Shooting M1 Garand with 30-06 & 308
Cast Bullets
George Carlson
There are several attitudes to shooting lead bullets in the gas operated M-1. The most prevalent is, “You just can’t do that, can you?” The answer is, yes, you can.. Another attitude is, “I’ve shot 1000 rounds through mine without opening the gas system, and it didn’t fail me” This means someone’s taken the time to learn the care and feeding of cast bullets to his “battle rifle”. Still another is” Who cares, I don’t want to chase brass all day.” We can get by that obstacle too by reducing loads. In some ways all the above are right. In reality, what you intend to use the gun for may ultimately decide how and if you’ll want to shoot any cast bullets anyway. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not an expert on the M-1 mechanical wherefores of its functioning. I’m presenting to you what learned from experience and information printed in some of the material available to me, and my off and on again cast bullet M-1 loading and shooting.
In 1966, I purchased a like new M-1 from the government’s DCM (that’s the Director of Civilian Marksmanship for you youngsters) program for a grand total of $103.00 and that included shipping. In those years you were allowed one per lifetime from Uncle Sam. Like most new reloaders I had limited loading data on just what you’re supposed to feed this gun. Living in Minnesota at the time, my intent was to use it as a deer rifle. A lot of states including the state I reside in now, South Dakota, won’t allow 8 loaded rounds in a hunting rifle, but Minnesota did, and I worked up loads and shot several deer with it. A couple of years later, in 1968 there was an ad in The Shotgun News for rebuilt M-1s with .308 barrels for $180. I sent for one, and being a budding caster, I reserved that rifle for cast shooting only. I bet I ran 800 rounds through it in the first month. Hardly any of those were shot at paper targets, as our farmyard had a view of a ridge across an adjoining pasture valley that was 350 yards away. White porcelain pans and old chamber pots were the usual offhand shooting targets. Sight settings were adjusted to 600 yards or more using whatever loads the Lyman bible touted. The gun functioned okay except for spitting out an extra loaded round with the 6th empty while chambering the 8th round. Sorry to say, back in those days I kept very few records of my favorite cast .308 loads.
Reading all I could on M-1’s to see what could have caused the extra round to come out, I read the works of a bright gun guru, saying, “lead bullets in gas guns will plug up the ports.” Could that be my problem? This is after over three years of shooting only cast in that gun. I pulled the end gas plug and found only some tiny gray chunks that could be scraped off with a pocketknife. In the Cast Bullet Association newsletter, The Fouling Shot, one fellow wrote that as a test he fired 1000 rounds over a period of time and found virtually the same thing I found years before. Just this past week I tried to see if I could intentionally plug up the gun. I fired more than 700 rounds of test loads. Most all of them were 1850 feet per second to over 2500 feet per second cast loads. Among these were a couple plain-based trials that fully functioned the action, but because of the soft alloy, only about half hit the standard size B-8 target at 100 yards. The old Ideal 3085 is a 166 grain, multi-groove plain base 30-30 bullet. If it were made out of a hard alloy, and if I reduced the velocity, the 5 round shotgun patterns on the target might shrink to a respectable size. The other plain base bullet is made from an Ohaus 30-130 mould that’s geared for the 30 M1 carbines and the SKS. One thing I want to empathize about these bare bottom bullets, they didn’t leave a bit of leading in either gun I fired them in. Using your gun as a single shot has its merits, and who knows you might stumble on to a keeper load.
An eye opener to me was that it only takes a load generating about 1900 feet per second to fully function the action. Fully function is where one round is fired and the next round is chambered without any failures. The standard U.S. M2 ball ammo is 2805 feet per second. My trials included using standard rifle primers and comparing the new CCI # 34 primers in the same loads and I found for the most part the CCI did a better job. In some cases, cutting the groups in half. These primers are specially made for 7.62 mm NATO, 30-06 & 7.62X39 mm ammunition. There’s about a 75 foot per second difference between sizing the bullets .3085” and .3095 “, and the two M-1’s I tested both preferred the .3095” diameter bullets. There isn’t any clear-cut powder/bullet combination that I can give you that will be accurate in your gun. Just suggestions as to what worked for me. Un-tuned M-1’s with average barrels at 100 yards would get 4” to 6” with GI Lake City 1969 ammo shooting from a bench. From what I remember seeing at high power matches, most guys were lucky to keep half their 10 rounds prone inside the eight inch #8 scoring ring. Another eye opener is that partial neck sizing only works quite well if brass is segregated and fired in only one rifle. I found this out 30 yeas ago while a friend was using only a Lee loader for his Model 100 Winchester. After four reloads, he would bring the brass to me for full length resizing, and start all over again. He lived in a trailer house and didn’t have the room for a loading press.
