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So a question for you Garand guys.
After reading this topic, I took mine out today. I am having about 50 percent miss fires. These are my hand loads. Standard primers, 4895, Amax...the primers seem dented really well.
Maybe the primers where bad. Any ideas. Numerous things. How far are you setting the shoulder back when you size your cases? Do you know how much headspace you have? The reason I ask is that if you have a longish chamber and you set the shoulder back too far (I set a fired case back .002"), then you can have the case moving too far forward before it hits good solid metal and by then the firing pin has traveled as far as it's going to without enough inertia to get ignition. Is the bolt clean? A Garand bolt is not hard to tear down and clean. Clean everything and light to no lube on the firing pin. Are your primers fully seated? ESPECIALLY in an M1, you want flush primers for safety, and for consistent ignition reasons, firmly seated. Primers will show a small dent when the bolt slams home, that is a characteristic of a floating firing pin. ARs will do it, too. The hammer spring could be weak. Firing pin protrusion. I would start by assuring I was not inducing too much room in the chamber by oversizing and that the primers were firmly seated in a clean primer pocket. Check headspace, measure fired cases and don't oversize. Then run mechanical possibilities down from there. You have the right idea with powder, etc, so it shouldn't be hard. I hope you have good luck in running the problem down, those are very enjoyable rifles. Edited to add: Go to the CMP forum, and describe your issues. There are some really knowledgeable Garand mechanics on that site.
Last edited by Vic_in_Va; 06/04/15. Reason: info
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The Garand as a hunting rifle. Sometime in late summer after VE Day, when my dad was still in Germany, he and a few friends took some Garands and went hunting for dinky deer in the Harz mountains where they were stationed. Asked a farmer if they could hunt, he said they could, as he'd like some deer meat.
Punched a few deer out of the woods and all managed to miss them with the Garands. Later, the old folks on the farm invited them to lunch and at some point the patriarch made a comment that elicited laughter from the other locals at the table.
One of dad's buds spoke a bit of German, told the other GIs that the ol' boy had wondered HTH they'd lost the war, if that was all the better Americans could shoot?
Dad's excuse was, that none of them had ever fired a Garand much before then, other than some target practice at camp after VE Day.
They'd all qualified with the 1903 in basic, prior to Pearl Harbor (dad was drafted in the summer of '41). All were carrying M1 30 Carbines throughout the European Campaign, because they were in a halftrack crew.
Dad said the old Krauts wasn't having any of it, decided that Americans can't shoot and that was that.
Thirty-some years later when dad and I were hunting together and he missed a running deer, asked him if he'd gotten confused and thought he was hunting with a Garand again? Wasn't amused in the least. ;O)
Lots of Garand owners at our club, but I've never had one. Do have some CMP Carbines though and enjoy the hell out of them.
If three or more people think you're a dimwit, chances are at least one of them is right.
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Just a story- when my father was in training at Camp Hale CO during WWII, they could sign out 5 rounds of ammo (military ball) and take their M1s out for elk hunting. They could bring the elk back to the mess hall and the cooks would butcher and cook. Hate to think about what an army cook could do to a fresh kill elk.
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I suspect the Army cook would do well by the elk as the hunter still had the other 4 rounds.
Be afraid,be VERY VERY afraid ad triarios redisse My Buddy eh76 speaks authentic Frontier Gibberish!
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Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr the rifle is still not ready ... can't wait can't wait can't wait
Va t'in tch�re !
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Fired the gun today. I did manage a 4 shots sight set then made a 5 shots group at 65 yards (right for battue purpose). For my first experience with the gun AND with a peep sight I'm pretty happy. That will be accurate enough for my needs. Unfortunately I didn't bring the gun home. It had to be modified for hunting and hunter's ownership purpose (invisible and revesrible modification to make it a 2+1 capacity rifle). That has been done but we realized you can't fire more than one round without clips: all the rounds are ejected with the first case. So the gunstmith has to find me some clips.
Va t'in tch�re !
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Good deal!
Looks like it's shooting good, and keep us posted on progress.
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Oh yes, I didn't check every mark but it's a Springfield made.
