Garand ejection question

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Uncle Nubbs

Uncle Nubbs

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Hi all, maybe it's nothing but I noticed this at the range today. I'm shooting CMP ball ammo. I'm noticing that my rifle is ejecting the brass forward rather than to the right. Everything operated just fine and I had no issues.

Just hoping there isn't some potential problem lurking under there so I'm hoping some of the more experienced garand guys here might be able to help.
 
Mine generally go right and back. I do get some forward and right. Don't think it's a problem. I have a standard gas plug.
 
It should be tossing them at 1-3 o'clock. Anything aft of that indicates a rifle that isn't running well.
 
30Cal said:
It should be tossing them at 1-3 o'clock. Anything aft of that indicates a rifle that isn't running well.
Click to expand...


Any suggestions? Maybe take it over to my LGS and have the gunsmith look it over just in case. I installed the gas plug from garandgear. Giving it a good thorough cleaning. I do appreciate the help.
 
I'm shooting CMP ball ammo. I'm noticing that my rifle is ejecting the brass forward rather than to the right.
Click to expand...

Stop over thinking this and be happy. I have a 308 Win Match Garand that ejects brass right into my forehead. I have to keep the brim of my cap low, just touching the rear sight peep, to keep brass from hitting skin. I have come back from matches, with semi circular, full circle cuts on my forehead, oozing blood, from sharp case mouths that ejected directly back, hit my forehead, because my cap brim was too high.

I have shot many Garands, many thousands of rounds through Garands, some toss their brass to the right, some toss most of their brass to the right, others toss brass everywhere. If your rifle is tossing brass forward it is likely due to the operating rod kicking the ejected case forward, and that is most wonderful. Wonderful to the shooter on your right. I have been warped untold number of times by the shooter behind me, his brass hitting my back, back of my head, etc. I have been burnt by Garand brass, and it don't tickle.

What matters is that your rifle functions reliably. Ignore all statements that the Garand is supposed to...... If your rifle goes bang, ejects the brass, feeds the next case, goes bang again on demand, then it ain't broke.
 
Normal...the brass is being bounced forward by the op rod handle. Both mine throw them forward and slightly right, about 1:00
 
Really appreciate all of your input. Field stripped and examined everything and all appears normal.

Yall have reassured me I'm not at the beginning of a problem. Like I said in the OP, I'm new to Garands. I love shooting this rifle and want to keep it well cared for and running well.

Thanks again for the advice. This is why THR is required reading for me daily.
 
It is determined by bolt speed which can be affected by powder burn rates and port pressures.

I'll try to find my John Clarke's NRA article on reloading for the Garand. He mentions, if I remember correctly, the 1:00 position is the place brass of a properly tuned rifle with properly matched ammo should fall.

Bexar
 
It should be tossing them at 1-3 o'clock when it's lubed correctly. No smithy(not all of 'em know about M1 Rifles) is required. Just some grease. Powdered graphite in the cold.
 
What sunray says. If ejection otherwise, you need to start replacing springs starting with recoil oprod spring., ejector spring, hammer spring.
Of course the .308 Garand is a different animal. Slower powders, pressure curves, ect, ect,
Ect.
Good reason to rebarrel back to '06, and get an AR.!!! IMO.
 
Just a note, the eighth round will eject differently than the other seven if the cases are hitting the op rod handle on ejection.

The op rod locking back changes the place in the cycle where the case gets hit by the op rod.
 
Originally Posted by SlamFire1 View Post

I have been warped untold number of times by the shooter behind me, his brass hitting my back, back of my head, etc.
Click to expand...

If there were a shooter behind me at a match, his brass would be the least of my worries.
Click to expand...

How many NRA highpower matches have you been a competitor?
 
One of mine is about 2 O'Clock and the other which is in an odd caliber seems to like around the 4 O'Clock position. As long as the rifle fires fine I would not worry about it. Lubrication can effect the ejection and some guys go screwing with and tinkering with the ejector spring. My advice is simple, if it works and the rifle cycles fine, don't screw with it.

Heck, I shoot left handed, think about a left handed shooter in the prone. :)

Ron
 
SlamFire1 said:
How many NRA highpower matches have you been a competitor?
Click to expand...

SlamFire1, I appologize for my snarky, off-topic reply. It was very un-Highroad of me.

I've never attended let alone taken part in an NRA highpower match. After your reply, I searched for pics of shooters in front of other shooters, but can't find anything. You don't have to school me in this thread, since its off-topic, so you could PM me, or just ignore this. But at least accept my appology; I'm sorry.

John
 
make sure your hand guard is a bit loose after reassembly. a tight hand guard will bind the op rod.

luck,

murf
 
I have "tuned" many Garand ejection directions to put empties out at 2 o'clock away from the shooter as well as away from the person next to him.

Starting out with a new ejector spring, shoot a clip of ammo and see where the empties group at. An extra strong spring makes empties flip out of the chamber and go right over the rear sight and under the bill of your cap to bounce off your forehead. Remove the ejector then cut one turn off of its spring; reinstall then shoot another clip. Repeat until empties are going out at 2 o'clock which happens when the case head's still at the bolt front as it starts forward pushed by the op rod spring.

I've seen a few ejector springs so weak the empties go pretty much straight forward.

Your load's port pressure has some effect on this. Higher port pressure slams the op rod back faster and it'll bounce back forward faster sometimes. Lower port pressures end up moving the op rod slower which also effects the exact time the bolt starts forward.

.308 Garands are the same as .30-06 ones except their gas port is about 30% bigger in diameter. They both do best with the same 4895, 4064 and 4320 speed powders
 
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I've never attended let alone taken part in an NRA highpower match. After your reply, I searched for pics of shooters in front of other shooters, but can't find anything
Click to expand...

If you googled NRA Highpower Standing https://www.google.com/search?hl=en...egdVo#hl=en&tbm=isch&q=nra+highpower+standing

You would have found pictures of competitors shooting standing. Such as this one from the Pensacola FL rifle club. Notice that for the right hand shooters, their feet are all pointing right. Effectively the shooter on their "left" is behind them.

http://www.pensacolarifleandpistolclub.net/competition.html

hpr_standing.jpg


When these shooters go to rapid fire sitting and rapid fire prone, their back is to the shooter on the left, and brass from the shooter on the left will hit them in the back of the head, and in the back. So it "seems" as though the shooter is behind you, though technically, if someone wanted to argue, they are on the left.

Garand brass is particularly heavy and rebounds hard off your head, and when it falls down your shooting coat, you burn. I have come back from matches with second degree burns from 30-06 Garand brass. I never shot in the early 60's, but according to Bud's who did, the Marine Campaign hat was a common shooting accessory as the broad brim protected the shoot from the hail storm of brass that came raining down during rapid fire stages.
 
Check the operating rod hump of your Garand. It should have some brass marking on it. In a properly-timed Garand, the case is still in the ejection position when the bolt goes forward and the operating rod hump hits it and gives it a forward vector.

Ejecting brass backwards can be a symptom of high port pressure, which can eventually damage your rifle. In other words, the bolt can be coming back too fast and there is a slight delay while the operating spring overcomes the moment of inertia, and the case escapes being struck.
 
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