L/R 311316, 311359, 311465, Ohaus 30-130, 311466, B&M 311164, Lee 30170, 3085, 311407, 311332, 311291, 311041, 311467, 311334, 311299, 311290, 311284
Most of my listed loads the bullets are from wheel weights plus enough tin or linotype to get complete fill on the driving band edges. Those Loverin designed bullets can be the pits sometimes especially to a beginning caster. For those you need to keep the mould hot and sometimes add a little something with tin in it to aid cast-ability. I did use straight linotype with the Lyman 311332. I’ve had a couple hundred cast up for years, but never used them. For years I used a standard test cast load for almost all 30 calibers, consisting of 22 grains of IMR 4198 and 150 grain to 220 grain bullet. In my M-1, I can get 4” groups with that load chugging along at only 1350 feet per second. If I want to continue to use that powder and get full function, I need to add 10 grains to that load. Then groups double or worse. Several flat nosed bullets worked so easily through the action it makes me wonder if I’m doing something wrong. The Lyman 311407 might function well because of its mass, but the little diminutive 32-20 Winchester 311316 shouldn’t work but it does, and quite well, with WW-760. I used a Lyman M die for all loads here, but needle nose pliers will work faster to flair the case mouths just enough for easy bullet seating. One other tool I use to seat bullets straight is an old Herters “Model perfect” automatic seating die. Like the still available Vickermann straight line seating die, it has a floating cylinder that keeps the case and bullet perpendicular while seating. The Belding and Mull mould #311164 is about the same as Lyman’s 311413, and looks like a M-1 bullet’s supposed to look. Looks can be deceiving. In these tests I got just so-so 5”-9” groups. I’m sure as with most bullets, if you work with them a while, you’ll get better results.
Most all bullet weights and nose styles that the average shooter might have access to functioned without a hitch. Being lazy and short of time, I didn’t fire the two fouling shots that I know should be done when changing either powder or bullet. If you’re watching each hit with a good scope you’ll notice almost always the first or second will be the farthest outside the main group. There are no bragging rights with this first chart. It’s intent is to give you a starting point only, and it was just supposed to be an action test. Groups are of 5 rounds each fired with standard M-1 sights. I’m 62 years old, wear glasses, hearing aids, and take blood pressure pills. Have pity!
M-1 Garand Tests
|
Bullet |
Weight Grains |
Powder |
Weight Grains |
Velocity |
Group Size |
|
311316 |
112 |
Blc2 |
39 |
N/R |
9” |
|
|
|
WW-760 |
38 |
2010 |
3 1/2" |
|
311359 |
113 |
WW-760 |
38 |
2015 |
3 1/2" |
|
311465 |
128 |
IMR-4895 |
36 |
2095 |
8" |
|
|
|
H-380 |
36 |
1955 |
3 1/4" |
|
|
|
H-414 |
38 |
2050 |
3 1/2" |
|
311466 |
148 |
IMR-4895 |
39 |
2225 |
4 1/2" |
|
|
|
H-380 |
36 |
1935 |
2 3/4" |
|
B&M 311164 |
163 |
IMR-4064 |
42 |
2207 |
7 1/2" |
|
|
|
BLc2 |
39 |
2175 |
5" |
|
|
|
H-380 |
36 |
1880 |
9" |
|
|
|
IMR-4831 |
46 |
1990 |
7" |
|
Lee 309-170 |
165 |
H-380 |
36 |
1951 |
2 3/4" |
|
|
|
IMR-4831 |
46 |
2070 |
7" |
|
311407 |
173 |
IMR-4064 |
42 |
2275 |
6" |
|
311332 |
174 |
IMR-4895 |
42 |
2231 |
12" |
|
|
|
IMR-4064 |
