The M1 Garand Build Thread

Got my barrel installed and reamed on Friday. I ended up using a generic Davidson barrel vise that i was advised against using (I'm stubborn like that) and it worked fine, no slipping. Used a little piece of that squishy non slip matting between the barrel and the vise. The princess auto 18" crescent wrench worked fine also with a cheater bar on the end.

Anyone know a good source for a sling, ammo belt, clips and maybe a butt stock cleaning kit? I have found them all individually at different places but would like to order it all from one to save on shipping if possible.


C3neFmr.jpg
 
did_b said:
Got my barrel installed and reamed on Friday. I ended up using a generic Davidson barrel vise that i was advised against using (I'm stubborn like that) and it worked fine, no slipping. Used a little piece of that squishy non slip matting between the barrel and the vise. The princess auto 18" crescent wrench worked fine also with a cheater bar on the end.

Anyone know a good source for a sling, ammo belt, clips and maybe a butt stock cleaning kit? I have found them all individually at different places but would like to order it all from one to save on shipping if possible.
Click to expand...

How long did it take you to install and ream the barrel?

I have seen all of those items available at Numrich, but the $50 shipping is a bit of a killer. Another CGN'r recommends getting an orignal USGI bandolier over a reproduction and I trust his opinion is sound.
 
Took me about 5 hours total. That included a trip to home depot for some cutting oil and a die handle for the reamer. Also all the setup, taping the receiver, mounting and tightening the barrel in the vice, I also moved my set up from my reloading bench to a sturdier one in the garage when installing the barrel as i thought i was going to flip the bench over. I moved it back inside for the reaming. The actual barrel install only took about 15 minutes once i got going, tightening and checking often. The reaming took maybe and hour, stopping twice to clean the reamer and chamber and checking the head space with the gauges. I imagine someone who has done a few, and is properly set up wouldn't take more than an hour to do both. Slow and steady for me.

BTW my reamer and gauges are now for sale.
 
Finally got to take a picture of the Garand. Breda receiver, trigger group, NOS Springfield bolt, barrel 3/55, NOS gas cylinder, a few PB parts including the front wood. Boyds stock was ok, required allot of usual issues to be fixed. Head spacing was done by Nick at Vulcan as well as the parkerizing (which was awesome). Repro bayonet.


IMG_4547.JPG
 
It is great to see the finished firearms come to life. I am still waiting for a few more parts and then I can get my projects on the go.

The mail guy showed up at the front door today with a Customs Collect Package.

 
Got mine pretty well wrapped up last night. It doesn't quite pass the tilt test so I'll need to find where it's rubbing. Also going to peen the barrel splines for a tighter gas cylinder fit. Also need to remove some material from the butt stock so the butt-plate sits properly


E0bGDZr.jpg
 
Looks mighty fine did_b!
How does your receiver sit in the stock? I tossed mine in last night for funzies and it seems like the stock was sanded down a little too much on one side by the previous owner. Everything seems straight, but it looks a little wonky to someone with a touch of OCD such as myself. I'll toss a picture up later for reference.
 
Last edited:
SparkOfLight said:
Looks mighty fine did_b!
How does your receiver sit in the stock? I tossed mine in last night for funzies and it seems like the stock was sanded down on a little too much on one side by the previous owner. Everything seems straight, but it looks a little wonky to someone with a touch of OCD such as myself. I'll toss a picture up later for reference.
Click to expand...

The receiver is quite tight. It seats down nice and snug and is almost tricky to take out as there not really anyway to get a grip on the top so i have to start it from underneath. The trigger assembly goes in nice and snug too, not overly tight though. It was a boyds unfinished stock, and the only thing i had to sand was the front for the stock ferrule, and a little from the inside where the op rod was rubbing.

I have been taking pictures all the way through my build and will be making up an album for the whole process too. It's hard to capture all the beauty of these rifles in one picture.
 
It's hard to capture all the beauty of these rifles in one picture.
Click to expand...
Yes.
And yours is a most pretty specimen did_ b. Congratulations on your achievement !. :)

I'm waiting on some range reports from you guys, to satisfy curiousity as to how well this CGN build community's batch of new Garands can shoot.
The best one I've loaded for to date, held inside 1 3/4 MOA consistently, for many 5 shot groups off the bags at 100 ... bone stock that one was too. A pure SA.
'Course, ... the shooting, it was by a young buck with eagle eyes. Me?, I'd be lucky to stay on paper with irons, at this advanced stage of decrepitude. V:I:;)
Where IS that front post ... LoL!.
 
