M1 Garand Trouble - Require THR Expertise

[Gator]

I had the identical problem with my newly rebarreled .308 Garand. (The original barrel was a tomato stake, and this was years ago when 7.62 was cheaper than .30-06, so it made sense back then!). The chamber was not reamed out enough. Tony usually does great work, I'm sure he will make it right.

 

[U.S.SFC_RET]

The exact same problem occured with one of my M1 carbines. I rented a pull through reamers and dissasembled the bolt, attached the reamer and rod through the barrel. Reamed the chamber to where the bolt lugs would close on the receiver and viola! 1 each chamber fitted chamber for you.

 

[ScottsGT]

OTOH If you are using Civilian ammunition in a really tight military 7.62 Nato chamber then you are likely not fitting those rounds into full battery.

Your headspace should be 1.634" to 1.638" to safely shoot 7.62X51 NATO dimension cartridges.
If your rifle is headspaced 1.630"-1.633" this may be part of your problem.

NATO chambers are slightly larger than .308 It's made this way for field use where ammo can get dirty and muddy and a round will still chamber. From my studys on the subject when I owned a .308 Enfield, NATO chamber is slightly larger, brass is the same exact size EXTERNALLY, but thicker at the base inside the brass to handle the expansion.
BTW, the ONLY place I could find that carries NATO headspace guages is the CMP.