M1 Garand & Surplus ammo
 

To the man that posted "wise choices for first time rifle owners". i dont know if you readmy post on this topic. you mentioned that the m1 garand was an option that you were considering. what i was trying to explain in my post is this...

1. you were wanting a rifle that you could mount a scope on, yes you can mount a scope on this rifle with the springfield armory scope mount.

2. a rifle to take hunting. as far as i know you can get them in a 30-06 or 308. capable of taking any game in the lower 48.

3. ammo- my good friend has one and just about all he shoots is the old surplus ammo in the 7.62 FMJ. this ammo can be purchased off the internet for about nearly nothing. (as cheap as i can shoot my .22 magnum) try southwestammo.com

4. accuracy with the surplus ammo is awsome. we have a contest where we hang skeet from awire with clips and shoot them at 200 yards. I cant remember this guy missing with this rifle and the surplus ammo. i've never missed either with it.

I am a big fan of this rifle and the .308 round. the reason i don't have one is there too rich for my blood and as long as he will let me shoot his i guess i can be satisfied. maybe santa will bring me one next Christmas. anyway, goodluck on your purchase.

RE: M1 Garand & Surplus ammo
 

Thanks very much for the advice =)

RE: M1 Garand & Surplus ammo
 

If you buy a genuine GI model from CMP, they only cost $400-500 and are built on a military spec forged receiver, not an iffy springfield cast receiver, thouh their quality has been getting better.

RE: M1 Garand & Surplus ammo
 

Briman I been wantin a Garand for years. How do you go about getting one from the CMP. I have heard of this but as usual am clueless on it.

RE: M1 Garand & Surplus ammo
 

go to www.odcmp.com and get the info

Be aware that its a rare rifle that will consistenly shoot 4 inch groups with surplus ammo at 200 yards. I've had many garands. Only with tweaking and a bit of luck will you get that one. They are more consistent 3-4 moa rack guns.

Now bed them a bit and reload and its another story. Especially in slow fire. Rapid fire takes even more work.

Jeff

RE: M1 Garand & Surplus ammo
 

man what i would give to have a m1, hmm how does my first born sound?

RE: M1 Garand & Surplus ammo
 

Go look at the link. YOu have to go to a CMP club close to you and fire 1-2 matches. Score does not matter and do NOT let it frighten you off. I was scared the first time. I was taken under the wing by the womans national champ and it helped me. Almost all Highpower shooters are super friendly. Clubs have loaner guns and ammo available.

Then you send off and sometimes wait a year after filling out enough paperwork to get a concealed carry license. In the end its worth it.

And ya might enjoy the shooting enough to do it every so often. Its fun and great shooting practice.

Jeff

RE: M1 Garand & Surplus ammo
 

The very first time I had the pleasure of shooting a mil-surp Garand , 30.06 , I was hitting targets at 300yd leaning off the back of a pickup . Targets were water balloons and large pop bottles , laid out in a field , which instantly geysered when hit . Impressive to say the least ! Historicaly valued and classy with lots of cheap milsurp ammo for targets and popular hunting rounds that will knock down near anything . Built to withstand the rigors and hardships of battle, these rifles will last a sportsman/hunter indefinately.

RE: M1 Garand & Surplus ammo
 

Sorry, I just don't want folks to get the idea that any 400-500 buck CMP rack grade surplus M1 and surplus ammo will shoot any better than 2-3 inch groups at 100 yards and it gets worse the further you go.

Like I said, tweak em and they are usually fine. But it is indeed a rare one that will hold 2 moa out of the box. Thats from having had about 20 of them over the years and from a friend thats been through almost 50 lately looking for a super accurate rack grade for John Garand matches with no luck so far.

The are tough, and they are super fun to hit with. I think everyone should have one in the cabinet. They are heavy, but with the right ammo they even make a super hunting rifle.

Jeff

RE: M1 Garand & Surplus ammo
 

rost, Is it possible to make these things shoot any better? There does seem to be a ton of parts out there..but for the cost Im wondering if it is cost effective or would it be cheaper to just buy an expensive one thats already been tweaked?

RE: M1 Garand & Surplus ammo
 

Doe

Sure its not that hard. Most have decent barrels and if you simply have the gun bedded and the forward forearm bedded and floated you are well on your way. Then load some ammo up.

Rack grade as they come they are usually loose and surplus ammo -- at least the projectiles, suck.

So its pretty easy to get way better.. But just be aware that straight away and with junk ammo its not likely.

i've got 2 garands that all I did was bed them and they'll shoot LC ball ammo to about 4 inches at 200 yards. Before that they were lucky to get to a 10 inch group at 200.

I am not trying to disuade anyone. Yet I don't want them thinkign they bought a 500 buck junker. It just takes another 50 bucks or so to bed.

Jeff

RE: M1 Garand & Surplus ammo
 

If you are buying rack grade garands, don't expect much for accuracy. If you buy a SERVICE GRADE, the barrel has been guaged on both ends to assure that it isn't worn out.
If you get a high number Springfield rifle, there's a good chance that the rifle will be accurate. A rifle with a VAR, LMR, or late 1960s springfield barrel will shoot well under 4" with good ammo so long as the rest of the rifle is in spec.
US ball ammo is not of very good quality. Garbage in-garbage out.

Korean and Danish (if you can find it) is good stuff and will shoot better than US stuff.

Accurization: there are a few things that can be done for very cheap.
1. tighten the gas cylinder- peen the barrel splines slightly so that the gas cylinder fits very tight- the gas cylinder lock should go on tight so that it doesn't go past 6 O'Clock' when completely one.

2. tighten the action to stock fit. If the camming lobes on the trigger guard have worn flat, replace the triggerguard with a new one- the stamped trigggerguards are better than the milled ones. If this doesn't tighten up the fit, the action wil either need to be shimmed onto the stock, or better yet, buy a new stock, because the wood grains are compressed and will no longer hold the action tightly.

Other more costly things-

Check the oprod for proper contour- strip the rifle, reassemble without the oprod spring and do the 45 degree test- tilt the rifle forward 45 degrees- the bolt should ride forward and lock shut, tilt the rifle 45 degrees backward, the bolt should unlock and open fully.
If it doesn't, the oprod will need to be recontoured or replaced. This is where shooting proper ammo comes in- If you shoot facotry hunting ammo through the rifle and disregard all of the warnings about using the correct ammo, the oprod will get sprung out of spec, will hang up in the stock channel and cause a decrease in accuracy.

Bedding, unitizing the front handguard.


I've done no more than tighten the gas cylinder and replace a worn trigger guard on mine, and it will shoot 2" or less all day long with handloads. Mine might be a fluke, but I doubt it.

RE: M1 Garand & Surplus ammo
 

Briman

Nice post. More detailed than I had time for.

FWIW I've tightened up the splines before but never tested just after that peening job. Usually the old ones were so loose in the stock it was a no question deal to bed them first. And once you've done it, its so simple.

Jeff

RE: M1 Garand & Surplus ammo
 

I purchased an M1 National Match about 5 years ago. Never shot it, just show it now and then and keep it locked up. I purchased it from a local mom and pop gun shop. The guy knows his stuff on WWII firearms and specializes in M1's and carbines. I didn't know that there were so many manufactures. Winchester, Rockola, International Harvester all made the M1. That's amazing![:-]

RE: M1 Garand & Surplus ammo
 

Winchester, springfield, International harvester, and Harrington and Richardson were the only outfits that made M1 rifles, Breda and Beretta made some also for Italy.

There were a large number of manufacturers that made M1 carbines however including IBM, GM, Rockola, Winchester, Inland, and several more.