M1 Garand help.

D

D3vin

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Need some help with the M1 I recently acquired through EE. I can push the tab down you hear that positive click then engages the bolt to move forward. When i load 8 dummies rounds on the clip and push down, i dont hear that positive click. The clip doesnt want to go down all the way? Thoughts? And yes im using muscle to push it down.
It is a .308 Breda Garand with the 1967 barrel.

Thanks

Edit: garand loads fine with 7 rounds in the clip. With 8 rounds, it binds. Thoughts?
 
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You may need to trim a bit off of your recoil spring. A 308 Garand with a 1967 barrel on a Breda receiver says to me it was built on a stripped receiver with an Italian parts kit from A z t e c h. Those are perfectly good kits but the Italian 308 Garands were a little shorter than the standard, so some 30-06 parts won't work.

Let me guess, the barrel is marked SIAU 1967 M P?

In the case of the aforementioned kits, occasionally an incompatible 30-06 part will get into the mix. If you install a 30-06 length recoil spring it will be 1/2" or so too long, and you will not be able to depress the follower fully. That's why you can insert an empty or partially loaded clip without issue.

If you aren't sure, you can remove the gun from the stock and remove the recoil spring, then try and insert a full 8 round clip. I suspect it will go in no problem. Trim only a little at a time, and make sure you trim from the muzzle end of the spring....the end that isn't constricted to fit around the follower rod.
 
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I cut off a couple of coils worth of spring and a lil more. Unfortunately it's still binding on the 8th round. Thoughts?
 
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The recoil spring is at this length now after its been cut.
20190215-074315.jpg
 
Check out my recent thread on the matter

https://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php/1831984-Garand-oprod-help

My oprod wa a 7.62 that had been converted back to 30-06 length. The internal dimensions were still short like the .308 oprod due to the extension method.

My spring started at 19.5" and I took .5" off. The action still felt a little firm but it would take clips.

Jager mentioned his original .308 spring was 17.75" but would not cycle reliably so he got a longer spring. Perhaps trim a little more until it works. If everything else is correctly assembled it should work. Worst case, springs are cheap.
 
Yes the overall length of the spring will vary slightly depending on the thickness of the spring material itself. Thinner material would permit a longer uncompressed OAL, all other things being equal. Did you test to see if the gun would accept full clips with the main spring removed?
 
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