Some grease in the lugs can ease the effort, too. I had one that was very hard to close. I wiped the lugs on the triggerguard with a little grease and it helped quite a bit.

Go to: http://www.garandgear.com/m1-garand-grease There are a lot of good maintenance tips.

Check out #5 in particular, under "additional areas to grease."

[Linked Image]