Introducing the M1 Garand by CMP: A New Chapter Begins!

[Diamondback Six]

Firstly, AP and M2 ball are different loadings. And I've never before heard anyone refer to those as "minus-P loads".



Okay, this much is true, but as Grizzlypeg points out this is a reference to powder burn rate, not peak pressure. This problem is inherent to the design of the Garand operating rod and I have never heard of any Garand build anywhere where one could be indiscriminate about slow-burning powders that produce high port pressures.

The official US Army designation for the round was "AP, Ball, M2." In the US the M2 is the only round explicitly exempted from the ban on civilian sale of "armor piercing" ammo. By "Minus-P" I use the term similar to the old FBI joke about their load for 10mm ACP, less power than the commercial standard. (The .40S&W evolved from the 10mm FBI load, cutting the case down to a 9mm length to fit in smaller grips and waste less case volume - also hence the nickname "Short & Weak.")

 

[purple]

I've fired thousands of rounds in dozens of Garands with no complications using either MILSPEC ammo ( US Lake City, Cdn DA, Greek HXP and Danish) or handloads with IMR4895/4064. I have used a slower burning powder, WC755, in 7.62 Garands with an adjustable gas plug.

The good news is that IMR4895/4064 are both accurate, reliable and safe propellants for these rifles. IMR 4895 was the MILSPEC propellant for gazillions of rounds of US GI .30 cal ammo, so it's probably not worth deviating from this.

 

[apexanimal]

When the CMP themselves say "For Use ONLY With Milspec Ammo," that kinda calls the "myth' assertion into question.

Actually, what they say is "The CMP advises to not use . 30/06 ammunition in M1 Garands, 1903s, and 1903A3s that is loaded beyond 50,000 CUP AND has a bullet weight more than 172-174gr" in other words, all normal commercial ammo is fine, as i said. Ive been shooting multiple garands with commercial ammo for years and years, as do many others i know, never even heard of anyone with a bent op rod because they shot normal commercial ammo. It's a myth. And like most gun myths, it will exist forever because no matter how many times its brought up and rehashed, people will still go on believing it for whatever reason. People can shoot whatever they want at the end of the day, just dont tell me garands "cant" do something ive done tens of thousands of times without issue lol.