M1 Grand tips

TJW

TJW

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Alberta
Hi Guys,

I just bought a Grand but I need some more enblocks and a sling for it. Where is the best/cheapest place to get them? Does anyone know what velocity the sights on the rifle were set up for? The front hand guard is loose how do I tighten it?

Thanks,
TJW
 
1- I need some more enblocks and a sling for it.

Try Marstar Canada

2- The front hand guard is loose how do I tighten it?

Supposed to be loose, so op-rod can function properly.
 
JP said:
1- I need some more enblocks and a sling for it.

Try Marstar Canada

2- The front hand guard is loose how do I tighten it?

Supposed to be loose, so op-rod can function properly.
Click to expand...

Thanks, The hand guard has like an 1/8" play in it. That is normal?
 
Sight settings are not exactly predictable due to dimensional variations and the ammo used. You will need to zero your rifle with the ammo that you are going to shoot in it. I set an initial mechanical zero with the front sight centered on the gas cyl and rear sight centered on the index markings on the receiver behind it. With 8 clicks of elevation from the bottom I find that I am pretty close to where I want to be at both 25 and 100 yds. Once you are on paper at 100 yds, go from there.

When the gas cylinder is properly in place there should be some fore and aft movement in the front handguard. Excessive rotational movement isn't a good thing though.
 
Maybe a bit too loose, but somethings are hard to diagnose at the distance of my keyboard cord.

The sights are designed for 150gr M2 ball. There is/was US commercial ammo that matches this load. White boxes from one company and yellow from another, red from a third.
 
maple_leaf_eh said:
Maybe a bit too loose, but somethings are hard to diagnose at the distance of my keyboard cord.

The sights are designed for 150gr M2 ball. There is/was US commercial ammo that matches this load. White boxes from one company and yellow from another, red from a third.
Click to expand...

Sounds good. I hand load for everything so I'll make up a 150gr load. To get the trigger group out do I just pull on the trigger guard?
 
Front handguard should not be loose, my Breda is tight, looks as if someone took mine apart and put two small screws to the clamps from the inside though to make it tight. Has nothing to do with the op rod, gun is rock solid tight and functions flawlessly for over 600 rounds so far.
Now enbloc clips, I tried some from Marstar, they will only hold 7 comfortably, can get 8 in but can't get them to load in the rifle. It's like the clips becomes too "fat" to get in the top.
Have had good luck at some recent gun shows for $4 bucks a piece.
Marstar's were 2 bucks and can only get 7 shots.
Look for enblocs stamped with either an mzb lettering on the back or some other letters, ones with nothing on them seem to be trouble in my gun so they sit in the drawer.
 
milshooter said:
Front handguard should not be loose, my Breda is tight, looks as if someone took mine apart and put two small screws to the clamps from the inside though to make it tight. Has nothing to do with the op rod, gun is rock solid tight and functions flawlessly for over 600 rounds so far.
.
Click to expand...

You need some play in the front hand guard, it should not be tight. It might be tight because those rifles are made up from other manufactures parts PB, SA Breda, IH, etc.
 
I am glad that I picked up 200 clips for mine when they were .25 cent each.

they sold them in 45 gallon drums.

Have fun they are a wonderful rifle. I will post the 155grain hand loads that I use in mine later tonight.
 
Rifleman1911 said:
I am glad that I picked up 200 clips for mine when they were .25 cent each.

they sold them in 45 gallon drums.

Have fun they are a wonderful rifle. I will post the 155grain hand loads that I use in mine later tonight.
Click to expand...

Nice, would Milarm have them for a reasonable price?
 
On the front handguard, the critical thing is to have some clearance between the front handguard ferrule, or metal nosecap, and the rear face of the gas cyl. Match conditioned Garands had the front handgd unitized with the lower band by installing screws thru the lower band into the rear of the handguard to prevent movement. If the handgd bears tightly against the rear of the gas cyl, accuracy is affected and the handgd will crack as a result of the barrel expansion and harmonics when fired. Even with a match modified handgd, some clearance is necessary between the ferrule and the gas cylinder.

