M1 Garand Newbie

[Carbon_15]

Picked up an M1 Garand in trade yesterday. I have wanted one for years, but things just never came together. Now I have one and need to be educated! Can anyone point me in the direction of some basic begginers instructions for care and feeding. I thik I have settled on a load of 43.6gr of IMR3031(because I have tons of it) over a 150gr bullet. Hopefully this should be around 2700fps and be close to the M2 ball load.
Any tips and tricks appreciated.
Jason

 

[robmkivseries70]

Hi Jason,
I know that the pressure curve must be near the same so the op rod isn't hit too hard. I'd look at getting some surplus ammo from the CMP. Get a hold of the field manual, that will show you how and where to grease the rifle. There are some Garand Forums on the net, just search away.
Best,
Rob

 

[Orlando]

147/150-gr. bullets - either FMJ or HPBT
IMR 3031 48.0 grs.
IMR 4895 49.0 grs.
IMR 4064 50.0 grs.
Win 748 Ball 48.0 grs.
Acc AA2460 49.0 grs.
AccAA2520 51.0grs.
Acc 2495BR 50.5 grs.
Hod H-4895 49.0 grs.
Hod BL-C2 49.0 grs.
Hod H-335 49.0 grs.
Herc Re-12 48.0grs.

165/168-gr. bullets - either SP, HP, or FMJ
IMR 4895 47.0 grs.
IMR 4064 48.0 grs.
Acc AA2520 47.5 grs.
Acc 2495BR 47.0 grs.
Hod H-4895 47.5 grs.
Hod BL-C2 49.0 grs.
Hod H-335 47.0 grs.
Herc Re-12 44.5 grs.

173/175-gr.bullets-M72 or MII8 :
IMR 4895 46.0 grs.
IMR 4064 47.0 grs.
Acc AA2460 46.0 grs.
Acc 2495BR 46.0 grs.
Hod H-4895 47.0 grs.
Hod BL-C2 48.0 grs.

180-gr. bullets - either SP, HP, or FMJ
IMR 4895 43.0 grs.
Acc AA2460 46.5 grs.
Acc 2495BR 45.5 grs.
Hod H-4895 44.0 grs.
Hod BL-C2 47.5 grs.
Herc RE-12 41.5 grs.

The charges listed are meant to approximate the performance of military ammunition using commercial reloading components, including cases. In no circumstance should any charge weight be increased. If military surplus cases are used, charges should be reduced by 1.5 grs. to start.

 

[Bucksnort101]

Get a book named The M1 Garand: Owners Guide by Scott Duff. Amazon used to carry it, otherwise Google Scott Duff and buy directly from him. Nice little book on the M1 Garand.

As far as ammunition steer clear of high pressure ammo as it will over time tear the M1 aprart. Was told the Blue and Silver box Federal ammo, 150 Grain stuff was safe to use. Saw somewhere that Federal is now making ammo specifically for the M1 Garand as well.
Check the Magazine rack at your local book store too, there is a good little magazine on the M1 family of rifles out right now , simply named "M1 Magazine".
Oh yeah, pick up some surplus clips for your M1, nothing kills the fun at the range than having to reload clips, do that at home while watching the boob tube.

 

[61chalk]

IMR3031 with 150 gr. bullet in FMJ, HPBT use 48.0 of powder...if reloading military HXP brass, subtract 2.0 powder which be 46.0 of powder.

 

[61chalk]

Be careful of Garand thumb, make sure bolt is ALL the way back. When inserting enbloc, keep strong pressure when pushing it down, bolt will move forward about 1/4" an stop, AS long as you keep downward pressure on top of the rounds, if you don't, bolt could go all the way forward an bite your thumb....NOW, that you are keeping downward pressure, quickly flip your thumb out of the way of the bolt an OP rod, the bolt may or may not slam forward...if it doesn't its ok..just tap the back of the OP handle with your palm an it will feed the round. When taking rounds out, pull back OP handle an hold it back with right hand...using the left hand cover the rounds with palm an press with your thumb the clip latch(left side of the reciever) an the rounds an enbloc will jump up for removal. Holding still back the OP handle, press down on the slide follower with left thumb, an slowly ease the bolt forward to close...never let it slam forward without a round....once again, watch out for your thumb!!!! my son got M1 thumb an bled like a stuck pig!

 

[Azimuth315]

Get an adjustable gas plug and you can tune your Garand to run on any .30-'06 you want to use without bending the op-rod.

There are several available. The McCan uses several interchangeable inserts, the Schuster adjusts with an included allen wrench.

I use a Schuster I got from Midway for about $35.

Don't discard your original gas lock.

Check out the CMP website. You can find a tech section there with all the info you need to completely take down and reassemble the weapon. The members of the forum there are a wealth of information, advice, encouragement, support and services. You can find help in all aspects of M1 ownership and use from collecting, restoring, maintaining, servicing, and competing.

Congratulations on your new acquisition. There is no doubt you will enjoy your example of "the greatest battle implement ever devised". Just watch out for "M1 thumb"!

