M1 GARAND: Commercial ammo question.
- Thread starter Teppo87
- Start date
- Location
- Beaverlodge, Alberta
I bought a super cheap Lee 50th anniversary kit, it comes with everything you need to get started except dies and components, and a manual. Kit was $105, dies were $45 locally, powder, primers bullets and brass were all around $30 each here. Then you need about 2ft by 2ft of bench space and you are good to get at er, about $250 total investment.
The Military M-2 load for the M-1 rifle had a 152-grain bullet at 2800 ft/sec muzzle velocity.
The bullet was flat-based, the powder was IMR-4895 and the charge ran from 48 to 52 grains, depending upon the actual burning rate of the lot. Nominal operating chamber pressure ran about 50,000 psi.
Buying modern ammunition, you will come closest to this generally with the lower-priced loadings. The Premium loads generally run the cartridge as high as they can get away with, sometimes to pressure levels which would have been considered insane when the M-1 rifle was developed.
BTW, the Garand rifle was DEVELOPED using the M-1 loading of a 173-grain BT bullet at 2650 ft/sec nominal. John Garand actually worried that the M-2 load might not be powerful ENOUGH for the rifle.
The rifles actually are pretty versatile, owing to the very short pressure pulse: the gas take-off is VERY close to the muzzle.
There really should be a Stickie on internal and external ballistics on this forum. Just for starters, a lot of people seem unclear on the concept of "grain". It is a unit of weight, being precisely 1/437.5 of an OUNCE Avoirdupois or 1/480 of an OUNCE Troy weight. Originally, it was derived from the weight of a single, well-dried kernel of Barley. There are 7000 grains in a modern Pound. It is not, never has been and never will be, metric.
I REALLY wish people would use the SEARCH function. This has been hashed-over a dozen times or more.
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The bullet was flat-based, the powder was IMR-4895 and the charge ran from 48 to 52 grains, depending upon the actual burning rate of the lot. Nominal operating chamber pressure ran about 50,000 psi.
Buying modern ammunition, you will come closest to this generally with the lower-priced loadings. The Premium loads generally run the cartridge as high as they can get away with, sometimes to pressure levels which would have been considered insane when the M-1 rifle was developed.
BTW, the Garand rifle was DEVELOPED using the M-1 loading of a 173-grain BT bullet at 2650 ft/sec nominal. John Garand actually worried that the M-2 load might not be powerful ENOUGH for the rifle.
The rifles actually are pretty versatile, owing to the very short pressure pulse: the gas take-off is VERY close to the muzzle.
There really should be a Stickie on internal and external ballistics on this forum. Just for starters, a lot of people seem unclear on the concept of "grain". It is a unit of weight, being precisely 1/437.5 of an OUNCE Avoirdupois or 1/480 of an OUNCE Troy weight. Originally, it was derived from the weight of a single, well-dried kernel of Barley. There are 7000 grains in a modern Pound. It is not, never has been and never will be, metric.
I REALLY wish people would use the SEARCH function. This has been hashed-over a dozen times or more.
.
Biggest issue I have seeen is with SOME commercial ammo having softer primers than other. Federal, for instance, is notorious for too-soft primers and slam-fire detonations in semi-autos.
I typically stick to commercial ammo designed to replicate M2 ball (as suggested) or reloads using CCI No.34 milspec primers and H or IMR 4895 powders.
I typically stick to commercial ammo designed to replicate M2 ball (as suggested) or reloads using CCI No.34 milspec primers and H or IMR 4895 powders.
