New Garand Owner

A bit tighter than that. Shock of firing may loosen it. Just don't turn it into a fight to remove. If you have cycle problems check there first.

Congratulations! I hope you enjoy your rifle! VAR barrels are Danish and are among the best made. The only thing I can suggest is that you get some quality en bloc clips such as any USGI or Canadian made one. French, Chinese & some Greek clips cause problems.

There are a variety of links to help you learn about your Garand:
The stickies here with articles by BAdger & others
Collecting and Shooting the U.S. M1 Garand .30 Rifle - HISTORY

Detail Stripping The M1 Garand Rifle
Detail Stripping The M1 Garand Rifle
Battle Rifle: The M1 Garand
http://www.northcapepubs.com/m1gar.htm
http://www.memorableplaces.com/m1gar...randlinks.html
MILITARY INFORMATION HQ
Orion 7 Enterprises Inc.
The Garand Collectors Association
M1 Garand Armory

Thank you, BAR, for calling the lock screw by its correct name. Gas plugs are only found on Gas Trap rifles.

On cleaning, I'm a huge fan of the boresnakes. They aren't what you'd call "correct" by any means, but for fast and good cleaning on a .30 cal rifle, they are danged hard to beat. By their very nature they get into the grooves well and you don't have to worry about guarding your muzzle all that much.

Good looking rifle ya got there D-Bomb. Got some very nice grain on the wood and the Danish barrels are nothing to ignore.

I personally use an F.N.C.1 pullthrough and 7.62 brush on my M1s and always have. The days of cleaning from the muzzle are over.

I use USGI cleaning kits, exclusively. I rub a small amount of carbon residue on the threads of the gas screw, and make sure it's tight, but not "gorilla" tight. If the screw works loose, your rifle will make groups that look like a shotgun pattern, you'll know right away something's wrong. I always use milsurp ammo, although Hornady and Federal make Garand-specific ammo now. My favorite is Greek HXP M2 ball, followed by USGI. Here's another excellent site for Garand shooters/collectors: CMP Forums

Did not the pull throughs have a habit of belling out the muzzle due to rubbing as it was pulled through the barrel from the breach ? I believe that is why the takedown cleaning rods were issued for the M1 and later guns.
I've always used a stainless steel one piece rod with a brass or plastic cone shaped centering pilot EVERY time. It now looks like I'll have to rebarrel my old H&R due to a belling at the mouth , but it's taken 25-30 years and a conservative 15-20,000 rounds of M2 ball with a complete cleaning every 60-100 round outing . It's gone from a 2-incher to an 8-incher in the last year.
Chris

One or two issues ago, the GCA journal wrote about a test using USGI steel cleaning rods. A rifle was used, with a MW of "1". The cleaning rod was passed in and out, 66,000 times. The rod was intentionally pushed with some sideways pressure, in order to make sure it hit the rifling. At the end of the test, the MW was "2". Chris, was your rifle used when you got it? Do you know what the MW is now? 20,000 rounds is a testament to the engineering of these weapons!
Charlie

20k rounds??? Wow haha didn't John Garand qoute the barrel life at 10,000 rounds?

Either way it sounds like you got your moneys worth out of that unit.

No Emmagee, pullthroughs don't hurt the barrels. Scrubbing from the bore with a steel rod will. Think about it, which will wear your barrel? Cord or steel?