Hank Dodge
Member
I finally got a chance to get to the range today. I've been doing a bit of work on a shortened M1 Garand that I have chambered in .308. I've been trying to set up a "California legal" auto-shucker for home, ranch, and range use. I took it apart and smoothed things up a bit, installed some new springs, and added a couple aftermarket parts.
I added a Smith Enterprises muzzle brake to help with the muzzle blast. Man, what a difference it made. It eliminated darn near ALL of the muzzle jump and improved my ability to shoot the rifle accurately. It is a nicely designed unit that installs by removing your gas cylinder lock and replacing it with the new part. Fitting may be required to get it to index correctly with the correct amount of pressure on the gas cylinder, but it should be minor if any. As stated, it really reduced the perceived muzzle jump on my little "Tanker". In the daylight, I had no negative aspects to using this break. I need to fire it in reduced light to see if I'm going to have any ill effects with the increased amount of gasses being diverted upward; I'm sure it's worth the trade off. I still need to change out my rear sight that is a bit loose, but I'm getting 2" 8-shot groups at the 100 yards I was shooting at. I'm happy enough with that for now.
I also added a "Holbrook Device" to the rifle. It's a modified op rod catch that defeats the automatic clip eject function. It locks the bolt back and retains the clip in the receiver after the last round is fired. I like this idea for a range / ranch gun because you are no longer chasing the clips around on the ground and in the brush. Just hit the lever on the receiver and the empty clip pops up and into your hand....slick! It also holds the bolt open when you load a clip into the receiver until you pull back and release the charging handle. Another benefit for the range is that you can load an empty clip into the receiver and then single load rounds into the rifle. Pretty neat modification in my opinion. It is a quality part that installs easily, and the rifle can be restored to function as designed just as quick should you decide the clip auto eject feature is again desired.
Contact John for more info. on this great part: [email protected]
Both the Smith Enterprises muzzle break and the Holbrook Device are drop-in parts that require minor fitting if any. If you can field strip your weapon for cleaning, you can install these parts.
Go to the Smith Enterprises website. They have a neat video of that muzzle break on an M-14. It's pretty cool.
http://www.smithenterprise.com/spec/SEI_M14_USCG_MB-1.mpg
http://www.smithenterprise.com/index.html
I just thought it would be nice to modernize this little Garand a bit. I love the sights on these rifles. I think that this rifle would do every bit as well as one of those short M1A rifles at a fraction of the cost. I've always liked the Garand better anyhow; I think they carry better without that magazine sticking out of the receiver. Heck, the 8-round clips are easier to carry than the mags also. Maybe I'm just a bit old fashioned.
Overall, a nice afternoon at the range with what has turned out to be a very functional rifle. Just thought I'd share it with you folks. This rifle is turning into just the ticket. Once I get that rear sight changed out, I should be REALLY happy.
Hank
I added a Smith Enterprises muzzle brake to help with the muzzle blast. Man, what a difference it made. It eliminated darn near ALL of the muzzle jump and improved my ability to shoot the rifle accurately. It is a nicely designed unit that installs by removing your gas cylinder lock and replacing it with the new part. Fitting may be required to get it to index correctly with the correct amount of pressure on the gas cylinder, but it should be minor if any. As stated, it really reduced the perceived muzzle jump on my little "Tanker". In the daylight, I had no negative aspects to using this break. I need to fire it in reduced light to see if I'm going to have any ill effects with the increased amount of gasses being diverted upward; I'm sure it's worth the trade off. I still need to change out my rear sight that is a bit loose, but I'm getting 2" 8-shot groups at the 100 yards I was shooting at. I'm happy enough with that for now.
I also added a "Holbrook Device" to the rifle. It's a modified op rod catch that defeats the automatic clip eject function. It locks the bolt back and retains the clip in the receiver after the last round is fired. I like this idea for a range / ranch gun because you are no longer chasing the clips around on the ground and in the brush. Just hit the lever on the receiver and the empty clip pops up and into your hand....slick! It also holds the bolt open when you load a clip into the receiver until you pull back and release the charging handle. Another benefit for the range is that you can load an empty clip into the receiver and then single load rounds into the rifle. Pretty neat modification in my opinion. It is a quality part that installs easily, and the rifle can be restored to function as designed just as quick should you decide the clip auto eject feature is again desired.
Contact John for more info. on this great part: [email protected]
Both the Smith Enterprises muzzle break and the Holbrook Device are drop-in parts that require minor fitting if any. If you can field strip your weapon for cleaning, you can install these parts.
Go to the Smith Enterprises website. They have a neat video of that muzzle break on an M-14. It's pretty cool.
http://www.smithenterprise.com/spec/SEI_M14_USCG_MB-1.mpg
http://www.smithenterprise.com/index.html
I just thought it would be nice to modernize this little Garand a bit. I love the sights on these rifles. I think that this rifle would do every bit as well as one of those short M1A rifles at a fraction of the cost. I've always liked the Garand better anyhow; I think they carry better without that magazine sticking out of the receiver. Heck, the 8-round clips are easier to carry than the mags also. Maybe I'm just a bit old fashioned.
Overall, a nice afternoon at the range with what has turned out to be a very functional rifle. Just thought I'd share it with you folks. This rifle is turning into just the ticket. Once I get that rear sight changed out, I should be REALLY happy.
Hank