got a CMP garand in 2018, shot it a few times, worked great then life happened and its been in the safe. specs are SA receiver Jan 45, marlin replacement bbl, NM op rod, IHC trigger housing w/winchester hammer.
shooting my reloads, 147 gr Coal 3.200 (?) have to check when in shop tomorrow. shot fine in 2018. now, using AEC clips the first rd hangs up and bolt has to be pushed or slammed to seat it. after that no problems. functions great. either top rd on left or right of clip. got some assor usgi clips in. same thing.when i say it hangs up i mean the top rd moves about 3/8" or less and stops. have been told this completely normal. maybe so maybe no. didn't used to do it. also pushing the loaded clip into the reciever is a bitch. hard to force down and in place. both the usgi and the AEC. op rod looks fine and i greased it and reciever parts. it is also VERY hard to take off safety. i have two MIAs and a mini14 and not nearly as hard to take off safe. when removing trigger group from the stock the trigger guard wont move to rear even with a helper tool, but with force will pop straight up and out.
is it possible that all/some of these problems are due to how tight the receiver fits into the new CMP stock?? it takes a little bump to get it out of the stock. could a the inletting be binding some parts? TIA

Your stock swelled in storage. Remove some wood from under the trigger housing rear.
Sounds like your op rod spring is weak; replace it. Sometimes they won't feed the first round, especially if you don't release the bolt quickly after you push the clip down. Don't let your hand move forward.
As far as functioning; only use M2 ball ammo to check with.
Remove the metal from the stock and see how the clip loads and strips. If it is good, then it is the stock.

i will do that. i just got in yesterday a spring kit from Fulton. also, i have an older period stock from the late 40s, i was told, that looks like its been in every war since the civil war. i have wanted to switch the stocks out for a few years now. more authentic looking to me than to have an old rifle in a new stock. maybe that will tell me a lot right there stock wise. appreciate your help. my grandson lost his mom in 2020 and his dad last nov. part of his grandpa therapy is shooting. he put 30 plus rds through it yesterday. now wants me to give it to him. kicks the snot out of him from a bench and he loves it. anyway, i will try all you said.

I've got 20 of them here and have built many; I can make them work. John Garand was brilliant; the Army was stupid wanting the clip instead of a magazine....

quote:

Originally posted by dpcd:
I've got 20 of them here and have built many; I can make them work. John Garand was brilliant; the Army was stupid wanting the clip instead of a magazine....

And not going with the smaller cartridge Garand wanted.

quote:

Originally posted by dpcd:
I've got 20 of them here and have built many; I can make them work. John Garand was brilliant; the Army was stupid wanting the clip instead of a magazine....

no kidding. beginning to hate the damn things. 11 yr old shot the M1A yesterday, bout 100 rds. he said it works much easier than the garand but the garand is more fun.
put a new op rod spring in from FA. ammo is COAL 3.217 on average.
using a usgi clip, it fed the first rd as it should. then never did it again. put top rd left then right. no change. tried the crap AEC clips. same result. it always feeds if i bump the op rod with my palm. i can send you pics if it would help. i'm too computer tarded to do it here. can send em to your email or text. if thats a problem i can see if Bill/Oregan will do it for me. hes great about that stuff. IF you think pics would help.

Some AEC clips caused problems as I recall.

If you need a few clips, LMK.

The M1 is very reliable with the right ammo. If yours is not functioning there is something wrong with it. If it is not retracting enough to feed cartridges, it might be the gas port is too small. If it still is not pushing cartridges out of the clip, open the clips up to relieve tension; but I have never seen this. If you are using reloaded ammo, and the bolt is not opening enough, then it is that. The new op rod spring should make it feed if the op rod is coming back far enough; a common problem with reloaded ammo. Not enough port pressure.
Send me a video of it firing. What ammo are you using?
It is not usually the clips. You should only have to bump the op rod on the first round, if then. Definitely not for shots 2-8.
As for adopting the 276 Pederson; it would have been a bad idea to adopt a new cartridge just before a war. That is the reason England kept the ancient 303 and did not adopt the 276 Enfield cartridge.

And, there was a very large stockpile of 30-06 ammo on hand.

quote:

Originally posted by dpcd:
The M1 is very reliable with the right ammo. If yours is not functioning there is something wrong with it. If it is not retracting enough to feed cartridges, it might be the gas port is too small. If it still is not pushing cartridges out of the clip, open the clips up to relieve tension; but I have never seen this. If you are using reloaded ammo, and the bolt is not opening enough, then it is that. The new op rod spring should make it feed if the op rod is coming back far enough; a common problem with reloaded ammo. Not enough port pressure.
Send me a video of it firing. What ammo are you using?
It is not usually the clips. You should only have to bump the op rod on the first round, if then. Definitely not for shots 2-8.
As for adopting the 276 Pederson; it would have been a bad idea to adopt a new cartridge just before a war. That is the reason England kept the ancient 303 and did not adopt the 276 Enfield cartridge.

no no no. its functioning fine except for the FIRST, TOP round feeding. i bump the op rod handle and it pushes it in fine. the first rd feeds about a quarter to 3/8" out of the clip, then stops. i hit the op rod handle and it pushes the rd in all the way. after that it fires and ejects each rd fine. my concern is only with the first rd needing to be smacked in all the way. i have been told that this is normal but find that hard to believe. its true so be it, but i need confirmation from someone that knows. in other words, you guys. the experts.

