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Went to the range today with a newly acquired 1941 Garand. After firing about 10 rounds I noticed all the spent cases had primer damage. The spent primers were either missing from the case or they were bulged out and deformed. The ammo I used was MilSurplus ammo for a Garand according to the sales person. If anyone has any ideas on what could cause this any help would be appreciated.
Col Colt, could you provide more information on the cartridges that you fired, photo of the box and headstamp if possible ? Also being a 1941 rifle did
you check the headspace and check the firing pin as being early or late ?
I did not check head space as I was told it was checked and correct. The head stamp on the ammo is "AMA 91"
That should be Danish ammo which I gather is universally well thought of.
Would the Danish factory ammo have purple dye around the inside of the primer?
I suspect high pressure, above safe. That would blow primers like that. There's no way to measure them without proper machinery though. They can be prefect and new looking but could have been cooked in the sun somewhere for a period of time and that for one thing will do them in. Check headspace and then get some new factory like Rem-UMC meant for M1 rifles and try it. 28 years is a long time for things to happen... I had a pre war M1, 1941 and used the round firing pin until I learned of what COULD happen. I don't think it's the round firing pin doing this.
Interesting side note - I am Col. Colt, too - and I have a 1941 Garand - but I don't own any Danish ammo! And I don't shoot it - pretty original gun.
Note the space between the period and "Colt" in my user name, which I have had for many years. Moderators, perhaps we can modify this to prevent confusion....
CC
That's a real coincidence and you have a 1941 to. What is the difference in the firing pins how do you know which one your gun requires?
The original one was round profile and could break at the front causing a slam fire, out of battery...so they changed to the commonly found half flat profile. Mine had both included when I originally bought it here in Canada back in about 1976 and it took some years before the internet told us about the possible problems. To read up on a case of one that went high-order, you could read Pyle's book on the Gas Trap Garand and a rifle that was found in the rafters of the barracks in Hawaii. It was fired until it went to pieces and it's suspected the round firing pin caused it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Col.Colt
If you take yours out and it has a half flat profile, you're fine. Unless your rifle is a time capsule, you likely don't have the round firing pin.
Like BAR stated, I also fired thousands of rounds in M1 rifles with the round firing pin. The manual said to always replace the round firing pin - but
did not state the reason and most shooters never bothered to replace it. It could fracture near the tip and lodge the tip in the bolt face or just break
off leaving a two piece firing pin too.
You will or your gunsmith will, have to take your bolt apart anyway to get an accurate headspace measurement with gages that are known to be
correct and not well worn military gages found at gun shows.
"AMA 91" is 1960's vintage Danish milsurp. Supposedly uses a 148 grain FMJ, non-corrosive Berdan primer at 2,910 FPS(if you can believe the advertising. One place says 148 grains. Another 149.) The CMP sold the stuff before 2009. However, you have no idea how it's been stored since then.
It'd be a good idea to try some different ammo out of your M1. That'll tell you if the rifle or the ammo is the issue. Far more likely to be the ammo than the rifle. Head space issues have other symptoms than just blown primers. There any extraction issues?
Hornady loads 168 grain ELD Match ammo specifically for the M1 Rifle. $33.99 per 20 at Midway.
Oh and download the assorted, free, .pdf manuals. Note the need for the provided UN and PW.
Biggerhammer.net - Miscellaneous Firearms Technical and Training Manuals
I recently bought 500 rds of AMA ammo with a 61 date stamp. It shoots fine out of my post WWII Garand. The ammo is being sold all over the country and I have heard no reports of problems with it. The ammo is allegedly M2 and was manufactured in Denmark for their M1 Garands, so the ammo was made shortly before the Danish Army got their new rifle in 7.62 Nato, which means it's been languishing in some depot for decades, but doesn't look old.
The gun was extracting the fired casings just fine but the bolt would lock back into battery without chambering a new round. I had manually slide the bolt back to
to pick up a fresh round.
"...but the bolt would..." Covered in the .pdf manuals. Under failure to feed, I think. That's not ammo or gas related though. Clip latch or follower, I think. This internet at the library is no good. Have 5 minutes left.
Hatcher's Book of the Garand has a trouble shooting chapter. Same as the .pdf.
I am traveling for the next few weeks but plan to diassemble the gun and give it a good cleaning and inspection when I return.