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GOUGE CMP M1 Garands - Opportunity

Hozer

Jobu needs a refill!
None
Contributor
Curious about .30-06 cal ammo availability. Mil surplus is negligible. What are ya'll shooting?
 

CAMike

Well-Known Member
None
Contributor
Homegrown Bud on a Dillon 550B.

46.5 grains of IMR4895 below the 168 HPBT varietal.

45.7 grains of Varget in the same weight class.

I measure base to lands and subtract 30 thousandths for my COAL. Works great!

Yeah, I neck turn and segregate/weigh my brass but I simply just roll that way on all my loads regardless of caliber. minus 7.62x39. Those things just don't seem to matter in the AK world.
 
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nittany03

Recovering NFO. Herder of Programmers.
pilot
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
Just remember all .30-06 isn't created equal. The M1 was spec'd for M2 ball ammo - a 150 grain FMJ bullet with a certain powder type that escapes me. Now that the surplus market is drying up, companies are jumping on the bandwagon to make factory new ammo spec'd for the Garand (as Hacker mentioned, Prvi Partizan is one). Or you can be like Mike ( :) ) and roll your own. Or shoot surplus M2. Just don't shoot the heavier or hotter stuff; it's designed for bolt-action rifles. It will pound the hell out of the operating rod, and possibly bend it. And make sure whether any surplus is corrosive or not before you shoot it!
 

SynixMan

HKG Based Artificial Excrement Pilot
pilot
Contributor
Anyone ever driven to the store in Anniston? Easier experience?
 

sickboy

Well-Known Member
pilot
I'm shooting Greek surplus out of mine, I'll probably start rolling my own M2 when that's running out. If you're planning on shooting non spec ammo, I'd recommend getting one of those adjustable gas plugs to protect your op rod.
 

Gatordev

Well-Known Member
pilot
Site Admin
Contributor
Anyone ever driven to the store in Anniston? Easier experience?

I didn't drive, but... When I went, their stock was low and it was during a time when they didn't really have SG rifles CMP-wide. That FG in the picture above I ended up picking out while I was there. It was easier to have it shipped, as AL tax was more than the FEDEX shipping.

If you do go visit, one thing that's nice is you can pick your rifle and then take it up to the gentleman at the counter (whose name is escaping me) and he'll look it over for you. My first pick ended up having a burr on the crown of the barrel. He took it away from me and told me to go find another one. He gave his approval on the second choice. Pretty cool experience, although being in flight suits helped with how we were received and taken care of.
 

HackerF15E

Retired Strike Pig Driver
None
Anyone ever driven to the store in Anniston? Easier experience?

I've been to both stores several times, and they were all good experiences. I liked being able to browse the rifle racks and pick out exactly what I wanted to take home. The South Store is a slightly smaller room than the North Store, and that used to translate to more stock on hand in the North than the South. Not certain if that is still the case today.

That being said, "what you see is what you get" generally when you arrive. In other words, if there's a manufacturer or a grade that you want that isn't on the racks that day, well you're outta luck. Same goes for if you don't like the ones that are out on the racks that particular day. I think that's not really a problem for folks who know what they're looking for, or can see a diamond in the rough, but for folks first-time-buying it could present a problem.

For a while there was a guy up at the Port Clinton store who neophytes could go ask, and he would help them pick out a good one. If a customer picked out a rifle, the armorer behind the counter would break it down, look at the internals, and give them advice on what was in there. I did that when I was buying some M1917s back maybe 12-13 years ago and I didn't really know how to judge what was good and what was bad. The folks at the stores now might be able to do the same.

Best bet is to read the store visit reports on the CMP forums and see how the in-store stocks of different grades of rifles are trending before you actually plan a visit.

It also used to be that CMP would pick better rifles for the mail orders since those were being purchased sight-unseen (and folks at the stores would see what they were getting before buying), but that was when there were a lot more rifles to sell and a lot more choice to be made. Not sure if they still do that now or not.
 

HackerF15E

Retired Strike Pig Driver
None
RE: commercial ammo vs "M2 spec" ammo.

Back in 2004-ish, the CMP offered a batch of Greek-return Rack Grade rifles for $295. They're a story in and of themselves, but because they were cheap I bought one to experiment with ammo.

For a year, all I shot through it was commercial ammo (and then there was no "Garand-safe" ammo being made commercially) to see if I could "bend the op rod" as is popularly warned. I put less than 500 rounds through it during that time (I wasn't a high volume shooter, and the $295 Greek wasn't my main rifle to play with anyway), but I never saw any damage, distortion, or anything like that. I ended up selling the rifle to a buddy, who later sent it to DGR to have it all Gucci'd out, and the tech report of its pre-rebuild state didn't note any deficiencies outside of a worn op-rod tab (which was probably that way when I bought it anyway).

Personally, I have yet to see an example of a damaged Garand from using commercial .30-06 ammo.
 

sickboy

Well-Known Member
pilot
RE: commercial ammo vs "M2 spec" ammo.

Back in 2004-ish, the CMP offered a batch of Greek-return Rack Grade rifles for $295. They're a story in and of themselves, but because they were cheap I bought one to experiment with ammo.

For a year, all I shot through it was commercial ammo (and then there was no "Garand-safe" ammo being made commercially) to see if I could "bend the op rod" as is popularly warned. I put less than 500 rounds through it during that time (I wasn't a high volume shooter, and the $295 Greek wasn't my main rifle to play with anyway), but I never saw any damage, distortion, or anything like that. I ended up selling the rifle to a buddy, who later sent it to DGR to have it all Gucci'd out, and the tech report of its pre-rebuild state didn't note any deficiencies outside of a worn op-rod tab (which was probably that way when I bought it anyway).

Personally, I have yet to see an example of a damaged Garand from using commercial .30-06 ammo.

Gun Jesus and his buddy made a pretty good video about this.

 

HackerF15E

Retired Strike Pig Driver
None
Takeaway from the video:

"We should be clear that what we're talking about is not that commercial ammo is somehow unsafe, it is that it isn't ideal for this rifle..."

They do indulge in conjecture about theoretical damage to the receiver heel and op rod with the higher pressure, but there is still no actual evidence of that damage potential being any higher than with M2 ball.
 
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