I know the M1 Garand should be fed a diet of M2 ball ammo or equivalent, and that modern, hotter 30-06 rounds can bend the operating rod.   My question is, how quickly might that happen?

 

I've got 140 rounds of modern Winchester 30-06 with 165gr bullets that I'd love to convert to empty cases, into which I can load Garand-optimized components (I've got data on replicating M2 ball ammo).

 

Is it worth the risk, or should I sell or trade the new ammo? I could also pull the bullets and reload with appropriate powder, I suppose. 

 

 I've no sense of whether the operating rod damage can happen quicklly, or if this is something that only shows up after firing thousands of rounds of modern ammo.

 

Thanks.

Check the CMP forums, but I believe the damage is very gradual. If it were mine, I would shoot it.

I have seen oprods damaged in a couple of hundred rds. if you want to shoot that ammo get an adj gas plug.

Just get this, and you can shoot all kinds of .30-06 to your heart's content.

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/777146/schuster-dcm-adjustable-gas-plug-with-wrench-m1-garand-steel-parkerized

There is a pic online somewhere of a Garand that blew up with some hot loads. I think it was the guy's first shot.

 

Here is another. I loaded 30-06, chickened out and decided to only shoot surplus.

 

http://www.jouster.com/forums/showthread.php?1504-D-Day-Commemorative-M-1-blows-up-with-HXP

I have seen oprods damaged in a couple of hundred rds. if you want to shoot that ammo get an adj gas plug.

Are you talking about standard (i.e. not high performance) current day 30 '06 ammo made by ammo made by major manufacturers? That runs counter to what I have read on the CMP forums.

 

An adjustable gas plug is a great idea though.

Are you talking about standard (i.e. not high performance) current day 30 '06 ammo made by ammo made by major manufacturers? That runs counter to what I have read on the CMP forums.

An adjustable gas plug is a great idea though.

It was "regular" commercial ammo. Not sure of the make or bullet weight. Even though I have adequate supply of M2 ball and equivalent reloads, I keep a couple of adj plugs around just in case.

You could probably get more ammo if you sold/traded it for surplus ammo. I personally would not shoot it through an old rifle designed for less pressure. I have had a German K43 rifle suffer major but repairable damage because of new gas system parts and I would lean towards being better safe than sorry.

How about using Korean surplus ammo?

Thanks, All,

 

The suggestion to check the CMP forums eventually lead me to the wonderful http://www.garandgear.com website, where I found this:

 

http://www.garandgear.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=106:shooting-commercial-ammunition-in-your-m1-garand&catid=39

 

They didn't test the specific ammo I have at home, but the link will likely help others.   I'll be either pulling the bullets of my Winchester ammo and reloading to M2 specs, or buying a ported gas plug for the M1.

Buy the plug it takes a lot less time and effort to do that than pull bullets and reload.  Get your brass by sending those WW loads downrange.