How many shots fired in a row in your Garand ??

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sublimaze41

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I was at the range a couple of days ago and was having a blast
shooting targets at 100 yards with my Garand. I got to wondering,
how many shots can you shoot in a row before hurting your rifle.
My usual practice has been to shoot 4, wait a few minutes and finish the series.

Does shooting 8 in a row pose a significant risk to the guns integrity??
 
You can shoot a hundred rounds through that thing and not know you were shooting a 30-06 based rifle .30 cal M1. As far as shooting in a row without hurting it? Tough question to answer. Mine never suffered damage.
 
At the vintage matches in the rapid fire stages you're shooting 10 rounds in 60 seconds. (70 or 80 seconds in some I've been too). I doubt if that does any damage whatsoever . . .

I wouldn't want to keep doing it non-stop for an entire bandolier of ammo but I don't think it's anything to worry about.
 
If you're using the Greek ball ammo, (not reloads, all tho some do), you can shoot as many round as you can. Just don't grab the barrel. I was taught in boot camp that if the barrel gets too hot, just pee on it. :what::eek:
 
You'll probably go poor, get tired, or bust your shoulder before you "out shoot" a Garand. IMHO.
 
I think a lot of M-1s were fired for far more than four continuous rounds during Banzai charges or defensive actions in the Battle Of The Bulge.

Generally, barrel heat doesn't pose a risk until you hit cook-off heat, where the chamber's so hot the round will spontaneously ignite. That's generally about 3-400 rounds as fast as you can reload and fire.
 
Ever shoot a Rattle Battle match?

Usually 3 stages, 60 seconds per stage, 100 rounds total fired between the 3 stages. You fire off about 30 rounds in a minute.

As fast as you can pull the trigger and shove in new clips is what your Garand was designed to withstand.
 
The Garand was designed for rapid, repeated, aimed fire. It is one of the toughest rifles ever built.

From shooting hi power competition, rifles used for rapid fire (10 rounds in 60 seconds) retained match accuracy for 5,000 plus rounds. Rifles used for slow fire would retain match accuracy for 6,000 plus rounds. Not a lot of difference in the GI barrels. Keep the rifle greased, clean the rifle after shooting, don't disassemble any more than necessary and it will serve you well.
 
I forget which year, but I was shooting rattle battle at Camp Perry, waiting for my relay. Ahead of us was a team shooting rattle battle and all had Garands. These were real men.

If you have never shot rattle battle, you start at 600 yards, there are six of you, eight targets, and 50 seconds to shoot. You try to get as many hits as you can, without sighters(!) before advancing to 500, then 300, and finally 200 yards.

At 600 and 500 yards you are shooting prone.

Anyway with the Garand team we could just see big brass cases flying like confetti and heard “ping”, “ping”, “ping”, like windchimes.

When one of the guys finished, I hollered at him, “how many did you get off back here?”. He said something like 37 rounds in 50 secs. That’s pretty darn good with 8 round clips.

Sustained shooting at Rattle Battle rates of fire will increase throat erosion. Maybe drop the useful life of a barrel from 5000 rounds to 3000 rounds, maybe less.

Most target barrels are shot at a rate of one round per minute. Most target shooters replace their 308 barrels at an average round count of 5000.
 
Glad for the answers! I am headed to the range today for some shooting.
I had the notion that shooting multiple clips was not the best idea when I
watched another Garand owner. He would take a few shots and inspect the gun
for "injuries" Beautiful gun he had but I guess my concern about his concern was unwarranted.

Man I love my Garand. It is by and far the favorite gun I own because of it's historical nature
and the degree of accuracy I have with it. For me it was less tha 3 MOA with Greek surplus and
open sights at 100 yards. Very good for me indeed.
 
I'm sure our fighting boys during the war let their barrels cool after shooting 4 rounds at charging enemy soldiers, right? No WAY they shot clip after clip during firefights. They probably ran a few patches down the bore every 20 or thirty rounds using a coated one-piece cleaning rod before regreasing the rails, alternating one man at a time while the others in the squad laid down suppressing fire. A light coating of oil on the exposed metal, and back in action.

;)

I know...I'm a smart ass. But I think your Garand can handle a few clips at a time.
 
sublimaze41 said:
Does shooting 8 in a row pose a significant risk to the guns integrity??
Click to expand...

Man I am sure the boys in WWII sure shot more than 4 or 8 rounds at a time.

How I shoot depends on what I am shooting. In my 223 I shoot 5 shots in about 5 minutes and stop shooting it for a few minutes.

My 308 on the other hand I shoot 10 then place it to the side to cool off.
 
it depends.

If you are looking to maximize the accurate life of your barrel, you probably shouldn't let the barrel get to hot to touch. THe hotter the barrel gets the faster the throat erodes, and the faster your accuracy goes away.

As far as damaging the gun functionally, I wouldn't worry about it too much.
 
My Dad was in Europe during WW2.
He told me some stories about firefights he was in, and when the Germans
turned and ran, he said that his rifle was smokeing so bad that he thought
it was going to catch fire.
He said him and his foxhole bud fired( 2) 30 cal. cans in one fire fight. As fast as he could load and fire.
There were 4 rounds between the two rifles when it was over.
Can you harm a M-1? That depends on what is comming back at you.
Just a point of info.
Ken in nw Mt.
 
As many as your shoulder can take. I usually don't go through more than 2 clips in any degree of quick firing, and 2 is rare. But I have no problem firing all 8 at once, all day long.

They DO make replacement barrels for a reason, man. Enjoy your rifle.
 
My Father was a US Marine in WWII. On Guam, he fired his M1 until the handguards caught fire and it was cooking off rounds as they were chambered. His said that it showed no ill effects afterwards and served him well for the rest of the campaign.
 
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