Going to field strip my M1 Garand for the first time. Advice? Tips? Supplies?

[Bob Seijas]

I remember in Basic Training we were not supposed to disassemble the trigger group. One guy would collect all the trigger groups, take them into the latrine and blast them with the super-hot water in the sink. Then he would go down the aisle and toss a clean group on each bunk.

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[RCS]

your basic training rifle is only temporary. I told the squad leader in basic that I could disassemble the trigger housing if someone could find
a good nail. Someone found a nail and I took each mans trigger housing apart for cleaning then put it together for final inspection.

The G.I. is not suppose to take the trigger housing apart

[Bob Seijas]

Or the bolt.

[RCS]

my favorite trick when I was an armorer, was to bet someone that I could remove the firing from the rifle
with taking it apart - and put it back in too.

just use that M10 tool and shake it out, takes longer to shake it back in but it will go

[Brian Dick]

Bruce Dow turned me on to Permatex Super Lube grease. It sticks better than anything I've ever used and is the absolute best for the M1 and M14 rifles. A tub of it will last a lifetime as a little bit goes a very long way.

[Bob Seijas]

One of the Sergeants in Basic Training could unlatch your op rod from the bolt with a quick flick... you had to disassemble the rifle to get it back on

[Bob Womack]

Also, the Garand is "handed." The rounds must be stacked properly, starting with the left-hand shell first so that the last, highest shell is on the right hand side.

Bob

[AaronGee]

Question: "closing all the way". Do you mean not stripping the first round out of the clip (pic 4) or the bolt not rotating into battery??? Pic 5 shows bolt in battery.

It is very common for M-1s not to strip the first round out of the clip while loading. The image in your pic 4th from the left shows this common loading situation. It is not a fault of the rifle. Some clips are tighter than others or have a rougher finish which causes more resistance in stripping the first round out of the clip. Most M1 shooters automatically bump the op rod forward after clip loading to help the first round strip out of the clip. The technique is shown in training films and war movies.

Yes, it was not stripping the first round. It was after a while. In pic 5 it is closed. One time it did not close. My problem before was that it would not close, that's why I changed the op rod spring.

---------- Post added at 02:30 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:27 PM ----------

There was no pic of you installing the spring. Did you grease the spring when you installed it? If not, take it out and use a small brush to apply grease as you feed it into the op rod. The proper amount is enough to coat the coils without bridging the coils.

The gas cylinder wrench is to properly hold and support the gas cylinder when removing or tightening the gas cylinder plug. It prevents you from putting excessive torsional stress on the rifle if you try to hold it by other means.
At your next gun show, buy a USGI M10 combo tool. In addition to properly fitting the gas plug, it also allows you to disassemble the bolt easily whether it is installed in the rifle or not.

I did lube the spring as per the instructional video I referenced. Thanks, I will get that tool at the next show I go to.

[browningautorifle]

A man I know had no end of trouble and couldn't even tell me what was wrong, we isolated the clips that gave trouble and trouble ended. Turned out they were Greek black parkerized so they were easy to find. Didn't bother stripping them, he just moved them on.

[Snowman1510]

I had a similar problem with my M1 doing the same thing. It turns out it was over parked clips I used 0000 steel wool rubbed them down as well as purchase new clips and now I have no more problems.