Federal is now making 150-grain 30.06 for Garands (and it works)
As any fan of LSOZI knows, we are always on the lookout for increasingly scarce Garand feed.
With that being said, we were very tickled by the fact that Federal is making, in the U.S. (they are now Czech owned, so just saying), a 150-grain FMJ bullet with a fatter (than Power-Shok’s .313 ballistic coefficient 150-grain JSP) .410 ballistic coefficient. It is also cataloged at 2,740 fps, dialed lower than the 2,900+ often seen on commercial hunting ammo in the same caliber/bullet weight.
It has long been standard for Garand owners and enjoyers to stoke their vintage rifles with .30-06 150-grain loads with a little gentler power curve than what is seen in modern commercial hunting ammo. The CMP, probably the foremost expert on the Garand, specifically warns against using bullets more than 172 to 174-grain in weight, saying, “These rifles are at least 70 years old and were not designed for max loads and super heavy bullets.”
When it comes to cost, Federal lists this load with an MSRP of $41.99 per 20-cartridge box, but, as of the publication of this article, we have seen them listed for $31.99.
Compared to what else is out there, CMP offers a custom 150-grain ’06 Creedmoor Berger OTM round with Lapua Brass at $175 per 100 rounds (which works out to $35 per 20). Meanwhile, comparably priced Czech-made Sellier & Bellot’s 150-grain M2 ball repro (at 2,700 fps) and Serbian-made Prvi Partizan’s 150-grain (2,745 fps) Garand-specific loads are often tough to find in stock.
So, with that, barring a good deal on some Cold War Lake City loads that have been in arsenal storage for the past half-century, Federal’s Garand load is a decent buy for the price.
Plus, while many loadings on the surplus market are corrosive (Norwegian, Korean, etc) or attract a magnet (such as Greek HXP and Ethiopian), which can bar it from some ranges, the Federal load does not.
About the best deal I know of right now is 370 rounds of spam-canned (and corrosive) Korean ball for $329 with free shipping from SGA. That’s about 90 cents per round.
There is still some milsurp 150-grain M2 .30 cal ball out there, like this corrosive stuff being sold by SGA right now for about 90 cents per round.
With that being said, the new load from Federal stands ready to keep your Garands fed.
Thus:
