.30-06 reloading for M1

[260Remshtr]

I've been shooting the M1 for several years and have since gotten into shooting vintage military matches....problem is there are some very good shooting swede mausers, and some 7x57's that are giving me a hard run for the money at 300, and 400yrds. Some of these shooters are using vintage scopes so I do have to compete agianst that also---but I haven't seen the advantage over my M1. I'm looking for an edge with my '06 loads and thinking that 175-178grn bullets might help. I've been reloading 168 SMK using 4895, 4064, and Varget (the best groups were with IMR 4895).

So my question is any advice? Do 175's shoot better at the ranges above than the 168's? How about choices in 175's( Nosler or Sierra)? How about powders? Anyone tried Accurate 2520?

Any and all help and input is welcome.

Thanks,
~260

 

[Alex Wheeler]

Don't have much experience with the 175, but the 155 will do better that the 168 if you push it faster. And with less recoil. The bc is pretty close between the 168 and 155, but the 155 can go faster. I'd look at the 168 berger hybrid for a real advantage.

 

[2506]

Your biggest problem is not the ammo it is the rifle itself. Unless your rifle is perfectly match tuned and has a perfect barrel etc. you are going to have trouble out shooting those 6.5X55 Swedes if they shoot like the ones I have. In the vintage military rifle matches I used to shoot in they had different rifle classes to make everything much more evenly competitive. The M1 Garands were shot in a match all to their selves and had to be STOCK MILITARY no match rifles. Bolt rifles were shot in a class and they had to be STOCK MILITARY. By saying stock military there was one exception. You could change your front sight height to make it shoot more to point of aim instead of a foot high battle sighting. All match rifles and scoped sniper rifles were shot in an open class.
My M1 Garand likes the 155 Nosler match bullet with IMR 4895 better than the 168 Sierra. Different rifles like different bullets so you never know until you give it a try. One little tip than helped the accuracy of my M1 was by using an inside the case flash hole de-burring tool to get rid of the uneven pieces of brass sticking up and thus allowing the primer flash to ignite the powder more consistently. Also using a Lee Factory Crimp Die helped. Good luck and good shooting.

 

[Shynloco]

260Remshootr,
I'm NOT going to claim any expertise, but I will relate to you a conversion one of my shooting buddies had with the experts at Sierra (about a year+ or so ago) regarding the use of the 168 gr vs the 175 gr HPTB. Their advice was that their bullet performance for best accuracy was based upon the distance being shot. In other words you can expect better grouping using the 168's at a distance 100 - 300 yds and thereafter the 175 gr would serve you better. I don't shoot a "Service Rifle" but shoot with some guys who compete in the Service Rifle class. If I remember correctly, they use 4064 and even RL15, Varget, IMR 4895 and some have started testing H & IMR 4350, but I haven't heard their results of that. Hope that gives you some ideas to try. BTW, I tend to agree with what 2506 says regardling the "stock" M1 Garands in terms of "tuning" them for better performance. But I will say that what amazes me is watching those guys shoot even at 600 yds with open sights and the groups they put down. Been tempted a few times to get me one, but the groups my 6.5 X 55 Swede puts together is hard to turn your back on.

 

[Old Trooper]

I have been shooting Garands since 1959, when I went into the Army. When I got to a Airborne Infantry unit, the senior NCO's would always try to get M1 ball ammo, from the machine guns, instead of using M2 ball ammo. The M1 ball used the 173 grain bullets. I using 175's in my Garand's and do not have a problem shooting against the Swed's. You need to use a mid-range powder, or you can bend your operating rod. I tried AA2520 and that is the only powder that I use anymore. You can use 4350 powders, if you use a gas relief plug, but they are not legal in as-issued CMP matches. Another thing that I learned in the ABI was to refinish the stock with True Oil, instead of Lin Speed Oil.

 

[navyrad8r]

260rem,
have you tinkered with the lapua d46s? they are rebated boat tail FMJs. some are slightly over .309 in diameter and can really help "older" barrels hang in there. back in the day, they were real hammers designed for 300m prone shooting from 7.62, and other cases at CISM matches. Lapua still makes them but in the heavier 185 weight. if you are interested give me a PM and i might be able to send you enought to goof around. as for powder, 4064, re15, and 4895 are all good choices, don't overlook BLC2 either though. i do think that 168's run out of love passed 300 though, at least when you are forced to stay mag length. if you can single load, then higher bc (VLD, Hybrid) might give you some edge. but remember as service rifle guys we are handicapped by the gas system when we go against bolt gunners IMHO. My 1k service gun is a SECNAV trophy rifle in .308, and she wears a blonde stock that is true oiled like old trooper suggests. shooting 190s and IMR4320 but hat is a different story. I hope this helps. let me know if you wanna shoot some of those d46s.
cheers,
doc

 

[tjtjwdad]

I was a service rifle shooter and although I primarily shot the M14 I did load for the M1, mainly in 7.62 but on occasion in 30-06. In those days the primary powder was IMR-4895, 168 SMK and just about any primer (I used Winchester LR) and out to 600 yards it was very capable of cleaning the string. For the 30-06 I’ve always heard IMR-4064 was tough to beat.

As previously mentioned, I feel the 175 SMK is superior to the 168 beyond 300 yards.

As far as the rifle goes I always felt a M1 would shoot as good as a M14 but the Garand “could” be fickle.

“Doc”, I’ve got some of those D46 (170 grain) bullets you’re referring too and if the barrel air gages on the larger side those bullets are a life saver. For the STD typical 308 bores I never had any luck. However (although I’ve never tried it) I’ve heard that they can be run thru a swager and then they would shoot fine.

 

[wapiti25]

Try a solid gas cylinder plug with a hole drilled thru it to bleed some gas so you don't bend the op rod. You should go thru and have the gun match preped and bedded. M1's shoot a lot better when set-up for match shooting.

 

[DougMH]

I bought some Hornady M1 Match Ammo. They use 168 gr A-MAX and (my recollection, it's been awhile) about 46-47 grains Varget. Hornady volunteered that it was Varget. I've matched this with my hand loads and had excellent results.

When you're shooting rapid fire, you've got to use a COL that will allow the insertion of the enbloc clip and not jam. For slow fire, you can do some experimentation with COL for best results.

When I bought my M1 from CMP, it was one of the "select" models (all new except for the receiver incl a new Criterian barrel). You're not allowed to do anything NM except you can use a NM gas rod. I did field strip and use my Dremel to ream out the inside of the stock so no wood touches the barrel. It's still not a floating barrel (ala bolt gun), but it's close.

I haven't shot mine since I sent off the THG for a 4.5 lb pull, but I loaned it to an ROTC student to rec fire after a recent match and he was shooting all 9's and 10's at 200 yds with my rifle and those Hornady knock offs.

From 200 yds, I'd say precise ammo is the key to success... although the barrel/receiver cannot be bouncing around all over the place.
Hope this helps.