Garand info

[ColinthePilot]

I just got my CMP Garand in and took it out yesterday. I am very familiar with the Garand in a mechanical sense. In college I was in charge of our drill team armory for a year or so and learned as much as I could about the rifle (even though ours had no firing pin and a welded barrel) and in the process fell in love.
Anyway, the rifle is in great shape, is stamped "US Rifle, CAL 30 M1, Springfield Armory, #######."
I also bought a half case of ammo from CMP, which is all greek surplus.
My two questions are:
Does anyone know if this ammo is corrosive?
I've heard there are special cleaning procedures for a Garand, including certain lubricants and greases applied to certain parts. Anyone have any experience with this stuff?

 

[MechAg94]

The Greek ammo is not supposed to be corrosive. You should always clean out the bore after shooting though. I have some of the Greek surplus, but I haven't shot any of it yet. I sort of hate to tear into one of those cans while I still have some Korean to shoot. Most of the Korean ammo is corrosive.

You should apply grease to the slots where the bolt and op rod slide along the inside and outside of the receiver. Oil won't work well in all circumstances. Basically add it anywhere metal rubs against metal during operation as a general rule.

If you find one, some guys sell little grease pots that are about a thimble full of grease that is enough for one application. I finally found an old guy selling Garand and Carbine parts at a show and bought about 10 of them. I just use Hoppes gun grease mostly. There are lots of others. I thought the CMP had an illustrated guide to taking down the rifle and applying grease on its site. This site also has some good info.
http://www.surplusrifle.com/garand/index.asp

I would suggest going to someone like www.sarcoinc.com to look at getting some parts for it. They have the tools and the replacement springs. I have replaced the op rod spring on all my Garands from CMP. One did not cycle well until I did so.

 

[MechAg94]

You can search for posts by Eclancy (I think that is the name). He posted lots of historical info on the Garands in the past. One was a note about reliability issues during testing in bad weather. I believe the addition of grease to critical areas solved that.

 

[dscottw88]

How long will they be selling garands? i dont exactly have the money this second, but I'm hoping soon.

 

[MechAg94]

http://www.civilianmarksmanship.com/
The CMP info I was referring to is under Garand Tech Info.

 

[MechAg94]

http://www.odcmp.com/Services/Rifles/m1garand.htm

NOTICE - PLEASE READ -
9 August 2007

CMP has received another large transfer of Garands from the U.S. Army and we are currently processing these rifles through our Inspection & Repair program. We are accepting orders now, with delivery to be expected in anywhere form 60-120 days. Credit cards are not charged until a few days before actual shipping.

We apologize for any inconvenience this delay may cause and thank you for your continued support of CMP programs.

I have heard they have enough Garands for 2 or 3 years. I wouldn't wait too long for that service grade though.

 

[USSR]

The Greek ammo is noncorrosive. Korean ammo with a "KA" headstamp is corrosive, "PS" headstamped ammo is noncorrosive.

Don

 

[ColinthePilot]

Great info. Thanks!
MechAg94, Mine seems to cycle fine. I'm going to detail strip it at some point when I have a few spare hours and make a list of the parts I want to replace.
-I also don't worry about getting service grade. I bought a field grade because new parts are so readily available.
-My garand came in via Fed Ex less than a month after the check cleared.

I also have a question about the trigger group. There must be 2 different versions because all the ones i've seen in the past had the hole at the rear of the trigger guard for the winter trigger. mine doesn't have that, its just one continuous piece. Any significance to this trigger guard or the other one?

 

[robmkivseries70]

Hi Colin,
On the trigger group, trigger guard; some were cast and had the hole to which you refer. The others were stamped. The cast ones are sometimes more sought after; but, they are functionally the same.
Best,
Rob

 

[MechAg94]

Not sure about the trigger guard. Might be a Korean war upgrade that never was done.

I only needed to replace the op rod spring in one rifle. It worked, but cycled a bit weak. Sarcoinc.com sells new stainless springs that work well. They also have spring kits and other parts. There are other parts companies also, that is just who I used.

I would suggest getting the tool that helps unscrew the gas tube piece and hooks up to the cleaning rods. They also sell a multi-tool that has a chamber brush attached. For other parts, I just looks for inexpensive stuff that I might want like extractors and such.

For cleaning, I bought an Otis cleaning kit with the pull through set up. It works well. I use it to apply bore solvent and run a few patches through. Once the heavy stuff is out, I normally finish wipe it with a bore snake.

 

[ColinthePilot]

I already have the full cleaning kit including the gas cylinder tool

 

[P-32]

I would also buy a bore guide for the cleaning rod. Dewey makes a good one for the M-1's.

 

[Sunray]

"...parts I want to replace..." Think in terms of Rule Number One. If it works, don't fix it.
"...some were cast and had the hole..." That's an earlier milled trigger guard, not cast. Leave it alone.
"...greases applied to certain parts..." Go here and download the free 'Operator and Organizational Maintenance' .pdf manual. Note the need for the provided UN & PW. http://www.biggerhammer.net/manuals/
There's nothing really special about cleaning one though. I've always used a pull through on mine.
The only thing that's remotely special about using an M1 rifle is how you load it. Clip in rifle, thumb on top of the clip pointed forward with the rest of your fingers alongside the outside. Push down, thump the op handle to close. This is how you avoid Garand Thumb.

 

[hps1]

Clip in rifle, thumb on top of the clip pointed forward with the rest of your fingers alongside the outside. Push down, thump the op handle to close. This is how you avoid Garand Thumb.

Only one minor, but important clarification to above:

Clip in rifle, thumb on top of the clip pointed forward with the rest of your fingers alongside the outside to prevent op-rod handle from moving forward. Push down, thump the op handle to close and briskly move hand forward and upward allowing bolt to move forward. This is how you avoid Garand Thumb

Regards,
hps

 

[rodregier]

re: Garand lube

If you want to use a modern lube on your Garand, Tetra grease works well. Fulton Armory recommends, I've been happy with it too.

 

[GarandOwner]

Greek surplus is not corrosive, any simple search will show the hundreds of threads pertaining to maintenance of the Garand.......Id post some, but this question gets asked once every 2 weeks. Just do a search and you will find the information you need.