Trigger housing drops out.

[SRiverrat11]

One of my M1's has started dropping the trigger housing out when fired. At first I had another M1 with me when it happened so I changed out the trigger housings and it worked fine. Do I need to buy a whole other trigger housing or just a new trigger guard? Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks! Ok. Here are some pics of the offending trigger guard( left side) and a tight fitting HRA triggerguard( right side) Stocks are the offending SA/SHM( left side) and HRA (right side)

Information

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[browningautorifle]

Does it come unlocked or what? Are the locking lugs present in the sides of the trigger guard? A few pics would help.

[Joe W]

Why not jus install the trigger guard from your other rifle. If it works then you know you only need a trigger guard.

[SRiverrat11]

Good idea Joe. Thanks. But the last rifle I took apart in detail had to go to an armorer to work again.

[WarPig1976]

It may be bent.... Try bending it slightly in on itself and try that before replacing it...

[no4mk1t]

Your problem is caused by one or more of the following conditions. All of these will also contribute to inaccuracy as the action can squirm in the stock much as a bolt rifle with loose screws.

1. The wood fibers in your stock are compressed from 50-70 years of use and no longer provide adequate clamping tension to keep wood and steel secured together.

2. The trunnions on each side of your trigger guard have flat spots from 50-70 years of field stripping and not being lubricated.

3. As mentioned above, the latch hook/tab is not keeping the trigger guard latched securely under recoil.

The first thing to do is determine if one or all of the conditions exist.
Remove the trigger group and examine the trunnions. Compare to this pic of a new trigger guard, and one with heavily worn trunnions.



If the trunnions are still round, or have only a small flat spot, latch the trigger guard closed with it out of the rifle. If it takes moderate effort to unlatch it, the hook or tab is OK and the stock is the culprit.

If heavily worn, the trigger guard can be replaced. Look past the parkerizng and get one with nice round trunnions. Another alternative is if you know someone who can do very fine detailed welding, you could have the trunnions welded up and filed round again.

Issues with the stock can be resolved in two ways.
The temp fix is to shim the trigger guard with thin strips of card stock.
The better fix is to glass bed the trigger group. This is pretty simple to do and made easier if you have a Dremel tool.
The best fix is a new stock.

[johnfland]

Shim kit:

M1 Garand Items - RCArms

[SRiverrat11]

Thanks John. I have a new trigger guard on the way, but if that doesn't work I think I will give that a try.

[SRiverrat11]

The Trigger guard change out worked. The rifle went through 2 clips with no mishaps. It still feels a little loose though. I read one thread here where someone suggested BLO'ing the inside of the stock to get it to swell to tighten it up. Does anyone think that would work?

[browningautorifle]

So, it's still a bit loose?