M1 Garand Ammo

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At the local gun store, I saw some 30-06 ammo in a fancy box that said "For the M1". I asked the clerk what was so special about it. He said it's "specially made for the M1 because it's 150 grain, and you should NEVER shoot anything more than 150 grain in an M1"

So, is that right? I have some 30-06 180 grain stuff for my 03's. Should I not shoot it in the M-1??
 
You risk damaging the op rod with heavy, modern 30-06 loads. I've replaced the gas plugs on my M1a with the ported plugs from Garand Gear after looking over their test data.
 
Yes. You can shoot the >150gr in the 1903's and other bolts as they can handle it, but the M1's need the 150gr. That's what I was told anyway.
 
You risk damaging the op rod with heavy, modern 30-06 loads. I've replaced the gas plugs on my M1a with the ported plugs from Garand Gear after looking over their test data.


Sweeney is right.......look online for the "adjustable gas plug" and replace the original with the adjustable and you can fire modern loads out of your M1. Or.......if you have an absolute beater like mine drill out the poppet valve and it is converted to a "straight pull" m1 and you can also fire modern 30-06 loads.......cant damage the op rod this way because the bolt does not cycle when you fire it.......just cycle by hand after each shot.......and by the way......a straight pull M1 has MUCH more felt recoil due to the op rod spring not absorbing some of the rearward recoil......its a hoot!
 
I would recommend ordering the Greek HXP from the CMP while it's still available. The Garand loves M2 ball.
 
At the local gun store, I saw some 30-06 ammo in a fancy box that said "For the M1". I asked the clerk what was so special about it. He said it's "specially made for the M1 because it's 150 grain, and you should NEVER shoot anything more than 150 grain in an M1"

So, is that right? I have some 30-06 180 grain stuff for my 03's. Should I not shoot it in the M-1??

No, not true. Yes, you need to use ammo that is loaded for the M1 Garand, but no, you can safely use up to 168 gr projectiles, assuming the powder selection and powder load is correct. 168 gr is a very common, highly accurate target load.

NEVER use commercial .30-06 ammo in your M1 Garand unless it is specifically marked as safe for M1 Garand (such as the Hornady product http://www.hornady.com/store/30-06-168-gr-A-MAX-M1-Garand/).

As others have said, using the wrong ammo can damage your op rod and cause a potentially dangerous or even fatal condition.

The easiest solution is to use surplus M2 Ball ammo. The cheapest place to get that is at the CMP: http://www.thecmp.org/Sales/ammo.htm

The least expensive way to have Garand ammo is to learn to load your own. Take Eddie Coyle's metallic cartridge reloading class.
 
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There's some good information and some erroneous information in this thread.

The issue is "port pressure," which is the residual pressure in the bore at the moment the slug passes over the gas port. This, in turn, is a function of powder burn rate. A lot of modern hunting rounds for .30-06 achieve their ballistics by using modern slow burning propellants, which, unfortunately, will generate a port pressure above the recommended max for an M1 (from memory, 7Kpsig), resulting in the potential for bending the operating rod.

For more detail, download and study https://www.zediker.com/downloads/m14.html
 
Once I fire off what I have now I'm going to attempt to learn to reload rifle brass. I have only done .45c on my basic hand loader.
 
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