Setting The Elevation Knob On A M1 Garand

Posted on October 13, 2013 by Finch

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.

Fall Match at York Rifleman

Posted on October 5, 2013 by Finch

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.

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.

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.

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

Replace Clip Latch Spring on a M1 Garand

Posted on September 21, 2013 by Finch

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Then replace the clip latch and replace the pin.

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

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.

August Service Rife And Garand Matches: Making progress

Posted on August 25, 2013 by Finch

First home match since Camp Perry! Shot service rifle on Saturday and JCG on Sunday. For service rifle I brought my front sight down a click, as I had been just a little high on the MR-31 targets we use for slow prone. This paid off and I gained a few points. I came 5 points from making “sharpshooter” and I had one miss in off hand. So in theory, I just need to get that last one on target and I’ll be there.

For JCG I took the hard lesson I learned about slowing down in rapid prone to heart and did better. Some sloppiness in off hand hurt my score at but all and all I’m happy with my results. Excluding Perry my scores seem to be improving it’s good to see my name in the middle of the results instead of the bottom!

2013 Camp Perry National Matches

Posted on August 7, 2013 by Finch

Early Thursday morning I took the 461 mile pilgrimage to Camp Perry for the 2013 National Matches.

This was my second time attending the matches so things made a lot more sense this time!

I shot in the morning relays this year instead of the PM relays. While it hurt to wake up so early it was a good decision. It was cooler, its done by noon so I had more time to goof off and both days we beat the afternoon showers. It was also nice to be there for colors, while I was in the pits I didn’t “see” anything but it was pretty cool to hear the countdown echo across Viale, the cannon and a live bugler. It might be corny but it got me excited for the day.

Great weather both days, only stoppage was for some low flying airplanes just before prep for slow prone. For the Garand Match we were delayed for a while waiting for the fog to burn off. I was in the pits at the time which wasn’t so bad, just lounging around drinking “pit coffee” and BSing.

As far as my performance I made the same mistake twice in a row in rapid prone. After posting my personal best in slow prone for both rifles I rushed rapid, which is typically my best, and lost points I shouldn’t have. I learned a lesson the hard way, slow down and take your time in rapid!

The upside is I have a good base to work with, a good rifle, a good load, and a decent position I just have to clean it up a bit. I can work with this.

Otherwise I had a great time, I can’t wait until the next match! If you are thinking about going you absolutely should check out the post below for a “step by step” on how it all works.