Garand is short cycling

[Fatelvis]

I just shot my CMP Garand for the first time today, and found that it failed to feed the second round of almost every clip, and a few other times, too. It also failed to eject the clip sometimes. It was with LC M2 ammo, with two different clips. The bolt closed, but it went "click" instead of "bang". PLEASE HELP> I cleaned and greased it last night, the oprod has what looks to be a new tip on it, but I didnt clean the cylinder, and the gas plug is tight. could this just be a dirty gas cylinder? Any other ideas? Thanx Guys!

 

[Nando Aqui]

There can be a variety of reasons; some that come to mind include:
• plugged gas port
• loose gas plug (but yours is tight...)
• worn (oversize) gas cylinder
• worn (undersize) gas piston
• substandard ammo
• action not moving freely (with the oprod spring removed the bolt and oprod should open and close easily by just tilting the rifle)

If I were you, I'd call CMP, tell them about the problem, and see what they recommend. They are really good at taking care of problems.

If you want to learn more, post the question at www.battlerifles.com at the M1-Garand forum. You'll get an overnight education.

BTW, don't be discouraged by these malfunctions; my first M1 also had similar problems, and in the process of solving them I learned a lot that I wouldn't have otherwise. Of course, after I learned all that, my next four M1's have been flawless.

Alex

 

[1911Ron]

Could be a spring problem also, because if the spring for the follower is not strong enough your next round will not come up far enough, nor will the clip be ejected as it should. I second the Battlerifle web site for info, good stuff.

 

[mustanger98]

I third Battlerifles.com as if I hadn't read all those threads, I might not have gotten an M1 Garand to begin with, much less known what to do with it once I got it.

The thing about it short cycling, the first things I think of are the cylinder and/or piston being worn out of spec. But, I beleive Nando Aqui is right about the posibilities of substandard ammo and the action not moving freely.

The springless op rod test- you take your rifle apart and remove the op rod spring. Then put the barreled action back in the stock. Tilt it back and forth and the bolt should open and shut easily. If it don't, the op rod is binding in the stock.

I'm wondering, not having thought of it before, what the best way is to check the follower spring's tension.

 

[hps1]

The op-rod spring does double duty and serves as follower spring in the M1.

As previously stated, w/o op-rod spring, the otherwise fully assembled and properly lubricated M1 should cycle by itself when muzzle tilted to about 4-5 o'clock and aleternately butt to 7-8 o'clock. If it does not, look for shiny spots on op-rod as indication that it is binding.

Another thing to look for is alignment of the gas cyl. port w/the hole in the barrel. I would imagine a CMP Garand would have been checked for this as well as piston/cyl. wear before being shipped, but guess it could slip by.

If nothing obvious, previous advice to call CMP would be best bet. They will probably ask you if you have checked above anyway.

Regards,
hps

 

[30Cal]

The oprod spring should measure between 19 and 20 1/4" long and should be free of kinks, bends and other problems.

Couple things to check:
The chamber is clean (use a GI chamber brush)
The rifle is lubed with grease. Check the field manual if you have questions about what needs lube (the gas system should be left dry).
Pull out the gas plug. If it was loose, then consider that your root cause and fire it. Check the gas plug for cracks and make sure the poppet is fully shut.
Make sure the gas cyl lock is fully threaded down.
The min spec for the gas piston is 0.525"
Wouldn't hurt to clean the gas cylinder, but they don't usually get dirty enough to prevent correct functioning.


Is the clip still latched in the rifle when it runs empty or is it just not being tossed (weak clip eject spring).

 

[pdh]

Just my 2 cents worth....my friend's M1 was doing about the same thing as yours and he took it to a local M1 doctor in our area.

The guy gaged the gas cylinder and it was a worn.
The gas cylinder was replaced and the M1 operated without a hitch.

 

[Trebor]

Try buying a NEW op-rod spring from a vendor such as Fulton Armory, Wolf Springs, etc. You don't want a spring from the CMP because they are all take-off's from other rifles and may not be any newer then the spring in your rifle.

I had very good luck "fixing" a friend's M-1 that had constant short stroking and feed problems just by instaling a new Op-Rod spring. When we took the old spring out, it was noticeably shorter then the new spring when the two were side by side.

Try this first. It's an easy and cheap fix. If it doesn't work, then you can try trouble shooting the harder stuff.

 

[Nando Aqui]

Remember that it is the function of the gas-port + gas-cylinder + piston + oprod to unlock the bolt and propel it backwards to eject the empty case. Once the bolt is all the way back, the oprod spring takes over and moves the bolt forward to strip a new round from the en-bloc clip, chamber it, and lock the bolt.

Besides all the proper tolerances as we said before, and smooth operation of the action, each individual part contributes to proper timing of the action. Sometimes replacing each component, one at a time, is necessary to fix some problems. Fortunately, Garand parts are plentifull and normally at reasonalble prices.

Just for fun, you may take a look at www.garandflash.com and after clicking on [M1 Action Animation], click on the [home] arrow in the opening picture.

Alex

 

[Fatelvis]

Wow, that Garandflash sight is really cool, thanks guys!