Pet loads - Loads for AM iii and velocities

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Loads for AM iii and velocities

Printed From: AMT Guns information
Category: Auto Mag Pistol
Forum Name: Pet loads
Forum Description: Shooters loads and results.
URL: http://www.amtguns.info/forum_posts.asp?TID=2904
Printed Date: 26 Mar 2026 at 11:28pm
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Topic: Loads for AM iii and velocities

Posted By: Yellow
Subject: Loads for AM iii and velocities
Date Posted: 28 Feb 2024 at 10:39pm

What kind of velocities are you getting out of your 30carbine AM iii?

Do most of you shoot factory ammunition or do you reload?

I’m using 110gr FMJ’s with vihta N110 and I’m getting really tight groups.

The velocity is just 435m/s or about 1430fps which seems quite slow to me but it feeds and ejects fine.

What do you guys use?

Replies:

Posted By: Mtn_Eagle
Date Posted: 05 Mar 2024 at 2:55am

I’ve worked up Hornady 110 grain round nose, bullets, as well as Missouri bullet company, 115 grain Hi-Tek bullets.

This is the max load for the Hornady 110 grain round nose bullet:

W296 15 gr, COL 1.670, REM 7 1/2 primer:

-MV 1615 fps, SD 6

-1” group at 30 yd

-brass flew 40 ft and I broke an ejector

While I liked the performance, this load was clearly not going to keep my Automag III healthy for long. I worked up a more low-key load with the Missouri bullet company:

MBC 115 gr Hi-Tek RN, COL 1.68, Fed #100 primer, W296 11-13 gr. The best results were with 12 gr:

-MV 1392, SD 9

-1-2” group at 30 yd

The 115 MBC load is a pleasure to shoot, drops the brass just behind my right shoulder, and doesn’t beat up the gun. It will be my standard range load.

Posted By: Bmi48219
Date Posted: 26 May 2024 at 5:23pm

I settled on 14 grains IMR4227 under a 110 gr plated RN. As I recall it averages 1,580 at muzzle. Last I looked 14.7 grs was max charge. It will shoot one inch groups offhand at 50 feet in the right hands. The load cycles my AMT III and a GI issue M1 carbine without fail. Only thing missing is the three foot muzzle flash and blast.

Posted By: Brewmaster290
Date Posted: 30 May 2024 at 12:46am

I've owned an AM III for a number of years, dealt with a few issues including the "bent"

strut issue. I do have a load to share if you are interested in firing w/no pressure indication(s) and increased velocity. Using H-110 Powder w/16.8 Gr. and a 95 Gr. .308 Sierra JSP pill, lit up by a Sellier & Bellot Sm Pistol Primer, producing 1920 Fps at 10 ft

downrange. The burn is complete and extremely accurate beginning at 35ft and extending

to 100yds nearly POA to impact at a 8" Steel Plate (two hand grip). The powder load can be found under .30 Carbine Load page in the current Hodgdon online manual. Application in the actual Carbine from a WWII weapon renders 2310Fps. Accuracy, outstanding depending on Carbine barrel condition.

Posted By: Mtn_Eagle
Date Posted: 31 May 2024 at 5:29pm

On my first outing to the range with my Automag III, I tried to use my standard M1 carbine load, which was a Hornady 110 grain round nose with 15 grains of Win296. From the M1 carbine, I would get 2030 ft./s. From the Automag III, I was getting 1615 ft./s. The fireballs were pretty enormous and cases were ejecting 30 to 40 feet to my right. I thought maybe my recoil spring was weak, so I changed it and went back to the range. I was getting the exact same ejection pattern but after about 15 shots, it stopped ejecting and I realized that my ejector had broken. Fortunately, I had a spare ejector which I replaced. I went back to the drawing board and came up with a gentler loading. I used a Missouri bullet company 115 grain Hi-tek Coated bullet and experimented with Win 296 From 11 to 13 grains (I was able to find some published data using up to 13.5 grains in a rifle). At 11 grains, I had some failures to feed and failures to lock back. At 13 grains, I had a failure to eject. I settled on 12 grains, which gave me 1392 ft./s, standard deviation 9, and extreme spread 21. The ejection pattern was about 5 feet to my right and 2 feet behind me. The muzzle blast And fireballs were much subdued, and I got great reliability. So far, no more broken ejectors. Just my experience.