Posted on 01/01/2020 3:31:16 AM PST by ammodotcom
Today is John Garand's Birthday!
Any gun nut – er, “firearms enthusiast” – worth their salt has heard of the M1 Garand (it rhymes with “errand,” by the way). This .30-06 semi-automatic rifle is one of the most iconic American firearms of all time, and was the standard-issue weapon for American infantry troops during World War II and the Korean War. Drill teams and honor guards continue to use this in the present day, such is its role as a symbol of the American military.
Continue reading John Garand: The Forgotten History of the Man Who Invented the Iconic M1 Garand Rifle at Ammo.com
(Excerpt) Read more at ammo.com ...
Shooters will find a chuckle in that he wanted to chamber it in what would be today probably a 6.5 or 7 mm to “take advantage of superior ballistics”. His request was denied by no other than Gen. MacArthur himself as head of Logistics and in so doing used what is probably the first use of the phrase “politically incorrect” as the US had warehouses full of .30-06 ammo.
Great background on the whole 7mm vs. .30 caliber issue can be found in American Rifle - A Biography.
Well worth reading.
https://www.amazon.com/American-Rifle-Biography-Alexander-Rose/dp/0553384384
(Now don’t everyone get their panties in a bunch...I get no gain from this...only trying to make it easier for anyone interested to find)
The same debate came about again during the 1950’s when the 7.62NATO was being adopted.
Just about every piece of brass used for cartridges is turned into a case designed to burn a powder that is no longer used. Funny, huh? Anyone who loads .45 ACP knows there is a whole lot of “wasted space” even in there much less the venerated .30-06. Perhaps the next “revolution” in firearms is cases actually designed for the powder they shoot.
A fundamental virtue of the Garand was its ease of use by even minimally trained American teens of its era. As a birthday present when my youngest brother turned 17, my father arranged a session with a trainer and my father’s Garand on a local SWAT range. From his first clip, my brother was putting rapid, highly accurate shots into targets at middle distance. His readiness to use the Garand came from avid boyhood use of a BB gun, the sort of experience that was once a common feature of American boyhood.
Good point about case design and propellants.
I keep waiting for the Holy Grail of case-less ammo to finally happen. But I’ve been waiting since the sixties.
I’ve always wanted an M1 Garand, even though the 30-06 would kill my already destroyed shoulder every time I fired it. Just the history of it would be worth it.
I bought two from the CMP with the intention of giving them to my sons someday. While my wife was in the recovery room with our third son, I logged into the CMP’s site to buy one more!
I own my dad’s (he brought it back from WW2). Had it out at the range last week. It’s a joy to fire.
bump
http://thecmp.org/cmp_sales/rifle_sales/
Why don’t you get one. Watch out though, you’ll get the bug. I have eight of them,
***as the US had warehouses full of .30-06 ammo.***
Same reason the Krag was slow to be adopted and issued in the Spanish-American war.. Warehouses full of 45-70 Black powder ammo.
So our troops armed with single shot Springfield rifles went up against 5 shot Mauser armed Spanish.
You are kind of right. The powder technology drove the design of the 30US round. As propellant technology matured, powders became less bulky and to some degree the cartridge case had more capacity than formerly required.
Of course, capacity and bullet mass/weight are related, generally, the greater bullet mass the less powder and hence capacity is required.
However, regarding the 30/06 as we know it, it can indeed use all of the capacity with modern propellants and far exceed the external ballistics of yesteryear. for example, a compressed charge ( 100%+) capacity, of a medium slow powder like H4350 or 4831SC and a 200 grain bullet will far out pace anything the 308 can offer, and come very close to the performance of the 300 standard magnums like the 300 WM or the 300 H&H ( my all time favorite round). Only in the very overbore cases like the 300 PRC and weatherby mags does that really change the paradigm ( at the expense of barrel life).
Modern cartridges like the 6.5 Creedmoor etc are designed to use all of the capacity, use a short action and use all of the action length and chamber with long/heavy for caliber projectiles to optimize that end of the long range spectrum. Note, they don’t really go fast, but they are very efficient overall, and have very good barrel life ( excess of 2000 rounds) whereas the aforementioned overbore mags burn steel almost as fast as they burn powder. The notorious 6/284 has often seen a useful barrel life of around 600-800 rounds... At around $800 per barrel change ( top flite tube and smithing) that equates to almost a buck a shot, plus ammo costs.
The 30/06 /308 class rounds often run over 5000 rnds of barrel life.
I have a Krieger 1/12 heavy NM barrel on my Type 2A NM M1 ( H&R 1952) that still holds the X ring at 600 (5400 rnds to date) if I do my part-problem is my 58 year old eyes need as much help these days as possible. A 190 grn Matchking and IMR 4064 running around 2560 fps will hold supersonic in most conditions well past 1200 yards, but in the Garand ( NM Iron sights) I find 600 my useful max range. A bolt gun running the same or maybe a tad faster could easily run to 1500yds with good glass.
Recoil is where the current class of LR rounds beat the 30 cals for the most part. A 10lb rifle recoiling at 25 ft/lbs vs. the same gun and a 6 pr 6.5 mm recoiling at 12 lbs makes for a less fatiguing set up.
Other than Palma, almost no one in the match shooting world runs a 30 cal ( where 308 Win is required, along with a 155grn/10 gm bullet is required) for LR.
You will have no problems shooting a Garand. The weight of the rifle will counteract much of the”kick”.
I am on blood thinners and have no problem with it. On the other hand, the 1903 Springfield will bruise me bad.
Believe me, I understand.
Everything any one posts here these days is subject to the vitriol of gunners that profess to be humble, yet make a point to insert themselves into every damned thing that is posted that they either do not agree with, or they just feel that today is the ideal time to be an obtuse butthead.
And usually have no idea as to what or who they are attacking.
Thanks for the info.
I knew a gunsmith that had a “fun project”. .22-06 muzzle vel. Of above 5,000 FPS. 400 round barrel life. Of course, you are correct, .30-06 can be loaded up to almost 300 Win Mag performance. I wouldn’t shoot that round in a rifle with an op rod, though.
I have a Garand you would love. Thompson SS match barrel, Fajen stock, bedded action, the works. I added some lead shot in the butt to balance it out so it weighs about 20 pounds. Recoil is about like a .223.
Well, the conventional wisdom dictates that 4320-4064 range powders in an M1 ( 30 or 308) and not heavier than 180 grn.
However, a well maintained and properly tuned M1 can handle heavy bullets and stout charges ( the original round, the M1, was a 173 grn bullet at 2800 FPS and 50k CUP (60k PSI).
Also, I use a ported gas cylinder lock screw (gas plug), heavy oprod spring and hammer spring that allows me to tune the gas system to both optimum reliability and accuracy.
I do stay within standard M1 Loadings, (Usually IMR 4064, seems to be the ideal in my rifle) but know others who use slower powders with great effect and increase in external ballistics.
All I ever used my M1 for was punching holes in paper so I never loaded anything but very moderate loads.
I have 3 M1’s from CMP. Two I pulled off the shelves at Anniston, they were Springfields. The third I ordered from CMP a H&R Korean War vintage. Nothing like hearing that ping on the last round!
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