Dos and Don’ts for Handloading

Clearing Malfunctions of the M1 Rifle

By Dick Culver

Handloading Cautions:

During the Glory Days of the M1 Rifle, many of the cautions listed below were either well known to the M1 shooter, or were essentially non-existent problems since virtually all shooters fired issued GI Ball or Match Ammunition. The ammunition was usually fresh and gave excellent accuracy. During the matches themselves, the ammunition was issued "gratis" to the competitors. During the National Trophy Matches, all competitors were required to use ONLY the ammunition issued on the line.

In this modern day and age, the supply of good clean and fresh GI Ball or Match ammunition is rapidly drying up. Many M1 shooters are buying foreign .30-’06 Ball ammunition of questionable quality, some corrosive, some Berdan (non-reloadable) Primed and much of it is dirty or mildly corroded due to long storage. Worse yet, many shooters who have little or no extensive reloading experience are turning to reloading as a viable alternative. Reloading in of itself is a safe and historically traditional method of cutting ammunition costs and improving accuracy, but there are some provisos in reloading for an M1 that would not apply, for instance, to reloading for a bolt action rifle.

The M1 demands the following precautions be observed to ensure safe and smooth functioning:

1. The ammunition MUST be clean and free of corrosion (a case tumbler or a lot of hand-work polishing each case is a necessity). Clean ammunition will keep the chamber relatively clean and allow the cartridge cases to fully seat, and the bolt to close and lock.
2. The chamber MUST be kept clean! Dirty chambers can prevent a cartridge case from fully seating and will not allow the bolt to fully close and lock!
3. The overall length of the cartridge case must be closely monitored, as an overlong case (due to stretching from repeated firings or a new case that is out of specification) can keep the cartridge from fully seating in the chamber. Cartridge cases should be measured before every reloading and kept trimmed to proper length. A cartridge case stuck in the chamber and preventing the bolt from completely closing and locking is asking for trouble. A long or broken firing pin stuck in the forward position coupled with an overlong case, could result in the rifle "firing out of battery" causing a ruptured cartridge case and possibly injuring the shooter with brass fragments or escaping gas.
4. The primers should be of a lot at least as hard as GI primers. Soft primers can cause slam fires!
5. The powder used to handload/reload the ammunition used in the M1 must not be too slow burning or too fast... In other words, in order to maintain the proper "gas-port pressure", the cartridge must be loaded to closely match the original loading. A good standard load for the M1 Rifle would utilize a powder with the burning characteristics of IMR 4895, coupled with a bullet of either 172/175 grain weight at approximately 2660 fps., or 150 grain bullet at approximately 2700 fps. Other loads are possible, but must be worked up to with extreme caution.

Clearing the Chamber of an M1:

Many common malfunctions are due to dirty or oversized ammunition, or extremely dirty chambers. The result will usually result in the cartridge not fully chambering, thus leaving the bolt unlocked. If these are encountered, you should exercise the following cautions:

Problem: Bolt does not fully close on a round of ammunition when it is fed either singly or from a fresh eight round en-bloc clip. Probable cause? Dirty chamber, dirty ammunition or improperly sized cartridge case. If it is obvious that the cartridge case does not want to enter the chamber without force, remove the round and DO NOT try to force it into the chamber.

Immediate Action to Clear Jam: If the extractor hook has engaged the rim of the cartridge case, pull the Operating Rod Handle smartly to the rear (with your palm UP) and allow the bolt to extract and eject the round normally.

Cautions: Do NOT force the operating rod handle forward with the heel of your hand in an attempt to drive the case into the chamber. A broken or protruding firing pin can cause a premature ignition of the primer before the bolt is fully closed causing a ruptured cartridge case and injury to shooter.

Prevention of Future Problems: If you MUST handload for your M1, you should try each round of newly manufactured ammunition in the chamber prior to going to the range. This can be safely accomplished by removing the bolt (or firing pin) from the rifle and trying each round individually into the chamber. A 50 or 60 round match will not require an inordinate amount of time and will save you many problems and some small amount of embarrassment at the range. If your chamber is within normal specifications, the use of a cartridge case gauge makes things a bit easier.