never had a slam fire nor had a problem seating below flush.

My understanding of the uniformer is it's a one time use piece of equipement and the pockets should be the same after that.

I reload for garands, M1a, and an Ar-15 without any problems.  Most of my primer pockets are not unifromed.

I use the primer pocket uniformer EVERY time I prep the cases, The first time you use it some metal will be removed, as the pockets are cut to a uniform depth. After that every time you use it, basically all that happens is you clean out all of the residue from the previous firing. It dose'nt keep cutting, as the one Sinclair sells is set as far as depth goes, it's not adjustable. so, once the primer pocket is uniformed, from that point on all that happens is it cleans out all of the residue.  I don't get any more residue than anybody else, all I'm saying is that by using the uniformer you are making sure ALL of the cases have a primer pocket that is uniform in depth, and all the primers will seat to the same depth (below flush)cleaning them out keeps them this way. I've tried the brushes in the past, they don't work near as well as a uniformer does. Bristles from the brush get bent, caught on the edge of the pocket, etc, they in my opinion, are a PITA. a uniformer works much better, quicker. As an aside, I have had .45acp and .223 cases that had so much residue built up in the primer pockets from repeated use, that I could not get the primers seated flush, This caused quite a few misfires in the .45, This was happening in the .223 before I started using a uniformer, I had found  these as I was loading up some mags. I fired them singley,and them started looking at all of my loaded .223 ammo. I found a few more... Once I started using the uniformer the problem dissapeared. I'm sure it could happen in a small primered case,simply because you get a few more loadings out of the case combine that with not cleaning the primer pocket, and you may run into some problems. Could it happen with a large primered rifle case? I'm not sure.Chances are the case will be tossed before this could happen. But, I'm not taking any chances, A clean primer pocket is cheap insurance against a slam-fire.

Quoted: Before you decide figure out how much per round it costs to reload M2 equiv load, you might find it cheaper just to buy some good surplus LC, Greek or Korean PS BALL ammo. Just the powder alone at about 47-48 grains is going to be around 12-15 cents per round with IMR/H4895.

just  buy the LC or Greek from the CMP, then save your brass
while you are shooting order a sierra or equivalent manual,
and read up on the how to's , there are several good books to help a newbie,

it will also give you some time to stock up on supplies,

i bought a dane less wood at perry this year and a case of Greek,
it shoots great! and the brass is reloadable,