Any one take care of m1's for a VFW group?
A friend ask if I would be interested.
The Garands are plugged and the only shoot blanks.
They have a lot of trouble with jams and miss- fires.
He said the rifles get very dirty from the blanks.
they probably should be cleaned after each outing.
any comments greatly appriciated.
Thanks Dave

http://www.odcmp.com will send the word out for you.

I’ve been a stunt man in the motion picture business for a little over 30 years and can tell you first hand that most semi and full auto weapons do not like blanks very well...without some tinkering and lots of cleaning and maintenance, and even then you will have lots of misfires and failures.

Since there is no projectile the blanks do not seat and feed well from the mag, or en-bloc clip of the Garand. Also, allot of the blanks people buy are really old military blanks originally made for grenade launching and meant to be used one at a time rather than feeding and firing a whole mag or clip in semi or auto mode.

Carburetor cleaner, in a spray can, works really well for cleaning weapons using blanks.

Stembridge Guns (now out of business) used to be the primary supplier of weapons to Hollywood and they modified most of their semi and full auto weapons so they would reliably (somewhat, anyway) operate with blanks. The toughest ones were Thompson’s with the fifty round drums. The old joke in Hollywood used to be: How do you make a gun misfire?... Say action!

I'd strip them down, make sure gas port/blank adapter is nice and clean, rifle properly lubed (greased), bolts/firing pins cleaned, drop of oil in the bolt underside.

Another area is the op rod tip. If under sized, they will short cycle, make sure clean..

Jammig a problem, perhaps timing, which a timing block inserted in the en bloc will tell you in a second.

areas I would look at.

Just because I am old and spooky I felt obliged to add this footnote based on first hand personal experience with blank ammunition.

PLEASE [!!!!!!] be extremely careful when using blanks. I had the unfortunate experience of being on the set when an actor back in the 1980’s blew a quarter sized hole right through his temple while playing around with a prop gun with full load blanks in it. Obviously, he didn’t survive to be foolish and careless a second time. I also witnessed a stunt man blow a hole right through his boot and tear the shit out of his foot with a full load 45-70 blank. He survived...but lost the tip of one toe.

Blanks are VERY dangerous and the concussion and explosive gases are exactly the same as a live round...only the bullet is absent.

Rick, I think I remember hearing about that! but as long ago and I was young I can't remember details, but remember it well and have always thought of that when watching specials on making of movies or special effects.

Red

quote:

Originally posted by Dago Red:
Rick, I think I remember hearing about that! but as long ago and I was young I can't remember details, but remember it well and have always thought of that when watching specials on making of movies or special effects.

Red

The actor was John Eric Hexum and he died almost immediately from massive brain damage. It literally blew a chunk of his skull right through his brain. He was a nice kid...but the operative word was “KID!â€

I also served as the chairman of the Screen Actors Guild stunt and safety committee for eight years and I saw all the investigative reports on Brendon Lee’s death that was caused by total carelessness, on the part of the prop department, and full load, homemade .44 magnum blanks. Long story on that one...which did not totally involve the blank itself...but the point is the same. Blanks are very dangerous and should be treated with the same respect and precautions as live ammunition. They are not “toy caps“ they are explosive devices that can kill and injure people at close range.

I have a small round scar on my back from the cardboard wad out of a 44-40 blank that an actor shot me with accidentally years ago. He was “really sorry†but thank God it was my back and not my face or head...or something even more important!!

I take care of the Garands for our American Legion post honor guard/burial detail. Our guns came to us from Uncle Sam with blank firing adapters installed. The Army tech manual that came with the rifles says the BFA (blank firing adapter) orifice needs to be from .172 to .185 with the NEW Army issue ceremonial blanks.
For well worn rifles .172 is a good starting point. If the rifle ALWAYS loads the second round but never the third continue opening the orifice until all 8 rounds fire flawlessly. After about 80 rounds you CAN expect the rifle to start malfunctioning. Clean the rifle & relube the wear points.

The M1909 blank loaded by LC during 1998 had production problems therefore is no good. Don't use it. Hope this helps.

THANKS For the replys, safety is always the first thing we consider when handling any firearm.

Doug, where can i find the New Army ceemonial blanks?
the ones they have now are M1909 and mfg. was 1967 at LC
Thanks Dave

Our American Legion post fills out the form Uncle sent us & we get resupplied courtesy of the US Govment. WE use our blanks at veterans funerals. We average 9 funerals a month just just in our parish ( county to you folks outside Louisiana ) for WWII vets alone. The US is loosing WWII vets at the rate of about 1800 per month right now. WE burn up a lot of blanks!