Gallery Loads For Military Bolt Rifles

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Ed Harris posted this 06 July 2007

Friends recently gave me several thousand pulled Cal. 30 Ball M2 (152-gr.FMJ) bullets and fired empty cases.  These had been accumulated from DCM .30-'06 ammunition from which they had pulled the GI bullets and replaced them with Sierra 155-gr. Palmas over the original powder to use for competition. I was offered half the fired brass and pulled bullets to use my Dillon Auto-Swage 600 to rework the cases and work up a gallery load for Junior training and rapid-fire practice at 100 yards in bolt action military rifles.  My intent was to approximate the old M1906 Guard cartridge. An article in Rifle Magazine, March-April 1990, by Jeffrey W. Houck, p49 was a useful resource to assist with this.  

Reduced range guard cartridges were developed for use in the M1903 Springfield on urban installations where full power ammunition posed a risk of collateral damage if fired in anger.  The M1906 Guard cartridge used a reduced charge of Bullseye powder with the standard 150-gr. FMJ service bullet. It was identified by 6 dents or flutes on the shoulder of the cartridge case. According to ordnance pamphlets, the M1906 Guard cartridge gave accuracy equal to normal Ball ammunition at ranges up to 200 yards and shot approximately to point of aim at 100 yards using the standing bar of the folded down battle sight on the M1903 Springfield rifle. At a range of 200 yards the Guard cartridge required an elevation of 650 yards on the elevation slide.

Initial experiments sought a subsonic load with minimum noise, but 100-yard groups with M2 Ball bullets loaded subsonic weren't not as good as when they were driven a bit faster.  Nor did I find any benefit to using pistol primers, case fillers or enlarged flash holes with Bullseye powder in these .30-'06 gallery loads.   Once-fired LC military cases were full length resized; primer pockets swaged, trimmed to length and primed with standard Winchester Large Rifle primers.

After several months of tinkering, I settled on a charge of 8 grains of Alliant Bullseye as the best compromise with pulled Ball M2 150-grain jacketed bullets.  Bullets were crimped using the Lee Factory Crimp die.  Velocity from my 22” Mauser sporter with European style, long tapered throat is 1080 f.p.s. and from a Sako A2 silhouette rifle with 24â€? Douglas Premium barrel with tight-necked target chamber and SAAMI throat 1160 f.p.s.  Report and recoil are very mild, like shooting a .32-20.

The average of five consecutive 5-shot groups fired at 50 yards from the Mauser sporter with 4X scope was 1.2 inches.  The point of impact at 50 yards was 3.5” below that of normal Ball M2, which enabled using the heavy duplex reticule as a short-range post, using my normal zero for 180-gr. hunting ammunition.  The Sako with 10X scope shot very consistent inch groups at 50 yards.  So it was time to go to out to 100 yards and stop “fooling around.â€?

The Mauser sporter struck  much, much lower at 100 yards, and would require re-zeroing, but accuracy was fairly good, averaging 2.6â€? for ten consecutive 5-shot groups at 100 yards.  This compares to firing full-up Ball M2 ammunition. The Sako with 10X scope averaged 2â€? for ten consecutive 5-shot groups, also typical of M2 Ball ammunition in that rifle.

While I was at it, I decided to load and test cast bullets, fired without the GC, to compare their performance against the Ball M2 pulled bullets. The cast bullets were not of match quality, but highly satisfactory as practice, training, small game and utility loads useable in any sound .30-'06 rifle.   Cast bullet groups were equal to or better than the M2 pulls, an inch at 50 yards and 2 inches or less at 100 yards.  Bullets were cast in gang moulds of wheel weight alloy, sight culled only, tumbled in Lee Liquid Alox or Rooster jacket and loaded as-cast without sizing.  Velocities with the lighter cast bullets were around 1400 f.p.s. with 8 grains of Bullseye, so it may be advantageous to reduce the charge by a grain or so if leading impairs accuracy over longer strings of fire. 

