[CCHolderinMaine]

Ordered Feb 7th, the CMP stopped taking orders for service grade Springfields on 2/5. They're great people over there so when I asked 2 days late if I could get one, they did it for me. Hopefully here's some pics...

 

[JLA]

that looks like its in pretty darn good shape man. Congrats!

 

[WHSmithIV]

CCHolder - all I can say is Congrats and I am so very, very jealous!

 

[fourniermod11]

:thumbsup:

 

[dbcooper]

nice gun!

what year is the barrel?

 

[LDBennett]

Your Garand looks very acceptable and much better than some I've seen at guns shows but...

My son-in-law got two Service grade Garands a couple of years ago that did look less used than yours. Is CMP scraping the bottom of the barrel?

My CMP Garand is a Special and it looks like a new gun. And it should as the barrel is new, the stock is new, the internals appear lightly used then refinished, and the receiver (Springfield WWII manufacture) looks great and is of course refinished. To top it off it operates 100% (I did buy it for shooting, not collecting).

Have fun with your Garand.

LDBennett

 

[CCHolderinMaine]

nice gun!

what year is the barrel?

4/52 SA barrel
SA bolt
SA trigger group

Haven't done a complete teardown yet, but so far so good

 

[gdmoody]

Nice looking Garand.

 

[soundguy]

very yummy looking!

 

[carver]

I'm jealous too! Wish I could afford one.

 

[DixieLandMan]

That is one sweet rifle. You will love it.

 

[glassparman]

OH Yes! That's It! Just the way I like it! Do it some more!

I just love gun porn Nice Garand!

 

[jim brady]

Congradulations on a very nice Garand! I'd like to add a caution about ammo for it. I have one, and have learned to only use GI M2 Ball or Match grade ammo in it, or at least loads equal to those. Even some of the Korean surplus M2 Ball ammo is suspect in my mind. A friend of mine nearlly wrecked his with KE headstamped Korean ammo at our Gun Club range.

I load my loads to mil spec with M2 bullets and IMR-4895 powder. I went that way after reading John Clark's papers on M1 Match rifles. There are other powders that people have used for the Garand, but after reading about the M1 gas system and pressure curves generated by various powders, I'm sticking to the old recipe.

Enjoy that rifle!

 

[CCHolderinMaine]

Congradulations on a very nice Garand! I'd like to add a caution about ammo for it. I have one, and have learned to only use GI M2 Ball or Match grade ammo in it, or at least loads equal to those. Even some of the Korean surplus M2 Ball ammo is suspect in my mind. A friend of mine nearlly wrecked his with KE headstamped Korean ammo at our Gun Club range.

I load my loads to mil spec with M2 bullets and IMR-4895 powder. I went that way after reading John Clark's papers on M1 Match rifles. There are other powders that people have used for the Garand, but after reading about the M1 gas system and pressure curves generated by various powders, I'm sticking to the old recipe.

Enjoy that rifle!

Thanks for the advice, I'm well aware of the issues. This is my fourth Garand and I have another on order I buy M2 ball from the CMP (currently Greek HXP) but you can shoot most anything in your Garand if you get one of these nifty little gems;
http://www.garandgear.com/m1garand/detail/33-springs-and-things/flypage/75-ported-gas-plug?sef=hcfp

You can also buy an adjustable one from Schuster's (sp?), kind of a pain though, you have to calibrate it with each different ammo you use.

 

[soundguy]

for those that reload their garands.

i see many list imr4895

any of you using imr4064 ? is there a 'cutoff' , ie.. line int he sand... etc. imr 4350 is another one.. etc.??

I still have some greek surplus. not to mention a ton of empty greek brass wanting powder..

 

[LDBennett]

I tried those adjustable gas plugs in two of my Garands and they now reside in my tool box. At the time I was fighting gas pressure leaks on the gas piston of one of the guns and no setting of the plug would allow the gun to work reliably. That is not the fault of the adj. plug but in the process I determined the build of the plug was a bit crude in its adjustment. Once I fixed the gas piston sizing and went to the non-adjustable gas plug, the gun operated perfectly. So I tossed the adj. gas plug in the tool box to almost be forgotten.

As for the proper loads for the Garand, I refer you to the Hornady Reloading Manual (in the 8th and other editions) to the section dedicated to the M1 Garand loads. If any of these loads were a problem I am sure Hornady would have found it.

