Reloading for the M1 Garand

[jimmykan]

I recommend crimping for any autoloader. The chambering sequence is pretty rough and if your case necks are soft enough, the bullet could be pushed further into the case when it snags on a lip/edge of the receiver.

[Hoop]

I have everything but the rifle. I got lee single stage press kit with lee dies. I dont mind going slow right now untill i get more confident. I am only reloading for 30'06 specifically for the garand right now. The only thing i dont have yet is powder and primers. I intend to copy a well estalished load with 150g fmj hornady bulllet.
The xbr 8208 sounds good, the lyman book dosent have that formula. I will end up reloading 223 soon as well.
I dont particulary feel the need to push my garand to limit. Its well cared for antique and i hope to keep it that way. I would like to get close to the USGI round.
Flight, the loads you list dont have a bullet type. Cant using differnt bulletes effect pressure, seating etc...?
Edit*
I just ordered the new Hornady book.

CCI LR primers work fine, just seat them properly and you will be okay. If you haven't bought any powder yet consider IMR 4895 or Win 748. Both of those meter easily, work well in 223, 308 and 06 and are readily available. You could also get some surplus powder from places like Hi-techammo, I think WC846 should work just fine.

[Flyin Brian]

I've been loading for the Garand for about 6 months and have had good results. I also use Lee equipment and everything works great. The case length trimmer is easy to use but I do recommend getting the $5 wooden ball-handled cutter knob, since the regular knurled cutter will tear up your fingers after trimming a dozen cases. I also chamfer the sharp edges off the case neck or you end up scratching the bullet up when seating it.

Be aware that there is a difference in volume between the military brass and aftermarket (Remington) brass. If you work up a load with your Remington brass and then try the same recipe using the HXP brass, it will probably end up a bit hotter in the HXP due to the smaller case volume.

To remove the HXP primer crimp, I have a Lyman primer pocket reamer but I ended up using a large machinists countersink cutter and it works a lot better. I just use it by hand and make one full turn on the deprimed primer pocket and it takes out the crimp and puts a nice chamfer on the brass.

I'm using H4895 powder and 150gr FMJ hornady and as someone already mentioned, the cannalure ends up a few mm away from the case neck when the bullet is seated to the proper length. I generally unscrew the bullet seating adjuster quite a bit and then barely seat a bullet. Then I measure it and screw in the adjuster half a turn and seat the bullet a little farther and measure again. I do this a few times till I get the OAL I am looking for, and then all of the rounds come out fine.

I do crimp lightly with the Lee factory crimp die and it works fine.

[Hoop]

You can seat the hornady FMJ's to the cannelure, they shoot fine and accuracy wasn't that bad. If I remember correctly the cannelure in them was put there for 30-06 loads.

Widener's has a .30 cal FMJ bullet for cheap that looks like it would make awesome garand plinker loads, I would get that before I got more of the hornadies (I was never happy with them, loaded some for 308 and they sucked).

[rob1105]

[QUOTE=brent*;5424213]Has anyone reloaded the HXP ammo the cmp is selling right now? If the primer is crimped in, do you need a special tool to remove the crimp, beyond the normal case prep tools?
also, i have a lee case length guage. Its a steel pin that fits on a shell holder and allows the case to be trimmed to spec, or not. Is buying something like this dillion case gauge overkill? If the brass is trimmed properly with the lee gauge, can i just check OAL of the finshed round with my caliper?
I would like a guage that would help me adjust the seating die, and check the FL sizer or could i just load dummy rounds and measure with calipers untill i get the OAL and demensions i want?
It seems like it would be faster to use the gauge. OAL is easy to measure, but what about some of the other dimensions. If you used this dp gauge, could you drop the loaded round into it and get a quick go or no go?
http://www.dillonprecision.com/conte...item=4095#4095[

HXP is all I use in my reloading. I use my deburring tool to remove the crimp. Some don't remove the crimp at all cause it's HXP uses a light crimp. I size and trim and ready to load. Your calipers are your best freind while reloading

[jimflam]

Reloading for the Garand

It is best to use load data from published reloading manuals.

[SanPedroShooter]

I just ordered 200 loose rounds of HXP, thats all they had left. The 98$ spam cans with bandoleers and clips are gone, although there are couple sons of *****es selling them on gunbroker for twice the price.
This is the second time i've been burned for hesitating on the CMP. Oh well at least i got a very clean garand (i hope) and 200 rounds of reloadable HXP for $700 something. God bless the CMP!
On a side note, did you guys have to submit a "jurat form" with your notarized order page? I got my email and it said they need a "jurat" form that is required with all CA notaries...

[SanPedroShooter]

I have a bag of new rem brass in 30-06.
After i adjust the bullet seater to where i want it, i get varying OAL's after the first one.
I imagine this is because new brass is different lengths, i guess my first question is, should i trim all the brass to the same size right out of the bag?
Second, the lyman manual trim to length is 2.484 a lot of the brass is already below that. What now? should i pick a different trim to length?

[SanPedroShooter]

ha ha, i just realized i was reading my calipers to the 10 thousandth, not the 1 thousandth.
These are the first couple rounds i've ever loaded by the way...