The M1919 Gallery Practice cartridge used a 140-grain, plain-based, round-nose lead bullet shaped very much like the Ideal #308241.  Prior to WWII it was reclassified as the Cartridge, Guard, M1.  This lead bullet reduced load was originally intended for indoor and outdoor short-range practice. It was alternately used as a Guard cartridge around defense plants and military installations in non-combat areas which didn't require the FMJ bullet of the M1906 Guard cartridge for compliance with the 1905 Hague Convention.  Gallery Practice cartridges were loaded with a charge of Sporting Rifle No. 80 powder to attain about 1100 f.p.s.  Guard units commonly reloaded indoor practice ammunition.  Ideal Reloading manuals prior to WWII and Phil Sharpe's Complete Guide to Handloading (1937). featured data for assembling gallery center-fire rifle loads.    

Cast loads which approximate the M1919 Gallery Practice cartridge are shown in the table.  These light loads do not cycle the action in semi-automatic rifles, but can be fed from clips in the Garand if the action is worked manually. These charges can be used in the 7.62x54R Russian cartridge with similar results. To produce similar loads for the 7.62 NATO, 8mm Mauser, 7.65 Argentine, 7.7 Japanese or .303 British, maximum charges should be reduced by one full grain.

When using reduced charges of dense, fast-burning pistol powder it is absolutely necessary to visually inspect 100% every case for correct powder fill using a pen light to positively prevent missing or double charges or spilled powder.  Another solution is to use a bulky powder which would obviously overflow the case if inadvertently double-charged.  The late Col. Townsend Whelen's favorite small game load for the Springfield used a charge of 18 grs. of SR-4759 powder, which bulks up nicely in the case.

I wrote an article in the Handloader's Digest, 10th Edition in which I reported results using a charge of 13 grains of Red Dot in a variety of military rifles.  “The Loadâ€? with Red Dot gives results almost identical to the Whelen small game load, about 1600 f.p.s. These approximate the energy of the .32-40 Winchester and are more accurate at longer ranges, but are louder than the M1906 Guard and M1919 Gallery Loads.

If low noise and minimum danger space are the goal, carefully load 8 grs. of Bullseye in the .30-'06 or 7.62x54R Russian, or 7 grains of Bullseye in the 7.62 NAT0, 8mm Mauser, 7.65 Argentine, 7.7 Japanese or .303 British with any jacketed bullet or cast bullet of the same weight or lighter than the military service one appropriate for the caliber. Do not reduce charges further with jacketed bullets because much below 1000 f.p.s., you may “stick” a bullet in the bore.

You may substitute lubricated lead cast bullets of a weight similar to or less than the service bullet with good results and reduce the charge in typical military rifles to as little as 4 grains of Bullseye, Clays, 700-X, Red Dot, Unique, W231 or TiteGroup.  Lead bullets will exit the barrel reliably down to about 600 f.p.s. and accuracy is reasonable to about 50 yards.  Do not reduce charges any further as ignition is erratic. I don't recommend extreme reduced loads with other powders.  

73 de KE4SKY In Home Mix We Trust From the Home of Ed's Red in "Almost Heaven" West Virginia

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CB posted this 06 July 2007

Great info Ed! I will have to give that a try.

I have tried the new IMR Trailboss in my 308, makes great plinking ammo with about 14grs. Fills the case right up to the top too.

I like the old Frankfort Arsenal sticker, very nostalgic

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Ed Harris posted this 10 July 2007

Bullseye is a whole lot cheaper than Trail Boss when you look at how much powder you use vs. the cost per pound.

73 de KE4SKY In Home Mix We Trust From the Home of Ed's Red in "Almost Heaven" West Virginia

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CB posted this 10 July 2007

That is a good point Ed. I haven't really thought about it that way, my thinking was purely filling the case to avoid the powder position problem.

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Ed Harris posted this 10 July 2007

Best powders for bulking in the case which are economical for plinking loads in the best Frank Marshall tradition are any of the “fluffy” shotshell powders of a burning rate used for trap and skeet loads.

Even though Frank disdained shotgunners he'd politely hang around like a vulture, waiting for one of them to die so that he could do the widow a favor and take the powder off her hands... The estate of Vincent Marino yielded more than 20 pounds of Red Dot and a ton of shot and decoy weights which were reduced to cast bullet loads, mostly in the Trapdoor .45-70. My efforts to help use it up over several years resulted in “The Load."

73 de KE4SKY In Home Mix We Trust From the Home of Ed's Red in "Almost Heaven" West Virginia

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JeffinNZ posted this 11 July 2007

I aspire to an estate like that though my wife has strict instructions to see the 'vultures' off with the shotgun and have my club auction everything off.  :D

Cheers from New Zealand

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sherlok posted this 16 July 2007

Here is a .30-06 gallery load I use in my basement range: 100 grn. cast .32 (.314) over 2.5 grns Bulls Eye. A very light load for indoor use, I am able to sight-in pretty close before going to the range with full power ball.

