M1 Garand Clinic CFB Petawawa 30 Nov 2014 DeBrief HERE!

[TacticalTeacher]

Well it was a long drive in the dark but 5 hours later, I got home safely. Saw a few deer just north of Round Lake and Killaloe area.

It was a fabulous clinic and likely one of the most productive sessions with 5 barrels being installed and 3 chambers being cut. 2 of the chambers being .30-06 and one chamber in .308. I love how that .308 chamber closed on the 1.630" GO gauge and would not close on the No-Go gauge of 1.634". That Criterion .308 barrel will have a tight headspace and likely mic it's brass at about 2 or 3 thou coming out. :D

John@, I'm looking forward to mic'ing your brass after you test fire soon!

Yesterday's clinic could not have had a better setting: all the man cave vehicles surrounding our tables of Garands and M14's. We gotta do the Garand clinic again next spring. IT's so nice to work with in-spec parts that achieve predictable results the way they are supposed to behave. What a treat! Trigger groups that come back together et al!

One effort that does deserve more recognition is Chalkriver's work getting that second table with the TWO vise setups to the venue on his truck. I was really pleased to have 2 big benches with a total of 3 vise setups, that way we could get rebarreling done simultaneously and also the chamber reaming happening side by side. That effort facilitated a smooth flow of work projects. No waiting in line. Life does not get better. I've never had such a great setup since the Edmonton clinic back in 2008 where Sosa hosted me and we had several workstations on the go, including a chop saw for flash suppressor removal and a welding truck to unitize gas cylinders. Thanks once again there, chalkriver. Hope you are over your happy, happy hangover from getting that receiver barreled and that rifle built for your shooting joy. :D


Thanks for chalkriver for putting on a great spread and them schwarma (sp?) treats! They were delicious. Even better were the brutal after blasts in the truck cab on the drive home. More fun than the IMP pharts that many of you current and former serving folks experienced!

Thanks to the Montreal guys for all their jokes and the use of the .30-06 reamer and gauges. You guys were a big help.

Thanks for all of you who drove a long way to make this clinic happen. I certainly felt the love!

Get ready for next year! We are gonna have another blast!

Cheers,

Barney

[RugerBlast]

Yet again another awesome clinic!

A huge thanks to Barney for sharing his expertise. I will take your school teacher wisdoms over some over priced manual any day. Besides I was educated in Quebec so I can barley read anyway.

Morgan, please never stop doing what you do. Any one who has attended a Petawawa event owes you a thank you. I do not hold you responsible for the contamination and subsequent destruction of my shorts following that scharwarma. My system was unprepared for food that was not laced with salt and various unpronounceable ingredients.

Looking forward to 2015, CQB, precision rifle, matches. Should make winter a little less depressing!

Thanks again!

[TacticalTeacher]

Speaking of 2015 clinics... get ready. Or get reloading I should say. Morgan and I are planning a busy calendar. Inside the ORA we are already posting the CQB and Service Rifle match/clinic schedule. It's in the Service Rifle forum. I am in conversation with Adam the new Precision Rifle Match Director (I stepped down) and our calendar or match schedule is taking shape. It's basically the same or identical to last season give or take a day.

Now to hammer out the Petawawa GC calendar. We are planning CQB, Precision, and M14 clinic(s). Then we will sprinkle CQB and Precision Matches. Yeah, I gotta work on the prizes or ribbons (gonna beg for some from St. Mary's Elementary track day inventory)

It's January and I gotta get writing the ORA CQB Match rule book!

Cheers,
Barney

[john@]

Cool. Looking forward to it. Still have a few things to sort out, but on the whole I am ready.

[john@]

I finally had a chance to get the .308 Garand I assembled at the workshop to the range for a function test today. After the compulsory "garand thumb" baptism, and a liberal application of grease (I had not touched it since the clinic), I ran a clip through it and it worked great.
The muzzle brake and the rubber cushioned butt stock made it very comfortable to shoot. Still need to sort the sights out, get a cheek rest and try my hand at parking the barrel.

My rifle, a work in progress, still need to get the sights / optics sorted out and park the unfinished barrel. It was a pile of parts this morning.