M1 Garand

[scoutjoe]

So I know about jack and squat about these rifles, I do know that you can get taken on them if you don't know what to look for in the muzzle/throat erosion...so...anybody want to give me a quick shakedown before I get serious about my knowledge on the subject?

besides then if you guys tell me...and my buddy asks me again...i'll sound almost like I know what i'm talking about

[BUCKMARK]

Best way to check throat and muzzle erosin is with a gauge designed for the job.
Second best way is to buy from CMP or someone that will stand behind the rifle until you inspected it. Gun shows are usually a bad place to buy due to dealers not allowing for a good "inspection" with all the people walking around...and then there is the gun show pricing...which most of the time sucks.

The throat in a Garand wears AROUND .001 every thousand rounds. Most people will tell you to re-barrel after five to six thousand rounds due to drop in accuracy. 10,000 rounds was the military rejection point if I recall correctly.

A good Garand dealer will list his rifles with the approx throat and muzzle ersoin numbers. Anything under 5 is a good rifle. Anthing 5-8 will still have some life left in it as a plinker/fun gun. Anything over 8 should be purchased for a great price because it will need a new barrel.

Other than that you need to check for worn out trigger groups and loose operating handles...signs the rifle has seen better days.

I can help you more if you want to go over it sometime. Come on down to Bedford Pa. and shoot the hell out of mine. We'll break it down and talk it over.

[BUCKMARK]

Just something great about the ol' Garand. Smiles with every shot.

[nfafan]

Originally Posted by scoutjoe

So I know about jack and squat about these rifles, I do know that you can get taken on them if you don't know what to look for in the muzzle/throat erosion...so...anybody want to give me a quick shakedown before I get serious about my knowledge on the subject?

besides then if you guys tell me...and my buddy asks me again...i'll sound almost like I know what i'm talking about

WARNING:

You are entering a morass of info; T&E guages, heat lots, drawing numbers, cartouches, relief-cut, lockbars, uncuts, acceptance stamps - yowza; Garands have a lingua franca all of their own.

Folks have devoted YEARS to the study of the Garand. To the point where it has apparently for some - become all consuming. But I digress...

Good sites to get started in are Amback's Garand board and Jouster's. Another good one is the new CMP forum.

http://battlerifles.ambackforum.com/viewforum.php?f=109

http://www.jouster.com/cgi-bin/garand/garand.pl (warning - s l o w b o a r d)

http://www.odcmp.org/new_forum/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=33

I'd recommend lurking and reading as much as possible before posting - some of those old geezers have spent a tad too much time sweating trigger groups and gas plugs and cartouches to suffer newbie questions. For that matter, Amback and CMP are a bit friendlier.

I'd also recommend that if you buy a Garand, look for a **papered** DCM/CMP Service Grade rifle. All have a serial-numbered certificate of having gone thru the CMP system.

The CMP "service grades" are just that - 100% USGI rebuilds by USGI armories and deemed Serviceable for military use. With the US military's blessing, the DCM - now CMP - has been pulling them out of military storage, cleaning them up just a little, and putting them into the hands of qualified civvie shooters.

You don't need to buy any other version - stick with DCM/CMP USGI. The fun of the DCM/CMP Garands is that you might get a 1942 Springfield with a 1951 barrel and Winchester bolt in a post-war stock, or a 1954 IHC with a 1954 barrel and HRA bolt - in a WW2 stock - but trust that all have been looked into by the armories for serviceability.

Thats all the fun of the Garand; did your '43 Win see action in Italy, NA, D-Day, Saipan, guard duty at a New Jersey wharf?

The "study" of the Garand is where you get to "discover" which part is correct for which S/N range. And then chase the parts down at great cost and time.

Avoid the recent SOG imports; some 3rd world South American country dumped their rusted and stock-rotted M1s on the market.

And avoid the new and pretty cast-receivered "parts" Garands that cost more than 2 CMP SG's.

And as Buckmark said; be wary of the gunshow table Garands unless they can produce proof of the DCM/CMP pedigree.

[Lambo]

Originally Posted by BUCKMARK

Just something great about the ol' Garand. Smiles with every shot.

From what I see you have some new furniture, Boyd's?

My Garand with a new Boyd's Stock, Handguards are original!

[Koli01]

These are two really good sites with information about garands. The people on the cmp forums i have almost alway found friendly and full of information. Scott Duff is one of the worlds foremost experts on the garand and has written several books on the subject.

http://www.odcmp.com

http://www.scott-duff.com/

[marlena]

I was directed to this site as I tried to find out information on a commendation for my father that was recently found in my brother's effects after his death. My father was a U.S. Marine embassy guard in China who spent 4 years in a Japanese POW camp. He stayed in the Marines and served in Korea. He died in 1961. He received a commendation from President Truman. My memory is that this was for the development of the "cold weather trigger" for the M 1 rifle. This didn't mean a lot to me until I was doing some research for a history class I teach and found reference to the fact that the M1 trigger mechanism had a tendency to freeze up in the extreme temperatures duirng some of the campaigns in Europe and that G.I.'s would have to urinate on their rifles to get them to fire. Could my memory be correct? Could this commendation be for the development of a trigger that worked during extremely cold temperatures? Thank you so much for any information you could give me. Marlena

[brian]

more than likly it was for the winter trigger assembly. it was an add on to teh rifle. a lever like mechinism that was attached to the wrist area of the stock, on the back side of teh trigger guard, that worked the regular trigger when squeezed.
troops could'nt fit a gloved finger into teh trigger guard without discharging the weapon. thus the need for this.

[jack76590]

For your first garand I advise you buy from the CMP and buy the most decent graded rifle you can afford, short of a collector grade. You will have a good rifle at a good price. Now you can learn and maybe later take a chance on "a gun show special". It is easier and more fun to learn by using. And in this case you can be close to 100% assured of not being taken advantage of as a newbie if you deal with the CMP.

[Koli01]

Originally Posted by jack76590

For your first garand I advise you buy from the CMP and buy the most decent graded rifle you can afford, short of a collector grade. You will have a good rifle at a good price. Now you can learn and maybe later take a chance on "a gun show special". It is easier and more fun to learn by using. And in this case you can be close to 100% assured of not being taken advantage of as a newbie if you deal with the CMP.

I was at first afraid to buy from CMP, but several rifles later and I would rather deal with them to almost anyone else.

Originally Posted by brian

more than likly it was for the winter trigger assembly. it was an add on to teh rifle. a lever like mechinism that was attached to the wrist area of the stock, on the back side of teh trigger guard, that worked the regular trigger when squeezed.
troops could'nt fit a gloved finger into teh trigger guard without discharging the weapon. thus the need for this.

I think brian has this right. I think the story about the urinating on the rifle was about the M1 Carbines which did have a tendency to freeze up in cold weather. From what I have read anyway.