An M1 Garand came my way today.

[Badger]

I like old military arms and my neighbor came by to trade. He wanted my old hay rake and harrow in exchange for a Very Good+ Garand. I now have a place to park my truck and the Garand shoots very well.

I just finished reading Bruce Canfield's book, "The M1 Garand and M1 Carbine." Both arms are very collectable today and I especially llike the Garand. Prices on the Garand and Carbines are going up and still up. I am glad I will bequeath nice stuff to my heirs.

Meanwhile, the Garand is a shootable arm and today I tested some loads in my latest Garand at my local club. Happily, both Ball and my accuracy handloads worked very well.

If you have a Garand, go shoot it and handload for it as well.

Badger

[Bill Mc]

I still have alot of the Greek surplus to shoot up in my Garand.

But I'm wondering, do I have to do anything the the primer pocket in order to reload them. All the Greek rounds that I have shot, I have deprimed, resized and trimmed.

I've heard there was a crimp that needed to be removed, but the pockets look OK.

[Bushman]

I seem to remember reading in one of my recent gun magazines that Hornady, I think it was, just came out with loaded ammunition specifically tailored to the M1 Garand. How would that be any different than any '06 ammo that we have had for years?

[Gil Martin]

It depends. Current production Hornady ammo for the M1 Garand operates at safe pressures and will not harm the operating rod. There is a market for current production ammo because finding suitable G.I. ball ammo for the M1 Garand is getting hard to find. All the best...
Gil

[Badger]

Bill Mc,

A lot of GI Ball ammo had crimped in primers to preclude operational failures in maching guns. If your Greek Ball has crimped primers, the crimp can be removed by swaging or cutting to allow a new primer to enter. Also, reduce Max loads by 2 or 3 grains because military brass is heavier than commercial brass and produces more pressure.

Badger