My M1 Likes the Lee 309-200

[43PU]

I'm going to take my Winchester M1 Garand hunting this year so i decided to start working up a load when I can,(remember 4 month old twin boys..) So I figured if a cast bullet is only really accurate at about 1800-2000 FPS then i might as well go heavy, so i ordered the Lee 309-200. After lee-menting the mold and boiling it in water and scrubbing it ....yada yada... it still wouldn't release with out a couple of good smart wacks with a dowel rod. So I cast some up put a screw in the base and squeeze some FLITZ into the cavities and then about 10 seconds later on LOW speed, they came popping out of the mold, i made 30 LBS them. The Alloy was 50% WW and 50% pure with 2% tin, they came in at 207 grn and out at .311 with 301 on the nose!!! PERFECT!!! my MY M1 slugs out at 309-and 301 on the nose. I powder coated then with the shake and bake method, no BB's just about 100 bullets and a table spoon of powder shaken until covered and then poured on 1/4" hard wear cloth then thrown in the oven baked at 400* for 20 min then thrown into some tap water. I let them sit for about 2 weeks and then finally today i was able to go into the reloading room for about an hour and a half and loaded up 3 clips of 35 grn of IMR 4064, 3 clips of 36 grn and 3 clips of 37 grn IMR 4064. These were gas checked and ran through a lee 311 sizer, seated to the crimp groove and just enough crimp to hold things together. At the range the 35 did okay hitting a pop bottle at 117 yards, off hand (which is how I practice my hunting loads) but missing the pop cans about 50% of the time, on paper it showed 6" groups. The 36 did better it was hitting the pop can almost ever shot, on paper if was showing 4 inch groups. The 37 grn load was hitting little pieces of clay's on the berm about 2 inches big. The 37 grn load was ejecting the cases with some UMPH about 15 feet away but on paper showed up about 2 inch Group!! holy cow that is the best this rifle can do that i can tell..I got so excited that i shot up the rest of my ammo and SMOKED a kid..(yeah i'm only 29 lol) who was about 18 or 19 with his 2000$ AR with a Acog on it! all i can say is..

Deer you better watch out.

Any ways this has been EXTREMELY fun and has brought back a lot of life into shooting for me!!

Thanks for all the help here!

43PU

[bruce drake]

Welcome to the addiction!!!!

Your loads echo the success I achieved with the Lyman 214299 (200gr) mold in my M1 Garand using IMR 4895 (37gr-38gr) and an adjustable gas port. Heavy bullet and medium powder speed. And I didn't do it myself. I read a lot of threads here on the forum from the rest of our fellow cast boolit shooters. That bullet will knock a deer down right quick!

[Motor]

Nice work !!!

Personally I have many other firearms that I have a great time shooting cast boolits from. I doubt our M1A or M1 Garand will be seeing cast boolits any time soon.

Motor

[mac1911]

I just started the cast adventure for my M1.
I didn't get successful function until 38 grains of 4895 with 200 grain 314299.
I did how ever keep the last 5 rounds in the 10 ring at 200.
If I can get down under 3" @ 100 yards I,will be happy

[Pirate69]

You probably know this already but I will state it again anyway. Garands are a little more forgiving with powder selection and charge when using cast boolits. Jacketed bullets have a much narrower range and can easily damage the rifle. Baby that Winchester Garand, she is one of the more collectable of the Garands.

[Scharfschuetze]

Good news 43PU on your success with your old War Horse! I too use a heavy boolit in my Garands, the Lyman 311299 which comes out to 208 grains with lube and GC. It is "THE" boolit for my 1903 Springfields and M1 Garands. I'm using a surplus powder from FN that burns between 4895 and 4064. With similar charges as your best load it is fully functional in three different Garands and shoots as well as many lots of M2 Ball ammo to at least 200 yards.

I'm not familiar with the Lee projectile that you are using, but it sounds like it was a good choice.

[43PU]

http://leeprecision.com/mold-dc-c309-200-r.html

Here is the mold I use, like I said they are powder coated and sized to .311 with an alum GC

[Merick]

Nice work !!!

Personally I have many other firearms that I have a great time shooting cast boolits from. I doubt our M1A or M1 Garand will be seeing cast boolits any time soon.

Motor

While not strictly necessary, some have found there are advantages to having a designated jacketed bullet garand and another cast bullet garand. Asides from simplifying cleaning and sight issues or getting further use from a would be shot out barrel, the main advantage is you then have 2 garands!

[Scharfschuetze]

Asides from simplifying cleaning and sight issues or getting further use from a would be shot out barrel, the main advantage is you then have 2 garands!

Amen to that!

I keep one M1 (accurized for NM competition) for jacketed bullets and the rest only get cast boolits. Even though I have spare barrels in the arsenal wrap, one of my Garands is "as issued" from the armory without any rebuild stamps and with proper production line numbers and date and one is a D Model with M84 scope so saving the barrels on those two rifles is of concern given their value.