Garand has trouble feeding first round...

[virulosity]

Is there an easy fix for this? I have to puch forward on the charging handle to strip the first round. I thought it is supposed to auto feed the first round as soon as the mag is seated.

[tow4dough]

ask clancy

[Dr. Peter Venkman]

Make sure the rounds are fully seated in the En Bloc. Also make sure that there is no gunk or crap on the en bloc as well.

EDIT

Are you talking about immediately after the clip is inserted? It's normal for the bolt to not automatically do it. Give it a hard slap.

[AngelDecoys]

I'm sure you're doing this already, but.....

If your using your right hand, then you'd be pushing the clip down with your thumb. Ease the charging handle back with the side of your hand and let it move foreward stripping that first round. Just pushing the clip into the mag itself won't disengage the charging handle. BTW - Be sure you get you're thumb out. Being a lefty, that's one lesson I've not learned yet.

[thefinger]

I think I have the exact same problem as this guy has.

The problem with my garand is that the fully-loaded enbloc will not seat all the way into the receiver far enough for the first round to strip without MAJOR force on the charging handle.

In my case, I have to load 7 rounds instead of the full 8 rounds, because if I load a full enbloc I have to push so hard on the charging handle that it crushes the brass on the second round as it strips the first.

Most people on the forums have told me the same things: "enblocs may be out of spec," "clean gunk out," "you always have to push a little bit to get it going"...

BUT my enblocs are in spec (multiple manufacturers and they work in other garands), My action is clean, and I don't have to push "a little bit" to get it going--the bolt needs multiple kicks to strip that first round.

I feel the OPs pain, and we need some help!

[icormba]

Is there an easy fix for this? I have to puch forward on the charging handle to strip the first round. I thought it is supposed to auto feed the first round as soon as the mag is seated.

For the most part, this is normal.

The problem with my garand is that the fully-loaded enbloc will not seat all the way into the receiver far enough for the first round to strip without MAJOR force on the charging handle.

This is not!

[thefinger]

This is not!

And the guy with the m1 garand website doesn't have any help for me. lolthxalot

[M. Sage]

Are you talking about immediately after the clip is inserted? It's normal for the bolt to not automatically do it. Give it a hard slap.

+1, the option is usually getting your thumb bitten.

Sometimes, if you seat the clip really fast and really hard, and get your hand out of the way before the bolt hits it on the way forward (it is hitting your bladed hand as it comes forward, right?!), it should maybe close on its own.

But usually you seat the clip, the bolt closes partway and you give the charging handle a little slap.

[icormba]

for thefinger...

could be a few things...

I usually find that replacing my op rod springs with new SS ones from Orion7, along with new clip latch springs on all my M1's usually fixes any problems before I even run into any. My worst case M1 was my first M1, a Blue Sky import, needed a new clip latch and new op rod. But that was for premature ejection and op rod derailment.

It sounds like the issues you are having, if it is indeed clean, is something binding. Maybe the op rod is binding on the stock somewhere? Are you using a new Boyd stock?

Do you have access to an old worn stock you could use to test?

Sometimes it takes two M1's to figure out what's wrong with a bad one.

I had a link to a page with all sorts of issues with their possible cures, but I can't find it right now... sorry.

[deleted by PC police]

My Tanker does this every now and then. I found that after I putt the clip in that if I pull back on the charging handle that extra little bit it will feed by itself. If not I have to pull it and release a couple of times to get it to feed the first round.

[CSDGuy]

Is there an easy fix for this? I have to puch forward on the charging handle to strip the first round. I thought it is supposed to auto feed the first round as soon as the mag is seated.

I have a NM Garand. My rifle does the same thing that yours does. Once the E-Clip is seated, the bolt comes forward just a little. If the bolt doesn't slam home, all mine needs is a little bump on the op-rod and it'll load that first round.

For the M1 that requires a substantial shove, you might want to take the action out of the stock, put some dummy rounds into an E-Clip and see if you can see what's binding it up. Something may be bent or it's been put back together in an odd way. If my Garand was doing that, I'd make sure that nothing was bent or binding and that everything was put together correctly. It's not that I think YOU did anything, but it's something that I worry about everytime I strip and reassemble the rifle for a good cleaning.

Also, it's lubed in all the right places with grease or oil as it needs to be?

[virulosity]

My problem isn't as bad as that one guy, but I have to pull back and drop the charging handle 3 times to chamber the first round. I guess this is normal.

[Army GI]

I know exactly what you're talking about and I think I might have a solution.

When my M1 came from the CMP, it always automatically closed as I seated that clip in and heard that click. Then I sent it to DGR to have it completely refinished. Now I have the same problem as you (though it doesn't bother me as much).

Part of the DGR service was replacement of all springs with brand new ones. The operating rod spring that originally came with my M1 was much stronger than the replacement spring (sometimes it was so hard to reassemble my M1 I had to use leather gloves to keep from getting my fingers bruised). But the new spring is so weak I can reassemble it like nothing.

So try a stronger spring. It's not necessary for the spring to be strong on a civilian M1 because your life does not depend on it. But in the mud and snow of WWII, that strong spring is what helped push all that crap out of the way to positively strip and chamber that first round. Plus after that first round is fired, as the bolt is coming back it actually "bounces" off the back of the receiver and that combined with the spring gets the energy it needs to strip the subsequent rounds from the clip.

[30Cal]

1. It's pretty normal for the rifle to need a spank to get it running. Out of the ten or so M1's I've had, maybe one or two of them would load the first round without a smack.

2. Replace all the springs for no other reason than the fact that they aren't supposed to be used for 60+ years.

3. You can end up changing out a lot of parts trying to get it to load on its own. My advise is to enjoy it.



Also, I've never been able to figure out how someone could be slow or clumsy enough to get bitten by an M1 while loading it. You can keep your thumb parked in there all week long if you like: as long as you keep pressure on the clip, the oprod can't fly home. And when you are use the correct technique, the oprod moves your thumb out of the way.

[M1A Rifleman]

I have had my M1 for over ten years and notice it will load the first round differently with reloads vs factory. Different clips (GI vs Danish or Greek) make a difference as some no name en-blocks will not function in my M1 as they grip the rounds too tight vs a GI en-block. This sounds like the problem one of you may be having. Try bending a clip open to ease some of the pressure on the rounds or better obtain/make sure you are using a GI clip. When I recently had this problem I thought there was a problem with the rifle, but it turned out to be 3 or 4 no-name en-blocks I had found at the range no wonder they were left at the range.

I recall reading the "spank" as 30-cal mentions for loading was a normal proceedure. My uncle - (60's Army vet issued the M1) used this procedure the first time he fired my M1 without hesitation or comment. He just stuffed in the en-bloc, let the opp rod go, and wacked the charge handle.

After getting the M1 and having trouble loading, another vet showed me a method to load that took some getting used to but it works for me. Use the knife edge of your hand to push back the opp rod just enough to load the en-block. Then pushing down on the clip with your thumb and rotating your hand up and out of the way to allow the bolt to close. My experience is it takes some finess to properly load so everything works. Good luck.