M1 Garand Queries.

Wow. A year later... It had been so long since I posted this.... I had forgotten about it (Until wham several email notifications.)

Since the original post I had completely stripped down my Garand, thoroughly cleaned it out and applied a good amount of grease to appropriate areas.

Now some of my own answers.

#1. The first round almost always hangs up on the feed cannelures to the barrel.
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Still happens.
#2. Huge extractor indents in my ejected brass, in some cases the rim is almost tearing.
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Much better once fully cleaned
#3. What is a good lubricant for it?
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Lubriplate works great
#4. I'm sure my barrel is worn to hell
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Two days of copper & lead remover, Bristling, bore snakes... The works...
Still grey and pitted, Shoots 5-8 MoA. Horrible crown, etc... I can only assume it ate many many many rounds of corrosive w/o a cleaning prior to my ownership.
#5. Heard varying opinions on the types of ammo to use. Aka stay away from 180gr or larger etc... Any truth/comments?
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I've been sticking with 147gr modern Winchester FMJ (Sue me I found boxes of it for $7/20 so I bought them all, never saw it again).

Now I have a new issue too.

Since my Rebuild, my current gas plug (Original) continues to loosen itself after a dozen or so rounds.
 
Wow. A year later... It had been so long since I posted this.... I had forgotten about it (Until wham several email notifications.)

Since the original post I had completely stripped down my Garand, thoroughly cleaned it out and applied a good amount of grease to appropriate areas.

Now some of my own answers.


Quote:
#1. The first round almost always hangs up on the feed cannelures to the barrel.

Still happens.

Still a fairly common issue with the M1. GI's were taught to "do da bump" which means to slap the op rod handle when loading the first round. Ensure the bolt slams home. MAKE SURE YOU USE GI PRIMERS (or CCI No.34's) or it could slam fire from this procedure. Alternately, I suspect you are uaing late DAQ (or similar) black manganese parkerized en-blocs. If so, try putting a steel wire wheel brush into your dremel and use it to polish the insides of your en-blocs. After that, give them a steel wooling and try them again. Should let the first round chamber easier.

Quote:
#2. Huge extractor indents in my ejected brass, in some cases the rim is almost tearing.

Much better once fully cleaned

Not surprising. If you haven't already, also strip the bolt body and clean any gunk out of the extractor & ejector springs.

Quote:
#3. What is a good lubricant for it?

Lubriplate works great

as does cheap Canadian Tire white lithium grease, Ball-joint grease, tetra-grease, and plasti-lube.

Quote:
#4. I'm sure my barrel is worn to hell

Two days of copper & lead remover, Bristling, bore snakes... The works...
Still grey and pitted, Shoots 5-8 MoA. Horrible crown, etc... I can only assume it ate many many many rounds of corrosive w/o a cleaning prior to my ownership.

Depending on the vintage of the barrel and if it matches the receiver you may or may not want to change it out. If your interest is primarily in a shooter, I would recommend sourcing a replacement. Marstar MAY have barrels, and if not, I'm sure Tradex could arrange for a .30-06 barrel to be shipped to them with their next import of .308 barrels.

Quote:
#5. Heard varying opinions on the types of ammo to use. Aka stay away from 180gr or larger etc... Any truth/comments?

I've been sticking with 147gr modern Winchester FMJ (Sue me I found boxes of it for $7/20 so I bought them all, never saw it again).

The winchester FMJ is decent stuff. S&B and Remington/UMC also make decent 150gr range ball ammo that is garand-friendly. Personally, I prefer to reload Lake city brass from the 1960's.

Now I have a new issue too.

Since my Rebuild, my current gas plug (Original) continues to loosen itself after a dozen or so rounds.

Hmm... could be either the plug or (hopefulyl not) the gas cylinder. Plugs are far cheaper, so I would order a new plug first and try that. If you care mostly about shooting, order an adjustable plug from Brownells to try. also, you SHOULD be using a GI combination tool to really leverage the plug tight. If you are using just a big screwdriver, chances are you aren't tightening it on enough.
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Hope that helps!
 
Bit of blue loctite on the threads of the gas plug is good security that it won't shoot loose. I use it all the time.
 
heavy bullets do not hurt a garand, but using a powder wich is either to slo or too fast burning will...........
i have a 5 page info article scanned on reloading for the m-1 garand.....really good info /ideas .....source is from an 1986 issue of american rifleman magazine /NRA.
those wanting it just ask /need yer email.
ok?
 
Lately I have been using Hornady 168Gr match, Moly coated bullets with IMR 4064.
Its worked well, incredibly accurate.
Recently though I have had a few problems with feeding reliability.
Have had a similar thread goin on in Milsurps regarding this.
The gun is a 10 year old rebuild with some glass bedding etc. it has had a LOT of rounds put through it. I think it is time to replace a few small parts, mainspring and gas cylinder.
Keep working on it Jarlath...you won't be disappointed.
Cheers
 
I had some feeding problems in the past when I first acquired a 308 "Tanker"
Garand. This was alot of grief, but thanks to Silverback's Cuhlhausen Shop Manual on 30 Calibre Self Loaders, we sorted it out.
At first I used my own copy of Book Of the Garand, using the troubleshooting chapter, by Colonel Hatcher.
Which was initially okay, BUT to resolve all related feeding issues, the Cuhlhausen Manual(spelling?) was 100% better, not to mention the excellent technical drawings and related text.

Man, there are quite a few small parts that must interact, for this rifle to feed properly.

Hint, time and again in the Shop Manual, the author refers to using a Garand with 100% reliability as a guide, for visual inspection. That is we I found an out of spec part, that otherwise would have gone un-noticed.

Cheers....
 
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