Author Archives: Finch

Setting The Elevation Knob On A M1 Garand

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There are a few different ways to set the elevation knob on a Garand floating around. Before setting this you will first need to determine what the correct amount of clicks is for your rifle to hit the X ring.

This is how I do it:

1. Run the rear sight all the way down.
2. Loosen the elevation knob screw.
3. Continue turning the knob down until you reach your desired hashmark.
4. Continue turning the knob down counting to your desired number of clicks.
5. Tighten the elevation screw without moving the knob.
6. Turn the knob up verifying that when you have reached the number of clicks you were looking for it stops at the desired hashmark.
7. Run the rear sight all the way up and tighten the elevation knob screw all the way.
8. Return the sight to zero and go shoot in a local match.

A fair amount of competitors don’t bother with this and just count clicks. It can be a useful practice as it helps you verify at a glance you are at the right elevation. However, on the other hand, I have had the rear sight loosen up on me and cause the elevation to appear correct but the number of clicks had drifted. Best practice is probably “trust but verify” and set your your elevation knob to the right hashmark but verify from time to time, at least before each match. It is also a good idea to write your elevation and windage down on a card and place it in your stock.

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Fall Match at York Rifleman

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I took a trip back to York Rifleman for their fall Garand Match. They shoot a full 200 yard match with pits. It’s a very well run match, I very much enjoy shooting with these folks.

The weather was perfect for shooting even if it was a little warm for October (high of 86) otherwise a light wind from behind and sunny.

I worked the pits first as I have for the past few matches with pits.

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I’m ashamed to confess I pulled one too soon in my haste to provide speedy service. Lucky for us our shooter didn’t fire while we pulled and we got it right back up. It’s important to wait for a call if you can’t see the shot.

I shot first after the pit change.

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I felt great in slow prone and did fairly well 92/2x I did OK in rapid prone 74 I jerked to the right a little. But oh boy did I screw up in rapid pone, misses and 6s all over the place.

My scorer suggested I work on shooting at my natural respiratory pause with dry fire. This was good advice. I’ve stuck some white pasters with black dots around my office and I’ll work on my natural pause. I’m in decent shape for the prone stages and my Winchester is performing well. All and all this isn’t a bad place to be.

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York shoots a spring match I’ll be back for sure. Except for Camp Perry this is my favorite match to shoot.

September ’13 Garand Match

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I only made it out for the Garand match this month, a cold kept me home from the Service Rifle match. It was beautiful, sunny and in the mid 60’s for the first relay. The fall sun made for some challenging conditions. There was an significant glare off my rifle, it was a challenge to keep on target. There was a an abnormal amount of smoke on the range as well.

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Factoring the conditions I was happy with my performance, I dropped a 5 in rapid prone and a miss in off hand but I went home satisfied.

As far as the conditions go, I my opinion it’s just part of the game, sometimes it rains, sometimes it’s hot, cold, sunny, dark. I think these conditions underscore the need for a good natural point of aim. With a good NPOA it’s easier to keep rounds on target even if seeing the target is a challenging.

Replace Clip Latch Spring on a M1 Garand

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The clip in one of my Garands was ejecting too soon. While this can be a byproduct of Greek clips, it’s easier to just replace the spring. Replacing this should clear up any premature ejection issues.

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It’s a pretty simple operation. Take the trigger assembly out and remove the lower stock. I use a heavy duty clip latch spring from Brownells.

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Use either a small punch or a M1 Garand combo tool to start pushing out the clip latch pin. It shouldn’t require much force to get it started.

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Once there is enough of the pin sticking out pull it out the rest of the way by hand. There may be a little spring tension here so be careful nothing goes flying.

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Then remove the existing spring from the clip latch and replace it with the new spring. The “fat” end of the spring should snap into the clip latch.

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Then replace the clip latch and replace the pin.

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Push down on clip latch and push in the clip latch pin.

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You can do this without totally field stripping your rifle just make sure the op rod catch is in the down position and the action is closed. Otherwise it will be difficult to reinsert the clip latch. Of course make extra sure your rifle is clear before attempting any of this.

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Gun Control Executive Actions: CMP Garands? Don’t panic, yet.

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Today Obama took unilateral “executive actions” on gun control. One of these actions, may have a negative impact on our sport.

Before anyone panics, the rumors of CMP’s death have been greatly exaggerated.

Initial assessment from Orest (the CMP boss) is that this will NOT impact CMP

Here is the thread in “ask Orest”

Per the boss:

From what I read – it has no direct impact on the CMP.

Here is the release from the White House blog.

– When the United States provides military firearms to its allies, either as direct commercial sales or through the foreign military sales or military assistance programs, those firearms may not be imported back into the United States without U.S. government approval. Since 2005, the U.S. Government has authorized requests to reimport more than 250,000 of these firearms.

– Today, the Administration is announcing a new policy of denying requests to bring military-grade firearms back into the United States to private entities, with only a few exceptions such as for museums. This new policy will help nothing keep military-grade firearms off our streets .

Based on the available information it doesn’t look to me like this will impact any future CMP Garand supplies.

1. CMP does not import anything the Army returns rifles per the law and turns them over to CMP.

2. The executive action (seems to) ban the reimport of rifles that were “sold or donated.” The Army gives CMP rifles that were loaned to out to other countries.

I suspect that this is specifically going after the infamous “Korean Garands” that were not going to CMP anyway. Not that that is a good thing, and don’t get me wrong I am not happy with it. This action limits the supply of Garands, and therefore new shooters to grow the sport.

One should also keep in mind that the mission of the CMP is not to be a Garand retailer. it is an organization to promote marksmanship. So even if this action took away CMPs ability to sell Garands it would not be the end of the CMP. They have long since known the Garand supply will not last forever and have been planing for the future.

CMP Mission:

The Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) is a national organization dedicated to training and educating U. S. citizens in responsible uses of firearms and airguns through gun safety training, marksmanship training and competitions. The CMP is a federally chartered 501(c)(3) corporation that places its highest priority on serving youth through gun safety and marksmanship activities that encourage personal growth and build life skills. Links on this page will lead you to more detailed information about the CMP and its programs.
Statutory mission. The federal law enacted in 1996 (Title 36 U. S. Code, 0701-40733) that created the Corporation for the Promotion of Rifle Practice and Firearms Safety, Inc. (CPRPFS, the formal legal name of the CMP) mandates these key “functions for the corporation:

(1) To instruct citizens of the United States in marksmanship;

(2) To promote practice and safety in the use of firearms;

(3) To conduct competitions in the use of firearms and to award trophies, prizes, badges, and other insignia to competitors.

The law specifically states: In carrying out the Civilian Marksmanship Program, the corporation shall give priority to activities that benefit firearms safety, training, and competition for youth and that reach as many youth participants as possible.

Furthermore Mosins and AKs won’t be impacted by this as it specifies calls out US provided rifles.

If you found your way here trying to decide if you should panic buy a Garand, do it! But not because of politics but because everyone should have a Garand and learn how to shoot it!

My 91/30

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