M1 Garand General Discussion

[slim1836]

As it states, general discussion.

I just today acquired a M1 born in December 1943 i believe. I always wanted one to pass down to my grandson. I am so blessed, however, I am M1 ignorant to the max.

I'll be getting better acquainted in time, but will have questions so don't laugh too loud. I'm going to start out with:
1. Any good technical sites?
2. Any tech books for download?
3. Any good surplus part sites?
4. I saw on the internet someone mentioned making changes to the buffering to prevent modern ammo from damaging the weapon? T/F
5. Cast boolits function 0k in M1? T/F
6. What factory works for you?

In other words, any help info is appreciated, not going to the range until I get to know her much better.

Slim

[Walks]

You don't need to do anything to the gas system as long as you are using ammo loaded with a medium burning rate powder.
The M-1 was designed around the then current (1920-1930's) ammo.
I believe that #4895 was that powder.
Modern Hunting ammo loaded with slow burning powder has a different pressure peak and can/will damage the Op-Rod.

Some reloading manuals offer Special Garand loads.

Numrich Arms offers most M-1 Parts.

There are replacement Adjustable Gas Cylinders that are available to tune your rifle for accuracy or even light lead loads. I have no personal experience with them.
The lead loads I shoot require hand operation of the bolt each time.

Some of the Ammo company's have offered M-1 Garand ammo as factory rounds.
It Says so right other box.

All I can offer.

[Cast10]

Nice rifle! The operating rod on the M1 is a special item when firing factory ammo. Too slow a powder and it will bend the rod making it inoperative. I believe Federal makes a 30/06 FMJ load and it states its for M1/Service Rifles. Smellier & Bellot makes a M2 ball ammo, Privi Partisan does too.

Check out the CMP website. Lots of GI manuals and links, etc. Fulton-Armory is a good resource as is Brownell’s.

If you reload, check out AA2460 and the CMP website will have a forum and you can get some good reloading data, parts places, etc.

[Stewbaby]

Greasing it properly and having in spec springs is the biggest help toward safe and reliable operation.




Here is the old tried and true NRA ‘Master Po’ load data. Be wary of anemic load data like the Hornady manual (apparently written by lawyers).

[TNsailorman]

Fulton Armory is the best M1 people I have dealt with. They have parts, books and can even do repair work on the M1. None better. IMR4895 is the powder for the M1 and IMR4064 will work also. There is a lot of information on the CMP site also. Then there is the M1 Garand Collectors Association. There are adjustable gas plugs that let you regulate the amount of gas that the port allows to pass to the operating rod but unless you are loading outside the regular parameters you will have no need for one. It is called a Schuster gas adjusting plug and they sell them at Brownells. I feed my Garand 150 grain FMJ or 147 FMJ and nothing else. I use IMR4895 powder and I keep velocity around the 2700 fps. That is what the Garand was designed for. I have never used lead bullets in any Garand but I have read where some people do so successfully. If you bend your operating rod by using hot loads or heavy bullets, you might just be up the creek. It would be a good thing if you can find a spare somewhere but they are getting very scarce and high dollar when you find them. I am a Garand man through and through. I carried one in service and I learned to love them. Take a look at the Fulton Armory site at FultonArmory.com. It is a candy store of M1's, M1 Carbines, M1A's and their service and parts. james

[hwilliam01]

slim1836

You may find this useful: http://www.garandgear.com/m1-garand-ammunition

[Ford SD]

Check your recoil spring

M1 Garand recoil Spring

Proper length is 19 3/4 to 20 1/4" when new.


I have used new wolf spring (longer than spec) do not cut .....
with full function with the correct load 147-150 or 165-158 with Imr / H 4895

these loads were below max for service rifle

just a nice 3006 recoil in a 9Plus pound rifle

[slim1836]

Thanks guys, the bent operating rod issues worries me some. I don't know what's currently in it or what I should have. The fun has just begun, I need a M1 for dummies book.

All these comments are very useful to me, I'm gonna luv it.

Slim

[Texas by God]

Got clips?
Such serious feeling rifles- I'd love to have another one some day.

