was given a damaged garand - anyone know if this can be fixed?

Yeah that's a locking surface and it looks like it sheared off. I would find a replacement receiver. Probably cheaper than having it welded and refit properly.

When you say it suffered a malfunction, do you mean that that chunk blew off while your friend was shooting it?

Are we sure that is a USGI receiver, and not an aftermarket one such as a Federal Ordnance?

Im curious what the underside of the bolt lug looks like too.....

May be a sign that it had fired out of battery.

30Cal said:

May be a sign that it had fired out of battery.

Click to expand...

Thats what I was thinking, or with excessive headspace.

He's right... I wouldnt trust it, either.

Nope, not at all . That rifle experienced a slamfire just as the bolt was camming down. I speak from experience, having had one, which shaved metal from the receiver in that exact place. The bottom of the bolt lug dug in and then was pushed back. That slowed the bolt down enough that the receiver heel was not knocked off.

Imagine the round going off just when the right lug is a paper thickness below the receiver rail.



These are examples of out of battery slamfires that occurred before the lug made any contact with the receiver seats.










I have always wondered if this receiver rear, found in snow, was left there after a slamfire




I would like to ask permission to use your pictures as I did not take any photos of my damaged receiver. It is a good example of an almost out of battery slamfire.

Now, is your receiver safe? Well mine was, but like your friend, I did not trust it, so I sold it. We are all very irrational and even though I had fired rounds after the rifle was rebuilt, I did not feel safe behind the thing. So, is your receiver safe? That is hard to answer, I would let a real Garand gunsmith look at the thing and see if the timing of the bolt into battery is messed up. The left lug should be in engagement before the right lug is in engagement, and I don't know if that is a problem or not.

Your friend does not want to talk about the slamfire, and I don't blame him.

I'm not sure if you're looking to make this shootable via your own work or getting a "professional" to look at it. But if it's the latter have you thought about having the CMP assess it and potentially do the needed repairs? On their website they have info regarding their "Custom Shop" that offers all sorts of services for Garands and all the other firearms they have sold.

As noted above - my first step would be to contact the CMP (their custom shop) and find out what it would run to have them inspect and evaluate your weapon for possible repair.... Can't think of anyone that handles and works on more Garands than them... With a bit of luck you might be able to simply send them accurate photos for a diagnosis about a possible fix (or learn that it is indeed a wallhanger now...).

Good luck and post up whatever you come up with. Plenty of folks here will be interested... Glad no one was injured....

anothernewb said:

a friend gave me his garand for my 45th birthday. However, It had suffered some soft of malfunction and he's admitted that he doesn't trust it anymore (he actually bought a replacement one) and therefore gave me his old one.

I know next to nothing about them, but it appears that some metal had been shaved of the front where the bolt locks down. My guess is that the receiver is toast - but perhaps it can be welded and built back up - then machined down again? (which will admittedly likely cost as much as another garand anyway - but the receiver was made in 45... so I'm willing to take a shot at it.

View attachment 852924 View attachment 852925

Click to expand...

Garand/ball ammo has harder primers to prevent slam-fire.

The bolt lugs have full bearing on the receiver.

If it headspaces correctly?

(check by, with a stripped bolt, putting one layer of scotch tape on the case head of an un-fired case or cartridge and using it as a "Go" gauge, and then using three layers of scotch tape as a "No-Go" gauge)

It's a battle rifle.

Grease it and shoot it.




GR

Too bad the CMP no longer offers stripped receivers for sale.

P5 Guy said:

Too bad the CMP no longer offers stripped receivers for sale.

Click to expand...

I wonder whether their Custom Shop held back some salvage components from the recent Philippine batch rather than putting it all up for sale? Some of that stuff in GCA Journal photos looked too rough to do more than scavenge bits off. A quick phone call to them could answer this question -- if the answer is no, then possibly they could suggest another good surplus receiver source.

The down side with the CMP Custom Shop is the lengthy waiting list right now -- I've been stuck there since early April.

CMP builds special grades out of the receivers they have. None for sale. Plenty of receivers available on Gunbroker

Garandimal said:

Garand/ball ammo has harder primers to prevent slam-fire.

The bolt lugs have full bearing on the receiver.

If it headspaces correctly?

(check by, with a stripped bolt, putting one layer of scotch tape on the case head of an un-fired case or cartridge and using it as a "Go" gauge, and then using three layers of scotch tape as a "No-Go" gauge)

It's a battle rifle.

Grease it and shoot it.




GR

Click to expand...

Uh..

Hang it on the wall and buy a good one.

1KPerDay said:

Uh..

Click to expand...

The damage is superficial.

Hit it with a stone or some metal polish to remove any sharp edges.

More than likely caused by an out-of-battery slam-fire due to soft primer commercial ammo.

With proper ammo, as long as the headspace is spec, the rifle should function fine.

It's a battle rifle.

What's the problem?




GR

Doesn't look superficial to me. That's a locking surface and it appears to be sheared off.

1KPerDay said:

Doesn't look superficial to me. That's a locking surface and it appears to be sheared off.

Click to expand...

Just a top scale.

Have Garands with rolled corners worse than that.




GR