For the rear handgd you also need some clearance,(about the thickness of a business card), between the rear of the handgd and the face of the receiver. This is easily done with sandpaper wrapped around a file or wooden block. This clearance is necessary for the same reasons as the front handgd.

The absence of metal to wood clearance is why you see so many Garands with longitudinal cracks or splits in the handguards.
 
Give Edgar a call at Moving Target, he set me up with a few en-blocs for $2 each. $4 is a bit steep. I got a Springfield Armoury M1A national match sling from Wolverine for $45. It uses parkerized steel fittings instead of brass but it looks good on the rifle. Otherwise ebay has lots of repro slings and a few original canvas and leather slings. My handguard has some play too, and as purple noted it is a good thing.
 
supernova said:
Give Edgar a call at Moving Target, he set me up with a few en-blocs for $2 each. $4 is a bit steep. I got a Springfield Armoury M1A national match sling from Wolverine for $45. It uses parkerized steel fittings instead of brass but it looks good on the rifle. Otherwise ebay has lots of repro slings and a few original canvas and leather slings. My handguard has some play too, and as purple noted it is a good thing.
Click to expand...

I am not use to having loose parts on rifles but the hand guard is not that bad. Moving target eh, I have 2 but would like a couple more maybe even a ammo belt for them.
 
The rifle was designed to use .30 M1 ammo with its 174.5 grain BT bullet at 2647 fps with 48,000 PSI. However, that ammo was found to have too much range for National Guard ranges so the bullet weight was reduced and the BT eliminated. Original velocity was 2700 fps, at 50,000 psi, but later raised to 2800 fps to match the ballistics of .30 AP's 168 grain bullet. W.W. II vintage .30 M2 ammo used a 152 grain bullet at 2800fps after 1940.
For reloading a 150 will do nicely for plinking ammo. Use IMR4064, IMR or H4895(close but not the same) or Varget. IMR4064 gives excellent consistent accuracy.
"...they will only hold 7 comfortably..." Something is wrong. M1 clips hold 8 rounds. Never had 7.
"...$4 bucks a piece..." Ludicrously over priced.
"...There is/was US commercial ammo..." Both Federal and Hornady load it.
Go here for free .pdf U.S. military manuals. Note the need for the provided UN & PW. http://www.biggerhammer.net/manuals
Buy a copy of Hatcher's Notebook and Hatcher's Book of the Garand too. About $30 each in your local gun shop or Amazon. Worth every cent.
 
Here is a fix for your loose front hand guard:

Take the hand guard off. You will see the slot where the hand guard wood slips into the upper band ferrule. Cut a thin piece of shoe lace or thick butchers twine just long enough to curve into the slot of the upper band ferrule. Reinstall the the hand guard the shoe lace or twine will tighten the fit of the wood to the metal and shorten the space.

This trick should take out some of the slack, just enough to make it feel tighter while not affecting the rifle and leaving some play.

Let me know if you need a pic.

Pocket
 
"...they will only hold 7 comfortably..." Something is wrong. M1 clips hold 8 rounds. Never had 7.
"...$4 bucks a piece..." Ludicrously over priced

I know they are supposed to hold 8 AND DO but they won't load into my Garand, with 7 they load and fire and eject as normal

Try finding quality en bloc clips in Western Canada for under $4 bucks, and I've phoned 15 places from B.C to Minot North Dakota.

Of the 4 gun shows in Saskatchewan in 2010 that I went to, only two booths at one show had en blocs, one guy was $4 the other was $6
 
Load with 8 rounds, as per spec, they CAN be very stiff to load into the rifle. Sometimes they need a good sharp SNAP to get them into the magazine.

The M-1 is NOT the rifle to be loading gently, especially a tight rifle in really good shape.
 
I found my enblocs lying on the ground where they had been left by US personnel.
There is LOTS of information on how a M-1 should be set up. The NRA booklets are good.
 
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