Apart from barrel condition, which was discussed in a recent post, and selecting the best quality handloads that you can produce (hint: 46gr IMR4064 or 45gr IMR4895 with a 168gr Sierra/Nosler/Hornady match bullet seated to 3.330 OAL
or 155gr Sierra/Nosler match bullet with 47gr IMR4895 or 48gr IMR4064 seated to OAL 3.280), there are a number of tweaks, short of glass bedding, unitizing parts, and trigger group work, that can be done to a Garand to improve it's accuracy. These include tightening sights, tightening stock fit/bedding, improving handguard fit, and improving op rod and lower band fit. These can be accomplished with ordinary tools or by selective parts fitting. These tweaks have worked for me so I thought I'd take the time to pass them on
. I've got a new kitchen being installed as I write, so it is good to have something else to do and keep out of the installer's hair.
1. Front sight fit. There should be no rotational movement of the front sight. This means the gas cylinder. If the gas cylinder moves rotationally on the barrel, you can either swap for one that fits tight on the barrel splines or peen the barrel splineways to tighten up the fit. Peening is done with a 1/8" flat-faced punch with the barrel supported on a wooden block beneath the spline areas. Start with the top splineway. Put the punch on the edge of the splineway and tap it along both edges of the splineway using overlapping hits. You do not need to whale the hell out of it with the hammer
. Use light taps with the aim of displacing a bit of metal along the edges of the splineways. You can also peen the lower splineways at 4 and 8 o'clock. Just peen the bottom edge on these. Trial fit the gas cyl until rotational movement has been eliminated. Tap the gas cyl on and off with a hammer. Do not hit the gas cyl directly with a hammer. Use a hardwood block on the front and back of the bayo lug to drive it on/off.
2. For the rear sight, there should be a minimal slop between the aperture and the base. Best to trial fit a number of combinations to find one with minimal sloppiness. The elevation knob on the left side should not slip it's seating when assembled. Tighten the screw in the elevation knob beforehand as you find a lot of loose ones. Hold the knob in a leather padded vice grip and tighten the screw down hard. When assembled run the elevation knob up to the top and press it down with your thumb. If it slips, try tightening the windage knob to a point where both knobs can still be turned by hand. If the elevation knob still slips, the "tit" on the inner surface may be worn to a point where it will not seat properly in the receiver serrations. Replace the knob with a servicable one. If the receiver serrations are worn they may not properly retain the elevation knob "tit". You can epoxy a disc (sold by Fulton Armory) over the serrations to correct this. Alternatively, you can use one of the older lock bar sight assemblies as the elevation knob on these has multiple contact points for the receiver serrations. The rear sight cover should allow some spring back when the base and aperture are installed and pushed forward. Many of the indentations on the underside of the cover are worn out from friction with the aperture. These should be replaced. You can sometimes tighten up the cover to increase tension by pushing down on the raised part with the cover on a hard surface. Use grease when assembling the rear sight. It prevents wear and can help take out some sloppiness. Grease the tracks in the base where the aperture slides, the underside of the aperture where it engages the pinion on the elevation knob, the indentation on the bottom of the rear sight cover, the face of the receiver where the windage and elevation knobs bear, the holes in the receiver "ears" where the knobs rotate, and the top of the receiver where the "foot" of the rear sight base makes contact.
3. Lower band. The lower band must be tight and immobile. If loose, first try installing a new roll pin (1/8" dia x 1/2" long). If the band is still loose and you don't have a tighter one, the barrel circumference where it seats can be struck with a prick punch to tighten things up. An easier fixis to cut a strip of aluminum foil and put it around the barrel as you install the band. Drive in a new roll pin and trim off the excess foil with a utility knife. The lower bands are soft and can be easily distorted. Use a wooden dowel near the barrel as a drift when removing/ assembling. To assemble a tight one use a length of the grey electrical conduit which is long enough to clear the muzzle when the band is seated. Let the conduit fall and seat the band from it's own weight or tap on the end of the conduit with a wooden block.
4. Stock fit. There must be no fore/aft movement of the receiver in the stock and the trigger guard must close with some degree of tension to firmly clamp the rifle in the stock. You frequently find one or both of these conditions with used stocks. To eliminate fore/aft movement glue wooden shims on the vertical surfaces of the stock where the rear legs of the receiver bear. Lack of trigger guard tension can be due to a couple of things. First, check the 2 round locking lugs on the guard. If they are worn flat on the bottom, find a guard with full round lugs. Second, the stock wood may compress and dry out over time to a point where the guard will not close with acceptable tension. You should feel tension when the guard swings past the tip of the trigger on closing. To tighten this up glue wooden shims to both of the bottom edges of the stock aperture where the trigger housing seats. Don't change the angle of the existing seats. Just de-grease and sand lightly to locate clean wood, then cut and fit pieces of the iron-on birch/walnut veneer that you find in the Home Hardware/Home Cheapo store. These can be stained when dry. If you want to experiment before doing this, cut several strips from those magnetized advertising "stickies" and stack them up on both sides of the trigger housing "floorplate" before you insert the tigger housing. Don't toss out that trigger guard with the worn lugs. It might come in handy for use with a new stock. I've had them so tight that you needed to whack the guard with a rubber hammer to close it. Last point. There should be a bit of clearance between the front of the "floorplate" and the front edge of the stock aperture.
