Hi all,
I'm glad to find a Garand-specific forum. I hope I'm right that the real heavyweights live here and can help me resolve a few minor issues. First, some background:
I purchased a Blue Sky import M1 from a consignment shop with a early '44 Springfield receiver and a Winchester bolt. All other parts were Springfield as far as I could tell. Well, this rifle was in SAD shape. I took it to Charlie Maloney (I'm hoping that name is familiar to many of you) for rehabilitation and a competition trigger job. The rifle got new furniture, a Criterion barrel, new op rod spring and other small bits and bobs as well as the trigger job.
Charlie said "Don't mess with the rifle. Just shoot the d-mn thing."
My first day at the range was kind of a mess. I was shooting Greek HXP. I discovered that I was loading the enblocs sloppily, which impeded loading and chambering the first round. I had an enbloc that ejected prematurely, after each round. I had 4 instances of double-fires. It wasn't a total disaster but it wasn't a smooth day, either. Dejected, I ordered some high quality snap caps so that I could safely troubleshoot at home.
Ok, the premature ejection seemed to be a crummy enbloc clip. I cannot repeat the malfunction with my dummies and other clips, when cycling the rifle manually. After watching several YT videos, I do seem to have a small problem inserting clips. The clip presses downward smoothly about 2/3 of the way, then I encounter significant resistance that seems not caused by the follower spring. First, I greased the guide slots. This didn't help. I cleaned out the grease and tried a light application of gun oil. This definitely helped but it's still too difficult.
Once a clip is finally seated, everything is so tight that I *must* give the bolt a slap to chamber the first round. There's never any danger of getting M1 thumb with this rifle. After this, the rifle seems to cycle correctly.
As for the double fires, I'm reluctant to blame the trigger group because Charlie just re-worked it. It's a competition trigger so I know it's more sensitive. I shot at a bench with no bag, using the sling for support. I simply may not have had the stock firmly tucked into my shoulder. Charlie says that the bench and sling could well have been the cause of this. I think I was following through with my trigger pulls, not milking it.
So let's sum up:
1. Premature clip ejection (one time)
2. Some instances of double firing with Greek HXP
3. Difficulty inserting full clips
Sorry for the long post and I appreciate your thoughts on this.
I'm glad to find a Garand-specific forum. I hope I'm right that the real heavyweights live here and can help me resolve a few minor issues. First, some background:
I purchased a Blue Sky import M1 from a consignment shop with a early '44 Springfield receiver and a Winchester bolt. All other parts were Springfield as far as I could tell. Well, this rifle was in SAD shape. I took it to Charlie Maloney (I'm hoping that name is familiar to many of you) for rehabilitation and a competition trigger job. The rifle got new furniture, a Criterion barrel, new op rod spring and other small bits and bobs as well as the trigger job.
Charlie said "Don't mess with the rifle. Just shoot the d-mn thing."
My first day at the range was kind of a mess. I was shooting Greek HXP. I discovered that I was loading the enblocs sloppily, which impeded loading and chambering the first round. I had an enbloc that ejected prematurely, after each round. I had 4 instances of double-fires. It wasn't a total disaster but it wasn't a smooth day, either. Dejected, I ordered some high quality snap caps so that I could safely troubleshoot at home.
Ok, the premature ejection seemed to be a crummy enbloc clip. I cannot repeat the malfunction with my dummies and other clips, when cycling the rifle manually. After watching several YT videos, I do seem to have a small problem inserting clips. The clip presses downward smoothly about 2/3 of the way, then I encounter significant resistance that seems not caused by the follower spring. First, I greased the guide slots. This didn't help. I cleaned out the grease and tried a light application of gun oil. This definitely helped but it's still too difficult.
Once a clip is finally seated, everything is so tight that I *must* give the bolt a slap to chamber the first round. There's never any danger of getting M1 thumb with this rifle. After this, the rifle seems to cycle correctly.
As for the double fires, I'm reluctant to blame the trigger group because Charlie just re-worked it. It's a competition trigger so I know it's more sensitive. I shot at a bench with no bag, using the sling for support. I simply may not have had the stock firmly tucked into my shoulder. Charlie says that the bench and sling could well have been the cause of this. I think I was following through with my trigger pulls, not milking it.
So let's sum up:
1. Premature clip ejection (one time)
2. Some instances of double firing with Greek HXP
3. Difficulty inserting full clips
Sorry for the long post and I appreciate your thoughts on this.
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