Garand repair

[Johnk]

I've searched a bit on the Forums for a smithy who specializes in repairs of Garand's but all I saw was re-barreling & refinishing.
At the range today (Atterbury) I experienced a double fire sorta like a binary trigger would do and also had difficulty loading clips in.
Is there a gunsmith who knows a thing or two about Garands? I purchased mine from the CMP years ago and
they have a highly regarded repair shop as you can imagine but it is in Alabama and shipping is kinda expensive and they are on a
month's long waiting list.
Any assistance would be appreciated for a recommended gunsmith would be appreciated. And I wouldn't mind driving a
few hours to get there for the right person.
Thanks.

 

[BigMoose]

The garand fixing is easy enough to do yourself. (Everything but pulling a barrel anyway)

The clip thing is fairly easy, most of the time its the clip
First what kind of clips are you using? Is the coating on them fairly thick?
If your using AEC clips, whoever made them put a really heavy park on them, they also got the lips bent in a bit too far. You may need to take your meaty fingers and bend the suckers out a bit, also, use something to knock the thick park on the clips off.

The double fire may be just a "lazy finger", but lets start with the trigger pull.. do you have a trigger pull gauge?

 

[TJ Kackowski]

BigMoose has given you some sound advice ... me, I'm the opposite ... take your time and send it off to the "Pros From Dover" (the CMP), and let them do what they do best.

I did this exact thing when my M1 went Kaboom and couldn't be happier ... here's the thread if you want to follow my journey ... https://www.indianagunowners.com/threads/m1-goes-kaboom.521709/

 

[Johnk]

The garand fixing is easy enough to do yourself. (Everything but pulling a barrel anyway)

The clip thing is fairly easy, most of the time its the clip
First what kind of clips are you using? Is the coating on them fairly thick?
If your using AEC clips, whoever made them put a really heavy park on them, they also got the lips bent in a bit too far. You may need to take your meaty fingers and bend the suckers out a bit, also, use something to knock the thick park on the clips off.

The double fire may be just a "lazy finger", but lets start with the trigger pull.. do you have a trigger pull gauge?

I do not have a gauge. Could I have "limp waisted" it like a pistol?
Read your thread and am appreciative. Still wish I could find somebody in the state as I don't want to wait months to get it back. I have plenty of other rifles to shoot but would miss my Garand if it were gone for a long time.

 

[Johnk]

And, the clips I'm using are all from Greek HXP ammo.

 

[BigMoose]

And, the clips I'm using are all from Greek HXP ammo.

So factory packed clips. Ok that helps.

If the pull is a bit light, it is possible to accidentally double a garand. its more of a bump fire.

The Garand is something your going to want to learn to fix yourself, its pretty easy.
Let's start at the beginning, do you remember what grade of Garand you got from the CMP?

I would say that most Garands from the CMP will require a good strip down, and cleaning.. as there is often gunk, cosmoline, etc
And not just a field strip, a DETAIL strip.. I found turkish red dirt gunk up under my hand guards.
(Unless its a special or expert, and those are often TOO dry)

I am no gunsmith for sure, but I got my garand all the way stripped, cleaned, and checked..
You will find many of the old springs the CMP leaves in these guns need replacing.


This is my IHC that I stripped and cleaned myself.

 

[55fairlane]

A) the CMP is always a good choice
B) Jerry Johnson is a well know smith who knows those rifles
C) if your still at Atterbury, go find a Palma shooter, Joe Bakies, he should be able to help ya out
D) what matches did ya shoot? How did ya do?

 

[indyjohn]

So factory packed clips. Ok that helps.

If the pull is a bit light, it is possible to accidentally double a garand. its more of a bump fire.

The Garand is something your going to want to learn to fix yourself, its pretty easy.
Let's start at the beginning, do you remember what grade of Garand you got from the CMP?

I would say that most Garands from the CMP will require a good strip down, and cleaning.. as there is often gunk, cosmoline, etc
And not just a field strip, a DETAIL strip.. I found turkish red dirt gunk up under my hand guards.
(Unless its a special or expert, and those are often TOO dry)

I am no gunsmith for sure, but I got my garand all the way stripped, cleaned, and checked..
You will find many of the old springs the CMP leaves in these guns need replacing.

I for certain appreciate your enthusiasm, I am of the same cloth. But don't get disappointed with those that don't want to go down that rabbit hole.

 

[Cameramonkey]

If you need a pull gauge, I have one and am not too far from you. I'm about 3 minutes east of Bradis.

 

[rosejm]

Can you describe "difficulty loading the clips in"?


I'm going to bet you've got some wear on the hammer hooks & sear assembly.
It makes for a very light trigger and occasionally a bump fire.

It's pretty easy to pull the trigger group out and check the engagement.
From https://www.garandgear.com/m1-garand-inspection/

On the tail of the hammer:

And/or on the top part of this trigger image:

 

[92FSTech]

If it's not you accidentally bump firing (which is entirely possible), I agree with rosejm: I'd look at the sear and hammer hook engagement. My first Garand from the CMP doubled when I got it, and I ended up replacing the trigger and hammer, which fixed the problem. The parts it came with were worn past the point of being able to safely engage.

