Category Archives: How to

Re-crowning an M1 Garand

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My Winchester Garand had a muzzle erosion of 3 and had a very beat up crown. I ordered I re-crowning tool from midway to try and clean it up a bit.

The first challenge was trying to find a tool that could take a 1/2″ bit. After a tour of several hardware stores I gave up and borrowed an old hand drill which fit.

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I put a little bit of light oil (left over hone oil) on the bit and shaved the crown down a bit.

I am pleased with the results the crown looks nice. I may have take more off the end than I probably should have.

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Post re-crowning the muzzle erosion has improved to around 2.25 if that improves accuracy or not I will find out on the next trip to the range.

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Repairing a Garand Trigger Guard for Stock Fit

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The trigger guard pins on an M1 Garand need to be “round” for proper stock fit, much like the late production SA stamped trigger guard that came with my Winchester rack grade.

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However, this part was designed to be softer than the receiver legs for good reason so often the pegs become flat on one side which can cause the trigger assembly to fall out of the stock.

This picture of some old manual seems to be floating around the Internet indicating that worn out pegs can be peened to improve lock up.

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A friend of mine gratuitously sent me a proper WRA milled trigger guard. Here is the “before” picture.

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As you can see it’s not that bad but I can’t stop myself from fiddling with it.

You will need a 1/2″ piece of wood to support the ears, American made ball peen hammer, and a shim.

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I used my big vice and supported a 1/2″ piece of plywood with some scrap wood so I didn’t hammer the wood out of the vice.

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There isn’t much to it after that. I carefully whacked ball peen hammer in the middle of the peg until the peg seemed a bit “rounder” You may consider using a wooded or rubber mallet and tapping the ball peen hammer.

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This seems to really just roll the edge back down and doesn’t reshape the entire pin however it should help with fit.

RCBS Chargemaster Straw Modification

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My RCBS was having trouble throwing loads about .2 too much. The Internet suggested a piece of McDonalds straw will help the powder flow more evenly.

Well It turns out the Internet is right. I tried some of the straws I had in my bar but they were too small. So I took a little road trip to my local McDonalds and acquired a few straws and some weird looks for walking in taking straws and leaving.

I cut a couple of inches of straw, emptied the powder, and suck it in the front of the dispenser. There is really nothing else to it. This did the trick and significantly decreased the overages.

Step one: cut straw

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Step two: enjoy increased accurate loads

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For what it is worth don’t let this stop you from getting a chargemaster they are great tools I can’t imaging reloading without one.

Peening The Barrel Splines on an M1 Garand

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A loose gas cylinder on a Garand can cause poor accuracy. Before trying to peen your barrel first see if you can just tighten up the gas plug. Use the fancy wench numrich sells here they are handy to have around.

IMPORTANT: do not grip your rifle by the front or top hand guards as they can easily break when twisted hard.

If that doesn’t do the trick you will need to peen the barrel splines. Before you take my advice you should read CMPs article here
I picked up a beat up rack grade Winchester “grenadier” that I intend to fix up a bit. I’m working on cleaning up the stock (more on that later) and while I still may get it re-barreled I thought I would see how it shot after peening.

I already had my rifle completely stripped so I clamped the barrel between a couple of boards in my vice. Don’t do anything crazy like sticking the stock in the vice you will break something. A vice might not be required you could probably get away with just laying it on the bench and have someone hold the receiver but be careful as there is hammering involved.

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You will need:

– a hammer
– a socket … I used a 1/2″
– a beer (recommended)

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Note the holes in the stock for a grenade sight disk.

Line up the socket with the spline. Leave a bit at the front so later you can get the gas tube started.

Give the socket several wacks with the hammer. You should eventually see the marks.

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I did it just until the cylinder doesn’t slide down with gravity. Like so…

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I used a board and a hammer and just gently tapped the gas cylinder down. There should be some resistance but don’t bring it down so far that it makes contact with the front hand guard as there should be some play. What I did was leave it out just a little and tightened the lock down until it pushed the cylinder down until it I was at the right spot. Then it is just as simple as tightening the gas plug. Again be careful not to twist anything wooden while doing this.

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Alternatively you can use ball-peen hammer place the hammer on the splines and give the hammer a whack with a rubber or wooden mallet (not another hardened steel hammer hammer).

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US model of 1917 extraction problems: honing the chamber

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My Model 1917 and I are still having trouble getting along, as I mentioned in several other posts. At Perry I ended up with some saved rounds in rapid prone due to ejection problems which did not make me happy.

While cleaning it i discovered that the chamber looks a little rough, probably a bit of rust. After unsuccessfully trying to clean it up with a chamber bush I ordered a 800 grain 30-06 “flex-hone” and the corresponding oil from midway.

I stripped the stock off and clamped the barrel between two wooden blocks in my big vice oiled the flex-hone lightly per instructions and ran it in and out for a very short time… Less than a minute.

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I won’t know how effective it was for a few weeks, the chamber is nice and shiny now and it still passes headspace so I have managed to break anything.

If you decide to try this be careful not to over polish and take the stock off so you don’t break it in the vice. I’m sure there are better ways to clamp it down, but I just used a couple boards and my big vice tightening it just enough to hold it firm at a “straight” part of the barrel.

UPDATE: this worked!!! While my initial “less than a minute” wasn’t enough I honed it again for longer maybe 3 minutes in and out. After I was done the shoulders were “white” so there was probably a lot of build up from years of shooting blanks.

HXP ejected like butter some of my reloads still needed some extra force but that could be related to me poorly sizing the brass. I may touch it up just a bit more but I am excited that I finally found a solution!