Got my Garand back from the shop

[503]

Hey guys, I know its not an African rifle, but I thought I'd share. I bought this garand from a co worker last year after her husband died. They found it in a gun case behind a chest freezer in the garage.

It had been converted to single shot only as the gas cylinder had been welded and the barrel had been welded to the receiver. I sent it to Fulton Armory where they converted it back to semi auto and rebarreled it.

Just got it back and haven't shot it yet but she looks great. The manufacture date is Dec. 1941 or Jan. 1942. The stock is original too.

Its an awesome piece of history and I'm definitely going to take it pig hunting or something soon hopefully. If you have cool garands let's see them!

Cheers

503

 

[spike.t]

Just out of interest...any idea why converted to single shot?

 

[503]

Apparently they converted a lot of them to single shots after the war to give to VFWs and stuff as ceremonial guns to shoot blanks.

I shot it once before I fixed it, just had to rack the action ever shot. The guy at Fulton Armory said theyve fixed a lot of rifles like that. The barrel was welded to the receiver so it couldn't just be unscrewed but fortunately the welds were shitty so they were able to clean it up nice.

 

[TSIBINDI]

...Back in the day, I had a Springfield Armory M-1 Garand. One of the most accurate rifles I ever owned.

 

[Trophyhunter01]

Nice!

 

[mdwest]

Nice!

A buddy of mine that I occasionally deer hunt with has sworn off scoped “modern” rifles… he now exclusively hunts with either his bow… or his iron sighted garand…

He tagged a very nice doe with it just a few weeks ago…

 

[503]

Nice!

A buddy of mine that I occasionally deer hunt with has sworn off scoped “modern” rifles… he now exclusively hunts with either his bow… or his iron sighted garand…

He tagged a very nice doe with it just a few weeks ago…

That's awesome! I can't wait to whack a pig with mine. Nice to get the ol girls out again

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

Nice, hope she shoots well!

 

[fourfive8]

Nice story of a rescue! I love the Garand. Feed it right and it will be forever reliable. They are a very serious battle rifle. I would love to post a pic of mine but sold it a few years ago- one of the few guns I truly regret selling.

CCI #34 primer, 46 gr of H4895 and 150 gr bullet FCD crimped at the groove = perfect Garand load. Get a few enbloc clips and see what she will do. Will be watching for range report.

 

[503]

Nice story of a rescue! I love the Garand. Feed it right and it will be forever reliable. They are a very serious battle rifle. I would love to post a pic of mine but sold it a few years ago- one of the few guns I truly regret selling.

CCI #34 primer, 46 gr of H4895 and 150 gr bullet FCD crimped at the groove = perfect Garand load. Get a few enbloc clips and see what she will do. Will be watching for range report.

Thanks for the load info, hopefully I can work up some good hunting loads as well.

165 would be the max bullet weight?

 

[fourfive8]

Thanks for the load info, hopefully I can work up some good hunting loads as well.

165 would be the max bullet weight?

There are some published Garand loads for up to 180 gr bullets. The action itself is plenty strong but most Garand experts recommend staying with either 150 to 165/8 gr Spitzer bullets and medium burn powders like 4895. The issue is the heavier bullets are usually used with or associated with slower powders. The slower powders with any bullet in the Garand causes longer pressure dwell time on the operating rod and can damage that part of the action. So bullets in the 150-165/8 gr range are recommended with powders in the H 4895 burn rate range. Another recommendation for loading the Garand is a preventative safety thing just in case the bolt and striker parts are slightly worn. If certain parts are worn or slightly out of spec, the firing pin can protrude at the wrong time in the firing cycle and cause a slam fire. Therefore, most recommend use of a primer specifically designed to prevent that... like the CCI #34.

I built up a supply of CCI #34s when I had my Garand and have used that specific primer for all my standard large rifle and magnum rifle needs since. It has proven to be an excellent primer for all large rifle applications.

 

[503]

There are some published Garand loads for up to 180 gr bullets. The action itself is plenty strong but most Garand experts recommend staying with either 150 to 165/8 gr Spitzer bullets and med powders like 4895. The issue is the heavier bullets are usually used with or associated with slower powders. The slower powders with any bullet used in the Garand causes longer pressure dwell time on the operating rod and can damage that part of the action. So bullets in the 150-165/8 gr range are recommended with powders in the H 4895 burn rate range.

Do you have any experience/ input on those adjustable gas plugs?

 

[fourfive8]

Do you have any experience/ input on those adjustable gas plugs?

Sorry no experience with those. I just left mine with the original. It was a Korean War era rifle, part of the last lot of Garands made and had probably been in storage with little use since it was built. Excellent condition… that’s one of the reasons I regret selling it.

 

[503]

Sorry no experience with those. I just left mine with the original. It was a Korean War era rifle, part of the last lot of Garands made and had probably been in storage with little use since it was built. Excellent condition… that’s one of the reasons I regret selling it.

Maybe I will try one out. I've heard good things and if it makes it possible to shoot more factory hunting ammo then it's probably worth it. Range report coming soon.

 

[Luvthunt]

yes, excellent battle rifle. but did have two faults, ie you could not top off the mag and on the last round when expended the empty case and clip ejected so anyone in 50 yards knew your rifle was empty.
Carried several in Korea with the USMC during the Korean War.The m1a corrected both issues. But the Garand ,(IMO) was the more durable battle rifle.
Good luck with yours!

 

[503]

yes, excellent battle rifle. but did have two faults, ie you could not top off the mag and on the last round when expended the empty case and clip ejected so anyone in 50 yards knew your rifle was empty.
Carried several in Korea with the USMC during the Korean War.The m1a corrected both issues. But the Garand ,(IMO) was the more durable battle rifle.
Good luck with yours!

Thanks! I have a m1a also, I love it. And hopefully you had buddies close by when you were reloading, thank you for your service sir

 

[fourfive8]

Oh yah the old en bloc ping story
I’ve always been curious about that. How could the enemy could be so easily dooped? Reverse the roles. You are in a fairly close range fire fight… most likely squad size units or larger. You hear an enbloc ping or maybe two or three spaced out over some time depending upon each rate or fire from one or two or three of your enemy’s positions. You and maybe other members of your unit get up and charge the position….. because you heard a couple of en blocs ping? Give the scenario some serious thought… If I were the squad or platoon leader I wouldn’t give the command! It would make for a good Audie Murphy movie scene though. You’d think if the en bloc ping scenario, as the story is told, played out more than a few times, our units would catch on and carry a pocketful of small tin cans or empty enblocs. Then just toss one or two out so they ring on a rock or anything and wait for the charging suicidal enemy.

 

[PARA45]

I'll have to post pictures of mine. I purchased mine through DCM about 25+ years ago, and it came in the mail. I want to say I paid $350 for, and it's a beauty. Yes, very accurate too.

General George S. Patton proclaimed it “The Greatest Battle Implement Ever Devised.”

 

[503]

I think Clint Smith once said it would hard to hear the ping because you just fired 8 rounds of 30-06, everyone's fucking deaf!

Patton was right, our boys definitely had the best rifle of the war. I always think it's funny too when guys complain about rifle weight.

Makes me picture all those 18 year old 150 pound Soldiers and Marines carrying 10 pound M1s and 20 pound BARs across Europe and Japan. The rifle isn't too heavy. We need to toughen up.

 

[fourfive8]

Yep,you and everyone around you firing whatever they had in a very random confusion of noise.