Garand malfunction

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chris in va

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I posted this on another board, maybe someone here could give further advice.

My Garand stovepipes every couple clips. Here's a pic.

image_zps692e97a9.gif

I took everything apart, cleaned all the buildup out of the gas cylinder, plug etc and greased per the CMP site.

Gunsmith time?
 
Chris Something like that can drive you nuts. I had a gas cylinder out of specs. The front gauged OK. The rear gauge was hard to find. When checked, it was out. A different gas cylinder cured problem. Just one of many possibilities. Jim
 
Lost of things can cause that in the M1 Garand. 1st thing is to clean it make sure it's properly lubricated.
If that doesn't work I would refresh the bolt with a ejector, extractor and springs.
Make sure the gas plug it tight and the gas block fits properly.
 
Whatever the fix, please post the remedy.

The thread Title pretty much nailed a request. When you figure out the cause, and the remedy, please share.

Thanks,

salty
 
One thing to check is the extractor and its tension. It looks like it may be dropping the casing before it gets to properly eject.
 
The round tries to feed. If you notice, the fired case is ejected but that jammed round hasn't been fired yet. It's almost as if the case pops out of the clip somehow as the bolt comes forward.

Is your firing pin hitting extremely lower on the primer, or is that an optical allusion?

The primer hasn't been hit yet. Probably just a bit of dust or something.
 
So that's a live round?

Troubleshooting a garand is like playing darts blindfolded. It's a wonderful mechanical puzzle and a lot of things have an influence on everything else.

First things I'd check: Extractor in good shape, ejector spring fresh, recoil spring fresh, follower/lifter legs not bent or worn, gas piston in spec and clean, cylinder in spec, gas plug tight, good GI clips, good ammo.
 
I thought it was a fired round. I think this changes things. I would look at the magazine, gas system, and operating rod spring. I'm leaning towards the magazine.
 
Check that you are using GI clips. The Euro made clips (I think they come from Italy) are made for the later manufactured HXP ammo which features a wider, NATO style extractor groove. The euro clips are designed to fit this wider groove so if you load these clips with older, narrow groove brass, the clips are sprung and don’t hold the cartridge correctly = early release. You can load either type cartridge in GI clips but Euro clips will only fit wide groove brass.
There was a lot of consternation when CMP 1st issued HXP surplus at the National Games over this issue.
 
Check that you are using GI clips. The Euro made clips (I think they come from Italy) are made for the later manufactured HXP ammo which features a wider, NATO style extractor groove. The euro clips are designed to fit this wider groove so if you load these clips with older, narrow groove brass, the clips are sprung and don’t hold the cartridge correctly = early release. You can load either type cartridge in GI clips but Euro clips will only fit wide groove brass.
There was a lot of consternation when CMP 1st issued HXP surplus at the National Games over this issue.

Yeah. It's not only the euro clips -there are chinese replicas of euro clips and some of them are darned hard to tell from GI clips.

There's another thing - a rewelded receiver just a few thousandths out or a little short can play hell with feeding.

If you're shooting reloads be careful of the bullet seating depth/overall cartridge length.

As said above feed issues can have all sorts of causes.

Oh, and get a new operating rod spring just for fun, a standard one.
 
My first try would be the enblocs. I've had issues with them too, not like that but it sure seems like something a bad clip could cause. I was recently having feed issues and tried replacing all the springs in the bolt, clip latch, and op rod to no avail. Then, I started marking the clip that was in the gun when I'd have a problem. Didn't take long to start weeding them out. If a clip had an issue twice, toss it. Hope it's that simple for you.
 
Check the diameter of the Gas Piston on the end of the operating rod, it should measure approx..525 to .526.
 
Post 11 covers it.
Try different clips.
Use military ammo.
Check for a re-welded receiver.
If it is a receiver re-weld problem, ditch the rifle
 
I would add that a misfeed like that can be caused by but not limited to:
Cartridge clip bent of deformed as was mentioned.
Follower arm twisted, bent, or broken.
Slide/follower deformed or damaged.
Bullet guide deformed or damaged (binds, stops follower arm).
Operating rod spring weak, deformed, broken, or wrong spring.
Operating rod drags or binds (op rod bend problem).
Operating rod drags or binds (misaligned lower band, front hand guard, gas cylinder).
Cartridge jams (early style receiver cartridge guides worn, or late style damaged).
Lack of lubrication on operating parts.

The above were all taken in order from Kuhnhausen's shop manual for the M1 Garand Service Rifle. Obviously start simple like looking over your clips and work from there. While I never experienced a clip problem I have been using the same bunch of clips for about 25 years. I have seen worn and bent follower arms cause this sort of problem.

Ron
 
Yeah, that problem is all in the feed system and unrelated to short-stroking which is one of the main causes for a true "stovepipe".

You had a lot of mis-guided answers in the beginning because of that description. Stovepipe is the fired case left hanging out, in "true" fashion with the mouth pointed out of the action and the whole case trapped there by the returning bolt (rifle) or slide (pistol).

That there is a feed failure, and many of the possible causes related to the round being loose under the clip's feed lips when the bolt comes forward to pick up that round. NOT being held properly in place by either the next round down, or by the follower for round #8, lets a double-stacked round move to the center and pop up like what your picture shows.

I have never personally seen that type of mis-feed in a Garand, but a bum magazine in an AR type resulted in the round getting rather impressively wedged up against the gas tube in the worst, most gun-disabling jam I have ever seen. There's a "perfect storm" up there above the AR's bolt carrier, with the size of the case head/body just being way to close to the width of the channel for the charging handle. So there's LOT to be said about this particular advantage of an open receiver design, for that type of mis-feed (FTFd in my acronyms--"FTF" can refer to fire OR feed and I've seen the same letters used for both. Failure to fire should be FTFr. I have a similar opinion on failures to extract and eject...)

So, there are multiple reasons that could cause the cartridge to pop out of the enbloc clip, and approaching it from the simplest to the most involved makes sense.
 
I have seen this same type issue on one of my Garnds. It was a timing issue. One of the ears on the follower arm was bent .
I gave the OP a list of things to check on the other web site but I guess he didnt want to try them as he came and asked here
 
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