Sent from my SM-A716U using Tapatalk

[M-Tecs]

Gas port pressure is why some loads are harder on the op rod than others. They do make venting plug http://schustermfg.com/m1-garand-adjustable-gas-plug/ but if you don't use powers slower the 4895 or 4064 and keep bullets under 180 grains you won't have issues

[Baltimoreed]

Congrats, a great rifle. Mine is a Boyds laminate stocked Heinz with a 70s SA commercial recvr and old gi parts that most were gifted to me. Sure isn’t original but is still a real joy to shoot. Just remember to keep your thumb out of the way of the bolt.

[slim1836]

Congrats, a great rifle. Mine is a Boyds laminate stocked Heinz with a 70s SA commercial recvr and old gi parts that most were gifted to me. Sure isn’t original but is still a real joy to shoot. Just remember to keep your thumb out of the way of the bolt.

So far, so good. Don't look forward to it when it does bite me through my ignorance. LOL

Slim

[Remiel]

https://www.dupagetrading.com/produc...-garand-parts/

https://www.ammogarand.com/m1-garand-part.html

https://www.sarcoinc.com/rifle-parts/m1-garand/

Just a few places for parts and stuff.

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

[Agarbers]

https://thegca.org/wp-content/upload...ts-vs-Myth.pdf
https://forums.thecmp.org/
https://thecmp.org/sales-and-service/m1-garand/

[Baltimoreed]

Even though the bolt/op rod is being held open by the op rod catch remember to hold the op rod with the heel of your rt hand while loading a clip. Once the clip locks in place and releases the catch the heel of your hand controls the op rod and the bolt. Straighten your thumb and roll your wrist upward to release the bolt while keeping your palm flat to to side of the action and your thumb will naturally stay out of the way. Having operating opposable thumbs is good. Hope cats don’t ever evolve and get them. Good shooting.

[Adam Helmer]

Slim,

I have a few Garands and all like my hard cast boolits and 36 grains of IMR4895. My cast boolits are Lyman #311467 (176 grains) and best is the Lee C312-185-R. I use old WW and a dash of tin and drop all boolits from the mould into a bucket of water and gas check. The 185 hits to the same POA/POI as my 150 grain J load at 100 yards. I like it so well, I deem the 185 "Ball Substitute" and shoot it to 400 yards on my farm gong targets.

I have no barrel leading and clean the gas tube twice a year with no big problems noted. Hope this helps.

Adam

[oldsalt444]

The main issue is the op rod and muzzle pressure that moves the op rod. Slow burning powders will hold a pressure spike longer in the barrel and when it reaches the muzzle port the pressure will be higher than it should be. As stated above, using the wrong powder will eventually bend it and it will be expensive if not impossible to get a new one. DO NOT use factory hunting ammo. Use ammo designed for M1 Garand and that is stated on the box. Hornady and a few others make it. If you insist on using bolt gun ammo, then get an adjustable gas plug like the Schuster.

The M1 was designed around the military M2 ball round using H4895 powder. For reloading, use powders in the burn rate between IMR 3031 and 4064 and bullets not exceeding 180 gr. and you'll be fine. See Master Po's loads.

[376Steyr]

A huge amount of historical, and a fair amount of technical, information is available on https://forums.thecmp.org/ Beware, most of the guys on the forum are collectors, and spend most of their time obsessing over serial numbers and dates of manufacture. The search feature is your friend.
A great book for introduction to the M1 is "The M1 Owner's Guide" by Scott Duff https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/18...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Watch out, because collecting Garands is like eating potato chips, it's hard to stop at just one! Right now the CMP is swamped with orders, so the wait time is significant and selection is limited, but they are still a great deal.

[Multra]

There is a lot of doubt that commercial 30-06 ammo will damage an m1 garand. I believe there is even someone on the CMP forums offering money for proof of factory ammo bending an op rod. Get a Schuster plug and don't try to make the hottest loads known to man and you should be fine.

[Digger]

Have a "Tanker" garand in 308 , it is so enjoyable !
picked it up years ago and checked out the op rod and yes , it was slightly bent ,rubbing on the housing ...
Took a guess that even in 308 ,it had off the shelf factory hunting loads put thru it and it affected the rod.
One day out of curiosity I put the rod thru a small series of hands on bench bending by inserting it into a pipe clamped down on my work bench and with a bit of padding in the pipe I very carefully and incrementally bent the rod back into position ..
Since then using my own loads as recommended with cast it has done very well as I do not push the upper pressure limits .
While here ... I will question the knowledge at hand , What are the parts to have as the the action gets worn ?
What are the individual pieces that should be replaced with time ?
Thank you.