168 grain Garand load

if you get a chance pick up 20 rounds of Federal Gold Medal Match or creedmore 30-06 ammo there are not to many guns that wont shoot this stuff well. the creedmoor you can sell the once fired brass for a good penny.
install the original gas plug. go prone with a big old sand bag supporting your front arm and get a base line on what the rifle can do with a know good ammo....

Good advice, and if you are not reloading, you have a neighbor (me) who will buy the Creedmoor brass if Lapua. Some of the Creedmoor brass is Lake City and I actually prefer HXP over the LC brass.

Reminds me that I may buy some more Creedmoor ammo. Partly for future matches when my current brass starts to go, and partly for trying out a friend's M1. Due to 'getting old is a bitch' health issues, shooting is getting difficult for him and prone is out of the question. We plan to make a range trip so I can do a field strip, clean, lube, sight in, then shoot for groups. I'd prefer to use factory ammo for this since it's not my rifle.
 
I cant remember the last time I did any load development..... this is about all I have been doing for the last several years... and a few matches
 
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168 grain load for sunday cmp M1 as issued match

So cleaning up around the reloading bench I came across a few things.
I bought these 308 168 grain match bullets made by PPU and went under the name "mil spec" they where a lot cheaper than any other "match" bullet. I found them to be ok.
That said here is the details

the bullet. Random 20 from the box they all weighed in on the heavier side
average weight: 168.72
min was 168
max was 169
not to bad for the price back then....they where around .12 cents shipped per 1000 back then.

average ogive measurement from base of bullet to ogive .5918
min .582
max .595
They look ok and I don't see anything wrong with them. so they should do fine. Are they the best.... no. they did out perfrom the 150 grain hornady bulk bullets I was using at the time.

Case: once fired HXP 1976- I weighed 10 cases for the fun of it. there was about a 11 grain spread fro lightest to heaviest and the closest any 2 cases came was about 1.5 grains of each other.
Powder: 45.5 grains varget. This powder charge has done me well for 150-168 grain loads for out to 200 yards.
Primers: found a box of CCI #34s with just enough in it for sunday. I have used these before and they have been just fine. They cost to much these days. I usually use Wolf primers

Powder will be dropped from Hornady powder measure. should be fun.
 
I have found SMK's to be inconsistent in length. I think the ogive is OK. LOL better than we need for CMP but not bench rest worthy.

I will try some tipped SMK's when I see some at a normal price. At this point I'd prefer Nosler blems to SMK's.

Headed to the airport now- tight connection in Frankfurt. If I miss the connection I'm screwed for tomorrow.
 
I have found SMK's to be inconsistent in length. I think the ogive is OK. LOL better than we need for CMP but not bench rest worthy.

I will try some tipped SMK's when I see some at a normal price. At this point I'd prefer Nosler blems to SMK's.

Headed to the airport now- tight connection in Frankfurt. If I miss the connection I'm screwed for tomorrow.

Almost any bullet is good for CMP Games until YOU are shooting sub 2.5MOA regularly. Seeing in the black is a good day you could probably use pulled 147grain M80 bullets.. I would not bother at their current price.
 
For what ever reason I decided to just kiss these with the Lee Factory crimp die....
Oh note to self don't forget to readjust ypur seating die after loading cast bullets? talk about squshed necks
 
I have been using Lapua .308 170 grain with 46.5 of 4895 in my Garand for a while now. I get good results. I just picked up some Hornady 150 grain FMJ .308. I find the overall length of these is different on almost every one. I have to keep adjusting my die, anyone else have this problem with the Hornady?
 
I have been using Lapua .308 170 grain with 46.5 of 4895 in my Garand for a while now. I get good results. I just picked up some Hornady 150 grain FMJ .308. I find the overall length of these is different on almost every one. I have to keep adjusting my die, anyone else have this problem with the Hornady?

They are a bulk bullet some what inexpensive bullet. Check ogive measurement.
I just loaded them to about the middle of the cannelure and run them. They are a decent bullet but honestly I can get nosler 2nds and some times factory 1st on sale for the same money. The nosler 155s do well in my as issued M1 I use in the matches. I used the cheap PPU "milspec" branded 168 match last weekend and was on my way to shooting one of my best scores. I had a clip malfunction...so,lost 30 points right there.
I was using the hornady 150s in my other garands and depending on which rifle from 3-5 moa.
 
I loaded some 150 for my 30-30 Winchester using Sierra. Set them to seat in the middle of the cannelure, everyone was fine. Perhaps I will pick up a box of Sierra 150 FMJ and give them a try for my Garand.
I have to add that I really like the Lee factory crimp die. Don't know how I got along without one before.
 
I loaded some 150 for my 30-30 Winchester using Sierra. Set them to seat in the middle of the cannelure, everyone was fine. Perhaps I will pick up a box of Sierra 150 FMJ and give them a try for my Garand.
I have to add that I really like the Lee factory crimp die. Don't know how I got along without one before.

I don't think the Sierra are worth the cost for M1 garand unless you have a super duper national match rifle.
 
