M1 Garand, MY TURN!

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Fryerpower

Member
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Jun 23, 2006
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578
Location
Tennessee
Ordered Service Grade H&R and ammo by mail the beginning of September.
Ammo shipped 10/21/2013 & arrived soon after.
Ordered Enbloc clips & sling 10/29/2013.
Garand shipped 11/15/2013 & arrived today, 11/18/2013.
Still waiting on Enbloc clips & sling.

To my untrained eyes the rifle looks CLEAN. It is NOT coated in cosmoline.
I can't get the safety to work, it stays in the fire position. Does it need a clip inserted to work?

1954-1956 H&R. (5,65x,xxx serial number)
Walnut stock.
Muzzle 1+
Throat Reading 2
Rifle grade G3 HRA
Photos attached.

Jim
 

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More photos

More photos attached:
 

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Fryerpower,

Nice Garand, and welcome to the club! You'll love your rifle. I can't give any pointers about the safety, but it does NOT need a clip inserted to work. You may have a missing/broken part that is not enabling your safety to move. On another note, those marrings you have on the left side of the stock near the DOD stamp appear on the front handguard of my Garand, also. Always wondered what they were from, never seen another Garand with the same multiple scars.

Enjoy it :)
 
Hammer needs to be cocked for the safety to work.

New ones are really stiff. Once you get it moving, sit and work it on and off for an hour while watching a movie.

-J.
 
TheHappyGunner said:
Fryerpower,

... On another note, those marrings you have on the left side of the stock near the DOD stamp appear on the front handguard of my Garand, also. Always wondered what they were from, never seen another Garand with the same multiple scars...
Click to expand...

This is what is on the front hand guard on mine.

Maybe it was something on a backpack or duty belt that rubbed against the stock. Carried muzzle up or carried muzzle down determined if the mark was on the bottom or top?

Jim
 

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jr_roosa said:
Hammer needs to be cocked for the safety to work.

New ones are really stiff. Once you get it moving, sit and work it on and off for an hour while watching a movie.

-J.
Click to expand...

I read that and made sure it was cocked but it did not work. I'll try what you suggest and see if I can get it moving.

Jim
 
Fryerpower,

Sweet rifle! I'm sure you'll enjoy it. As to the safety - my HRA Service Grade Special was practically new when I got it. The safety was extremely tight and required A LOT of force to activate it. Maybe that's it? Unfortunately the only way I found to loosen the safety is to shoot the rifle and use the safety :evil:
 
That safety should have been tested at the CMP, so my guess is that it works just fine. It takes more force than most to engage, so don't be afraid to work it a little.

In other words. Push it harder.
 
I can't get the safety to work, it stays in the fire position.
Click to expand...

As others said, the Garand safety takes some force to move, and the hammer needs to be cocked to activate it. You need to field strip the rifle anyway to inspect it and clean out any cosmoline. When you do that, make sure there is no debris in the trigger group and give it a good lubrication.

My guess there is nothing actually wrong with the safety, since the CMP armorers are pretty good at inspecting the rifles before they ship them out.
 
+1 on the stiff safety. Mine was extremely stiff when I got it and took some considerable force to move.
 
The DCM/CMP has just about the best Customer Service that you can imagine. That rifle was tested by civilian volunteers before it ever went off the loading dock. In the unlikely event that it is defective, they will make it right and then some.

Some parts have been packed in Cosmoline for a bunch of time and may need some gentle encouragement.

salty
 
You need to completely dissasemble the rifle ,inspect and properly grease before firing
 
Last edited:
Looks similar to my HRA SG, but the stock looks to show more scars. NICE looking Garand though! Be sure to disassemble and completely clean the rifle though. I soaked my parts in a hot pot of Simply Green degreaser. You wouldn't believe the crud that came off eve though they looked fairly clean. Then re-oil and GREASE as required. Shoot and SMILE.
 
ford8nr said:
...Looks similar to my HRA SG, but the stock looks to show more scars. NICE looking Garand though!...
Click to expand...
Character! ;)
Yep, I have to read up on cleaning and reoiling the stock, also. That should even out the colors where the scratches are.

Jim
 
On another note, those marrings you have on the left side of the stock near the DOD stamp appear on the front handguard of my Garand, also. Always wondered what they were from, never seen another Garand with the same multiple scars.
Click to expand...

A very common "ding" on Garands. It comes from intimate contact with another Garand's rear sight during storage or shipping.

Don
 
For sure the safety is stiff on the M1. I've only had mine for four years and it is still stiff. Doesn't make it any less fun to shoot! Go to the range as soon as you clean and lube it!

Mark
 
Still have not cleaned it. Still have not fired it. Still have not messed with the safety.

I did get my enbloc clips in the mail last week. I am sitting here loading the loose ammo into the clips right now. I just had one of those spine shiver moments when I realized that this is exactly what GIs have done over and over again to kill time and keep busy (and do a needed task) during one big war, and at least one police action/conflict. Thousands and thousands of guys have done this tasks a million times over. Sitting around a fire. Sitting in a cold fox hole, maybe.

Or maybe this was something done at the factory and was never done in the field.

My service was limited to keeping an eye on a couple of nuclear reactors on an aircraft carrier. Never touched a firearm while in uniform.

Jim
 
I mailed my order on 11/12 and it arrived on 12/10.

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=737186

The ammo and en bloc clips arrived today, 12/11. Although I'm vaguely familiar with operation/field stripping, etc, (high school ROTC), I'm getting ready to detail strip, clean and lube.

I also posted on another forum, one that takes particular pride in having a number of experts on the M1. One thing they're saying is that they (the forum's experts) have received numerous reports of CMP Garand's parts breaking due to their using cast, instead of machined, metal.

Specifically, they mention the following as the culprits:

extractor
trigger pin
hammer spur
trigger plate pin
windage screw
Click to expand...

http://m14forum.com/steel-wood/151247-my-new-old-garand.html

I'm just wondering if I should just go ahead and order the above parts from an aftermarket company, or wait until, and if, they break on the range?
 
Thanks for the link! If I have trouble when I eventually start firing this thing I'll know where to look for advice & parts.

I lean towards buying spare parts now while they are available, but will hold off for now.

Different question: is it weird that I separated all of the ammo by year and loaded the enblocs that way? BTW, the 30 cal can that the ammo came in will hold 280 rounds (7 layers of enblocs, five enblocs per layer.) Should I start using it oldest first? Newest first? Any years that might be valuable?
Jim
 
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