M1 Garand Megathread

Not cheap but then again it’s match grade ammo not 50 year floor sweepings (a la HXP). Doubt you’ll find 30-06 cheaper than that. Sadly.
Right and its only $150 round I think thats only .10-.15 cents more than it was pre covide and the 30-06 was hard to snag then.
If I had some disposable income at the moment there would be some of this on the way.
 
Good heads up. This is by far the best commercially available ammo for M1's and other .30-06 milsurp rifles. Added bonus is that the Lapua brass lasts damn near forever. Seriously, I lose or damage that brass before I start seeing reload problems like necks splitting or case head separation. A lot of the old timers LOVE their Lake City brass, but I start getting neck splits at 4X to 6X times reloaded.

The one big negative for ordering this from CMP is that they will ship it when they damn well please, LOL. I think in 2021 I waited 6-7 months for my order to ship? We'll see how it goes this time.
 
Last edited:
$1.50/round? Jeeeeeee-zus.

Know anywhere else to find commercial match grade .30-06 at less than ~$2.00 per round?

Heading out to Port Clinton in August for a family reunion. Going to go to CMP at Camp Perry and check out the Garands

If you are not already set up to purchase from the CMP program, be sure to take care of that in advance. You'll need that even if wanting to only purchase some ammo. Check out the store reports in the CMP forum- you may get some idea of what might be their inventory. I am reading that there will be no restock of Garands until the Camp Perry matches and that you must be a competitor to shop during the matches. Possible there could be some M1's available in August, but I'd check. I competed in the nationals last year but didn't see anything in the store that I wanted to buy. I did find an awesome Remington 03A3 at Talladega when in the area.
 
I wouldn't even waste the money putting match grade ammo through my Garand, not a match grade barrel so I don't think match ammo would make too much a difference?

I think any Garand barreled for match is in .308?

Anyways... Isn't 30-06 for $1.50 a round good price nowadays regardless of whether or not it is match grade?

Using Lapua brass, just the brass is probably $1.00 lol
 
I wouldn't even waste the money putting match grade ammo through my Garand, not a match grade barrel so I don't think match ammo would make too much a difference?

I think any Garand barreled for match is in .308?

Anyways... Isn't 30-06 for $1.50 a round good price nowadays regardless of whether or not it is match grade?

Using Lapua brass, just the brass is probably $1.00 lol
My 168 grain reloads group waaaay better than any 150 gr ammo including my 150 gr reloads.

If you could find standard 150 gr ammo for a buck or less a round and don’t compete, I would say stick with the cheaper stuff but I don’t think any 30-06 ammo is cheaper than $1.50 at the moment
 
I wouldn't even waste the money putting match grade ammo through my Garand, not a match grade barrel so I don't think match ammo would make too much a difference?

I think any Garand barreled for match is in .308?

Anyways... Isn't 30-06 for $1.50 a round good price nowadays regardless of whether or not it is match grade?

Using Lapua brass, just the brass is probably $1.00 lol
Probably 99.9% of people shooting M1 Garands in a match are shooting vintage as-issued matches, so they will be shooting .30-06.

Yes, $1.50 per round is a good price for .30-06 of any type except for corrosive shit that will blow up your gun. Korean and Turkish .30-06 is know to go KA-BOOM. LOL watch someone chime in to defend the Korean surplus dogshit ammo. I will PM them to find out where they shoot so I can avoid them. Winter before last I was next to someone when he had a Korean K-B. Messed up his face some but luckily didn't lose an eye. There was a recent Turkish K-B as well.
 
Probably 99.9% of people shooting M1 Garands in a match are shooting vintage as-issued matches, so they will be shooting .30-06.

Yes, $1.50 per round is a good price for .30-06 of any type except for corrosive shit that will blow up your gun. Korean and Turkish .30-06 is know to go KA-BOOM. LOL watch someone chime in to defend the Korean surplus dogshit ammo. I will PM them to find out where they shoot so I can avoid them. Winter before last I was next to someone when he had a Korean K-B. Messed up his face some but luckily didn't lose an eye. There was a recent Turkish K-B as well.
But dude I saved $.15 per round buying corrosive ammo!!!…..