I found some load data from the 1958 National Matches for the 30.06. 48 grains of IMR 4895 with a 173 grain boat tail bullet. This seems a little hot to me. Then again, I have never seen a 173 grain .30 caliber bullet made by current manufacturers. Perhaps the 173 was just for military loads?
 
I found some load data from the 1958 National Matches for the 30.06. 48 grains of IMR 4895 with a 173 grain boat tail bullet. This seems a little hot to me. Then again, I have never seen a 173 grain .30 caliber bullet made by current manufacturers. Perhaps the 173 was just for military loads?
Yes using the shit ton of surplus 173s from the days of the .30 M1 ball ammunition.
Is the 1958 national match load hot..no not really do you "need" 48 grains if IMR 4895? No. The army or military had very specific ballistic they wanted to achieve. Also remember the "army" was producing that match ammo that was used for competitions and also would give everyone at the Nationals this ammo as everyone had to use the same ammo. Now somewhere in the 90s they stopped issueing ammo and allowed shooters to shoot their own "safe" ammo.

I have noticed all the links I have are dead now...so much for everything staying "on" the internet.
Google John R Clarke reloading for the M1 rifle. printed in 1986. Now powders can and do change over time but remember back when the Garand was competing regulary they where shooting 2-1000 yards so a load that could keep up its velocity and buck the wind was a must.

Think about what your intentions are for the round/rifle. I shoot at 100 and 200 yard matches only. I load on the lower side of the known data. I have gone as low as 37 grains of H4895 with 150 grain bullets in my M1 and even more reduced loads per Hodgdons instructions with H4895 for some serious recoil reduction loads.
 
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No but seems like it would work just fine. I wonder if I have some?
trying to use up all the random 1lbs jugs I have. Figure use this stuff up on the ppu bullets in the M1, I never really shoot the M1 great so no loss of "good bullets and powder" there
 
trying to use up all the random 1lbs jugs I have. Figure use this stuff up on the ppu bullets in the M1, I never really shoot the M1 great so no loss of "good bullets and powder" there
I might have a random 1 lb-er and would do the same with some Nosler blems.
 
No 4064, must have burned through it in years past. Have some 4895 left, not a lot. A bunch of jugs of 4350 that I no longer use. Probably will fertilize the garden with it.
 
I'm looking at this with interest because I'm working up a load for the scoped 03 that I can also use in the Garand. The bullet is a 168 grain BTHP. So far 45 grains of Varget looks good and should be safe in the Garand. I have some IMR 4064 coming so I'll see how that does
 
Looking to work up a new load for the M1 using a Hornady 168gr hpbt and IMR 4895. Manuals I have that list service rifle data either list powders I dont have or different bullet weights.

Poking around online I came up with 45-48 grains of imr 4895 loaded to 3.300". Same data can be used for Varget apparently.

Looking to shoot prone/sitting/offhand at 100-200 yards, keeping groups as small as possible without beating up the rifle. Just wanted to run rhe data by people to make sure its in the ballpark.

Secondary question that came up while researching...

My load for a 150 grain round is 44 grains of imr 4895. This I remember being the starting load which ended up giving me the tightest group. (I forget what the max of that trial was) So lighter bullet with a lighter charge weight than the 168 data. Odd, no?

Should I bump it up? Cycles fine, any accuracy issues are probably me and not the load I would think. Only issue I recall is I usually shoot out to 100yds and when I shot at 200 at a different club, I had to crank up on the sight a lot more than I had expected to.

Thanks.

HeadedNorth: your load is almost identical to mine. I use 44.5 gr IMR 4895 in meticulously prepped LC 69 or HXP brass (tumble-polished, head case sorted, neck chamfered, primer pocket recut, case gauged, etc). I get 2 MOA (if I’m measuring my groups correctly) in my 5 mil SG Springfield Garand that has been “accurized” within the limits of JC Garand rules.

P.S. Mountain you answered a question I was just about to pose online: if CCI #200 primers could substitute for #34’s without the risk of slam fire

I’m out of IMR 4895 and am about to try AA-2520 for the first time
 
HeadedNorth: your load is almost identical to mine. I use 44.5 gr IMR 4895 in meticulously prepped LC 69 or HXP brass (tumble-polished, head case sorted, neck chamfered, primer pocket recut, case gauged, etc). I get 2 MOA (if I’m measuring my groups correctly) in my 5 mil SG Springfield Garand that has been “accurized” within the limits of JC Garand rules.

P.S. Mountain you answered a question I was just about to pose online: if CCI #200 primers could substitute for #34’s without the risk of slam fire

I’m out of IMR 4895 and am about to try AA-2520 for the first time
I think slamfires is a largely overblown risk for the M1 and other free floating firing pin rifles. You are much more likely to bump fire an M1, which feels a lot like a slam fire. Your mileage may vary, but I personally do not use magnum or CCI mil spec primers in any rifle loads. If you head on over to the CMP forum and search for M1 garand loads you’ll see that most people use regular old CCI 200s.
 
i decided to get rid of 5 boxes of speer target match 168gr if anyone needs that - it is in the reloading classifieds.
 
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