Powders there for 150-155 grain bullets are H335 (my choice), A2495, A2520, VIHT N-135, RL-12, VARGET, and lastly H4895. the velocity range is from 2400 fps to 2750 fps but I doubt the lower velocity loads would reliably operate the gun.

For 168 gr bullets all of the above plus W748, IMR4895, IMR4064,VIHT N-140, RL-15, VIHT N-150, and BL-C2. So we are not limited to just IMR4895. the velocity for these loads vary between 2300 fps and 2700 fps. I doubt the lower velocity loads would reliably operate the gun.

There are also loads for 178 gr bullets. If interested then look them up.

So we have many choices other than IMR4895 for our Garands. My choice is 45 gr of H335 behind a 147 gr FMJ Winchester bulk bullet. Works for me.

LDBennett

 

[soundguy]

i do have varget and imr 4895 on hand.. no h4895 though. my favorite laods for 30-06 are 150 and 180gr

i'm at work now.. but looking at the hodgdon(win)(imr) powder data site.. it unfortunately just lists 3006 and does not break out springfield/garrand. I do recall my nornady 7th? haveing a seperate page though.. hmm.. will have to investigate that. I have also looked into some tame 3006 loads using trailboss in 3006 just to get my wofe shooting.. not really the same thing though.. I'm sure a semi auto will hate those loads...

 

[jim brady]

I've used blc(2) powder, and it worked OK. I'm sure the others, especially the W748, are very well suited. I listed the IMR-4895 because it was what they used way back, and I personally have gotten excellant results with it and both the M1 and the M2 bullet.

Not knowing CC already has considerable experiance with the M1, my advice was aimed mostly at someone who may not have as much gray in their whiskers. I don't think too many young shooters know not to use slow burning powder in reloads in a Garand, or a steady diet of commercial hunting 180 grain ammo, either.

My most accurate 180 grain hunting load uses IMR-4350, but I don't let that stuff near my Garand.

 

[CCHolderinMaine]

I tried those adjustable gas plugs in two of my Garands and they now reside in my tool box. At the time I was fighting gas pressure leaks on the gas piston of one of the guns and no setting of the plug would allow the gun to work reliably. That is not the fault of the adj. plug but in the process I determined the build of the plug was a bit crude in its adjustment. Once I fixed the gas piston sizing and went to the non-adjustable gas plug, the gun operated perfectly. So I tossed the adj. gas plug in the tool box to almost be forgotten.

As for the proper loads for the Garand, I refer you to the Hornady Reloading Manual (in the 8th and other editions) to the section dedicated to the M1 Garand loads. If any of these loads were a problem I am sure Hornady would have found it.

Powders there for 150-155 grain bullets are H335 (my choice), A2495, A2520, VIHT N-135, RL-12, VARGET, and lastly H4895. the velocity range is from 2400 fps to 2750 fps but I doubt the lower velocity loads would reliably operate the gun.

For 168 gr bullets all of the above plus W748, IMR4895, IMR4064,VIHT N-140, RL-15, VIHT N-150, and BL-C2. So we are not limited to just IMR4895. the velocity for these loads vary between 2300 fps and 2700 fps. I doubt the lower velocity loads would reliably operate the gun.

There are also loads for 178 gr bullets. If interested then look them up.

So we have many choices other than IMR4895 for our Garands. My choice is 45 gr of H335 behind a 147 gr FMJ Winchester bulk bullet. Works for me.

LDBennett

I agree about the adjustable ones, not good. Have you looked at the one I linked? This is a small time guy and he has it figured out. I read your posts and always learn something, I think you'd be interested in the extensive actual test data he has. The plug he sells is basically just a gi plug that has been hollowed out (ported). Lot's of graphs on actual port pressures, in dozens of ammunition configurations.

 

[JLA]

I use the Garand Gear ported plugs. They are fantastic. If your gas system is within spec it will still cycle with std M2 loads, but the ported plug almost triples the gas systems starting volume which delays op rod movement another millisecond or so which allows the use of slower powders that would otherwise cause high port pressures and bend a perfectly good op rod. With the Ported plug from Garand Gear I can safely run my fav load of 57 gr IMR4350 under a 168 gr SMK and not worry about damaging my precious rifle.