This issue came up at a recent shoot, where a Garand shooter was having trouble with his sights slipping adjustment, and we noticed that the front sight and gas cylinder would 'wiggle' a few thou from side to side. This article explains why that is and how to fix it. We at Appleseed don't really need to worry about fixing it, but it is worth knowing about.
http://www.thecmp.org/askarmorergascylinderpeen.htm
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History:
When the M1 Garand rifle was manufactured 50+ years ago, both the gas cylinder and the front hand guard were commonly assembled in such a way that they felt "loose". The soldiers who would be using and cleaning these rifles needed to be able to disassemble them with only the tools that they carried with them. When the designers balanced the necessary clearance with the need to maintain the rifle's accuracy, the result was the movement or looseness of these parts commonly found today. Any wear on these parts that occurs through use only adds to the clearance and felt movement of these parts.
This article should probably be skimmed by any Appleseed instructor not already familiar with this issue. A decent number of people show up to shoots with Garands, and it is worthwhile to know about them.
It also talks about 'gluing' the front handguard to one of the bands. I've heard it said by an experienced Service Rifle instructor that you should not pick up another competitor's M1 by it's front handguard, on the chance that he's had it glued/accurized in such a way that you might break it slightly loose that way. This obviously won't bother an 'off the rack' Garand, but may be something to keep in mind with guns that may have been accurized.
I hope the Garand geeks will correct any misstatements or oversimplifications I may have made in this post. :)
(note I an not a Garand Geek)
However I had this problem with My M-1 Garand and Pappy penned it buy using a ballpen hammer and another hammer using the pen end of the hammer on the spline's and the other hammer to lightly hit the face of the ball pen hammer ,,result my M-1 Garand is back to shooting under 2 moa as long as I do my part.
O yea the other mod to my M-1 cardboard shim's to the trigger group to get the trigger group lock up right . it looks not quite ugly (a Garand can never look "ugly") but it works well.
Wade
Maybe in the days of corrosive ammo removing the gas cylinder for cleaning was necessary. These days I don't know why you'd need to remove it. When I need to remove the op rod it comes out from the back after getting the action out of the stock and removing the follower/arm, bullet guide, etc.
You can also peen the splines using this method
http://www.thecmp.org/forums/showthread.php?t=1392
ETA: This is the method I used with my M1 and it worked well. Just go slow and use moderate strikes with the hammer.
The rank and file GI was forbidden the removal of the gas cylinder unless in the company of an NOC or better when the M1 was the issue rifle.
The standard for the front sight wobble was 0.015" at the top of the front sight. Unless the front sight moved more than that amount the armors didn't fix it cause it wasn't broke. As soon as you touch off a few rounds the carbon will tighten it right up.
Wow, .015 movement is 2 MOA. I had no idea they let it be that loose.
Quote from: douglas34474 on May 11, 2010, 01:25:30 AM
The rank and file GI was forbidden the removal of the gas cylinder unless in the company of an NOC or better when the M1 was the issue rifle.
Maybe that was a local policy but it wasn't Army policy.
FM23-5 U.S. Rifle Caliber .30, M1 page 6 Table 1: Individual Soldier is authorized to remove the Gas Cylinder and Gas cylinder lock.
page 8:
g. Using the screwdriver blade of the M10 cleaning rod handle as shown in figure 8, unscrew and remove the gas cylinder lock screw.
h. Unscrew and remove the gas cylinder lock. Loosen the gas cylinder by tapping lightly toward the muzzle on the bayonet stud with a piece of wood or similar soft object (fig. 9). Remove the gas cylinder, taking care not to burr or damage the splines. Do not remove or attempt to adjust the front sight.
In the days of corrosive ammo removing the gas cylinder to clean between it and the barrel was probably a good thing.
Today there's not much reason for it. I followed advice from Ornell Fuggett (yeah, that far back) to tighten up the gas cylinder on the barrel and some other things on my M1 (a rack grade Greek return with an excellent 1953 LMR barrel) and the gas cylinder has not been off it since then.
No reason to take it off.
Quote from: Old Dog on May 25, 2010, 06:56:23 PM
No reason to take it off.
Unless you're like me, and couldn't pass on 250 rounds of M2 on a web belt for $75. It's corrosive, shoots well enough too, but when my corrosive supply runs out I'll peen and it probably won't come off again.
You are referring to the 1969 edition. Find the 1941 printing and it is strictly forbidden to the rank and file Gi to remove the gas cylinder unless a NCO is present.
Quote from: mtmisfit on May 25, 2010, 02:18:37 PM
Quote from: douglas34474 on May 11, 2010, 01:25:30 AM
The rank and file GI was forbidden the removal of the gas cylinder unless in the company of an NOC or better when the M1 was the issue rifle.
Maybe that was a local policy but it wasn't Army policy.
FM23-5 U.S. Rifle Caliber .30, M1 page 6 Table 1: Individual Soldier is authorized to remove the Gas Cylinder and Gas cylinder lock.