So, I acquired a M1 Garand and plan on reloading for it. I have just changed out the gas plug to allow it to shoot commercial ammo. I use H4895 powder on the regular for my other military guns.
1. Does this powder work well with a 30-06? As it works well with 8mm Mauser, I would think it would since they are fairly comparable!
2. 150gr bullets - should I stick with this weight, or heavier such as 168s or 180s still work well in a Garand?

In the market for 30-06 dies if anyone has some they want to let go!!

We worked up a load for my stepson's M-1 Garand last year, and tested it in hot weather.

I just sent him a text asking what the recipe is. I remember using 168 bullets, but do not remember powder and powder charge. I will report back when I hear.

It is a very safe load, no doubt about that. And somehow I managed to shoot a 1" three shot group at 100 yards with battle sights.

H4895 and IMR 4064 are near perfect powders for the Garand loads. You will want to find the M1 Garand load data for whichever bullet you plan to shoot. Here's a pic of the Hornady data for you with the 150-168 grain data. It is a lighter load than the normal 30-06 data.

I think imr 4895 was the original powder for the garand. Imr 4064 is what gets shot a lot in reloads at garand matches now though, seems to be the perfered powder. I have used 47 grains of both imr 3031 and imr 4895 and a 150 bullet with good results. And my match load is 47 grains of imr 4064 and a 168 bullet. Also google "master po's temple" and there is a list of the nra loads. Also if you want some light loads, i have used 35 grains of imr 3031/4895, and 36 grains of 4064 and a 170 gas check lead bullet. Those have enough gas to operate the system, but drive the bullets slow enough to keep good accuracy. Garands are fun, good luck

Interesting I wasn't aware there was a different set of load data for the garand. Does this mean you shouldn't shoot factory ammo through a garand? Never had one probably never will, but didn't know.

Here's what we did...

Federal brass
CCI-200
168 gr. A-Max
46.0 gr. H-4895 (which is a temp stable powder)
O.A.L. 3.340"

H-4895 is a great powder for reducing loads also as it performs well with reduced charges and case fill.

In general i would be wary of most factory ammo in a garand. Hornady and i think someone else makes garand specific ammo. I have read that standard 150 grain ammo is ok for the garands, but I am not testing it on mine. I have shot milsurp ammo that was made for a garand, and it had considerably more recoil and muzzle blast than my loads listed above.

That said with an adjustable gas plug you can shoot any safe 3006 ammo. The op rod can be bent with the wrong ammo, but the gun itself is plenty strong, with an adjustable gas plug you can eliminate the oprod issue

I run 4895 with 168gr SMKs. It loves the 168's over the 150 or 155's. I have load data for IMR4064 that my father had used for years that pushes the 168's very well.
Both powders are easy to find.
I opted out of the adjustable gas plug and used this instead. http://www.garandgear.com/ported-gas-plug.html

If you changed the gas plug you shouldn’t have to worry about running reduced Garand loads.

My gas plug was from Garand gear.com. Instead of it being solid, it is hollow. It allows more room for the gas to expand and thus reducing the internal pressure. What I read was new ammo has higher pressures than the original US 30cal ball ammo. It could cause damage to the gas system. I changed it to be able to shoot any ammo; however, since I already reload everything I shoot, I wanted a good recipe with the powder I have. I know I will have to tinker with a load to find what my rifle likes and dislikes.

H4895 and IMR4895..... although they are both made by the same company, my data shows different grains for the same bullet, safe to assume that I cant load IMR4895 data with H4895 powder? or vise versa?

Correct. Those are 2 totally different powders. They are close in burn rate, but are different.

My load for mine is 46.0 IMR4895 with a 150gr Hornady interlock.

46 grs of H4895
CCI #34 primers
168 Hornady BTHPs at 3.340

^^Same load twice!

I use Varget (can't remember how many grains) and Nosler 168 gr. Custom Competitions. I was told my members in my gun club (who shoot Garands extensively) to use CCI No. 34 primers. Said it will help curb slam fires.

I used some BR2's in a load and had a couple slam fires in a row. Made for an interesting moment. Needless to say, the remaining rounds were used up via single loading.

I have ammo can or two with ammo in clips for my garand. I got it from CMP. But they are sealed so I used the book data for them and mine shot well. I didn’t change anything on the rifle.

Ran varget an 155gr Sierra in mine with great luck.

I normally run Varget and 168 Amax, with good results.