Until my gun blew up
 
There’s another vendor who ships to mass who has the S&B Garand ammo for $26 per box plus tax. It looks like with shipping/tax on 200 rounds it would be $306 shipped

If you need the ammo sooner rather than later this would be a good option rather than wait months for the CMP
 
I don't typically go to Walmart, but they had Winchester 30-06 for $25/box. It's not match grade ammo, but it works.
Quoting CMP:

The CMP advises to not use .30/06 ammunition in M1 Garands, 1903s, and 1903A3s that is loaded beyond 50,000 CUP and has a bullet weight more than 172-174gr. These rifles are at least 70 years old and were not designed for max loads and super heavy bullets. Always wear hearing and eye protection when firing an M1 Garand, 1903 and/or 1903A3 rifle.

The typical Winchester 150 grain hunting ammo is running ~2920 fps at the muzzle, about 200 fps faster than Winchester 150 grain M2 ball. Op rod damage is likely and if the spring is worn out, receiver damage is possible when shooting commercial ammo. I'm not a fan of the adjustable gas plugs and folks WAY more experienced than me say they are nonsense and to just use the right ammo.
Until my gun blew up
I can't remember what forum, but there were dudes arguing the merits of the old Korean surplus. No thank you...
 
Know anywhere else to find commercial match grade .30-06 at less than ~$2.00 per round?



If you are not already set up to purchase from the CMP program, be sure to take care of that in advance. You'll need that even if wanting to only purchase some ammo. Check out the store reports in the CMP forum- you may get some idea of what might be their inventory. I am reading that there will be no restock of Garands until the Camp Perry matches and that you must be a competitor to shop during the matches. Possible there could be some M1's available in August, but I'd check. I competed in the nationals last year but didn't see anything in the store that I wanted to buy. I did find an awesome Remington 03A3 at Talladega when in the area.
Thanks, I was setup a few years ago and I should probably check to see if it's still OK.
 
There’s another vendor who ships to mass who has the S&B Garand ammo for $26 per box plus tax. It looks like with shipping/tax on 200 rounds it would be $306 shipped

If you need the ammo sooner rather than later this would be a good option rather than wait months for the CMP
Of the commercial M2 ball I’ve used, the S&B has been the best.
 
Reloading is really the only economical way to load for these rifles these days.

I think that stash of HXP I bought from the CMP years ago is actually worth more than my 401k right now!
I've still got a few double-can cases from Lake City that the CMP was selling decades ago. I stopped shooting it when the Greek HXP came through.
 
$1.50/round? Jeeeeeee-zus.
Nothing out there cheaper that I can find
Heck try finding the lapua 167s for less than .45 each or lapua brass for less than $135/100
Now I reload so spending $1.50/rd to run in a 3 moa rifle is a bit of a waste BUT if you dont reload its one if the cheapest 30-06 available right now that I see.
Unless PPU gets some M2 state side under .90/rd ….. whatcha gunna du
 
Nothing out there cheaper that I can find
Heck try finding the lapua 167s for less than .45 each or lapua brass for less than $135/100
Now I reload so spending $1.50/rd to run in a 3 moa rifle is a bit of a waste BUT if you dont reload its one if the cheapest 30-06 available right now that I see.
Unless PPU gets some M2 state side under .90/rd ….. whatcha gunna du
Good price and great brass- you really can't go wrong.

Anyone who has 1X fired Lapua .30-06 and doesn't reload, PM me and I'll buy the brass.
 
I did some quick math around "market" component prices. Pending you have brass already, you can put together some match grade 30-06 using 125gr bullets for roughly .50c each. The 125TNT with 48-49gr of 4064/4895 or similar will clean an SR target all day and is easy to shoot.

Primer, .10c
Powder charge .22c
Bullet .18c
 
Back
Top Bottom