 

[Johnk]

Can you describe "difficulty loading the clips in"?


I'm going to bet you've got some wear on the hammer hooks & sear assembly.
It makes for a very light trigger and occasionally a bump fire.

It's pretty easy to pull the trigger group out and check the engagement.
From https://www.garandgear.com/m1-garand-inspection/

On the tail of the hammer:

And/or on the top part of this trigger image:

The clips don't go in smoothly. They go in an inch then bind-up. I wiggle it and they go in a little farther. Pushing down hard doesn't seem to help. I just have to work it back & forth & up & down. Not a smooth insertion at all. Something is wrong and i'm going to pull the fire control group to look at and compare it to the pictures. then carefully take it apart, clean it, lubricate, and rebuild. And, since i'm a reloader i'm gonna make some dummy rounds using spent shells.
Stupid to admit, but my 70 year old brain finally received the thought that i should pull the trigger group from my Mini-G which works like silk and compare it to my CMP one. DUH! I apologize if any of you are wondering what kind of idiot didn't think of this earlier but in my defense since retiring 5 years ago my mind has atrophied with reduced usage.
Gonna contact Shuff's to see if he'll help me out. He's about 4 1/2 hours away and maybe i'll take an trip up there if he's available. Or maybe I could send him the trigger group & op rod for him to look at although i suspect he'll want to inspect the entire rifle.
Again, forgive my ramblings. I really appreciate all of you for weighing in on this for me.

 

[Johnk]

If you need a pull gauge, I have one and am not too far from you. I'm about 3 minutes east of Bradis.

Thanks for the offer of borrowing your pull gauge. Depending on what i find i may take you up on your offer.

 

[BigMoose]

The clips don't go in smoothly. They go in an inch then bind-up. I wiggle it and they go in a little farther. Pushing down hard doesn't seem to help. I just have to work it back & forth & up & down. Not a smooth insertion at all. Something is wrong and i'm going to pull the fire control group to look at and compare it to the pictures. then carefully take it apart, clean it, lubricate, and rebuild. And, since i'm a reloader i'm gonna make some dummy rounds using spent shells.
Stupid to admit, but my 70 year old brain finally received the thought that i should pull the trigger group from my Mini-G which works like silk and compare it to my CMP one. DUH! I apologize if any of you are wondering what kind of idiot didn't think of this earlier but in my defense since retiring 5 years ago my mind has atrophied with reduced usage.
Gonna contact Shuff's to see if he'll help me out. He's about 4 1/2 hours away and maybe i'll take an trip up there if he's available. Or maybe I could send him the trigger group & op rod for him to look at although i suspect he'll want to inspect the entire rifle.
Again, forgive my ramblings. I really appreciate all of you for weighing in on this for me.

If you are going that route. Shuff's is good to go.

 

[Creedmoor]

If you re still looking for a Garand Smith my first suggestion would be Charley Mahoney in Catonsville, MD but I think hes recently retired. My next choice would be Folton Armory in Savage Md, they have been doing it for 50 yrs or so.

 

[Johnk]

If you re still looking for a Garand Smith my first suggestion would be Charley Mahoney in Catonsville, MD but I think hes recently retired. My next choice would be Folton Armory in Savage Md, they have been doing it for 50 yrs or so.

thanx Creedmoor. I gotta tell ya, the responses from you and the others has been impressive. Rock on.

 

[jcj54]

Jerry C Johnson, Riflesmith.
I have been working on Garands since the late 1980's. I was trained by a USMC armorer with 26 years experience with the Marine Rifle team.
I can help you out if you are up for a drive, I am located about 20 miles northwest of Fort Wayne.
PM me if interested

 

[Creedmoor]

Jerry C Johnson, Riflesmith.
I have been working on Garands since the late 1980's. I was trained by a USMC armorere with 26 years experience with the Marine Rifle team.
I can help you out if you are up for a drive, I am located about 20 miles northwest of Fort Wayne.
PM me if interested

Heres your answer OP, Right here.

 

[Johnk]

Jerry C Johnson, Riflesmith.
I have been working on Garands since the late 1980's. I was trained by a USMC armorere with 26 years experience with the Marine Rifle team.
I can help you out if you are up for a drive, I am located about 20 miles northwest of Fort Wayne.
PM me if interested

Thank you Jerry for reaching out. I've compared my two Garands and don't see any mechanical difference. My next step is to take a wire wheel to some of my enbloc's to see if that works makes any difference. One thing i did happen to notice is it seems as though the trigger spring on my CMP Garand is weaker than my Mini-g so that probably should be replaced. I'll keep in touch. I won't mind the drive as long as I get one of my favorite rifles tuned up.

 

[55fairlane]

Heres your answer OP, Right here.

I posted his name once and I second, Jerry is a great smith