Hey guys, I was firing my M-1 yesterday, and after 10-15 rounds it went click, so I figured a dud, and cycled it, it did it again, and again so on for 5 shots, so I figure I broke the firing pin anyone know of somthing else that would do this?

Is there any indentation on the primers?

If not then you probably broke the FP. Take the bolt out and check it by pushing it from the opposite end. They are free floating in the M1 so you will notice right away if it is wasted. You can find new ones on eBay or go here:

www.jouster.com

ok, got the bolt out, how would I know if its broken?

Did it indent the misfired rounds?

If not then it is broken. Push on the back of the pin you should be able to at least see it in the FP hole although it will not protrude. Do you have a bolt disassemble tool? You can take the bolt apart without one. Go here:

http://www.fulton-armory.com/

Goto the left of the page click on the Garand pages, on the dropdown goto Garand parts, scroll down to where they have bolts for sale, click the link and it gives you a disassembly diagram. Hope this helps.

yes it indented the rounds, and when I push the back of the pin the front pushes out, so im thinking that its no the pin...I own a CAI if that makes a difference

Hmmm.

Reloads? How much of a dent? Similar to fired rounds? Is the bolt going into full battery? Check out www.jouster.com goto the M1 boards and post the question there. Lots of real experts there. I would say that if reloads then maybe primer seated too deep, shoulder set to far back on resize die and case fits deeper in the chamber? Maybe just a few duds? You say it was firing then after 10-15 rds it started this. Maybe weak/broken hammer spring?

no factory rounds, its was going into battery, and fired 10-15 rounds before the stop, indent is a little less than fired rounds, so I think it may be a hammer spring

That would be my guess.

Dark Paladin
You might also check the firing pin "tail" and the notch in the reciever. If these are not "timed/aligned" proberly the firing pin cannot transfer the full force of the hammer to the primer. A lot of dry firing may have battered their relationship out of alignment. This can also happen if the bolt is not completly closing. This is in the design to keep the Garand from
firing out of battery.

When you take a Garand apart and study its design you see its brilliance.
Let us know how it works out.

[ 06-26-2003, 02:27: Message edited by: N E 450 No2 ]

ok, how do I check, and change the timing? i'm willing to be thats what this is

for what it's worth,and knowing cai,,you ought to get the headspace checked.Also make shure the trigger assy is pulling up and locking evenly.Good luck,Clay

i've had the headspace checked and its ok, but anyone know how I can change or check the timing?

Dark Paladin
Remove the barreled action from the stock. Look closely at the "tail" of the firing pin and at the "notch" in the frame crossbeam that the tail fits into as the bolt locks into place. Check the cut for the "tail" in the bolt. Make sure there is no battering or burring of those pieces.
With the bbl pointed up and the bolt closed the firing pin shoud freely move back and forth in the bolt with no friction/resistance.
Then cycle the bolt very slowly and check for any binding as it goes in and out of battery.
Look for burrs at the top rear of the chamber where it is contacted by the bolt.
Check that the bolt, oprod, mainspring, mainspring guide are all working smoothly. Be sure the gas piston and gas tube are not corroded or fouled from powder residue left over from the Battle of the Bulge.
If all this is working ok then maybe the introduction of the live cartridges is some how causing the problem. The Garand is designed not to fire if the bolt is out of battery.
Check the mainspring strength. Clean the chamber. Check the bolt face and the extractor and the ejector tension. Check for binding of the oprod on the stock, look for a wear pattern.
Try shooting different factory ammo.
The problem could lie in one of these areas.
Hope this helps.

ok, have it re assembled and lubed, will buy 2 boxes of ammo from different loads, hope this thing works, or I may just get rid of it, more info tomarrow when all the guns go to the range...

Dark Paladin
Did everything check out ok.
one more thing, did you pull the mainspring out of the oprod and look it over. Sometimes they wear into and do not have enough power to lock the bolt fully into battery or allow it to "bounce" out of battery.
I have shot Garands used in NRA/DCM schools that have fired thousands and thousands of rounds without any problems. Usually they work good.

yea, it looks good now, but tomarrow we will see, ive got 20 rounds of 165grn so we will see if I have fixed the problem

didnt work, it went CLICK there are 2 small indents on the primer, 1 from the gun striping it out of the clip, and 1 from the firing pin, so I suspect either A. the hammer spring is too loose, or timing is out of adjustment and is not delivering enough oomph on the primer, on the other hand I was not smart enough to try ammo I just bought......supid me

If I understand correctly the rifle did not fire today with the same reloads it malfunctioned with the other day. And you did not try the new factory loads.

yea, that would be about right, maybe next time

If everything else checked out on the rifle lets hope it was the reloads. Does the base to shoulder length "look" different [shorter or longer] on the reloads vs. the factory rounds?

oh, and they were not reloads factory spec, just cant think of the brand off the top of my head