John, so glad your grandson is enjoying Garand therapy! He is lucky to have you as his grandfather.
I was around 12 or 13 when Dad caved in to my pleading and bought me a surplus 1917 Eddystone from Sears for $29. I shot it for the first time with surplus M2 (supplied by the father of a Boy Scout pal who was assigned to Fort Lewis) from prone in a gravel pit near Tacoma Washington. I swear the recoil pushed me back a couple of inches, but I was lying on smooth river run cobbles that essentially acted as ball bearings. I thought it was the grandest thing in the world, and that I had arrived.

OK, you do not have a problem; drive on. First round feeding has a lot to do with how fast you release the op rod. Practice with that. If you let it go suddenly, it will feed. If you ride your hand against, it that slows it down.
But having to help the first round is common. But the op rod will not chamber a round on it's own from a stopped position. It needs momentum.
Try spreading the clips apart some too.

quote:

Originally posted by Bill/Oregon:
John, so glad your grandson is enjoying Garand therapy! He is lucky to have you as his grandfather.
I was around 12 or 13 when Dad caved in to my pleading and bought me a surplus 1917 Eddystone from Sears for $29. I shot it for the first time with surplus M2 (supplied by the father of a Boy Scout pal who was assigned to Fort Lewis) from prone in a gravel pit near Tacoma Washington. I swear the recoil pushed me back a couple of inches, but I was lying on smooth river run cobbles that essentially acted as ball bearings. I thought it was the grandest thing in the world, and that I had arrived.

thanks. we shot it again today, along with a ruger 45 colt that i got from you! he loves the 45 colt round. thats a good memory and i know how that felt. my dad and i went out in the sandhills with ray reaves, border patrol supervisor and my later on baseball coach. i wanted to go dove hunting but knew nothing about it nor did my dad. ray had an old heavy 12 gauge double bbl two times gun. my dad was hoping i get the snot kicked out of me and forget about it. i was kneeling down when the dove started flying over and the first shot rocked me backwards flat on my back and i cut loose again with the second bbl. my dad ran over and said had enough? ray came over grinning like crazy and handed me 2 more shells. said damn my kid wouldn't of done that. i shot till we ran dry. never hit one. ray told me later my dad was proud of me but pissed that i liked it so much. that was in 61 i think. i now have maybe 12 shotguns, all tactical or old model 12s, 870s etc etc. not a lot but i like em. good memories.

quote:

Originally posted by dpcd:
OK, you do not have a problem; drive on. First round feeding has a lot to do with how fast you release the op rod. Practice with that. If you let it go suddenly, it will feed. If you ride your hand against, it that slows it down.
But having to help the first round is common. But the op rod will not chamber a round on it's own from a stopped position. It needs momentum.
Try spreading the clips apart some too.

i'm so damn glad to hear that! i have fretted over that for a long time now. personally i love that gun and my 11 yr old grandson actually texts me from the school bus sometimes wanting to know when we can go shoot the M1 GARAND. lives 20 minutes away. it kicks the snot out of him and he eats it up. it makes me cringe to watch him shoot it but i actually have to lie to him about how many rds i take with me. i call a halt at 10 clips.
i know one problem is my hands are kinda messed up even after 2 operations from arthritis so its damn hard for me to pull the op rod back far enough to ensure a proper return to battery loading a rd. but...its worth it so you have no idea how relived i am to hear its functioning ok. i was just about ready to see if there was a garand mechanic in this area. so thanks again!

It is a RIFLE; not a gun.
Make sure your grandson does not ever call it a gun.
Bring it over and I'll gauge all the parts (I have a complete set of depot gauges) and tell you all about it.

I should have said this before; you need to get FM23-5; you can't operate a piece of equipment without studying the TMs.
Here is how to load the M1 Rifles and it reiterates what I said about you not having any problem with the rifle.
Chapter 3 Para 13; Loading the Rifle: "It may be necessary to strike forward the operating rod with the heel of the right hand to fully close and lock the bolt."

quote:

Originally posted by delloro:
Some AEC clips caused problems as I recall.

If you need a few clips, LMK.

PM sent

quote:

Originally posted by dpcd:
I should have said this before; you need to get FM23-5; you can't operate a piece of equipment without studying the TMs.
Here is how to load the M1 Rifles and it reiterates what I said about you not having any problem with the rifle.
Chapter 3 Para 13; Loading the Rifle: "It may be necessary to strike forward the operating rod with the heel of the right hand to fully close and lock the bolt."

bueno. thanks!

quote:

Originally posted by delloro:
Some AEC clips caused problems as I recall.

If you need a few clips, LMK.

PM sent

well we went out and shot it again yesterday. just happened to remember what someone on an M1 Garand site posted on FB. said the clips have a protruding dimple on the top of each clip indicating which side of the clip the top (first) rd should be at. damn if it didn't work as advertised. he shot 7 clips. i switched out the top rd on each one some on the no "dimple" side most on the dimple side. first rd on the off side was hard to smack into battery. rds with the first rd on the dimple side fed about 1/8" upon releasing the bolt, then a light palm shove and it fed very easily. every time. i'm not a garand mechanic by any means but success is success. thanks again for all the help.