COAL and M1 Garand

[fractal7]

Two questions: First, my immediate problem, what is a recommended COAL for 168gr SMKs for M1 Garand loads? I've read a few other posts and it seems people generally use somewhere around 3.23"-3.3" or so. Will anything dangerous happen if I just pick a COAL in that range and go with it?

Second, because I wasn't sure I tried what my Speer reloading manual says to do, which is: seat a bullet - rub dry erase marker on it - chamber it to see if its touching the rifling and keep seating deeper until there is no contact. Has anyone successfully used this method to determine their own COALs for their rifle loads? I wasn't able to get this to work very well for my Garand. Is it just because the rifling is farther up than the max OAL? (I started around the Max COAL of 3.340" so I didn't just jam a loose bullet into my barrel) Or possibly since the SMKs are ogival the tip won't actually contact at that length?

 

[USSR]

...what is a recommended COAL for 168gr SMKs for M1 Garand loads? I've read a few other posts and it seems people generally use somewhere around 3.23"-3.3" or so. Will anything dangerous happen if I just pick a COAL in that range and go with it?

No, as long as your load is one that is suitable for the Garand, the COAL's you mentioned will not cause a dangerous situation.

...I tried what my Speer reloading manual says to do, which is: seat a bullet - rub dry erase marker on it - chamber it to see if its touching the rifling and keep seating deeper until there is no contact. Has anyone successfully used this method to determine their own COALs for their rifle loads? I wasn't able to get this to work very well for my Garand. Is it just because the rifling is farther up than the max OAL? (I started around the Max COAL of 3.340" so I didn't just jam a loose bullet into my barrel) Or possibly since the SMKs are ogival the tip won't actually contact at that length?

The technique you describe is something that is sometimes used in boltguns, and should not be used in autoloaders. As you suspected, the throat is out there a ways in an M1 Garand. If you want a long COAL, then seat your 168SMK so that .300" of the full diameter part of the bullet (don't count the boattail part) remains in the neck. That is essentially as long as you want to load it, and still have enough of the bullet in the neck to support it.

Don

 

[ka041a]

3.330" is the dimension I got from my friends at another forum, I don't have my manual with me. The information I have is that M1garand ammo should have the bullet crimped. All of the military ammo I have seen has had the bullet cannelured and crimped. I don't have any experience with match grade ammo in a Garand. But I expect that a 168gr. bullet is probably going to have a freebore(bullet jump) of about .150"-.200" and therefore the "eraser method" may prove less than conclusive.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

fractal7,
In addition to the above info, for the Garand make sure you don't use too slow a powder when loading your ammo. You can damage the Opp-Rod and with the prices these days you really don't want to do that... (~$125) If you need powder recommendations there are a lot of threads covering powders, just do a search and you will find more threads than you need. For a fast answer give IRM4895 or H4895 a try. If you can find surplus RG4895 it's good powder too and mimics IMR4895.

Sorry if you already know this but I just wanted to be sure you didn't damage your Garand.

 

[jr_roosa]

No need to crimp for an M1. I do anyway on bullets with a cannelure, but just because it's there.

SMKs don't have a cannelure and if you try to crimp you'll just damage the bullet.

No way you'll ever find the rifling and still fit in the magwell and feed properly.

Most of the accuracy tricks that work in bolt guns are probably not worth the trouble in a garand unless it's a totally tricked out match garand and you are at the top of your game shooting it.

I use 3.3" because it feeds just fine, it gives me maximum case volume, and minimum case pressure.

With the Hornady 150 grain FMJBTs their reloading guide has you seating way shorter than this and they feed just fine too. My garand will manually cycle empty brass without trouble too. Yours might be picky.

Good luck!

-J.