Bolt does not release when clip is latched into place

[Wonderhaven]

Hello everyone! I recently stumbled upon these forums and decided to register in order to ask a question I've had for awhile.

11 years ago my dad gifted me with a 1943 M1 Garand on my 18th birthday. It has been my favorite rifle in my collection ever since. It is an extremely sweet shooter but there has always been one issue. I'll do my best to explain the situation below.

After I have locked the bolt back and insert a clip the bolt does not release on its own. Not even a little. In order to release the bolt I have to pull the action back again, sometimes several times, until it eventually releases. I have watched others reload their garands and as soon as the clip is inserted and downward pressure removed the bolt releases and begins moving forward, sometimes requiring a bit of a bump but nothing more. Mine does not do this.

I did some research and found that this could be due to wear on the operating rod hooks, operations rod catch, or bullet guide. Should I order replacement parts in order to fix the issue? I broke her down last night and applied some fresh grease hoping to help but there was no change.

Any thoughts would be appreciated!

[jak]

I had a rifle that would occasionally hang up like that and you could not bump the op rod forward to load the first round.
My fix was the bullet guide. If you have a micrometer you can measure the cam surface to check if it is in specs.
See step #4

http://www.garandgear.com/m1-garand-inspection

[TJT]

The lobe on the bullet guide would be the first thing that I would check. Then the accelerator and the engagement surfaces of the op rod and catch.
Jon

[Wonderhaven]

Thanks guys. I went ahead and ordered a new bullet guide from Fulton Armory. I'll install it and let you know how it works out.