19 Nov 2021 Garand Picture of the Day

[Mark in Rochester]

Marines in Action during Battle of Suicide Ridge

Information

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[CINDERS]

Must be damn close using Molotov cocktails, G.I on Rt has grenade launcher with the breech open on his Garand possibly not long fired a grenade.
If you single load the Garand with say the grenade cartridge does the action cycle and stay open or is that something you have to manually lock the bolt body back, ejecting the spent grenade cartridge.
As only gas has gone up the barrel so would the grenade enable enough back pressure to operate the action, just curious, not allowed to have semi auto rifles in our state.

[ROCK]

If you single load the Garand with say the grenade cartridge does the action cycle and stay open or is that something you have to manually lock the bolt body back, ejecting the spent grenade cartridge.

The bolt remains closed. The M7 grenade launcher was used in conjunction with a vented gas cylinder lock screw which disabled semi auto functioning by venting gas from the gas cylinder. Removing the grenade launcher allowed the valve to close which enabled semi auto functioning.

[RCS]

The M7 grenade launcher has a stud on the bottom which fits into the special gas cylinder lock screw. This will bleed the gas from the bullet out and the bolt will not open when fired.

The M7 launcher will not fit the early screw with slot

photos show the early screw for grenade launchingAttachment 121542Attachment 121543Attachment 121544

[Ovidio]

That working logic has been taken over in the BM59 for example. We had the grenade sights which had to be flipped up to shoot the grenade. By doing so, the gas valve was closed and the rifle worked only with closed bolt.
It was necessary also to prevent destroying the whole gas piston, which would not have withstood the extreme pressure of the grenade cartridge. That really kicked!
Similar system is still in use in the AR70/90. A few of my shooting pals who own that beautiful rifle sometimes flip up the gas valve stop just to shoot single rounds and save the brass.

[RCS]

For many years people believed that firing rifle grenades in the M1 rifle would cause the receiver to crack and bend the operating rod.

Also remember firing parachute flares from a M1 rifle on a very dark night that were so bright you could read a newspaper

[CINDERS]

My Uncle in his training in WWII either did not listen to the SOP or forgot how to in firing a M36 grenade from a grenade cup on a MkIII SMLE, flip over the rifle dig the toe of the butt into the ground and fire the rifle launching the grenade.
No! not my uncle, he said to me he fired it from the shoulder and reckons it almost knocked him flat onto the ground!

[Bob Seijas]

The first piston type were designed to stay open after the launch, the first live round was intended to force it closed. That was unreliable and a spring was added to close it. IIRC the early ones are marked S for Stainless.

[Ovidio]

Well, we shot from a kneeling position. We used to hold the metal stock of the BM59TA (Truppe Alpine) well and tight between elbow and ribcage, aimed over the flip-up rights (using the grenade as front sight and the flip-up as rear sight), put the weak hand over the dust cover to prevent the barrel to to kick up too much, turned our face sideways and shot using the winter trigger.
I was over 200 pounds even then and the first time, being the very first to shoot, I had to put a hand back not to flip over. I did not expect such a kick.
Others forgot about the winter trigger and got a really painful bruise on the finger.
But man, that was frigging fun!!!

[ROCK]

For many years people believed that firing rifle grenades in the M1 rifle would cause the receiver to crack and bend the operating rod.

There was probably some basis for that belief. Before anyone knew there was going to be a problem, It is likely that grenades were launched from issue M1 rifles during tests and the op rod was allowed to cycle in the normal way. Prolonged testing would have produced damage to receivers at some point and would have delayed the launching of grenades from M1 rifles until a solution was found; vented gas screw and M7 launcher. In the meantime, 1903 Springfield rifles were substituted for the M1 in the grenade launching role until the vented screws and M7 launchers were manufactured and issued..