M1 Lifespan?

[FuzzyBunny]

Say I get an M1 Garand with good headspace and all like a nicer service grade. How many rounds will I go through before it is too worn to meet specs? This is of course shooting official mil surplus ammo made for the rifle.

I want to get a service grade but not counting spring wear and such, just the barrel wear and all. Am I looking at 10,000 rounds or much less, or more?

Remember I'm talking about getting lucky and getting one with almost no wear to speak of.

 

[Slamfire]

I don't know the service limits on barrel wear. For NRA target shooting I replace my barrels when the throat gages a three. That is somewhere between 4000 and 5000 rounds. You can still bust rocks if the barrel is a smoothbore.

I have no idea how long a gas cylinder will last. Garands have been out of competition shooting since the 70's, I don't know anyone who has shot out a Garand.

Maybe it was M14's, but either M14's or M1's, they would pull a rifle from production or a rebuild line and shoot 6000 rounds through the things for an endurance test.

Trigger groups ought to last forever. Bolts, heck if I know. Operating rods bend, but you can bend them back.

Extractors and firing pins break.

I really would not worry about the longevity of the parts on your Garand. By the time you have worn anything out, you will have spent thousands on ammunition.

 

[FuzzyBunny]

Yeah barrel and throat wear were the big ticket items I was worried about.

I guess if I get 7 or 10,000 rounds of ammo it will be enough to last the life of the rifle.

 

[ol' scratch]

Probably just the life of the barrel. If accuracy drops off, spun another barrel on it.

 

[henschman]

You know, when you wear the barrel out, the rifle is far from worn out. It is just a matter of getting it re-barreled. The rifle itself is not really worn out until you crack the receiver or something. I think most M1s will last 3 lifetimes before they will crack a receiver. Other than that, it's just a matter of replacing parts when they wear out. As for barrel life, the M1 will not have anything like the barrel life of an M-14, since the M1's barrel is not chrome lined, but it should be OK for at least 6,000 rounds or so.

 

[BrocLuno]

Sorry, I own a few of the beasts and I do not want to shoot 10K of ammo through one - phew, that's a lot of shoulder and cheek pounding. 10 years at 1K a year. Jeez, what would my other rifles think

 

[benzy2]

I have a feeling that if you can afford 5000 rounds of surplus ammo (what around $2500) that a rebarrel ($200 from CMP plus cost of gunsmithing) certainly wouldn't be a huge concern. That's not to say that the cost of rebarreling is to be overlooked, but it's not near the cost that the ammo itself is going to run.

 

[Ignition Override]

How about buying the first, and if you can afford a huge heap of ammo, then maybe you can also afford a second Garand?

One reason I bought five Enfields and two FR8s is to minimize wear on any single gun. It will soon be time for a second Garand, after the CMP finds time to evaluate more of their Service Grades.

 

[FuzzyBunny]

I had no idea CMP charged fifty cents a round for 50 someodd year old ammo.

I also did not know barrels were so easy to replace.

Can you chrome line a barrel without making it too narrow?

 

[Tempest 455]

$.50 is cheaper than $1.00 for new.

 

[USSR]

Can you chrome line a barrel without making it too narrow?

No. You're worrying about nothing. Get the Garand, get the ammo, and enjoy the "ping".

Don

 

[Bartholomew Roberts]

If you can afford the ammo to wear out a Garand, you'll be able to afford replacing/repairing the Garand.

 

[Lincoln4]

Not disparaging anyone's comment here, but you might search or pose the same question here... http://forums.thecmp.org/

 

[61chalk]

The GCA did some testing on this, something like 6000 rounds on a Barrel with ME 1.0 to get it to ME 2.0...I don't think either of my ME 2.0 Garands will ever get to ME 3.0 let alone have to be rebarreled.

 

[chris in va]

Agree, seriously doubt you'd want to put that many rounds through a Garand. While the recoil is pretty mild, I've put about a thousand through mine in two years and it's more than enough. Really anymore I take it to the range so the younger generations can get a taste of real American history after they've been playing MW3 all weekend.

 

[ball3006]

I have several 100+ year old Mosin Nagants. If the Russians/Finns did not wear them out, I doubt I will during the rest of my lifetime. My Garand is like new. I doubt if I will ever see a decrease in accuracy in the time I have left either......chris3

 

[FlyinBryan]

when i was at the south store i talked to a man whos son shot all the cmp matches and the j.c.g. matches and said he had a match rifle with 15000 rounds on it and he had not seen a decrease in accuracy.

he did make a point to mention that he uses a bore guide to clean his.

you are much more likely to wear it out cleaning it than you are shooting it.

 

[Onmilo]

There are still M1 rifles made in 1936 out there that are still being shot on a regular basis.
As long as you can afford to repair the rifle and as long as there is a supply of replacement parts and as long as the receiver is not damaged beyond repair, an M1 is capable of lasting far longer than your own lifetime.

That said, replace the springs every 3000-5000 rounds and replace the barrel around 10,000 rounds depending on your level of accuracy standards.

You will probably need to have the operating rod gas piston replaced when the barrel goes.

The smaller hard parts will normally last for 5000 to 10,000 rounds before they become worn enough to require replacement

 

[madcratebuilder]

If you can afford the ammo to wear out a Garand, you'll be able to afford replacing/repairing the Garand.

This.

You could buy a dozen Garands for what the ammo would cost to wear one out.

 

[mrbro]

Wait. What? They wear out? Garands?

My Garand is wearing a barrel that is darker than a cave at midnight and I can still ring the steel at 300yds. Once every couple of years I have to tighten up the stock fit but that's pretty much it. Now if your interested in serious competition, a barrel every couple of years will be called for. Otherwise use the right ammo, keep it clean and lubed, and savor the ping.

 

[Deputy25]

I have 6 service grade Garands (SA, WIN, IHC, HR ,plus a Navy M1 w/ Dane VAR barrel, and my WW2 SA) and doubt I will contribute any sort of significant wear to any of them. I have gone through several cases of surplus 06 ammo sold through the CMP (Danish, Korean, Greek) and have more on order. I don't know that it's possible for a recreational/match shooter to afford enough ammo to wear a Garand out .

 

[HavelockLEO]

I saved an HRA from apawn shop recently that had a truly shot out barrel on it, TE was a solid 8 and MW swallowed the gauge. The sad thing was it was an almost correct low 4 million rifle and wouldve been a great SG or better had she been better taken care of. Now I have new Criterion barrel on her I'll probably never wear out.

 

[Caliper_Mi]

I saved an HRA from apawn shop recently that had a truly shot out barrel on it, TE was a solid 8 and MW swallowed the gauge. The sad thing was it was an almost correct low 4 million rifle and wouldve been a great SG or better had she been better taken care of. Now I have new Criterion barrel on her I'll probably never wear out.

Aside from poor cleaning causing pitting/corrosion and aggressive steel brushes, what constitutes poor barrel care? What tells you the barrel was not taken care of instead of just being shot a LOT?

 

[Slamfire]

Aside from poor cleaning causing pitting/corrosion and aggressive steel brushes, what constitutes poor barrel care? What tells you the barrel was not taken care of instead of just being shot a LOT?

My Blue Sky Garand, I think a Korean had shot the thing with a rock in the barrel.

I cannot tell you the number of dished out muzzles I have seen on military surplus rifles.

 

[HavelockLEO]

Poor cleaning practices, to me that means shooting corrosive ammo then not cleaning it after. Over cleaning can also be just as detrimental. If you protect the rifles muzzle and shy away from shooting extensive rapid fire strings both the TE and MW should be more than manageable.