8/44 CMP Range report and big problem

majspud

majspud

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Received 57 days from mailing the letter. Looks like I got a SG barrel in a FG wood and metal. Not as nice as my other Garand, but I do like the Park-faded-to-grey patina better than the Greek blue/black finish of the other one.

3.09M: August of 1944
SA: re-barrel 2/1955; ME-0+, TE-2+. Barrel is clean and bright after one bore snake pass. There is a small scratch in a groove about 1-2 inches down. Writing at top of breech under hand-guard is not EP; it faded with CLP. Barely legible - something like FG only/FG oily. Doubt CMP did it, otherwise I'm surprised they let that mangled lower band get through quality control.
Bolt: 6528287-SA over US1 = 1953-1955
Trigger guard: 6528290-SA = 1952-1955
OP rod: HRA - 6535382 = 1953-1956

The lower barrel band left side hole is severely buggered; I had to use the blunt end of a small finishing nail and a hammer to remove the drift pin to the right - but the pin is undamaged and I could remove the band.

Possible original stock; very faint SA/GAW (8/43-3/45), Circle P, Danish pistol grip cut out, and renumber 2785204 on stock keel. If a re-stamp of the original serial number, then the stock mark would still be the same, but date the original action to April of '44. Stock is dark and greasy. Grease under hand guards and butt plate door.

Original string cleaning pull through inside butt plate

Gas nut screw has minimal finish, but locks in at 1 business card. Gas nut bolt has no finish save threads and has a Turk moon on it. Probably get another one with a better finish on it.

I've got the greasy stock and metal parts wrapped in paper towels in a black trash bag in the rear deck of my VW for the last two hours to start de-greasing the stock; no clouds and 86 degrees in the shade. I'll leave it there until Thursday or Friday and give it a couple of turns.

I've got a cheap original web sling on the way from eBay of Korean age: a faint MRT over 1952.

Thanks for looking,

T



























































 
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nice readings on that barrel, should shoot better than average....is the crown in nice shape? nice to get goodies...
 
Well that was definitely worth the wait, spud!

I hope my next CMP purchase is like this rifle. WW2 receiver with character, stock with a story and a good barrel.

Nice score

BTW, I wonder if the scratch you're seeing is the gas port or a reflection of the gas port?
 
I wonder if the scratch you're seeing is the gas port or a reflection of the gas port?

I don't think so; I had the pen light shining in from the breech. I'll get a pic when I have it all put together again, bolt cleaned, and action greased/oiled.

Forgot to say the op spring was dry, and had a little surface rust on the far back 20%.

T
 
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Throw in an Orion7 spring. It's a good idea to get their M1 spring KIT as well, and throw it in the range bag.

Maybe we could get a group buy going with Orion7 with all the people buying garands?
 
OldNorth said:
Throw in an Orion7 spring. It's a good idea to get their M1 spring KIT as well, and throw it in the range bag.

Maybe we could get a group buy going with Orion7 with all the people buying garands?
Click to expand...
group buy would be awesome for the tune up kits
 
Was told on GB American forum that the disc cut out and keel serial number on the stock are DANISH.

This one's been around.

T
 
Maj, I think our rifles made similar trips around the globe. I have a number stamped on the keel of the buttstock and also the cut out for the disk. My gas cylinder lock and lock screw are also in similar condition.

Have you noticed any cracks in your hand guards? I just found one in the front of my rear hand guard. [crying]
 
Learned it's non Turk; the crescent is a makers mark. All internal parts are consistent with the re-barrel of 2/55. This may be a legit Danish return as rebuilt by the US in 2/55.

T

If it is a true Dane, I may have to keep this one and eventually give my son the SG.
 
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Danish M1 here's a little bit on the Danes.
Was the tag still intact on the inside of rear hand guard. I only have seen one Dane rifle from the cmp. Club member purchased in 2005ish? Picked the VAR barreled opption. Nice rifle...shoots so much better than she looks.
 
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The stock serial does not match the receiver. There is the crayon mark on the barrel FG oily/FG only - so the mismatch may make it a CMP build up from a CMP barreled action. If so, it got all the right parts for a 2/55.

T
 
mac1911 said:
Danish M1 here's a little bit on the Danes.
Was the tag still intact on the inside of rear hand guard. I only have seen one Dane rifle from the cmp. Club member purchased in 2005ish? Picked the VAR barreled opption. Nice rifle...shoots so much better than she looks.
Click to expand...
Great article, thanks for the link. My 3.44 SA fits into this group due to the stock and replacement barrel date (1952). Looks like the CMP found a crate of Danish returns in the warehouse.
 