Indoor sighting targets were designed by “reverse engineering” with a Springfield that was already sighted-in at 200 yards.

But I am anxious to try your 8 grain BE load with jacketed bullets.

Regards, Sherlok

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strateshot posted this 15 October 2007

Mr Ed Harris, I have been using your guidance in reloading 7.62x54 pulled down milsurp with red dot .   I realised after shooting regular milsurp in my Mosen rifles that it was no pleasure to shoot with such powerful loads.  Virtually all the problems that shooters have with mosen recoil and sticking bolts, and inaccuracy can be traced to the heavy military loadings.  I have 2 91/30s and 1 like new polish m-44.  After obtaining the polish rifle I realized that the Poles did not use the rifles they built to any great degree.  I obtained a number of new condition M-44 pole barreled recievers and have been using them with my own custom stocks similar to Finn shooting team rifles made by them.  I wish to thank you for your generosity in making the results of your research, trials, and practice avalable as It has made it possible for old retired guys like me to enjoy reloading, and shooting these new/old rifles  and sharing shooting with my grandsons. Thanks again, and keep up the good work. J. Parsons

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giorgio de galleani posted this 15 October 2007

THE LOAD  is A philosophy.

As imported rifle or magnum pistol powders  cost  many times more l,I have been carefully experimenting with Italian shotgun powders and cast bullets and had very nice results from the 6.5 Carcano to the 45/70 at 100 and 200 meters,I use gas checks in the small calibers with traditional lubes.

I use Lee's tumble lube designs for cowboy shooting,where the finest accuracy  and high power are  not requested, and never have any leading,as you say accurate cast bullets loads are safe.

Regards,Giorgio

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dromia posted this 20 October 2007

My load for a 25yrd indoor range for my .303” is 4.7 gns (its what the cavity I'm using in the Lee auto disc drops) Viht N 310 under the RCBS 310 cadet heeled bullet sized down to .314” White Label Liquid Alox lubed, shoots 1/2” at 25yrds benched and I'm concentrating.

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tturner53 posted this 20 June 2010

Ed Harris wrote: Best powders for bulking in the case which are economical for plinking loads in the best Frank Marshall tradition are any of the “fluffy” shotshell powders of a burning rate used for trap and skeet loads.

Even though Frank disdained shotgunners he'd politely hang around like a vulture, waiting for one of them to die so that he could do the widow a favor and take the powder off her hands... The estate of Vincent Marino yielded more than 20 pounds of Red Dot and a ton of shot and decoy weights which were reduced to cast bullet loads, mostly in the Trapdoor .45-70. My efforts to help use it up over several years resulted in “The Load." This was too funny to not bring back up! I was searching Arisaka and 7.7 Jap posts and ran across this gem.  And as far as “The Load", 'now you know the rest of the story'.

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nimrod posted this 22 June 2010

tturner53 wrote: Ed Harris wrote: Best powders for bulking in the case which are economical for plinking loads in the best Frank Marshall tradition are any of the “fluffy” shotshell powders of a burning rate used for trap and skeet loads.

Even though Frank disdained shotgunners he'd politely hang around like a vulture, waiting for one of them to die so that he could do the widow a favor and take the powder off her hands... The estate of Vincent Marino yielded more than 20 pounds of Red Dot and a ton of shot and decoy weights which were reduced to cast bullet loads, mostly in the Trapdoor .45-70. My efforts to help use it up over several years resulted in “The Load." This was too funny to not bring back up! I was searching Arisaka and 7.7 Jap posts and ran across this gem.  And as far as “The Load", 'now you know the rest of the story'.

I knew that there was something that I liked about that Marshall guy.

I tried some of Red's loads on a Mosin, needed to fire form some cases so that I could reload with paper patch. I had some old 130 grain 30 cal jacket bullets around figured it would be a good way to use some of them up. Loaded a few up with 8 grains of Bullseye, some with Red Dot, and some with Unique. The Bullseye shot the best easily under a 1” at 50 yards with Unique almost as good, Red Dot not so good. Surprized me how well they shoot, recoil about like a 22 I could see where they would make a very usable small game load.

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