M1 Garand jamming

[NCOutdoors]

In January I picked up a new M1 Garand - one of the 1000 that Springfield still cranks out every year. It's chambered in .30-06 and I've been shooting Core-Lokt 165 gr.

I've probably put 120 rounds through it. In every third clip or so one of the cartridges gets jammed. Does anyone know why this might be happening?

[snipehunter]

post your question over on this board someonr will be able to help you.
http://www.battlerifles.com/index.ph...025aea55141c46

[bigbulls]

Being a gas operated semi auto they can be very picky about what cartridges you feed it.

In a gas operated semi auto the force of the gas has to over come the weight of the parts and the springs at a very specific rate for the rifle to function properly. When you change bullet weight, burn rate of powder, ammount of powder, etc... it can all effect the cycleing of the firearm and many times cause it to not function properly.

The M1 was not designed to fire the 165 grain bullets. The bullet is traveling too fast down the bore to build sufficient pressure and over a specific ammount of time to cycle all of the parts. I suspect that most of the time the action is cycling just barely enough to eject and rechamber another round and every now and then it just won't go far enough.

You might try some of the 180 grain loadings since the original ball ammo was 174 grain at 2800 fps. A factory 180 grain bullet will be much closer to the design parameters than the 165 grain loadings.

I had trouble with a M1 myself with slow powder and went back to 4895. Works like a champ.

[Briman]

The M1 was not designed to fire the 165 grain bullets. The bullet is traveling too fast down the bore to build sufficient pressure and over a specific ammount of time to cycle all of the parts. I suspect that most of the time the action is cycling just barely enough to eject and rechamber another round and every now and then it just won't go far enough.

You might try some of the 180 grain loadings since the original ball ammo was 174 grain at 2800 fps. A factory 180 grain bullet will be much closer to the design parameters than the 165 grain loadings.

M2 ball most often used in Garands uses a 147gr bullet- and works just fine. 174 gr bullets are usually match loads, and 180 gr bullets are at the upper end of the spectrum of bullet weights a garand will handle without an adjustable gas plug. I would bet its morelikely a powder problem than a bullet problem- when you use the wrong powder and start using heavier bullets, you might be skipping along the fringes of broken oprod land.



Dumb question- are you greasing the rifle where it needs to be greased? The rifle should work ok without it, but works much better with grease.

If the bolt is shortcycling, I would also have the gas cylinder/oprod piston checked out to make sure they aren't worn out of spec.


If all else fails, send it back to SA and have them make it right for you.

[Highpower]

Briman, you beat me to the punch. The 'standard' Garand round was the 147 grain bullet, not the 174. I load the Sierra 168 match for mine and have never had a problem, and I agree that powder selection has more to do with the rifle functioning correctly than does the bullet weight. I also agree with the proper lubrication issues. If you don't already know how, learn to tear the rifle to 'parade rest' and clean and lube as necessary. I use militec lubes on all my firearms, and never have lubrication problems. Good luck!

[NCOutdoors]

Dumb question- are you greasing the rifle where it needs to be greased? The rifle should work ok without it, but works much better with grease.

Not a dumb question. I have not been greasing it. I will have to do that.

Also, I'm not sure how often to field strip it. I've heard as infrequently as possible from a couple buddies and the gun delaer who sold it to me. But my dad, who started his Army career using them, said I should do it frequently.

[Briman]

Ok, then you will want to take your Garand apart and get familiar with it.
Parts that need grease-
-top camming surface of the hammer
-Bolt raceway on the receiver
-Oprod track on the receiver
-the track in the receiver that the follower rides in
-Inside of the camming surface on the oprod
-the first 1-2" of the underside of the barrel where the oprod makes incidental contact
-Oprod piston- put a little grease on it, then wipe it clean
-Any other moving part that you would normally oil on another gun except:
-do not grease any of the parts in the trigger/sear assembly
-do not grease inside of gas cylinder- this will cause it to foul up faster.

Disassembly- the M1 is probably the easiest rifle ever made to strip


http://www.civilianmarksmanship.com/nomenclature.html
http://www.civilianmarksmanship.com/fieldstrip.html
http://www.civilianmarksmanship.com/detailstrip.html
http://www.civilianmarksmanship.com/reassembly.html

[BTM]

My Garand often jams on the 7th round. I've had two 'smiths work it over without any luck. Have also posted about it on a few websites, but although some had heard of the "seventh round problem," nobody had an answer.