M1 Garand load work up question

[tominboise]

It's been awhile since I have worked up any loads for the M1 Garand, but I need to work up a new load using 168gr HPBT bullets. Anyway, my inclination is to ladder up charge weights in 8 shot groups, so I can just load each charge weight in an en bloc and shoot them. But it occurred to me that I could use a SLED and single load them and use 5 shot groups. That would exacerbate any issues with first round fliers when loading a fresh clip, but maybe it doesn't matter.

Is there a best practice for number of shots in a group for M1 Garands?

 

[Walt Krafft]

What powders do you have? There are known good safe loads that will require very little work up. I would single load and do not use a sled.

 

[XTR]

I‘ve never owned an M1, but I’m going to guess it should be pretty much like the AR15, or more likely the AR is like the M1, that the platform precision Is limited and there is only so much you can do. To that end there are known loads that just work. Service rifle isn’t known for load development. I’d bet there are some pretty pat recipes out there.

 

[tominboise]

Planning on starting with IMR4064 and H4895. Some work is required to check velocities and get the charge weight correct. Some working around the recommended charge weights is usually required due to lot variation of powders, bullets, etc.

 

[nmkid]

Don't load them too hot.

 

[RegionRat]

The best practice is not to expect a standard M1 Garand to run with a custom barreled and match prepped version. Set your expectations based on the version of the rig you are shooting.

All of these will benefit to some degree by being fed decent quality ammo.

Pick a good powder (H4895, Varget, 4064, etc.) , use a good bullet, use good neck tension (~0.003 - 0.0035") and a primer that is reliable against slam fire.

Here is a classic article on reloading for the Garand. There are decent Pet Load starting points to get a first look. Then, you might try to perturb the charge up or down a little to see if there is any effect at all.

Don't play around with light neck tension values on semi-autos. Use enough neck tension... as witnessed by your seating forces being well above 45 pounds, and closer to 50 - 90 lbs.



And here is a clip from the long gone NJ Highpower Reloading Stuph page.




Good Luck and Have fun.

 

[dstoenner]

I run 48 gn Varget or H4895 for 155 or 168 class bullets. Now i shoot 125 gn SMK and 50 gn H4895 for reduced recoil. All these loads will clean a SR1 with high x count.

This has worked for the 3 garands i have owned.

David

 

[RegionRat]

I run 48 gn Varget or H4895 for 155 or 168 class bullets. Now i shoot 125 gn SMK and 50 gn H4895 for reduced recoil. All these loads will clean a SR1 with high x count.

This has worked for the 3 garands i have owned.

David

+1 I agree.
For CMP Wooden Guns Games that are limited to 200 yards, loading lower recoil rounds in 120 - 125 grain bullets makes the rapids easier.
Now if they would only stop screwing around with the supply of H4895 we would all be better off.

 

[Zero333]

4 shot groups with a few sighters beforehand. In 0.5 gr increments.
That's 40 shots or less.
Done.

If 3 or 4 shots don't group then the 5th shot ain't gonna shrink the group.
Once you narrow things down a little then you can do more shots per group.

Forget a Lead Sled. It may change the harmonics of the rifle and deceive the results.

Hodgdon's M1 Garand Service load data...

 

[Zero333]

Even my M1A doesn't like anything besides mild loads. H-4895 and Win-748 are my Favorite powders for Service rifle loads.

 

[Bill K]

Back when I shot the Old Garand, 4895 was the powder that worked best, work around the 55 grn area with the 150 bullets.

 

[karrarararararar]

49.5gr of varget with 125 Speer tnt's. Makes the rapids much easier. Ditch the sled. You don't need it to single load and it isn't worth the trouble.

 

[jpjulian]

I used 46.0 of IMR4895 with WLR primers and 168SMK's. Function was good with decent accuracy.