5. Rear handgd fit. There must be some clearance between the back face of the handgd and the face of the receiver(about the thickness of a business card). If this is absent the barrel will be bound in recoil and when warm and expanded ,and the handgd will eventually split. Just dress some wood off the rear face with a sanding block or file (keeping it square), then re-seal with stock finish. Also, make sure there is clearance between the bottom edge of the guard and the top of the stock on the left side(again file or sand the guard, but not the stock).
6. Front handgd fit. There must be some clearance between the metal ferrule on the front of the guard and the rear face of the gas cyl-at least enough to detect a bit of fore/aft movement of the guard. Lack of clearance will induce stress when the barrel is hot and expanded and will tend to crack the guard at the rear. Ideally you can swap out handguards to find one that allows this, but you may need to shorten the front guard a bit. This means both the tenon where the guard fits inside the lower band and the circumference at the rear of the guard where it seats on the front edge of the lower band. This is a tricky one, but it can be done with a careful file. While some fore/aft movement is OK, excessive play can be helped by packing the inside of the band where the tenon seats with a piece of leather or cardstock. Some folk even put a correctly sized hi temp rubber o-ring in front of the guard to help this. A bit of rotational movement of the front guard is OK.
7. Op rod fit. The op rod should not bind or contact the stock, lower band, or stock ferrule in the course of it's travel. Ideally it should'nt contact the bottom of the front handgd liner either, but this is a lesser problem. First do the "tilt test" to check for op rod fit. To do this remove the rifle from the stock and then remove op rod spring, follower rod, follower arm pin and follower arm, bullet guide, op rod catch and follower. With gas cyl, op rod, bolt and handgds installed hold the rifle in a horizontal position then elevate and depress the muzzle to a 60 degree angle. When elevated and depressed the bolt should open and close from the weight of the bolt and op rod alone. If this is the case you are good to go. If not, the op rod is not fitting properly and most likely will need re-bending or replacement. Re-bending an op rod is not a task for the faint-hearted or impatient, so it is not recommended as a DIY exercise. When the rifle is fully assembled the op rod should not make contact with the stock, lower band or stock ferrule. You can check this by putting some marker on the op rod and observing if and where it wears thin when the rifle is cycled by hand. Contact with the stock ferrule can be relieved with a round file and often the lower band can be displaced slightly from side to side by striking the lower part of it with a block. The lower band can also be cut down by filing/grinding to eliminate contact. Stock interference can be removed by filing/sanding.
8. Gas cyl lock and screw. Ideally the gas cyl lock should be in full contact with it's barrel seat when tight at the 6-8 o'clock position and then backed off to install the lock screw. Don't try to modify the lock or the barrel to achieve this. The best way to go is to trial fit a bunch until you find one that times up in the right position. Be advised that the location of the lock can also affect clearance between the front handgd and the rear of the gas cyl. This may again get into re-fitting or changing handgds to sort this out. On the gas cyl, you need to ensure that the gas port at the bottom of the barrel appears inside the "window" at the top of the gas cyl for correct functionality. Make sure that the inside face of the gas cyl lock screw isn't cracked as this will upset both function and accuracy.
Addendum. Barney mentioned the book, Precision Shooting With The M1 Garand, by Roy Baumgartner. This is a useful book which is available from Brownells for $12.95. It can lead you into customizing the rifle in areas like glass bedding, unitizing the front handguard assembly, modifying the rear sight assembly, and tweaking the trigger group. These are all useful for accuracy, but will result in a custom, non-GI configuration rifle. I like to keep my rifles in original GI configuration, so I do not go to these extra lengths. This book also mentions some other non-intrusive measures which are helpful to accuracy. These include tightening up the stacking swivel screw so that the swivel doesn't strike the gas cyl in recoil and cause unwanted vibrations. Do this by rotating the swivel to it's full rear position and then tightening down the screw. Also, make sure the gas cyl screw is kept tight before and during shooting-don't add locktite to the threads or anything like that. Lastly, rear sight tension is helped by putting a rubber band around the aperture and looping it around the elevation knob a couple of turns. Final point; smoke both the rear face of the aperture and the front sight post with a wooden kitchen match before shooting to eliminate shine.
