Fun time with my tanker ....

[Digger]

The ongoing story , still finding out what loads will and will not work , today ,Christmas eve the weather gave us a break and it is sunny out with no wind .
Out to the range we go ....
31.2 gr of 4895 seem to be the minimum for this puppy to function .
Still a little snow on the shady side of the berms , found out that these 31299's really dig a shovel hole behind the target ! , wow !
Will have to get a decent frame/target set up to properly start setting the sights on this, and learn how to adjust and use the military peep sights ....
When I was setting up , one gentleman came over and liked the gun but you should have seen his eye's bug out when I showed him my rounds with those lead pieces sticking out .... , was fun to watch .
Warned him about the coming boom and he was rapidly walking back over to the pistol side.
Have put about a hundred rounds thru this puppy and just now put a cloth down the barrel to brush out a few specks of powder , very clean so far .
Thanks again Mr. Gibson and every one for all the tips so far ...lot's of fun ..
digger

[MtGun44]

"my tanker" - is this one of the mythical or near mythical "Tanker Garands"?

I'd be interested in knowing a bit about the actual manufacture, since I have heard all
sorts of things about these, including that they never existed as a military arm, and
that they never actually existed at all. Another story is that a few were made but
they never worked, and some say there were a few made that did work.
Never actually saw one, have wondered what the truth was.

Bill

[Digger]

Try this link , http://www.scott-duff.com/t26.htm

The one I have is a Arlington Ordnance .308 , they produced them in 94 and 96 in both 30-06 and 308 .
Bulk of the 'tankers" were poorly assembled and had a lot of problems, so far mine is working good with IMR 4895 and the 311299.
Have had it for a few years and had a bad experience with some surplus Israeli tz 80 and it sat for quite a while , seems to like our home grown lead samples now .
here's a pic in an earlier thread in this forum :http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...-you-thank-you
digger

[HighHook]

Truly an amazing rifle in all configurations. The regular m1 is my favorite military rifle. Ping.....

[Larry Gibson]

Digger

Love it when a plan comes together......

Merry Christmas

Larry Gibson

[Got-R-Did]

MtGun44, although I have no interest in owning a so-called "tanker" version of the Garand, I am indeed a big fan of Mini-G modification produced by a friend of mine.
www.shuffsparkerizing.com will take you to his site and I believe there are current videos of his refined variant.
Got-R-Did.

[Squakeag]

Nice rifle. I'm glad it works for you. I know this is a bit off topic but I have a H&R Garand (bought through the CMP a year or two ago), all original, and it is quite a good shooter, but after putting 1000+ rounds through it; yep even a few CB's, it is starting to jam on the seventh round. Doesn't matter if it is CMP (HXP surplus) or commercial or handloads, it jams on the 7th round, but ONLY after it heats up. In other words, I can feed two en-bloc clips through it with no problem, but then it starts to jam. Any ideas on the problem and what the fix might be?
Squakeag

[Digger]

Yeah Squakeag , it's been a lot of fun so far being just a beginner with the garand gun and the website there at shuffsparkerizing.com makes me drool there Got-R-Did ...been there in the past saying if I only had little more money ... think I would be looking at one of those custom's before a M1-a ......

Squakeag , have you been to the CMP's website at all ? , if you dig around they have all kinds of info and references into the workings of the rifle , if not post a question there and I am sure some one has an answer if not here .. maybe the "how to " forum there . here's the link : http://forums.thecmp.org/

also a trouble shooting guide that I found that might help ...in pdf. Attachment 57035

Also maybe Mr. Gibson will drop by and give some advice.
One thing I have found in all this process is the gas tube gets ignored for too long and will build up with carbon or what ever and maybe a little possible leading if you have been using Cast ..
They say not to take them apart to often as it will wear the parts but one should be very familiar with the internal workings and that's where the people on the CMP forum have a lot of knowledge.
digger

[Wireman134]

95' Arl. Ord. SA 3.2 Mil receiver T26 7.62mm Nato NM bedded and unitized. Haven't shot many boolits out of the tube, just Subsonic cast loads. Don't care if it's all commercial, all correct WWII parts except tube & Modded OP rod. Shoots 1 MOA all day with my M80, M118 hand loads. Just started casting for .30 cal this year
Flawless since day one!

[Digger]

Sweet ! .... love that version of the "Red Ryder" under the Christmas tree !