Last edited:
With regards to my previous post:

Does this stock appear to have been sanded incorrectly during refinishing? I am the second owner (that I know of) of this stock and it definitely looks a little wonky :p



IMG_0206_zpse303120a.jpg


IMG_0207_zps7106bebb.jpg
 
Last edited:
Almost there! A few more items showed up this week.

Top, A new .308 Criterion barrel.
Next, .30-06 SA 12-54
After that a HRA .30-06 1-53.
A Beretta armoury shortened barrel to get a .308 conversion for the Italian BM-59 Garand.

Last is a Beretta op rod for the regular M1 Garand.

Trying to decide what receiver will get what barrel,trigger group etc.

 
That stock certainly looks wonky to me, shouldn't be any overhang like that. Can you take a picture of inside the stock?

After tinkering a bit more with mine this evening, my op rod sems to get hung up on the barrel where it gets larger in diameter and the front of the saddle area on the rod when the bolt is forward. It stops my bolt from closing all the way when slowly released, and when its closed takes an extra jolt to get it to open. I'm thinking my op rod may be bent. any one experienced that before? Is there anyone in canada or in the us i can ship it to to tune it up?
 
did_b said:
That stock certainly looks wonky to me, shouldn't be any overhang like that. Can you take a picture of inside the stock?
Click to expand...

I'll see what I can do about pictures tomorrow. I roughed all the major parts together and everything seems to work properly and has a nice and tight fit...but that overhang is a bit different. I have seen some overhang present on other Garands, but never quite as much.

*Edit* Here are some pictures of the stock. You can somewhat make out where the original receiver sat on this stock (first picture) and it seems to have sat off the edge a bit.





 
Last edited:
SparkOfLight said:
I'll see what I can do about pictures tomorrow. I roughed all the major parts together and everything seems to work properly and has a nice and tight fit...but that overhang is a bit different. I have seen some overhang present on other Garands, but never quite as much.
Click to expand...

You see this overhang fairly often on used stocks, esp the Danish arsenal re-works which were often sanded quite heavily. The is nothing functionally wrong with this as long as the end of receiver heel has a good even bearing on the top of the stock. Often a refinished stock will need shimming behind the rear receiver legs in order to correct fore and aft movement. Poor /loose vertical lockup in the stock can often be corrected by replacing the trigger guard if the locking lugs are worn. If this doesn't work shims can be glued to the stock surfaces on both sides of the mag well where the trigger housing seats. This was a common arsenal repair.
 
did_b said:
That stock certainly looks wonky to me, shouldn't be any overhang like that. Can you take a picture of inside the stock?

After tinkering a bit more with mine this evening, my op rod sems to get hung up on the barrel where it gets larger in diameter and the front of the saddle area on the rod when the bolt is forward. It stops my bolt from closing all the way when slowly released, and when its closed takes an extra jolt to get it to open. I'm thinking my op rod may be bent. any one experienced that before? Is there anyone in canada or in the us i can ship it to to tune it up?
Click to expand...

One of the most variable Garand parts when it comes to proper fit is the op rod. When building Garands I expect to have to trial fit a number of op rods to get one that fits properly. Wear patterns on both the rod and various parts of the rifle affect proper fit. Dimensional variations on the various parts can be quite subtle. I have a rifle which I wanted to fit with a national match op rod. I found that I eventually needed to swap in a replacement bolt to get the rod to fit properly without re-bending it. That was a big surprise. Op rods can be re-bent to fit properly, but this takes a lot of trial bending in a solid vice with jaw inserts that fit the op rod tube so that it isn't damaged. I have re-bent a few, but only when trying to do a proper parts match up to a particular receiver. For a shooter it is best to trial fit a few different rods and avoid the frustrations involved in the re-bending effort.
 
Thanks for that purple, something else I needed to know .. but did not know where to find the in detail specifics.
I'm sure there's many of us here whom are now far advanced in knowhow from where we were last fall. ... thanks to a few of you being so generous with your hardwon knowledge.
 
Last edited:
Thank you Purple, I appreciate your help. I've started taking small amounts of the stock away trying to get an even tighter fit than I already have. Quite a lovely project to have keeping me busy :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom