Garand ammo

[pointman41]

I recently purchased a M1 Garand and ammo from CMP and was wondering if I could also use modern 30-06 ammo without hurting or damaging my Garand.Thank you for any assistance.

[woolleyworm]

After many many rounds of modern ammo in the two that I have, I'd have to give an affirmative Yes, you can. As with any newly aquired gun, I'd break it down and give it a thourough inspection and cleaning. Once you fire the ammo that you bought with it, you'll have plenty of brass to reload too!! After the reading the posted comments above, Thats good info to know. I'm still sitting on plenty of "newer" mil surplus, so I've never had to deal with this issue. I have some handloads worked up and I did have a few issues with cycling that I had to work out, but it didn't take many tries to find a good accurate load. I've had no issues with any guide rod damage, but I will pay some extra attention to it.

[Alpo]

Because of the design, Garands need to be fed ammo within a certain pressure curve.

You can buy surplus M2 ball. You can buy Federal American Eagle, made specifically for M1s. You can load your own to match the correct pressure curve. Several loading manuals have loads marked "for M1 Garand".

But I wouldn't shoot just "any old factory hunting loads" in mine.

[Hammerslagger]

Alpo "hit the nail on the head".

If you shoot sporting ammo with slow burning powder, you will likely bend the operating rod, in not too many shots.

This rifle is designed to have gas pressure down to about 5,000 PSI as the rear of the bullet passes the gas port. If the pressure is much lower it will not cycle properly. If the pressure gets much higher, you start damaging the operating rod.

[knothead]

brownells sells a adjustable gas cylinder lock screw that replaces the original. you just remove the old one and screw in the new one. it has interchangeable orifices to match the pressure of your load. it will save your op rod! :)

[Rocket J Squirl]

Nuttin over 150gr, and the best you can get is right from CMP and other places.

Greek Surplus, its match grade