Golden Bear .30-06 - Safe for my Garand?

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malakili

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I have some Golden Bear .30-06. It's 145 gr, 2445 fps, brass-jacketed steel case.

For the gurus: Will this stuff hurt my Garand if fired extensively? I read that most commercial ammo is bad because of higher pressures caused by slow-burning powders, but looking at the specs this ammo doesn't look warm at all.

I tried searching the forums but couldn't pull up an answer on this.

http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/ItemDetail.aspx?sku=AMM-678&pagenumber=4
 
would need to know the burn rate of the powder used.

it has little to nothing to do with bullet velocity.
 
I would try one box of 20 rounds and take notice of how your rifle behaves shooting them. If you are familiar with your rifle I believe anything "hurting" it will become apparent.
Typically with imported steel-cased ammo the primers are hard (no kaboom)

The steel case does not expand as quickly as brass so the chamber does not "gas seal" allowing bypass or blow-by. For some guns this is a non-issue.

Some extractors take issue with the steel cases, inspection might reveal problems.

I have found the "Bear" ammo to be slightly corrosive even though they claim non corrosive. Again a non issue if you clean the rifle.
 
Be careful with that Golden Bear stuff. I shot some of it in my rifle and a friend and I found some disturbing results. Over pressure being the main concern. There is a dent on the case that's supposed to be a high strength area (so I was told) or something like that, that expanded and swelled the case a bit. Also a concern was flattening of the primers and head spacing. The rounds were just slamming the bolt and slightly mushrooming them. Be careful with that stuff. I'll post pics when I get a chance to take them.
 
Thanks for the responses so far. I've emailed the Golden Bear U.S. rep to see if he knows the burn rate.

I've actually already tried a little bit of this in the M1 a while ago. It seemed to shoot Ok, with good reliability and soft recoil, but I'm not enough of an expert on the Garand to have noticed if anything else was amiss.

jnoble87, thanks for the warning. You were shooting this in an M1, or was it a different rifle?

At the moment I'm considering labeling this ammo as "emergency use only" :)
 
I don't have a M1, but I have shot the golden bear in a Stevens 200 30-06 and it works perfectly fine. However, they are different systems.
 
I was shooting them in a Mossberg ATR 100 .30-06. Also the issue with the gas sealing and the case. That ammo is REALLY REALLY dirty. I was also having issues with the bolt not wanting to actuate too with this ammo vs brass cased federal stuff. Too many problems to be considered for me. I'm sticking with brass cased stuff from now on.
 
having a "schuster nut" added to your Garand......will give you peace of mind.....and lessen the battering the op rod takes from commercial ammo.....cheap insurance...for little money
 
Babarsac said: Would an adjustable gas plug help in this case?

I think an adjustable gas plug is a good idea every time you go near commercial ammunition. I leave mine in the gun all the time. Whenever I use new loads, I close it down and open it one click past where it starts cycling the action. I write the number of clicks for that ammo down in a reference spread sheet.

A rough and ready rule of thumb is if the empties are piling up at the 2:00 to 3:00 o'clock position, you're OK. If the gun is trying to throw the empties at 5:00 o'clock or behind you, the action is too energetic. Dial the valve down a bit.
 
Thanks guys. The consensus seems to be, "adjustable gas plug." Probably a smart choice. Looks like it's time to save some pennies :)
 
I'm not so sure on pressure levels and that stuff but if i'm not mistaken all of the golden bear line is brass cased, silver bear is zinc plated steel, and brown bear is lacquer coated steel. (at least thats the way it is in 7.62x39 and 7.62x54r)

Reading this tho and seeing that shooting commercial ammo in a Garand may cause issues makes me wanna strike it off the gotta have one rifle list and that makes me sad :(
 
Big deal, why give up on the Garand?
There are a large number of ammo choices:
surplus ammo
commercial ammo made for the Garand
Any good quality commercial ammo under 180 gr with a $35.00 adjustable gas screw
 
Jojo20017 wrote: Reading this tho and seeing that shooting commercial ammo in a Garand may cause issues makes me wanna strike it off the gotta have one rifle list and that makes me sad

Don't be sad JoJo, the adjustable plug deals with the issues of different ammo. Just leave the plug in and clean it whenever you clean the gas cylinder.

When our range reopens, I plan to work up loads with 130 grain and 220 grain Hornadys. If the 220 grain Hornadys work out, I think I'll get a Mini-G from Tim Shufflin and put a red dot sight on it. Then I'll go hunting moose and grizzlies. I don't think anything in the western hemisphere can live through 8 quick rounds of 220 grain 30-06.

Caribou has quoted Eskimos as saying that if you can't kill whatever you're hunting with a 30-06, you should just hide.
 
Would a 220 gr bullet would work in the Garand twist? I would think you need to stay under 180
 
I had some really bad problems with hangfires in that stuff. Might want to go another direction.
 
Orlando wrote: Would a 220 gr bullet would work in the Garand twist? I would think you need to stay under 180

The barrel has a 1 in 10 twist which is about what you find in most 30-06 rifles. So the 220 grain should be just fine. Besides the 220 Hornady is a flat base, blunt nose bullet which is the easiest to stabilize on the heavy end.

I'd think a 250 grain boat tailed spitzer would be marginal, but it would probably be too long to get into the barrel from the magazine without setting setting the bullet half way into the case.

Besides a .30 caliber carbine length 30-06 with 8 rounds of 220 grain round nose thumpers just seems right to me. If the Hornadys work in my M1, I think I'll get the Mini-G and name it "Hammer of Thor" or some such. I'm sure grizzlies would be very impressed. Maybe I'll wear a cape when I take it out.:)
 
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