or 155gr Sierra/Nosler match bullet with 47gr IMR4895 or 48gr IMR4064 seated to OAL 3.280), there are a number of tweaks, short of glass bedding, unitizing parts, and trigger group work, that can be done to a Garand to improve it's accuracy. These include tightening sights, tightening stock fit/bedding, improving handguard fit, and improving op rod and lower band fit. These can be accomplished with ordinary tools or by selective parts fitting. These tweaks have worked for me so I thought I'd take the time to pass them on. I've got a new kitchen being installed as I write, so it is good to have something else to do and keep out of the installer's hair.1. Front sight fit. There should be no rotational movement of the front sight. This means the gas cylinder. If the gas cylinder moves rotationally on the barrel, you can either swap for one that fits tight on the barrel splines or peen the barrel splineways to tighten up the fit. Peening is done with a 1/8" flat-faced punch with the barrel supported on a wooden block beneath the spline areas. Start with the top splineway. Put the punch on the edge of the splineway and tap it along both edges of the splineway using overlapping hits. You do not need to whale the hell out of it with the hammer
. Use light taps with the aim of displacing a bit of metal along the edges of the splineways. You can also peen the lower splineways at 4 and 8 o'clock. Just peen the bottom edge on these. Trial fit the gas cyl until rotational movement has been eliminated. Tap the gas cyl on and off with a hammer. Do not hit the gas cyl directly with a hammer. Use a hardwood block on the front and back of the bayo lug to drive it on/off. 2. For the rear sight, there should be a minimal slop between the aperture and the base. Best to trial fit a number of combinations to find one with minimal sloppiness. The elevation knob on the left side should not slip it's seating when assembled. Tighten the screw in the elevation knob beforehand as you find a lot of loose ones. Hold the knob in a leather padded vice grip and tighten the screw down hard. When assembled run the elevation knob up to the top and press it down with your thumb. If it slips, try tightening the windage knob to a point where both knobs can still be turned by hand. If the elevation knob still slips, the "tit" on the inner surface may be worn to a point where it will not seat properly in the receiver serrations. Replace the knob with a servicable one. If the receiver serrations are worn they may not properly retain the elevation knob "tit". You can epoxy a disc (sold by Fulton Armory) over the serrations to correct this. Alternatively, you can use one of the older lock bar sight assemblies as the elevation knob on these has multiple contact points for the receiver serrations. The rear sight cover should allow some spring back when the base and aperture are installed and pushed forward. Many of the indentations on the underside of the cover are worn out from friction with the aperture. These should be replaced. You can sometimes tighten up the cover to increase tension by pushing down on the raised part with the cover on a hard surface. Use grease when assembling the rear sight. It prevents wear and can help take out some sloppiness. Grease the tracks in the base where the aperture slides, the underside of the aperture where it engages the pinion on the elevation knob, the indentation on the bottom of the rear sight cover, the face of the receiver where the windage and elevation knobs bear, the holes in the receiver "ears" where the knobs rotate, and the top of the receiver where the "foot" of the rear sight base makes contact.
3. Lower band. The lower band must be tight and immobile. If loose, first try installing a new roll pin (1/8" dia x 1/2" long). If the band is still loose and you don't have a tighter one, the barrel circumference where it seats can be struck with a prick punch to tighten things up. An easier fix
is to cut a strip of aluminum foil and put it around the barrel as you install the band. Drive in a new roll pin and trim off the excess foil with a utility knife. The lower bands are soft and can be easily distorted. Use a wooden dowel near the barrel as a drift when removing/ assembling. To assemble a tight one use a length of the grey electrical conduit which is long enough to clear the muzzle when the band is seated. Let the conduit fall and seat the band from it's own weight or tap on the end of the conduit with a wooden block.4. Stock fit. There must be no fore/aft movement of the receiver in the stock and the trigger guard must close with some degree of tension to firmly clamp the rifle in the stock. You frequently find one or both of these conditions with used stocks. To eliminate fore/aft movement glue wooden shims on the vertical surfaces of the stock where the rear legs of the receiver bear. Lack of trigger guard tension can be due to a couple of things. First, check the 2 round locking lugs on the guard. If they are worn flat on the bottom, find a guard with full round lugs. Second, the stock wood may compress and dry out over time to a point where the guard will not close with acceptable tension. You should feel tension when the guard swings past the tip of the trigger on closing. To tighten this up glue wooden shims to both of the bottom edges of the stock aperture where the trigger housing seats. Don't change the angle of the existing seats. Just de-grease and sand lightly to locate clean wood, then cut and fit pieces of the iron-on birch/walnut veneer that you find in the Home Hardware/Home Cheapo store. These can be stained when dry. If you want to experiment before doing this, cut several strips from those magnetized advertising "stickies" and stack them up on both sides of the trigger housing "floorplate" before you insert the tigger housing. Don't toss out that trigger guard with the worn lugs. It might come in handy for use with a new stock. I've had them so tight that you needed to whack the guard with a rubber hammer to close it.