Regards - Al

 

[mshootnit]

the new offering of surplus greek from CMP is too damn high. I guess they want us to put their kids through college.

 

[dmazur]

Here's a link to get you started on assembly/disassembly -

http://www.surplusrifle.com/garand/rifledisassembly/index.asp

 

[zoom6zoom]

Some good videos:
Rifle_Marksmanship_with_M1_Rifle

 

[ol' scratch]

Congrats on your new purchase. Garands are great rifles. One item I was very pleased with was a Schuster Adjustable Gas Plug. It allows you to tune your gas system. When I test reloads, I open the plug all the way up and dial it back. Here is the link- http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct/?productnumber=777146

What did you pick up? Is it a Springfield, H & R, Winchester, International Harvester? Is it WWII (All Winchesters, many Springfields) or Post War (IH, H & R, Springfields)? Here is a link to serial numbers for the Garand http://www.fulton-armory.com/tea/m1serial.htm

Make sure you pick up the two books by Scott Duff- The M1 Garand WWII and The M1 Garand Post WWII. They are online at http://www.scott-duff.com/DuffBooks.htm

Become a member of the CMP. Ammo is much cheaper than other places ($96 for a can of 192 rounds). I know you want to reload, but you get en blocs and bandoliers when you buy the 192 round spam cans. When you consider that many sites offer en blocs for between $2-$4 per clip, it is still a bargin at $96 a can. The brass from the Greek ammo is also very good stuff. I have reloaded my first batch using it and it works well.

 

[mshootnit]

I am a M1 newbie even though I have had mine for 3 years. I tightened up the gas cylinder by peening the splines slightly, then gently tapping the cylinder back on with a small hammer. You have to be sure gas port is centered in its window when locating the gas cylinder during reassembly. I have replaced some small parts to improve the function, but other than that mine is as I bought it. For what its worth, many of these (but not all) rifles are Korean War rebuilds. This means that if you have a 1942 rifle and it has all correct 1942 parts there is a very good chance that someone has pieced it together after its service life was over. I like mine because even though it is not in correct 1942 war dress it IS a perfect example of a Korean war rebuild and likely is in the condition it was in when it left the military after use in 2 wars. For this reason I am not touching it beyond what is necessary to improve or make satisfactory the functioning of the rifle.

 

[Col. Plink]

Still not sure if new CMP ammo prices are a selling point for their Garands...
The rifles themselves certainly are, if my experience is representative.

My advice is get a good haul of the CMP HXP initially; as you expend it, reload all the en bloc clips with whatever reliable commercial softpoints you can get your hands on in the greatest quantities (and the requisite adjustable gas plug too; I also went with the Schuster's from Midway and it seems to be my best $35+ gun accessory to date).

Oodles of fun and there's just something about having lots of en blocs of modern hunting ammo to boot...

 

[Orlando]

Garands were rebuilt in the 40's 50's and 60's

 

[ol' scratch]

Garands were rebuilt in the 40's 50's and 60's

You can typically find out (if you are curious) when the rebuild happened by pulling the rear handguard. It will be stamped on the barrel (in many cases).

 

[USSR]

You can typically find out (if you are curious) when the rebuild happened by pulling the rear handguard. It will be stamped on the barrel (in many cases).

Unless it's got a Winchester barrel on it, there is not need to pull the rear handguard. Simply pull the bolt back and look at the side of the barrel between the stock and rear handguard.

Don

 

[ol' scratch]

I personally own a 1945 Springfield with a 1944 Sprinfield barrel on it. The dates were so close I thought it could be orignal to the reciever (44' barrels were used for some time after the fact). The only way I could find out when it was rearsenaled was to pull the rear handgaurd.

 

[USSR]

ol' scratch,

Your 1944 Springfield barrel should have "D35448-28" or something similar on top of the barrel, under the handguard. That is the Drawing #. The side of the barrel between the stock and handguard should have "1-S-A-3-44" or something similar (my example is for a barrel manufactured in March).

Don

 

[ol' scratch]

On top of the barrel (I don't have the handguard off right now) it was marked 11-3-61. It wasn't electro-penciled, but instead stamped. It also had a drawing number. Barrel markings were as you discribed under the op rod except with a November month. The one thing I have learned in my short dealings with these rifles is that there is no norm, so did I misinterpret the markings? This rifle is not an import and has spent the better part of 40 years in a closet. A Garand guru at my club told me to check under the handguards for rebuild dates. I don't mean to pull the thread off topic, just curious.

 

[4288]

There is a book series called "For Collectors Only" and they have a book called "M1 Garand 1936 to 1957" written by Joe Poyer and Craig Riesch. Not only does it have dissassembly/assembly/maintenance info, but it shows the different variants of EVERY part in the rifle and tells which parts were made by who and when (which among other things allows you to see which parts are probably original to the rifle and which were replaced, by who and when). It also explains the meaning behind any markings you may see, and even goes into ammo and accessories. It's unbelievable. How anyone was able to gather all this info is beyond me. And it's only about $15. Sorry to sound like such a salesman, but the books in this series are worth their weight in gold for milsurp collectors!