M1 Garand Ammo and Gas Systems.

[10thmountain]

So tell me a bit about the gas systems?

I keep reading you can only shoot 150 Ball out of them not commercial ammo?

So can you just run into Cabelas and buy some 30.06 and have a fun range day?

What do you all use?

Tell me about this gas adjustment plug/tool?

Thank you gents..

 

[Hayata]

I buy all my Garand food from CMP.

You won't find a cheaper price.

192 rds in clips/bandoliers for $115 delivered to your front door?

See, now you have another reason to join CMP!

Not sure about the adjustable gas block thingie.

 

[MILSURP Collector]

I only use M2 surplus mainly because it is recommended and cheaper. CMP sells it for 200 rounds of Greek HXP for $136 or .68 a round and the currently have spam cans with 192 rounds in 4 bandoliers in Enblocs for $115 or just under .60 a round plus 24 Enblocs that are about a buck each and 4 bandoliers that go for around $5 each!

If you shoot commercial you can get a ported gas plug at www.garandgear.com

 

[RobCole]

For my shooter I use the Garand Gear ported plug.

http://www.garandgear.com/ported-gas-plug.html

Does it work with any ammo? It has for me so far. You just screw it in and forget about it. M2 from CMP is almost always cheaper, but once in a while you come across a good deal on commercial ammo here on ODT.

 

[10thmountain]

So just to re-ask...M2 Ball is the most popular surplus ammo.

BUUUUUT....

Anyone shoot 150G Privi or 150G American Eagle? I have been reading about that stuff. Seems to work fine.

Hypothetically...If you were at Cabelas and needed some ammo for hunting or plinking what type would you buy?

 

[Granite3]

The adjustable gas plug/port allows you to control the pressure in the barrel. Bent op rod or worse happens with too much pressure.

From the Firing Line:

The first year the CMP contracted Federal Ammunition to use in the Garand Matches, the ammunition was too hot. Now it may have been made to SAAMI specs, but the stuff chronographed close to 2900 fps and it caused malfunctions. My shooter had his gun jam up because the port pressure was too high. This happened to a lot of people. It took about two years for the CMP to change the spec, but now CMP ammunition shoots around 2700 fps.

As for velocities, without pressure gages and port pressure gages, how can we determine if the ammunition is right for a Garand?

Velocities are the easiest way to determine if you are loading correctly for a Garand. That is use powders that give appropriate port pressures (4895, H4895, 2495, AA2520, etc) and load them up to the velocity you get when you fire LC in your rifle. Which will be between 2650 – 2700 fps with a 150 grain bullet.

Your Garand was designed to use ammunition made in 1936. It was not hot ammunition, even by the period, and it is certainly not hot today. Many lots of ammunition were in the 40,000 psi range.

When you use modern ammunition at high port pressures you will have malfunctions. The rifle will be opening and closing too quickly. You may have all sorts of strange clip jumping, bolt overrides, failure to feed, failure to extract, who knows. And it will beat up the rifle as things are slamming and banging too much.

 

[MMatt30]

The 150g American Eagle is gtg in a Garand.

 

[10thmountain]

Privi makes Garand specific ammo. I also saw some cheap 145g .30 Garand ammo by wolf. Not sure if lacquered dirty Russian ammo is good for an American warhorse.
I like their .223 though...

 

[spencer60]

Privi makes Garand specific ammo. I also saw some cheap 145g .30 Garand ammo by wolf. Not sure if lacquered dirty Russian ammo is good for an American warhorse.
I like their .223 though...

I've used the Privi and the Wolf as well as Greek surplus. That's all 'Garand-safe' even without the GG plug.

Beware of Korean 'Garand' surplus though, some of it's corrosive and some isn't. Not a problem if you always do a corrosive-style cleaning, but if you don't know and skip it you can rust things out pretty fast.

 

[MMatt30]

I've used the Privi and the Wolf as well as Greek surplus. That's all 'Garand-safe' even without the GG plug.

Beware of Korean 'Garand' surplus though, some of it's corrosive and some isn't. Not a problem if you always do a corrosive-style cleaning, but if you don't know and skip it you can rust things out pretty fast.

Sometimes the headstamp coding will tell you if the ammo is corrosive. I used that to figure out if some 1953 vintage ammo I had was corrosive one time.

Had no idea Wolf made a Garand loading. Will have to try some.