New Garand Owner

[Harlan (Deceased)]

Agree. And the take-downs are the worst of all.

[D-BOMB]

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?

Why does this hurt the barrel? Is it being careless and allowing the rod to contact the lands?
The field manual says to put the rod in the muzzle end, then attach the bore brush in the through the chamber end and pull it through.

Just want to make sure I preserve this beauty!

[Charlie59]

Here's the stuff I use with my rifles. The one piece squad cleaning rod, the buttstock kit, and the older style bolt take down tool with chamber brush.There's also the nylon muzzle guide where the rod connects to the M-10. I use period accessories whenever I can. I don't have a field manual handy, what does yours' say to use, D-BOMB?
Charlie

[D-BOMB]

I was just referencing the scanned one that is available on this site.

[browningautorifle]

If you use a muzzle guide it should be ok. If you put the rod in the bore and draw the brush through it will be not too bad. Most guys don't do that. Most just put the brush on the rod and go at the barrel from the front, scrubbing back and forth. This is what causes the wear. It will eventually wear the muzzle so a bullet will sit in the crown to the cannelure.

[Charlie59]

I used to use aluminum rods, and brass ones, but got tired of getting a kink and it breaking when I tried straightening them, and the chintzy plastic slots breaking off at the thread. It only takes a slight bump against something and the rod/tip are scrap. I used a steel rod kit for the first time about ten years ago, and I never looked back. I never cared for the string pull through slots that came in the nickle oilers issued with early Garands, new AKs, HK91s, etc. I haven't had to discard a single, damaged piece from any USGI steel cleaning kit, in the last ten years, either. On the one I use the most, I did smooth the edges at the joints with fine grade emery cloth, though. I'm 60, and am certain this will be the last rod I'll ever need, unless I lose it somehow. Hell, it has most of the parkerizing still on it!
Charlie

[emmagee1917]

I had this M1 before I was into WW2 USGI almost exclusively which began in the '84-85 time period. Of course I bought it used , it has a '53 SA barrel on it. Never owned a set of gauges , so I have never checked it. It has been my truck gun for that long , and I usually shoot it at least 6-10 times a year and put a bandolier or two through it each time . It's been the one I've shot the most of all my guns. I've really denied that it's been shot out , it's kinda like losing an old friend . I know that I shot a lot of GI ball , AP , and tracer through it way back when , but now I reserve the AP and tracer to guns with interchangeable barrels. I do know that I purchased about 6-8,000 rds of Hanson when it was around , and most went through her. I bought about 10,000 rds of Tiwan surplus , some went through her , but most through the 1917A1 and the 1919A4 and A6. When the FNM stuff came in and I found out it was really Hanson resurrected , I bought all I could , about 17,000 rds , and I've got about 6,000 left , and maybe 80-90 % went through her. I've never kept a log book on her , but I feel the count is pretty close.
My main point , though , is that after every bandolier or two , she was stripped and cleaned , from the muzzle , with a HD one piece steel rod with a muzzle guide , stainless steel brushes , brass jags and GI cloth patches. After two or three 12 pass sets with the brush and patches between , she was put on an Outer's foul-out till clean. That comes out to almost 11,000 brush passes and another 3-4,000 jag/patch passes. I really question how much more life I would have recieved through any other cleaning method. I don't use jointed rods , coated rods , nor do I use wimppy .22 rods on the .30 cals. , I match the rod to the bore and use the stiffest / thickest I can. I also wipe the rod itself down after every set of passes. If it never touches , it can't wear.
On the pull throughs , I was told ( back when I was young , so I've never used them ) that they would rub along the edge of the bore / crown as people would pull them through and therefore , like stream water on a rock , would wear the muzzle down. Don't know if it's true or not , but I did see a friend file a groove in a piece of steel with a fiberglass ram rod from a muzzle loader , which I never expected could be done .
Take care all , Chris

[smc51]

I use the Otis cleaning system for my Garands, clean from the breach instead of from the barrel.
I use Plastic bristled brushes and BoreTech Eliminator for the cleaning solvent. The BoreTech Eliminator is a copper cleaning solvent that has no noxious odors. It works very well on copper and powder residue.
HTH
smc51