42 |
2135 |
10" |
|
|
|
BLc2 |
39 |
2200 |
3 3/4" |
|
|
|
H-380 |
36 |
2000 |
4" |
|
|
|
IMR-4831 |
46 |
1875 |
2 1/2" |
|
311291 |
175 |
IMR-3031 |
40 |
2090 |
10" |
|
|
|
IMR-4895 |
43 |
2400 |
3" |
|
|
|
IMR-4064 |
42 |
2290 |
6" |
|
|
|
BLc2 |
39 |
2195 |
5" |
|
|
|
H-380 |
36 |
2005 |
3 3/4" |
|
311041 |
178 |
IMR-3031 |
40 |
2200 |
8" |
|
|
|
H-380 |
36 |
1990 |
2 1/2" |
|
311467 |
180 |
IMR-4895 |
42 |
2275 |
10" |
|
|
|
IMR-4064 |
42 |
2200 |
6" |
|
311334 |
194 |
H-380 |
36 |
1965 |
4" |
|
|
|
IMR-4831 |
46 |
1930 |
6" |
|
311299 |
207 |
IMR-4895 |
42 |
2250 |
9" |
|
|
|
IMR-4064 |
42 |
2125 |
13" |
|
|
|
BLc2 |
31 |
1850 |
7" |
|
|
|
H-380 |
36 |
1960 |
6 1/2" |
|
|
|
IMR-4831 |
46 |
2000 |
15" |
|
311290 |
210 |
IMR-4198 |
32 |
1990 |
10" |
|
|
|
IMR-3031 |
40 |
2160 |
6 1/2" |
|
|
|
IMR-4895 |
42 |
2195 |
15" |
|
|
|
H-380 |
36 |
1935 |
1 1/2" |
|
|
|
IMR-4831 |
47 |
2150 |
4" |
|
311284 |
214 |
IMR-4064 |
42 |
2230 |
7" |
|
|
|
IMR-4831 |
47 |
2100 |
3 1/2" |
I traded my 308 M-1 way back in 1974, so for these tests, I borrowed a friends M1-308, plus his CETME, L1A1, and AR-10B just to see how good or how bad cast will work in other semi-autos. If you have function failures in your semi-auto, a light oiling of the ammunition might help. It’s stated in Small Arms of The World that it’s recommended for the CETME and other delayed-blowback weapons. George Nonte said in his Modern Handloading that a mist of oil or wax sprayed on the cases with these reduced loads in semi autos works well. That’s why the smooth finish of some of the slick looking milsurp lacquered steel cased ammo feeds so smooth. The length of the driving bands on the bullets, not the weight, is the reason for so few mould models being used. It’s best if you do not seat bases below the neck. Case necks on the .300 Savage, 7.65 Argentine, and the 308 are all very short, and not easy to load cast or jacketed bullets straight and above the base of the neck. This second chart will show 308 M-1 test results only, but anyone with an M1-A, or other 7.62 NATO, or bolt 308 rifle, might find these loads helpful.
.308 M-1 Tests
|
Bullet |
Weight Grains |
Powder |
Weight |
Velocity |
Group Size |
|
311465 |
128 |
H-4895 |
32 |
2100 |
5 1/2" |
|
|
|
RL-19 |
48 |
2509 |
3 1/2" |
|
311466 |
148 |
H-4895 |
32 |
2250 |
4" |
|
B&M311164 |
163 |
RL-19 |
45 |
2245 |
5" |
|
311332 |
173 |
RL-19 |
46 |
2350 |
2" |
|
|
|
XMR-3100 |
45 |
2160 |
4" |
|
|
|
IMR-4831 |
45 |
2420 |
2" |
|
311291 |
175 |
H-4895 |
34 |
2220 |
8 1/2" |
|
311299 |
207 |
RL-19 |
46 |
2290 |
6" |
Armalite AR-10B 308 with a Badger barrel, fired this 1 1/2" group
The load I tried in the CETME, L1A1, and Armalite AR-10B is 45 grains of H4831 and the linotype hard 311332. This next statement won’t go well with the casting purists. All of these guns had been fired extensively with jacketed military ammo and the bores were not cleaned. The sights on the CETME are crude, so I was satisfied with a 7” group at 2250 feet per second, the L1A1’s smallest group was 3 ½” at 2130 feet per second, and I guess we saved the best for last as the AR-10B fired a tiny 1 ½” at 2140 feet per second. We had one composite group with this gun of 2 ¼” that two of us fired at the same bull. That ain’t too shabby for a semi-auto with iron sights.
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