Wondering if I can get some advice on “safe ammo” for these things. Is BARNAUL 30-06 SPRINGFIELD 145GR FMJ ok to shot in the m1 Garand ?
Was considering buying some of these Prvi PPU M1 Garand 30-06 Springfield 150 Grain Fmj
I have some but will buy different ammo if it will cause any damage to the rifle. I know the things like to be well I
Edit: just found this interesting write up on m1 garand m2 ball ammo vs commercial rounds.
https://forums.thecmp.org/showthread.php?t=280639&page=2
So the CMP (who is the authority on surplus M1 Garands) has this to say:
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. These rifles are at least 70 years old and were not designed for max loads and super heavy bullets. Always wear hearing and eye protection when firing an M1 Garand, 1903 and/or 1903A3 rifle.
Keep in mind that CUP is an old way of measuring chamber pressure. It can not be exactly correlated to chamber pressure measured in PSI because of the different methods used to measure. However, it is approximately 60,000PSI, which happens to be the SAMMI spec for 30-06sprg (no this is not a coincidence).
The CMP statement could be read one of two ways. 'If you have more than 50,000CUP, insure your bullet wait is lower than 172gr.' This would be the grammatically correct interpretation, but we all know that sometimes people word things wrong, so maybe they meant 'Insure you limit both pressure to 50,000CUP and bullet weight to 172gr.'
The first interpretation just means that all commercial ammo is fine, but if you have some hot handloads or whatever, limit bullet weight. The second interpretation just indicates to not use 180gr commercial ammo.
If you consider the proposed failure modes people discuss related to 'hot' 30-06 ammo, that being a broken or bent op-rod, the debate becomes kind of silly. Because of the location of the gas port and the volume of the gas cylinder, the high pressure is just not there for long enough to create significant difference with these small differences in ballistic characteristics.