[Squakeag]

Digger and all,
Thanks for the info. Looks like I may be able to solve the feeding problen]m with the info on those websites.
Squakeag

[Larry Gibson]

Also maybe Mr. Gibson will drop by and give some advice.
One thing I have found in all this process is the gas tube gets ignored for too long and will build up with carbon or what ever and maybe a little possible leading if you have been using Cast ..

Several have reported fouling of the gas cylinder on M1s when cast was used. I don't doubt that it happens but I've not had it happen with any of the '06 M1s I've shot a lot of cast in. I think it's probably alloy/lube/powder related althugh I use a dacron filler and that may also have something to do with it. Also, unless you have a very close fitting mathc rifle, the M1 was designed to be taken apart for cleaning. This is especially the case with the gas system as the ammo was corrosive primed in the day when the M1 was designed. Done properly dismounting the gas system and reassembling it will not harm it.

Larry Gibson

[Hang Fire]

Anyone ever encountered one of Italian BM59 rifles? I know with the select fire capability, they may not have even been imported into the US.

Lots of pics here, including some short barrel versions:

http://www.google.com/search?q=itali...iw=960&bih=399

[Got-R-Did]

Sorry so long to get back to this post. I am a CMP'r as well, and volunteer at 6 VFW, Am. Legion, and Disabled Veterans Posts in KY. Mr. Gibson is spot on, the Garand was designed with simplicity and robustness as a centerpoint and proper maintenance will not cause undue wear. I collect Garands and my passion borders on obsession; better known as "Garanditis".
The CMP site is one of the best.
Very Nice rifle there Wireman, how did you attach the bipod?
Got-R-Did.

[Wireman134]

Inleted and epoxied a Harris 2A stud adapter. Was thinking of fitting a picatinny rail similar to the one for the M14 that's available. But want to be less invasive to the stock.
http://www.harrisbipods.com/HB2R.html

Love the DCM Service grades I received in 97' & 98'(less wood). Mostly correct SA WWII 45' & 44' with original tubes.

[Digger]

What an adventure .... learning what makes this puppy tick ! .... now that I am using the wilson case gauge and finding out how far the boolit wants to sit in the shell ...
Didn't realize before but now .. WOW ! what a sweetheart , as it turns out I had a bent op rod on this puppy and my over all cartridge length was a fraction to long plus it was leaving lead in the gas chamber , binding the operation.
Fit the the cartridge length proper , made sure my shells were to spec's and did a bench top op rod straightening .
Picked up some clues as to the "garand tilt test" and proceeded to correct very carefully ,incrementally (caveman style) tweak the rod back to where the function should be.
With that done , the gun functions very nice now and I am in the process of finding out how low I can go with my loads carrying the 311299 , at the moment I am down to 28 gr of 4895 and still functioning fine with no leading.
Lots of fun so far finding out what makes a Garand tick , the knowledge I am gaining of the gun.
All of which I get from here on this site and the CMP site ...

digger

[Gtek]

With it stripped and upside down. Front end together, OP-ROD, and Bolt, no spring and rod. You should be able with index finger on catch area come out of battery and glide all the way to rear and back. If it tightens up anywhere, find it, fix it. With the shortened length of rod, alignment becomes very critical. Also if tip is not running parrallel to bore center line X/Y it will dramatically increase wear on tip and cylinder. Also there has been some in past that gas hole in barrel and slot in cylinder, and overall rod length were not correct. With weapon assembled and in battery, remove plug and unscrew lock 90 degrees and visual tip location and port alignment for confirmation. Years ago I made a 2x4 jig for rod work. Two six inch pieces, stand vertical and drill 1/2" down between on centerline. Lay flat on edge of sturdy bench and C-clamp up for rubber hammer and hand tweak. Stay off of hard 90 edges, it will make fuglies on your tube. Gtek

[Digger]

Yes , you explained it very well there Gtek , from what I have read in the past in other forums , every one always says "bent op rod" .... oh well , off to the gunsmith or ship the rod out to a machine shop or replace.
It was not all that hard to correct with a little patience and care and being methodical in your steps as I used a existing 18 inch section of 3/4 inch galvanized pipe with a bell on the end so as to have no sharp edges , clamped down on the bench top.
Worked very well and with the way I will be loading my rounds , expect to have no further problems in that respect going on down the road.
I suspect that shooting the old TZ 80 surplus and maybe what has been thru it in the past on occasion contributed to the "bent op rod".
digger