The M1 Garand Build Thread

Claven2 said:
Well dammit. My Numrich trigger housing assembly came (in a separate box) and it's a heavily pitted/rusted POS. Irretrievably so, maybe worse then the one earlier in this thread. Zero finish remaining and it's been wire wheeled to remove a lot of crusty rust leaving a heavily pitted surface throughout. It was a Beretta "stamped" unit.

Sending it back tomorrow with nastily worded letter. This is why I hate Numrich, they VERY often send their worst stuff out of country hoping we won't bother to return it. I've spent thousands there over the years and I still have to return probably 30% of the stuff they send for replacement. They don't care b/c they don't refund shipping.

Anyhow, we'll see what they send as a replacement :(

At least my oprod was OK.
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Wow Claven, you know how to get a guy worried! I got a few parts coming from them too, hopefully they're all in decent shape. Good luck with your replacement parts!
 
A lot of guys are posting nice trigger groups, but a few of us have gotten real dogs. One guy in the milsurp forum sent his bak and got a better one. I hope to repeat that success.
 
I also received my Numrich trigger groups today as well. I got two, one Breda & one Beretta. The Beretta (PB Marked one) is a little worn, tiny bit of pitting on the underside, will probably need a re-park job. The Breda (BMB) marked one is in better shape but still shows wear. The BMB marked one has a milled trigger guard & the PB marked one has a stamped trigger guard. I will try & get them cleaned up tonight or tomorrow & post some pictures.
 
Is anyone going to do one of the "shortened" .308 Garand builds?
If so give me a yell if you need the op rod. I ordered the Op Rod and spring kit from Sarco and they sent the short rod marked 7.62 mm/2. If no one wants it by Monday it's going back.

As to their bolts... they won't ship the complete bolts but they will ship a stripped one... unfortunately they must have run out of the PB marked bolts right after I ordered it and instead sent me a BMB marked bolt. :( Look to be in good shape... but not what I wanted.

I also got one of the ####e PB Numrich trigger group assemblies. The pitting looks almost thru in spots on the housing and the trigger guard looks almost molten with the swirl pattern... oh ya, and the safety snapped on me when I went to move to.

Not having much luck here. LOL
 
Here are my questions for this week. When parkerizing the parts is it ok to do the receiver and barrel threads? Will the finish affect the torque needed to install the barrel? Would it be ok to finish these parts after the barrel is on?
 
Odd question, but, has anyone come across hardened op rods, that can handle higher grain bullets? A buddy of mine says he has one in his M1, and fires grains higher than 150 without problems.
 
FALover said:
Here are my questions for this week. When parkerizing the parts is it ok to do the receiver and barrel threads? Will the finish affect the torque needed to install the barrel? Would it be ok to finish these parts after the barrel is on?
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I've re-parkerized quite a few Garand barrels and receivers. I always blast my parts prior to Parkerizing, but avoid direct blasting of both the receiver and barrel threads. These areas do not show once the barrel is is installed. Overly aggressive blasting can affect the dimensions and fit. The amount of "draw" needed to install the barrel to top dead center from it's initial hand tight starting position on the receiver is critical. I clean up the receiver threads with a Dremel wire wheel to remove any caked on crud.
 
Frost Cracked said:
Odd question, but, has anyone come across hardened op rods, that can handle higher grain bullets? A buddy of mine says he has one in his M1, and fires grains higher than 150 without problems.
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All op rods were hardened to a certain specification during manufacture. The handle section was made to a higher hardness spec than the tube section which is not surprising as tubes were bent to fit following manufacture. The rifle was designed to operate with bullets in the 150-172gr range using proper propellants which generate the correct pressure pulse at the gas port to cycle the action reliably and without damage. You are mis-informed about any specially made op rods for heavier bullets.

The correct propellants to use in the Garand are IMR4895, IMR4064 and H4895. IMR4895 was the MILSPEC propellant for the rifle and was used to load a gazillion rounds for it, mostly 150-152 gr M2 ball and 168gr AP. Match loads using 172 gr match bullets were produced after WW2.

I have reloaded thousands of rounds for the Garand using 150,155,165, and 168gr bullets with IMR4064 and IMR4895 using every make of op rod incl WRA, SA, IHC,HRA, Breda, Beretta, and NM rods made by both SA and RA. These loads are safe, reliable and accurate to boot. The rifle needs to be greased at specified points to ensure reliable operation.
 
Its a crap shoot on condition with both Sarco and Numrich. Over the years I have gotten stuff ranging from junk to NOS condition from both. I generally expect to re-parkerize parts that I get from them, but sometimes I'm surprised. back in the good old pre-2001 days both Orion 7 and Fulton Armory would export and they always had high quality parts. Sadly neither of them will export now.
 
