Question on M1 Garand

[eclancy]

Gentlemen,
Studying the M1 Garand for over 30 years I have to wonder about something and that something is REDUNDANCY. Do you think that the M1 Garand was designed with any redundancy in mind---e.g. Could the M1 Garand fire function with a broken op-rod spring ?? We have seen guys showing pic's of receiving M1 Garands with broken op-rods that still passed the 1 clip test before shipping out. If so can any of you think of parts in the M1 Garand that could keep the Garand firing even if just like a bolt action ?? Think about it and let see what some of you can come up with. I know that if I don't post a pic most guys will let this just go by. I hope that some of you jump in.

I could use some input on this question guys because I think it is important.
Some data has been posted before others have not.

Gentlemen you know what to do.

Thanks again
Clancy

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[Khornet]

Well, oprod spring comes to mind

you'd have a straight-pull bolt rifle, but you better make damn sure you push that oprod all the way forward before you fire. And you couln't fire except horizontally or downward...at best the oprod would slide back out of battery and the firing pin block would prevent firing. At worst the whole works would come back into your face. Maybe (for right-handers) you'd have to adopt the habit of curling your left hand fingers over the bolt to keep it locked.

BTW, eclancy, I don't think you mean "redundancy", which would mean duplicate systems, for which there is no room in a rifle.

Follower, follower arm, clip latch, and indeed all the feeding parts could fail but you could still single-load it. Of course there is the slam-fire risk, but in that situation I guess you'd have to live with it.

Safety could fail and still the rifle would function.

Gas port blockage--straight-pull rifle.

Broken oprod--depends on the break. If the handle part is still there, you have a straight-pull rifle. If it breaks futher back, or if it fractured in the channel in such a way that the broken ends prevent forward movement into battery, you're done.

Busted firing pin, done. Bolt lugs fail, done.

Sights gone, carry on as best you can.

Extractor gone, you're done after one shot. Ejector, a different story--pick out the fired case and go on, aslong as the oprod spring is out. If not, you'll have to clear a jam with every round, but at least you can still shoot.

eclany, I love these threads.

 

[BruceB]

Some years back, living in Arctic Canada, I bought a "Very Good" condition Garand from a dealer in New Brunswick.

The rifle looked just fine on arrival, so I checked the bore (clean and clear), lubrication (adequate), and grabbed a few clips of ammo which I'd loaded for another M1. Off to the range!

Everything worked correctly, and with the regular ten-clicks-up test sight adjustment, impacts were about where I anticipated. Grouping was not bad, for a rifle which was new to me and my handloads.

Went home and started to strip the rifle. The operating-rod spring came out in FOUR pieces!! The spring was so badly worn that the sides of the coils were absolutely flat, and those flats had worn completely through the wire in three places, giving me the four-piece "version" of a one-piece spring.

I can't imagine anyone finding that the spring had broken, and not replacing it. However, that must have been the case, because surely the spring didn't break in three places simultaneously. The spring also had to be badly degraded in strength, with the coils worn as thin as they were. However, the rifle DID function normally, and no adverse areas of high-impact wear were found inside the receiver or anywhere else.

I was quite impressed that the rifle still worked, but I made very sure that the op-rod got a new spring immediately.....

 

[Onmilo]

Simple answer, no.
The M1 was the best rifle design of the time but break an operating rod spring and the rifle will fail.
If the shooter is lucky he won't break the back of the receiver when the weapon does fail.