Need 30-06 load recommendations

[Mac Attack]

I am preparing to load some 30-06 rounds for my M1 and need some advice. Any advice provided would be greatly appreciated.

Proposed load:
Cases - LC swaged 30-06 brass
Primers - Winchester large rife primers
Bullets - Hornady Interlock 150 grain soft points (#3031)
Powder - Varget.
Charge - TBD but range = Min 42.3 gr and a Max of 46.2 gr. Suggested starting charge is 44.2 grs.
OAL - need help

I loaded up a clip full of dummy rounds with the 3031 bullets seated to the cannelure. OAL = 3.220". All dummy rounds feed fine in my rifle. However when I compared my load to a HXP I found the length of the HXP with it's 150 gr FMJ to be 3.318".

Questions:

1. What charge of Varget should I start with? I have heard of people using 47 gr's but this is past the recommended max.
2. Should I seat my bullets so my rounds have a OAL similar to the HXP? If so then the cannelure would be fully exposed.
3. Should I crimp my rounds?

Pics of my load (L) vs. HXP (R)

Pics of a Hornady Interlock 150 gr SP (L) vs. HXP 150 gr FMJ (R)

Pic of my crimped round

[knucklehead0202]

watch the lake city brass when you get loading heavy loads as those cases won't hold as much as commercial brass. my dad was doing compressed loads on his hot 30-06 and with the LC brass it'd overflow the damn case. i load 8mm-06 in LC brass but i'm running pretty conservative loads with BL/C(2). Varget makes a great load in '06 though, so you're on the right track. make a dummy to see how far out you can seat your bullets in your particular chamber. as far as loading past "recommended" loads, i usually start in the middle and work up. don't get in a hurry to load things real hot. just test it out and if you find one that works really well with no bad signs, stick with, no need to exceed that unnecessarily. good luck and enjoy.

[tayman287]

I load for my M-1 as well. I have been using HXP brass and have been loading it with Hornady 150gr FMJ as i only shoot targets with my rifle and they are the cheapest bullets I hvae found. I normaly ues CCI large rifle primers but have tried wolf when there was the shortage a few months back. I have used 46.5 grs of Benchmark as it is on the lower end of pressur. You want to be careful not to load too hot as it cause excesive were and even possibly bend the op rod. which would end your day. And the COL i use is 3.250". Also looking at the pic you posted every bullet have a little different shave and lenght even between same weight bullets.

Hope this helps
If u want more info pm me

[Mac Attack]

Thanks guys. I tried making a dummy round a little longer than the Greek HXP round OAL and did not crimp. I dropped it into the chamber of my rifle and let the bolt SLAM home. The bullet did not move. Should I try again but leave the bullet out a little bit more until it touches the rifling when I close the bolt? If I take it out much more then only about 1/4" of the bullet will be in the case neck. Is it okay not to seat it in the cannelure?

[CEDaytonaRydr]

http://data.hodgdon.com/cartridge_load.asp

[FLIGHT762]

Thanks guys. I tried making a dummy round a little longer than the Greek HXP round OAL and did not crimp. I dropped it into the chamber of my rifle and let the bolt SLAM home. The bullet did not move. Should I try again but leave the bullet out a little bit more until it touches the rifling when I close the bolt? If I take it out much more then only about 1/4" of the bullet will be in the case neck. Is it okay not to seat it in the cannelure?

I've handloaded 150 SP bullets in my Garands. The 150 soft points are a different ogive profile than the FMJ. When you seat the bullet, be sure you have at least one bullet diameter (.308") deep into the case neck. I would just load to the cannelure and shoot them. My 150 SP loads functioned fine when seated to the cannelure. I used 47.0 grs. of H-335. The loads produced a lot of flash, but they were accurate.

[CrazyJeep]

I just recently tested a "lighter" than normal load with excellent results:

* New Winchester brass trimmed using a Lee case trimmer (pretty spot on already).
* CCI 34 Primers
* Sierra Matchking 168gr pill
* COAL 3.30"
* 45.0gr of IMR-4895

I recently had my Garand rebuilt and had Tim at Warbird Custom Guns install and headspace on a NOS 2-55 SA barrel. It was making nice little groups at 50 yards getting it sighted in. I only had 24 rounds with me to also ensure it would function correctly even though Tim put a few rounds down the tube. I don't know if this barrel needs to be "broken in"...time will tell I suppose.

Sorry, just feel like showing her off:

[CEDaytonaRydr]

Sorry, just feel like showing her off:

Great pic...

[tayman287]

Yah thats is a great pic. And your rifle looks very nice looks like you got a new stock kit with all matching wood very clean. And love the range you ar shooting at Angeles... Best range in LA area

[Mac Attack]

thanks guys. I just loaded up 100 rounds and can't wait to try them out this weekend.

[CrazyJeep]

Yah thats is a great pic. And your rifle looks very nice looks like you got a new stock kit with all matching wood very clean. And love the range you ar shooting at Angeles... Best range in LA area

It was a Dean's Gun Restorations fitted/unfinished stock my girlfriend got me for my b-day 2 months ago. I didn't use any stain just 3 coats of pure tung oil. The fit and finish of DGR's stocks are impeccable.

Mac Attack, what did you end up loading your rounds at???

[Mac Attack]

I started on the low side for my first time loading 30-06. I did 30 rounds at 45 grains, 30 rounds at 45.5 grains, 30 rounds at 46 and 10 rounds at 47 grains.

[jimflam]

As to the barrel break in, no need to IMO, and I would not use and abrasive bore pastes, the barrel is already smooth.

[Mac Attack]

I just got back from the range after trying out my M1 and reloads. Let me just say that my M1 Garand is my new favorite firearm! I am not a rifle shooter so my experience today was something extraordinary and I wanted to share.

I had only shot my M1 Garand once before since purchasing it in 2003 or 2004 from the CMP and the first time I shot it, it was minute of barn accurate with M2 ball ammo. This time I added an adjustable gas plug and rolled my own ammo to the equation. Adjusting the gas plug was ultra simple and only took me a few rounds to get it dialed in. Talking about reloads, I was worried that my light 150 gr soft points would not be accurate since I went with a middle of the road powder charge and also since it was my first time loading 30-06.

I started at the 100 yard line and shot on paper. After a clip or two I was able to get my sight adjustments just right. Wouldn't you know it, my elevation knob was set perfectly to the 1 slot for 100 yards. My groups were much better than I ever could have expected with all rounds in a 2 - 2.5" group dead center. I moved out to steel targets at 200 yards, set my elevation knob to 2 and proceeded to hit steel nearly every time. I then moved out to steel at 300 yards and it was the same story. I was able to hit nearly all my shots on the 300 steel. Feeling a bit confused with my results and feeling a bit arrogant I moving out to 400 years, I wasn't so successfully but hit steel about half the time but it required +4 clicks for me.

I was so happy that my sights were accurately set and I did not need to adjust them one bit. Using 2-2-3-3 Appleseed method I read about on the CMP forums (+2 clicks elevation for 100 - 200, +2 more clicks for 201 - 300, +3 clicks for 301 - 400 and +3 clicks for 401 - 500 yards) I was able to hit what I was aiming at and it was fun.

I also shot my K31 but my results were not as good. My groups were much tighter with a nice one hole group of 1 - 2 inches but it was low at 6 o'clock. I need to do some adjustment to the front sight to fix this issue.

Anyways, I this week I was reconsidering my loads for my M1 but after today I think I found a perfect combination for my rifle.

Thanks for listening.