M-1 Garand Repairs

[Notcivil]

I am looking for someone local to repair a M-1 Garand. It was converted to .308 win and has never worked. It was converted by an out of town 'expert', so I need someone local to San Diego to fix it.

[kendog4570]

What has "never worked"?

[Notcivil]

Since I received the rifle, it has never cycled. You can put a Garand clip in and fire it, but you need to manually cycle the action to get a fresh round in the chamber.

[Sailormilan2]

A couple of possibilities for that. All easily fixable.
#1. A worn gas cylinder. Easy item to replace. It should not excede .532" inside diamter. A poor man's check gauge is a rimmed magnum case. if it goes in too far it indicates a possible worn cylinder. I've tested this on a couple of gas cylinders and it just barely enters.
#2. A worn gas pistoin. Minimum diamter is supposed to be not less than .525"
#3. The gas port may be too small. Since it is a 308 Win, it requires a bigger gas port than a 30-06. Gas port on a 308 Win barrel should be .089". A #43 drill should just go in. A 30-06 barrel has a .079" hole, and a #47 drill should go in, but a #46 probably will not.
If it worked before rebarrel, but not after, I would suspect a barrel with the wrong sized gas port.

[kendog4570]

Check the poppet valve in the gas plug. If it is leaking due to a crack or weak spring it will cause this, and also the diameter of the piston and diameter of the gas cylinder bore. There is only .0007 from min to max on the piston.
Sounds like you just need a little troubleshooting.

[Notcivil]

I am going to pull out the gun and take a look at these items. I figured it was something stupid, usually is when an 'expert' works on a gun. Thanks, for the info.

[kendog4570]

It's easy to overlook these items, except in a full technical inspection. Your rifle is just giving you a heads up that something is out of whack. Probably not too tough to get her working again.
Sailormilan2 gave the specs. Actual piston minimum is .5253", but it would probably work even a little under. When they get out of round they start to act up. It doesnt take much to get them to not function when this happens. I would check the port size first.

[Notcivil]

Port measures 0.079" by my measurement. The gas piston measures .5265"/.5624", so that seems correct. The gas cylinder measures .531"/.531" at the muzzle, and .528"/.552" at the breech end. It looks like I have two problems. I am going to redrill the gas port, and swap out the gas cylinder from one of my other rifles and see what happens. I really appreciate the help.

Oh, by the way, I took a 300 H&H case and confirmed my measurements, the gas cylinder is egg shaped at the breech end, but nice and round on the other.

[kendog4570]

The aft of the cylinder is supposed to be out of round for op rod clearance. It's the power stroke area just behind the barrel port that matters.
When you enlarge your gas port, go one drill size at a time. Its real easy to oversize the port so take it real easy. I use a drill chuck as a pin vise and twist the drill bit by hand. Also, run a wood dowel into the bore to keep from cutting the other side. Sounds like overkill, but it happens!
Good luck.
Question. How was your rifle converted to 308? Did they install a new barrel, or put in a chamber insert? The insert was supposed to be fire-set into a specially reamed 30-06 chamber. You could tell by a half inch or so of free bore in your throat. Your gas port size makes me wonder.

[Notcivil]

The gun was rebarreled. I checked, and it does not appear to have a barrel insert. I am going to go ahead and redrill it. I will take an extra gas cyclinder to the range with me and swap it out if it does not work.

[kendog4570]

Keep us posted. I love a mystery. Dont forget to check the plug. I swap all mine out for solid ones. I'm not planning on launching any rifle grenades any time soon!

After changing the plug out, my DCM gun doesn't have anywhere near the fliers it used to. Now it shoots on par with a Deans Gun Restorations/Krieger barreled, John C. Garand match gun. Kriegers are the best barrels you can get, but M2 ball is still M2 ball.

When you are at the range, please notice where your brass goes. I have a 7.62 Navy contract barreled M1, and the brass goes behind me into the next county. Haven't quite figured it out yet.

[003]

Contact Eric at National Match Armory. He is not local, but he is the very best M-1 builder in the US today. He builds the winners at Camp Perry.

http://www.nationalmatcharmory.com/

[paladin4415]

Don McCoy is local and still working on M1's. Don practically invented match Garands, and is generally regarded as the best builder ever. 308's are his specialty. He is over 90 now, but still going strong. Sent me a PM if you want his info.

[smguser]

Don McCoy is local and still working on M1's. Don practically invented match Garands, and is generally regarded as the best builder ever. 308's are his specialty. He is over 90 now, but still going strong. Sent me a PM if you want his info.

Don is a stud! I second his vote.

[kendog4570]

[QUOTE=paladin4415;5367547]Don McCoy is local and still working on M1's. Don practically invented match Garands, and is generally regarded as the best builder ever...QUOTE]

YES.
Didn't know he was still around.