What's the difference in these .30-06 rounds?.....

[CLT65]

No worries. Personally I like plain old M2 ball bullets in mine, but it seems crazy how expensive regular 150gr FMJ bullets have gotten - around $20 per hundred from what I've seen. If you look around you can find decent hunting bullets for about that.

Honestly whatever brand dies you prefer should be fine. I've never seen the point in expensive dies unless you're shooting precision bench-rest rifles. As to used vs new, I understand if you like new. Nothing wrong with that. The cost difference isn't that much, and you've got brand new.

I'm just cheap and like to save a buck wherever I can. I've used a lot of used dies over the years, and have only ever had scratching trouble with steel pistol dies, particularly .38 Special. I did dig out my spare dies, a good RCBS set, no rust or scratching. I'll put them back in the cabinet for spares. I've got so much M1 stuff I'll probably never use it all. I bought a couple thousand M2 bullets a few years back when you could get them for $5/100, and gallon ziplok bags full of old GI brass going back to WWII, that was cheap or free. I even picked up a couple thousand USGI "CAL 30" primers at a show a while back for a penny apiece. If you're careful and know what to look for, it makes for cheap shooting.

 

[Mikej]

I prefer to call myself "Frugal". But a penny each for primers?? I'm not even that frugal!

Thanks a bunch for all the nice info. I got a feel for it now.

 

[CLT65]

Yeah I know, there is a limit, somewhere I think. I paid $20 for 2,000 primers. They're probably decades old, but they shoot just fine. Would have cost at least $60 for new, so I figured I couldn't go too far wrong.

As much as I shoot my M1s anymore, my kids will be using those primers someday.

On a humorous note, I showed those primer boxes to someone a while back. I thought it was kind of cool old packaging, but he warned that I better be careful because with old GI primers like that they might be corrosive. I looked at the box again and said Gee, I wonder how I might tell whether they're corrosive or not...

 

[Mikej]

Yeah I know, there is a limit, somewhere I think. I paid $20 for 2,000 primers. They're probably decades old, but they shoot just fine. Would have cost at least $60 for new, so I figured I couldn't go too far wrong.

As much as I shoot my M1s anymore, my kids will be using those primers someday.

On a humorous note, I showed those primer boxes to someone a while back. I thought it was kind of cool old packaging, but he warned that I better be careful because with old GI primers like that they might be corrosive. I looked at the box again and said Gee, I wonder how I might tell whether they're corrosive or not...

I just ordered the Hornady 2-die set. Thanks again.

 

[Camelfilter]

Yeah I know, there is a limit, somewhere I think. I paid $20 for 2,000 primers. They're probably decades old, but they shoot just fine. Would have cost at least $60 for new, so I figured I couldn't go too far wrong.

As much as I shoot my M1s anymore, my kids will be using those primers someday.

On a humorous note, I showed those primer boxes to someone a while back. I thought it was kind of cool old packaging, but he warned that I better be careful because with old GI primers like that they might be corrosive. I looked at the box again and said Gee, I wonder how I might tell whether they're corrosive or not...

Yah, aside from being marked NON-corrosive, boxer primers would have to be from the early 1950's, or thereabouts to possibly be corrosive.

 

[CLT65]

I just ordered the Hornady 2-die set. Thanks again.

No problem, enjoy your rifle. The M1 is easy to load for; you just have to be careful to choose the right type of powder. There's tons of data out there for them.