Op Rod with bead of weld

[budy]

I am going through our 8 M1 Garands in preparation for a 21 gun salute on Memorial Day. They are brand new to us from the CMP via the VFW loaner program. Our old ones did not have BFAs and the gas plugged was welded, making them single shot rifles. I swapped them out over the course of last year's covid shut down. Anyway I am just getting back into them, greasing the dry metal, function checking and putting on a green shoulder strap. The 4th rifle I worked on would not go back together as easily as the others, and the old ones I use to work on. Something was hitting in the last millimeter before I was able to get the Op Rod connected to the bolt in its rear positioning. Anyway I tried over and over again until I found a welded bead on the op rod, under the barrel area. It was tough getting it to finally seat correctly and the bolt and op rod were working in unison.

Please forgive my ignorance, but I have never seen this bump before. Is this normal? Why would someone purposely put a weld in that exact place? Here are few pictures....

[jak]

The op rod probably came off a deactivated drill rifle. Someone welded the barrel to the receiver with the op rod installed.

[Orlando]

I would grind it off. I agree with Jak

[Smokey]

You could also file it down, or grind most of it and do the final "finish" work with a file. Were drill rifles actually welded in that area?

[budy]

I was wondering the same thing smokey. However, I would think a weld in this spot would be more for a high school ROTC rifle? Not a VFW rifle used for military honors. I also don't know the legal issues if I grind/shave it down. Maybe I'll reach out to the folks who sent it to us.

[Jeremy2171]

Good old CMP QC rears its head again... contact them for a replacement.

[jak]

Send a picture of the op rod to CMP customer service. They should send you a replacement.

[Orlando]

Send a picture of the op rod to CMP customer service. They should send you a replacement.

Why? They are rifles for firing blanks at VFW . The op rod will be fine for this

[jak]

Why? They are rifles for firing blanks at VFW . The op rod will be fine for this

Probably, but if it was my VFW I would want an op rod without the weld.

[Jeremy2171]

Why? They are rifles for firing blanks at VFW . The op rod will be fine for this

That blob can affect the rearward travel of the oprod...

[Orlando]

so....grind it off

[Jeremy2171]

so....grind it off

"most" vets groups don't know anything about the rifles and expected them to be fully functional...and its not always the case.

[Orlando]

Right so answer is ............grind it off