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i ran into a modification a few years ago, where a guy had brazed a post under the lift where the shells in a clip normally reside. It converted it basically to a one round gun. They also make two round clips, or you can make one yourself.
Last edited by RoninPhx; 06/13/15.
THE BIRTH PLACE OF GERONIMO
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depending on price, I normally make all my reduced capacity clips. Once you have an example it's pretty easy to whip them up with a dremel.
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Could you provide some picture of that modification, please ?
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you can see the addition of the post added to the part in the first picture. The second picture is the top of the part for reference. That part is where you shove in the clip in the reciever. Why he put that post in there i don't know, but he was a camp perry nationally ranked shooter, and it is a match garand built for perry in the 50's. it had no function for me as i am not restricted in amount of rounds in mag with a 8round clip. But it did turn it into a one round shooter with that post underneath which kept the additional shells from being loaded. Sorry for the pictures, blame me and the cellphone. this part would be the follower: see the link for a better picture plus all the parts in a garand: http://www.civilianmarksmanship.com/nomenclaturehtml/nomenclaturefollowerassy.htmlhttp://www.civilianmarksmanship.com/nomenclature.html
Last edited by RoninPhx; 06/16/15.
THE BIRTH PLACE OF GERONIMO
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Fired the gun today. I did manage a 4 shots sight set then made a 5 shots group at 65 yards (right for battue purpose). For my first experience with the gun AND with a peep sight I'm pretty happy. That will be accurate enough for my needs. Unfortunately I didn't bring the gun home. It had to be modified for hunting and hunter's ownership purpose (invisible and revesrible modification to make it a 2+1 capacity rifle). That has been done but we realized you can't fire more than one round without clips: all the rounds are ejected with the first case. So the gunstmith has to find me some clips. i would say you shot a good group given all four are together. Don't underestimate the sights once you have them adjusted properly. I was going to scope a m1a scout, changed my mind with the national match sights on it, which up to about 300yards worked just fine. National match sights have a smaller peep and a narrower blade on the front.
THE BIRTH PLACE OF GERONIMO
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The Lee-Enfield No. 4 Mk1 is probably made by Savage Arms, for the Lend-Lease program between the US and Britain during the Second World War.
The US ordered rifles built to British specifications for delivery to England, but not used by the US military in any way.
The M1 Garand has been covered thoroughly by the other posters. And to add to this,they are a pretty dammed accurate rifle! Cat
scopes are cool, but slings 'n' irons RULE!
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I have one that was built in March 1941. It seems to like Imr 4064 and the Nosler Ballistic Tip bullet 165 grain. I have fired it in a competition and it did well even at 600 yds. whelennut
I like to do my hunting BEFORE I pull the trigger! There is only one kind of dead, but there are many different kinds of wounded.
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Buddy took a pig with a Garrand in 2003
That was fun to watch
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I've learned that original Garands, with the original primitive gas port, used to be very sensitive to barrel pressure peaks and that modern ammos, especially heavy bullets and slow bruning powders, may not be suitable for those rifles.
After some researches about that on the web and among the Reloading 101 community, I developed a load that suits my garand very good. At least I fired 60 shots of those no jamming nor any problem but VERY hot brass (which is apparently usual to Garands)
My load pushes a 150 grains Barnes TSX bullet with a 48.8 grains load of Vithavuori N140, winchester brass and CCI LR primer, no crimping. Muzzle speed is 2782 fps. COL is 81 mm, it was a very important factor in the resolution of my early jamming problems.
Don't use those datas without appropriate precautions and reloading safety processes. It may not suit every Garand.
Last edited by grand_veneur; 11/18/15.
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I'm now fearing some trouble with that gun. Semi Auto or at least semi auto assault rifles could be banned as a stupid response to the Paris attack. But at least my Garand made his first post WWII kill right in the anniversary days of the battle of the bulge
Last edited by grand_veneur; 01/01/16.
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I'm now fearing some trouble with that gun. Semi Auto or at least semi auto assault rifles could be banned as a stupid response to the Paris attack. That'll show those muzzie radicals. Politicians all over the world over are largely the same. Feel good ineffective legislation that only affects those that follow the laws. Well, at least the fox got to be part of history!
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Indeed
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