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Practically Shooting

First Garand


Astro14

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Since carrying one in AOCS (Aviation Officer Candidate School....think "An Officer and a Gentleman" with Richard Gere), I've wanted an M1 Garand. I have even bought and read Hatcher's book on the rifle's history.

So, for my 50th birthday, my brother and mom sent me a check, with which I bought my first Garand. It arrived from the CMP a few weeks ago, an H&R Service grade, throat and barrel measured out at 1, some dings in the stock, some missing finish on the trigger guard and op rod tip and overall, I couldn't be more pleased with what I got.

Field stripped it (with the Gunny's words of 27 years ago describing the parts echoing in my head), cleaned up all the preservative, greased it and took it to the range on the day it arrived.

56 rounds of American Eagle 150gr M1 ammo later, all I can say is, WOW....what a lot of fun. Some moderate but smooth recoil, lots of noise, good accuracy and smooth function. Yep, my thumb is still intact, in case you were wondering.

So, my questions for this group:

Best source for parts (main spring looks worn, would like to replace)?

Best source for maintenance/cleaning/lubrication practices?

Any recommendations on either owning or shooting one?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Astro

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So, my questions for this group:

Best source for parts (main spring looks worn, would like to replace)?

Best source for maintenance/cleaning/lubrication practices?

Any recommendations on either owning or shooting one?

Congratulations. The Garand is my favorite rifle. You can't have too many. They are best bought three at a time so you can stack them, don'tcha know.

1)Parts. I usually get parts from Orion 7. www.m1garandrifle.com Fulton Armory has good stuff too, but their prices are usually the highest too. You get what you pay for, but I think you get the same for less from some places.

2)Best source for maint/cln practices. The best online source for anything Garand is the M1/M14/M1A section of Culver's Shooting Pages. www.jouster.com/forums Some of the top Garand experts in the world post there. Spend a few minutes reading posts there each day, and you will know more than you ever wanted to know about Garands.

Second place, the CMP forum. In fact, for basic care, they probably have the edge over CSP.

3) Recommendations on owning shooting? Yes, lots. Anything in particular?

In general:

Grease is usually better than oil.

If empty brass (GI or GI equivalent ammo) is thrown from 1:00 to 2:00 (muzzle being 12:00) it is lubed pretty well.

Op rod spring length at rest should be at least 19.00".

Flat spots worn on that spring at any point are also an indicator of wear.

Keep the rear sight cross pinion and nut tight enough to keep the rear sight from dropping.

Most gas cylinders are worn oversize. How much oversize might effect function.

It's easier to strip the bolt or replace bolt parts like the extractor or ejector when it's in the rifle than out...assuming you have a combination tool.

Get a combination tool. The M3 and M3A1 are preferred by most over the later M10 (the one that makes a cleaning rod handle).

Very, very few Garands are "all matching" or "all original". Sometimes people make a mistake by trying to get hem in what they think is original condition. A late rifle may have actually been made with an early safety, for example.

And a few hundred more.

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Thanks Barry - I appreciate you taking the time to go through that. The rifle functions well - throws brass at about 2:00. I used Mobil 1 synthetic grease on it and it seemed to operate smoothly. I specifically used the American Eagle 150GR M1 ammo - don't want to overstress the rifle...

I've joined the CMP forum, lots of good discussion there.

It was the flat spots on the main spring that caused me concern, and I will replace it soon. Will set up the account on Orion 7 and start there, including the mainspring and a combination tool. Got a gas cylinder wrench from Amazon - aluminum bar stock cut to hold the cylinder and barrel - so I don't mess that up. I will have to read up on the fit there, just a teeny bit of play in the front sight, not sure if that's because the lugs on the barrel are worn, or the fit is off in the gas cylinder lock.

Sight has been good. Manual that came with the rifle made a point of that as well. Didn't field strip the sight, didn't reckon that it needed it...

Not too worried about "all matching"...just wanted a good shooting example of that rifle...and though this is my first, I don't think it will be my last...hey, this hobby is cheaper than my car hobby (I would say, like Garands, you can't have too many Packards, but that can run into money...)...

So far, it's been a great rifle - a great present. Thanks again for all the information.

Cheers,

Astro

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You are welcome. Glad to see another happy Garand owner.

The front sight wiggle probably is from play in the gas cylinder-to-barrel interface. The gas cylinder slips over the barrel, and is located radially by three slots in the barrel matching three "keys" in the gas cylinder. The cylinder was meant to be removed for cleaning. Although it's made of stainless steel, the corrosive primed WWII ammunition would still eat away at it. Soldiers may not have pulled it off regularly, but it still got taken off often enough to cause those splines. The Garand rear sight moves .008" for each moa of adjustment, therefore, only .008" of gas cylinder play can cause one moa point of impact change.

By the way, that stainless steel construction of the gas cylinder is why they never match the finish of the rest of the rifle. WWII users tried all sorts if ways to darken that gas cylinder because it wore bright and shiny quickly and they believed it served to alert the enemy to their position.

The inner diameter of the average Garand gas cylinder is worn almost to, or past, the max limit. Over 70 years of use will do that I suppose. They usually still work just fine though. If not, there are a couple of fixes. One is to have the operating rod piston replaced with an oversize one. The piston is sort of a plug that gets silver soldered into the operating rod tube. Another fix is to have the gas cylinder rebuilt. Used to be, people just replaced as cylinders, but they are getting scarcer and more expensive so now it pays to have them rebuilt. There is a place in OH that does both. Their name escapes me at he moment.

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