Horrible copper fouling in my Garand

[Carnitas]

Arizona Ammunition sells both the Neco Fire Laping bullets and the Tubb's Final Finish bullets in preloaded ammo. http://www.arizonaammunition.com/Prices_03-03.pdf

Make sure you read the precautions therein reguarding when firelaping is appropriate.

 

[Swampy]

Guys,

Fire lapping is not going to remove the chatter marks, even with the most aggressive grit, which will move the throat out further than shooting 1k or more rounds of regular ammo. Trust me on this one, I know, as does another guy here in my local club.

I can't say that it will hurt to try fire lapping, after all, the purpose is to smooth out the interior of a bore and help accuracy..... BUT just don't expect it to take away the chatter marks. You'd have to remove more than half of the lands to get down to the smooth metal under the marks. At that point you've done more damage than you would by firing umpteen thousand rounds and then cleaned with a jointed steel rod.

Also, before doing a fire lap regimen... make sure the bore is COMPLETELY CLEAN of all fouling, both carbon and copper.

Best to all,
Swampy

Garands forever

 

[Swampy]

raven wrote:

Now, about that stock thing you mentioned. Since my stock was a replacement stock, I refinished it. It's not as tight as it could be, but it's fairly snug. Is that normal, or should it be really hard to separate from the action?

Most M1's will fall out of a GI stock after the trigger group has been removed. If you have a stock that holds the receiver firmly then sounds like you are fine.

With the rifle assembled grab the front end via barrel and gas cylinder in one hand and the pistol grip in the other. Push together and pull apart. Feel any slippage of the receiver in the wood??? If not, then it should be good.

Handguards. They should be slightly loose. You need free play fore & aft on both handguards to prevent group shifting when things heat up. Many guys get their BVD's in a wad when they find that the front handguard rattles. It's designed that way..... leave it alone. You are more likely to experience problems with it "nice & tight". The rear handguard should be able to slip front & back a wee bit for the same reason, but it usually won't rattle due to the pressure exerted on it by the clip that holds it to the barrel.

Good luck,

Swampy

Garands forever

 

[Dave R]

I agree tool chatter does not necessarily mean an inaccurate rifle. My NEF Handi-Rifle has chatter that looks like yours on 2 of the lands. I didn't discover it when shopping (I will upgrade my inspection criteria.) I discovered it after the first time I shot it--and got sub-MOA accuracy. Groups of 1 point something inches at 200 yards. After that, I didn't want to take it back. I just use it as intended, and "save the prairie" from those nasty P-dogs.

 

[RavenVT100]

Handguards. They should be slightly loose. You need free play fore & aft on both handguards to prevent group shifting when things heat up. Many guys get their BVD's in a wad when they find that the front handguard rattles. It's designed that way..... leave it alone. You are more likely to experience problems with it "nice & tight". The rear handguard should be able to slip front & back a wee bit for the same reason, but it usually won't rattle due to the pressure exerted on it by the clip that holds it to the barrel.

I learned this pretty early on after taking apart the gas assembly. Realizing that these threads aren't indexed like the barrel thread probably is, I assumed that the only way for it to be put together so that the gas hole match up (and the splines are tight) is for the font handguard to have some "play" to it. And it does. It also gets really hot on the front handguard after a lot of shooting, so it makes sense for it to be that way.