Garand Bolt Stuck!!!

BBq_Woa!

BBq_Woa!

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Oh boy.
I need help.

I just got back from a small shooting excursion with a few friends on this lovely thanksgiving weekend,
We took the M305, the No5, and the Garand.

we were all finished up, guns were leaning waiting to be put away (after we cleaned up other stuff)
We noticed we had 16 more rounds of 30-06, and so I loaded up an enbloc,
I went to open the garands bolt, and UMF!
absolutely, positively stuck. :eek:
I even got my burliest friend to try it out, NO go.
I have no idea what's up.

Metal shrinking from cooling down? ..i have no idea.

Can anyone suggest anything?
In the meantime I'm going to try dissasembling it, but as you may have seen in a previous thread, this garands trigger guard is equally stuck...

Oh boy..
(as a side note, before the shoot it was clean and well oiled.. )
 
I hope it is unloaded!

Do not beat it with anything harder than your hand. Pain will of course prevent you from breaking something besides your skin.

Try to remove the trigger group. Try to remove the stock. Although I can't think why, there are enough small parts that fly in formation, that one or another in the "clip" mechanism is jammed. The more parts you can remove, the better. Try penetrating oil in the cam surfaces of the bolt/operating rod connection, that is the other obvious jam location.

Good luck.
 
HI
Update! :D

After field stripping, it was still stuck, (as reported above)

I went back to it, and while looking around, I sort of used the operating rod to "bonk" the bolt, (as apposed to smoothly pulling it)
just sort of, foreward, and BACK 'bonk'
the bolt moved, all is well.
NOW! to figure out what happened.

I'm going to clean and oil everything, i guess for now (until i use it again) i'll chock it up to my mistake for not going through it after buying it.. (since it was oiled when it arrived, I thought "meh"

thanks for your help! and 'few'! i'm relieved!
 
This sounds like excess cosmoline in the action/bore. A rubber mallet works nicely to knock the bolt carrier out.
 
Ceska said:
This sounds like excess cosmoline in the action/bore. A rubber mallet works nicely to knock the bolt carrier out.
Click to expand...


I guess the bonk took the place of that :)

yeah could have been that.. when clearing it out before a big oiling, I noticed some tackyness around the the bore and on the bolt head..
 
Sounds like to me as you pulled back the bolt you pulled it UP and back, and not straight back. You could have caught it in that little slot to disengage the op rod from bolt and the receiver.
For example to #### the rifle, you must pull straight back, and straight back only. If you look at the right hand side of the receiver below the rear site, you can see this takedown position.
It looks like a little high spot in the groove for the op rod to run along the receiver right hand wall.

I think you were saying that the bolt was stuck in the rearward position, noticed you did not state so.

PS a little grease or cosmoline? I think not.....if anything that would help parts from seizing up.
I would be careful with that mallet, op rods run in cost of about 80 bucks US!
 
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Do not use oil on a Garand! Please use grease.
Have you by chance cleaned the piston and gas system? Sounds more like your opp rod was stuck than your bolt. Was the bolt locked shut all the way? Were you able to wiggle it at all?
Scott
 
+1 on the grease thing. It's amazing how many M1 owners I've talked to refuse to grease their guns, using oil instead. They're gonna bust it!
 
If the accelerator on the op-rod catch isn't in the right spot this is what will happen. Something might be worn in the breech assembly that is allowing it to slip over the follower arm. Did you dissasemble it after the first shooting session?
 
Some follow ups for people,
the bolt was stuck closed,

I will take heed of the grease issue, could someone recommend a grease to use that is readily available (automotive, etc)
 
the m1 was designed to use good old standard white lithium, which you can get anywhere-
 
Actually, it was designed to use lubriplate (which is carcinogenic and no longer made). Lithium grease is a great substitute though.

Is it possible carbone fouling or burnt cosmolene in the gas tube seized your oprod? this is FAR more likely to seize an M1 than the bolt.

IF it was the bolt, I would suspect you did not properly de-cosmolene the rifle and grease it prior to firing. When cosmolene is hot, the rifle will cycle fine. Once it cools, it cures gummy like glue, and will cause a stuck action in some cases.
 
May have been a bent or deformed enbloc clip. The old field expedient was a boot heel sharply applied to the operating rod handle. The rubber or rawhide mallet was a more gentile solution.

John S.
 
A few more things to check, ensure rifle is unloaded....
(duh? I know, I know, but I must say it) Remove rifle from stock and slip out the action/op rod spring. Now tilt barrel up and down carefully, bolt with op rod should move freely back and forth. If not check op rod for cleanliness or rub marks indicating lack of clearance.

You should check/clean the gas assembly to for any excessive wear points.

Next remove op rod from this assembly and tilt rifle back and forth again, bolt should move freely back and forth as well.
If not bolt may have a bur on it too or there may be dirt or grime in the corners, especially where the bolt lugs lock into.

With the spring out now is the time to inspect it for burs or deformation, and cracks. Replace if required.

Cheers and good luck!
 
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