My first Garand and Consequences....Now What?

[Allred]

Oh boy, another mil-surp rifle. I've been buying, selling, and refining my small collection for a couple of years, and presently have a Springfield A3, a Swiss K31, a Finn M39, and a couple of Enfields, all in good "service" grade condition. They are all actively used for various formal and informal target games.

But now, somethings got to go, probably one of the Enfields, 'cause last night I bought a nice service grade Garand from a knowledgable local collector, and the War Department (wife) is threatening kitchen remodel retaliation!

My Garand is a Springfield, serial 362XXXX, stamped on action is an ink mark, (65
RRAD), also a small daub of reddish paint on heel of receiver, which seller says indicates it was rebuilt in 1965 at "Red River Army Depot". Apparantly It was re-barreled and re-stocked at that time. Does that seem plausible? Seller bought it a few years ago from CMP. Barrel looks very good, shiny with sharp land edges, and gauges 1.5 at muzzle and 2.5 at throat.

I am more of a shooter than collector, and intend to use this rifle in local vintage military semi-auto match events. I would like to add G.I. accessories to my kit; an ammo belt, cleaning kit, combo tool, etc. Could anyone suggest internet sources for these?

I'll post a photo or two if anyone is interested in looking at another service grade Garand!

Thanks,

Information

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[browningautorifle]

Pics always help. Try CMP or the WTB forum here. The things you seek aren't hard to find. The wife's kitchen remodelling isn't unreasonable if she just wants to put a gun rack in the corner.

[stonecutter2]

Do you have the CMP cert for it? If not, for a small fee ($25 I think) you can have the CMP check on your rifle, and give you a new certificate. Those are a very nice thing to have for the rifle, if it went through the CMP.

http://www.thecmp.org

What you've said about the rearsenal sounds plausible - I've heard of other similar Garands, but I'm by no means an expert.

Ammo belt/cleaning kit can be obtained from the CMP at very reasonable prices here:
http://estore.odcmp.com/Store/login/login.aspx

Combo tools are available all over the place. This place is great for Garand parts in general:
http://www.m1garandrifle.com/Garandparts.htm

Enjoy your new M1, I love mine!!

[stonecutter2]

Also, not sure if you're aware, but you should be careful about firing commercial ammo through the M1. Look for 30-06 M2 ball ammo - the CMP e-store has fantastic prices on M2 ball.

If you use commercial ammo without an adjustable gas plug, you risk damaging the oprod because of the excessive pressure in the gas system. A Schuster adjustable gas plug is what I have, so that I can use commercial ammo if I want to (I bought it as an insurance policy - if M2 ball dries up, i can still shoot with my Schuster plug installed).

Those little plugs are only $30 or so, and they're a must if shooting hunting ammo through your Garand. They are very easy to install and adjust.

This website from the CMP also has excellent step-by-step guides to detail stripping and cleaning/maintaining your M1 Garand:
http://www.civilianmarksmanship.com/

[Allred]

Also, not sure if you're aware, but you should be careful about firing commercial ammo through the M1. Look for 30-06 M2 ball ammo - the CMP e-store has fantastic prices on M2 ball.

Thanks for the heads-up! I did buy some M2 Ball ammo along with the rifle. I have been reloading commercial .30-06 cases for my Springfield A3 which have worked very well, and have succesfully and routinely reloaded for all my other rifles for several years, including an AR-15. I had planned to fire some M2 through the Garand to chronograph the velocity, and then work up a comparable velocity & pressure reload with a 150 grain SP or FMJ bullet. I've been told, M2 ammo consists of a 150 grn. FMJ and a powder load yielding approx 2,800 fps, so that is tentatively my objective for a reload.

It isn't an economic motivation for me. I just enjoy the reloading activity.

I do wonder if I should buy and use a set of "Small Base" dies for the Garand reloads, as compared to standard dies for the A3? So far my dummy rounds, resized with standard dies, work into and out of the Garand action without problem. Will that change when a live round is fired?

Are there any issues particular to reloading for the Garand that I should be aware of that are any different than for bolt action? Thanks again.

[stonecutter2]

I don't reload, but I will say that I've read that powder burn rate is what impacts the gas system in the Garand with commerical ammo - so aside from velocity, I think burn rate is something you should be careful of.

Perhaps another Garand reloader can help you with more specifics.

Sounds like you're on top of things, though!

[saddler]

I read that the Military powder for the M2 load was H4895 - I'd use this as your go-to powder.
I've seen several articles on other forums on how to load .30-cal ammo to replicate the WW2 specification

4895 is my powder of choice for my M1903A4 loads - though a change with my UK supplier means I may have to do some load work with Vihtavuori powder in the very near future: less of a problem for me as bolt-actions aint got no operating rod (apart from the bolt )

[browningautorifle]

I've loaded scads for the M1. And just so we know where I am here, one of mine is a Lend Lease SA# 328219 all original. If anyone thinks I would chance hurting it, think again. My regular size dies from RCBS are what I have ALWAYS used for this rifle and the others. BAR too. Johnson auto rifle too. And 1903. That's not the issue. There are specific loads worked up for M1 rifles so don't go with loads quoted off the head of unknown sources. Check the books and qualify the source. There are complete threads of info in this area here on the Garand forum.

[Charlie59]

I no longer reload, and use milsurp ammo only, but when I did, I always stuck with loads matching govt. specs. My RRAD is only marked on the stock. It has a 64' barrel, the usual mix of parts, and a new NM oprod. The sn is in the 2.6 mil range.There was a major rebuild of WW2 Garands after the war, and as far as I can tell, Garands were being rebuilt up into the 60s'. RRAD was one of many facilities doing that. I pretty much get all my accessories from CMP, or Bill Ricca. I see you missed a key item-the bayonet. It it were my rifle, I'd probably go with a nice 10 inch uncut bayonet. BTW, are you going to post any pics?

Charlie

[Allred]

Ok, here are photos of my Garand, a pretty good condition Service Grade rifle. It has a very snug fit between action and stock. I've acquired a quantity of Greek surplus M2 Ball ammo, non-corrosive, boxer primed, so will be using that for next few outings I suppose.

I've registered to enter a CMP "clinic" & 80 round practice match, for first Saturday of next month. Four stages, either slow or rapid fire, sitting, standing, or prone, with ranges from 200 to 600 yards. so far I've only fired it at 100 yards, so the practice match should be interesting!

Here's a sample photo -

http://rallred.smugmug.com/Other/M1-..._6N3Sx-M-1.jpg

A few more at -

M1 Garand - RAllreds Photos


It sure shoots "softer" than my Springfield 1903!