Last point. There should be a bit of clearance between the front of the "floorplate" and the front edge of the stock aperture.5. Rear handgd fit. There must be some clearance between the back face of the handgd and the face of the receiver(about the thickness of a business card). If this is absent the barrel will be bound in recoil and when warm and expanded ,and the handgd will eventually split. Just dress some wood off the rear face with a sanding block or file (keeping it square), then re-seal with stock finish. Also, make sure there is clearance between the bottom edge of the guard and the top of the stock on the left side(again file or sand the guard, but not the stock).
6. Front handgd fit. There must be some clearance between the metal ferrule on the front of the guard and the rear face of the gas cyl-at least enough to detect a bit of fore/aft movement of the guard. Lack of clearance will induce stress when the barrel is hot and expanded and will tend to crack the guard at the rear. Ideally you can swap out handguards to find one that allows this, but you may need to shorten the front guard a bit. This means both the tenon where the guard fits inside the lower band and the circumference at the rear of the guard where it seats on the front edge of the lower band. This is a tricky one, but it can be done with a careful file. While some fore/aft movement is OK, excessive play can be helped by packing the inside of the band where the tenon seats with a piece of leather or cardstock. Some folk even put a correctly sized hi temp rubber o-ring in front of the guard to help this
. A bit of rotational movement of the front guard is OK.7. Op rod fit. The op rod should not bind or contact the stock, lower band, or stock ferrule in the course of it's travel. Ideally it should'nt contact the bottom of the front handgd liner either, but this is a lesser problem. First do the "tilt test" to check for op rod fit. To do this remove the rifle from the stock and then remove op rod spring, follower rod, follower arm pin and follower arm, bullet guide, op rod catch and follower. With gas cyl, op rod, bolt and handgds installed hold the rifle in a horizontal position then elevate and depress the muzzle to a 60 degree angle. When elevated and depressed the bolt should open and close from the weight of the bolt and op rod alone. If this is the case you are good to go. If not, the op rod is not fitting properly and most likely will need re-bending or replacement. Re-bending an op rod is not a task for the faint-hearted or impatient, so it is not recommended as a DIY exercise.
When the rifle is fully assembled the op rod should not make contact with the stock, lower band or stock ferrule. You can check this by putting some marker on the op rod and observing if and where it wears thin when the rifle is cycled by hand. Contact with the stock ferrule can be relieved with a round file and often the lower band can be displaced slightly from side to side by striking the lower part of it with a block. The lower band can also be cut down by filing/grinding to eliminate contact. Stock interference can be removed by filing/sanding.8. Gas cyl lock and screw. Ideally the gas cyl lock should be in full contact with it's barrel seat when tight at the 6-8 o'clock position and then backed off to install the lock screw. Don't try to modify the lock or the barrel to achieve this. The best way to go is to trial fit a bunch until you find one that times up in the right position. Be advised that the location of the lock can also affect clearance between the front handgd and the rear of the gas cyl. This may again get into re-fitting or changing handgds to sort this out. On the gas cyl, you need to ensure that the gas port at the bottom of the barrel appears inside the "window" at the top of the gas cyl for correct functionality. Make sure that the inside face of the gas cyl lock screw isn't cracked as this will upset both function and accuracy.
Addendum. Barney mentioned the book, Precision Shooting With The M1 Garand, by Roy Baumgartner. This is a useful book which is available from Brownells for $12.95. It can lead you into customizing the rifle in areas like glass bedding, unitizing the front handguard assembly, modifying the rear sight assembly, and tweaking the trigger group. These are all useful for accuracy, but will result in a custom, non-GI configuration rifle. I like to keep my rifles in original GI configuration, so I do not go to these extra lengths. This book also mentions some other non-intrusive measures which are helpful to accuracy. These include tightening up the stacking swivel screw so that the swivel doesn't strike the gas cyl in recoil and cause unwanted vibrations. Do this by rotating the swivel to it's full rear position and then tightening down the screw. Also, make sure the gas cyl screw is kept tight before and during shooting-don't add locktite to the threads or anything like that. Lastly, rear sight tension is helped by putting a rubber band around the aperture and looping it around the elevation knob a couple of turns. Final point; smoke both the rear face of the aperture and the front sight post with a wooden kitchen match before shooting to eliminate shine.
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