M1 Garand Operating Rod Question

[Catpop]

Question:
Is the M1 Garand operating rod tube 100% straight or does it have two gentle bends in it?
Thanks
Catpop

 

[Mn Fats]

Deleted.

 

[Charlie98]

Yes... ever so slight bends... about 4" from the piston end, and then about 4" from where the handle attaches.

 

[Catpop]

Whew, I thought mine was bad!
Thanks that answers my question!
Also when I pulled my Garand down today I found my op rod spring in FIVE pieces!

 

[tark]

Whew, I thought mine was bad!
Thanks that answers my question!
Also when I pulled my Garand down today I found my op rod spring in FIVE pieces!

I've never heard of that happening.. Hope you didn't shoot it too much in that condition.

 

[Pat Riot]

Some info:

https://www.fulton-armory.com/faqs/M1G-FAQs/OpRod.htm

I found this drawing photo, but I am not sure if it’s the latest or best, but I think it will answer your question.

This photo was found on another forum, so not sure if posting the link would be approved or wise.

 

[Catpop]

Thanks to all! Glad to learn my op rod is correctly bent and not wrecked!!!
Love that drawing and link to article.
I plan on ordering a new spring probably from ______?
Any suggestions? I know of Sarco, Jack First, and Numrich. I’ve never bought from CMP.

 

[Jeremy2171]

Thanks to all! Glad to learn my op rod is correctly bent and not wrecked!!!
Love that drawing and link to article.
I plan on ordering a new spring probably from ______?
Any suggestions? I know of Sarco, Jack First, and Numrich. I’ve never bought from CMP.

Orion 7 springs are best.

Make sure you get some grease for proper lubrication.

If you intend on shooting lots of commercial ammo is suggest getting the wolf oprod spring instead as it's a little stronger.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

The right shell stop of the Ithaca 37 is another "bent" part that owners sometimes think needs to be straightened.

... Also when I pulled my Garand down today I found my op rod spring in FIVE pieces!

I will bet the proper replacement spring will be longer than the five pieces combined.

For older military guns, new spring sets are often a wise precaution. The recoil and hammer springs that came with my C96 pistol were compressed shorter and weaker than the replacement spring set.

I replaced a chipped extractor on my IBM M1 Carbine and had the replacement end up damaged. I removed the extractor plunger from the bolt head and the extractor spring came out in three pieces. I bought extractor and spring from Gun Parts Corp advertised as original for IBM and installed them following the Army Field Manual/Air Force Tech Order for the Carbine. Still running.

 

[Reloadron]

I agree as to Orion 7 as to new springs.Matter of fact while you are at it I would just buy a complete spring kit for your M1 Garand.When inspecting springs look closely for shiny flat spots. Those are where springs are likely to fail.

Ron

 

[Dave DeLaurant]

BTW, part of the Beretta BM59 redesign was to straighten the op-rod. Not all Beretta conversions feature this, but it's easy to spot the greater space between the barrel and gas tube on the straight ones:

 

[Catpop]

Explain an “Orion 7 spring” to me. Not familiar with that.

I stole a used one from a “complete used Garand parts less receiver kit” I had bought many many years ago. So I’m up and running for now
BUT
A few less years back I bought an H&R receiver and now I need to get that old girl up and running! Next quest coming up!

So I still have to buy an op rod spring.

Question: Who would you get to fit a barrel to a receiver and headspace it?

 

[Jeremy2171]

Explain an “Orion 7 spring” to me. Not familiar with that.

I stole a used one from a “complete used Garand parts less receiver kit” I had bought many many years ago. So I’m up and running for now
BUT
A few less years back I bought an H&R receiver and now I need to get that old girl up and running! Next quest coming up!

So I still have to buy an op rod spring.

Orion 7 has made new springs to the USGI blueprints...they are pretty good springs.

Any springs shorter than 19.5" should be replaced.

Question: Who would you get to fit a barrel to a receiver and headspace it?

Me...I do that regularly in my shop. PM if you need it done. I don't have much backlog right now so turnaround time is pretty quick.

 

[Reloadron]

Question: Who would you get to fit a barrel to a receiver and headspace it?

Shop around. Years ago I rebarreled Garands and M1A rifles. It's just a matter of having the correct tools. Barrel vise, receiver wrench, and levels to correctly index the barrel. That done a reamer and most barrels were reamed short chamber by about 0.010". I ran a regular advertisement in the old Shotgun News. I bought all my tooling from Brownell's back then.

Today there are several places doing the Garands, Fulton Armory comes to mind but I am sure a Google will bring up others. As to spring kits in post #10 I gave a link to the Orion 7 kits.

Ron

 

[CapnMac]

Trivia: The bend was introduced to accommodate the larger breech on the .30-06. The .276 pedersen barrel was ust enough slimmer to have a straight op rod.

Technically, a .308/7.62nato barrel should allow for a straight rod as well, but there's that adage about not fixing what is not broken.

 

[Jeremy2171]

Technically, a .308/7.62nato barrel should allow for a straight rod as well, but there's that adage about not fixing what is not broken.

Does not compute...

 

[lysanderxiii]

Does not compute...

The barrel swell is actually bigger than it needs to be.

 

[Reloadron]

Below are a few examples of M1 Garand barrels. The lower barrel is a .308 Win new barrel which comes "short chamber" allowing only about 0.010" of reaming needed for the chamber.



When installing a full contour barrel on a Garand rifle the upper rear handguard needs to be "hogged" out for the handguard to fit. While the below is an ugly example you get the idea.



When having an M1 Garand serviced it's important to make sure you get a competent gunsmith familiar with the rifle. Below are a few images of what a butcher did destroying what started as a perfectly good op-rod. I gotthe rifle after it was butchered. The upper rod is a good one and the lower rod butchered using a dremel tool.







A common and simple method for checking an op-rod for form, fit and function is a simple tilt test. Videos are easily found with Google. Here is one example.



Again, for things like rebarreling make sure you use a reputable well known and established gun smith or face the consequences.

Ron

 

[Jeremy2171]

The barrel swell is actually bigger than it needs to be.

Then why did they do it...

 

[Laphroaig]

Question: Who would you get to fit a barrel to a receiver and headspace it?

The CMP is certainly a reliable option:

https://thecmp.org/sales-and-service/services-for-the-m1-garand/

They sell op-rod springs too.

 

[Jeremy2171]

The CMP is certainly a reliable option:

https://thecmp.org/sales-and-service/services-for-the-m1-garand/

They sell op-rod springs too.

And has a massive backlog

 

[Reloadron]

And has a massive backlog

Real good point. The same holds true for other gunsmith services from other vendors. Send a rifle off in June and hope you can enjoy Christmas with it or at least get a card from your rifle during the holidays.

Ron

 

[LaneP]

My Garand is a '43 Springfield that was a Korean buy-back that I got in 2004 in a private sale. The muzzle was so badly worn out from steel cleaning rods it had no rifling in the first inch of the barrel. It would barely hold 8 shots on a pie plate at 50 yards. Sent it off to Fulton Armory and they rebarreled it with one of their brand new mil-spec barrels. After that it would put 8 shots of 150 grain surplus ball into 3-4" at 100 yards. Very happy with their work.

 

[Laphroaig]

Good. Fast. Cheap.

Pick 2

 

[Pat Riot]

There used to be a couple of really good Garand-smiths here in Orange County, CA, but alas, they are no longer in business. They retired.