Loose Front Handguard on M1 Garand

[A45acp1911]

The front handguard of my M1 Garand appears to be loose. The handguard does not move laterally in the direction along the barrel, but rather up and down (perpendicular to the barrel).

Is this a normal result of the wood shrinking?

Can or should the front handguard be shimmed or otherwise repaired?

Is repair even possible, or is the only option replacement?

My preference is to leave the Garand as I received it from CMP.

Thanks,
Philip J. Hoffmann

 

[student]

mine is also a little loose, I read that they were suppposed to be that way so barrel contact didn't screw up accuracy. This may be completely bogus, but it prevented me from altering my CMP M1. I will TRY to attach a pic of mine just for kicks.

http://thehighroad.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=&stc=1

 

[dfariswheel]

BOTH Garand handguards need to have a little fore and aft movement to prevent the heat of firing causing them to affect the barrel.

The only M1's with a non-loose front guard are National Match rifles in which the front guard is gutted out and bonded to the lower band.

In MOST cases, the M1's front guard does rattle around at least some amount.

Nature of the beast.

 

[A45acp1911]

Thanks to all for the advice.
PJH

 

[P5 Guy]

Drill rifles are made extra loose to give a resounding crack.