Du Page stock arrived today. Pics to follow this evening. BTW I have a parkerising question. Once a part immersed what can I do to keep a section of that part from being parkerisied. I'm thinking of the shiny area where the gas port is. One suggestion was to wrap that area with electrical tape. What would you guys do?
 
you have options for the bore:

-plug the muzzle, breech, and gas port with rubber or wood plugs, but the pressure due to heat may pop them open when in the hot park bath

-do the same as above but fill the bore first with clean (hot) water, so there is no air to expand and pop the plugs out

-do nothing, the park solution will not take to the highly polished surfaces (AFAIK this is how USGI barrels were parked)
 
DaveM said:
Du Page stock arrived today. Pics to follow this evening. BTW I have a parkerising question. Once a part immersed what can I do to keep a section of that part from being parkerisied. I'm thinking of the shiny area where the gas port is. One suggestion was to wrap that area with electrical tape. What would you guys do?
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For starters, on GI barrels, those areas are chromed - that's why they are shiny. I usually fill the gas port with a dab of silicone, let it dry, then electrical-tape over the area to make sure no park gets into the barrel. You also fill the barrel with pure water and tightly cork it at either end. Leave a small amount of air in the barrel so you can fully seat the corks. Water does not compress.
 
Here's what showed up today !

An absolutely mint barrel + some tools and reamer (not pictured).

How much ''degree off'' are the garand usually when handtightened. Mine is like 25-30deg off. I am worried it might need some SERIOUS torque to index it.

cbcn.jpg
 
Here are some photos of the DuPage/Boyd's laminate stock. It was packaged real well as it should be.



It is a little lighter than I want it to be but that can fixed. It came with the some stock metal but not all.



The part I am impressed with is the reciever fit, although snug drops in and comes out with little effort. I'll need the trigger group to find out how well it fits though and that's still on its way.



The barrel did touch the front of the barrel channel and I scribed 2 lines and sanded it down to the scribed lines. I'll probably have to check again once the trigger group is installed.
Overall so far I like what it is but there will be more fitting. The one flaw I found was some milling/router tool chatter in the op rod area. It wouldn't be seen once everything is in place but I smoothed it out anway and then put a light coat of tung oil over the sanded areas. Also I ran a sanding sponge inside the reciever area to smooth it out. The receiver is still snug but seems a little easier to remove. Anyway so far so good. Need more parts though
 
Megaclocker said:
Here's what showed up today !

An absolutely mint barrel + some tools and reamer (not pictured).

How much ''degree off'' are the garand usually when handtightened. Mine is like 25-30deg off. I am worried it might need some SERIOUS torque to index it.

cbcn.jpg
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The US Army Tech Manual 9-1275 on the Garand indicated that 15 deg off index is the desirable hand tight starting position before to tightening a new barrel to zero/top dead center index. This TM also indicated that 7 deg is the minimum amount of offset for a particular barrel/receiver combination. The Kuhnhausen Shop Manual on the M1 and M14, which is the definitive technical reference on these rifles, also cites these barrel installation criteria. Another widely distributed reference, The M1 Garand Complete Assembly Guide by Kulek, deviates dramatically from this stating that 45 deg is the desirable start point before tightening and indicating that anything from 30 up to 60 deg is OK. That's a world of difference from the US GI criteria. The Kulek book is very useful in most other aspects of Garand assembly, but I'm not at all comfortable with his recommendations on acceptable criteria for barrel installations. His advice on bolt lug lapping is also redundant. This was never done when Garands were originally assembled at the arsenal. Another significant oversight in this book is his failure to mention the use of grease when assembling the rear sight unit. Grease can prevent premature wear of rear sight components and it should be applied in a number of spots incl the teeth on the bottom of the aperture, the grooves where the aperture engages the base, the bottom front of the aperture, the rib on the bottom of the rear sight cover, below the front foot of the rear sight base, the pinion gear on the elevation knob shaft and the inner faces of both the elevation and windage knobs where they bear against the ears of the receiver.

I've installed a number of NOS GI barrels and like to install them when they are in the 15-19 deg starting position. I've successfully installed a new Criterion barrel that was 22 deg off index. I checked on this with the people at Criterion and they advised that an install in the 24 deg starting position should be OK. One highly experienced ex-USMC armorer states that he likes at least 15 deg of offset for a NOS GI barrel and prefers them to be at a 25 deg starting position. I generally have enough receiver/barrel combinations so that I can trial fit barrels to receivers to find one in the 15-19 deg range before tightening. That said, I'd be OK with trying an install with a barrel up to 25 deg off index. I always use Brownells barrel paste, a moly based anti-sieze lube, on the threads and would need to feel the torque on the wrench before proceeding with final tightening in a 25 deg starting situation. I use the CMP receiver wrench, which has a 30 inch handle, and produces sufficient torque for most installs. I have used an extension on the wrench to get more torque a couple to times, even with a barrel in the 15-19 deg starting range. At a certain point it is worth facing off the rear of the barrel on a lathe in order to reduce the amount of offset and the amount of torque required for installation. Excessive torque can booger up the face of the receiver.

Installing used barrels is a totally different proposition as the rear shoulder of the barrel has already been crushed down from a previous install, so you can pull one on from a 30 deg starting point without any extraordinary effort or risk of damage to the receiver face. A dial type angle finder is an easy way to determine just what degree of offset exists at the initial hand tight position.
 
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