Terrence said:
Great article, thanks for the link. My 3.44 SA fits into this group due to the stock and replacement barrel date (1952). Looks like the CMP found a crate of Danish returns in the warehouse.
Click to expand...
Im guessing they came across more parts to put together. Good thing about the GCA a\magazine is they give you a good look into the cmp. they open boxes to find stuff..sometimes its all junk op rods, or just hand guards. sometimes rusty recievers...sometimes new in the wrapper M1s!
 
I'm leaning towards a CMP build up that happens to be correct to the 2/55 barrel in a Danish stock. I read in an article that There were two batches of Danish ones that were loaned, and others they bought out right and wound up selling to Canada who parted out the pieces, and CMP got their hands on the pieces.

Even though it now seems like it's not a true Dane, especially with the crayon 'FG only' and mismatched stock serial, it presents well as one.

T
 
There where some post a few years back about the dane returns and canadian guns.....CMP from what was posted does not get anything but US military returns? now that they are "building" rifles who knows where they will obtain parts from.
What I ment was they might have had several danish returns sitting around not quite good enough for auction and not complete enough to sell, now that they are forced to move into sorting more inventory they might have come across...more parts or more rifles to fill orders. ?? you just dont know with the cmp garands....all we know is they where at one time USGI rifles....
 
HELP!

I put it all back together tonight and what a job! It took 3 hours.

After two days in the black bag the stock and metal were pretty well degreased. I gave the wood two rub downs with mineral spirits, and then two coats of Howard's Feed and Wax. The stock has a lot of dings, dents, and scuffs. At least it looks more brown than black. The butt plate needed time with a toothbrush and WD40. I greased the rifle, then stripped the bolt - but couldn't put it back together! I shot the ejector out four times and managed to find it each time[flame]. I finally had to use a bullet case with locking pliers to hold the ejector down and then a small screw driver to hold the extractor retaining pin down while hitting the extractor with the back of a screw driver. I'm never taking this one down again; it's that tight.

When I went to put the buggered lower band back on, I couldn't find the retaining pin![shocked] I can't figure it out I was double careful to put parts in plastic bags so I wouldn't loose anything. In the meanwhile, I snipped off a length of nail and covered it with a little electrical tape and it fit fine for now.

Anyone in MilSurp land have a spare pin?

I'll re-post pics when the sling and coin come. Gotta get back to school work.

T
 
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Darn, you tore the bolt down........did you replace the springs while you where there? As for the lower band pin? I don't have anything like that. I do know that littlecparts like that can poke through the corner of the bags. I have had good luck on the forsale items over on cmp forums.

Majspud, i have the tech manual at home. I can give you the demensions of the pin. I think it gives the size?

Also a another way to do the bolt assembly with out the tool. you do it with bolt installed on rifle. use a 8mm mauser empty case in the chamber. with the rifle in a gun vise it will free up both hands to work the bolt forward up against the 8mm case in the chamber....works well
 
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Went to the hardware store; 1/8" x 1/2" roll pin; 20 cents. Looks/fits perfectly as the original, but hard to install due to the buggered band.

T
 
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This: can only exit/enter from the left side. No cracks in the wood at all, but very beat up.





T
 
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The lower band pin is the only pin/screw that I don't have any extras of. You can pick up a nice one at the next Marlboro show, or on the CMP Forum (like Mac said).
 
Range report and problem.

Got to the range for a quick test fire. Benched on sand bag at 50 yards. First two rounds were low; and I worked up from six, to seven, and settled at 8 clicks elevation.

Soon after the action failed to cycle properly; stopping midway and either not ejecting or loading. I ejected a few enblocs to see if that was the problem. I checked the bolt, fine. I checked the op-rod, stuck not moving. I took the take down kit out of the butt stock and pulled off the gas bolt and screw and found the op-rod stuck in the gas cylinder. I managed to get it off, put a little grease on it and put it back - it was very hard to do so. I gave up after a few more shots as the action was just plain stuck. Managed to pull the last case out, cleaned the barrel and bolt face and came home.

When home I took the gas cylinder off again and inspected the chrome end of the op-rod and found it to be corroded and chewed up, causing it to stick. Cycling the action without the gas cylinder, and everything worked fine - confirming the op rod as the problem. The inside of the gas cylinder has some significant scratching. When putting it back on, the hang up is strong enough to half cock the action before it slips through.

So what to I do; email CMP for a replacement, or will they want the rifle back to fix it? So two junk parts in this build.

Thanks for looking,

T









 
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thats not that bad, the rust on the threads is more concerning to me.... i think something else is going on. Yes that oprod "cap" and the gas cylender looks a bit "rough" but I dont think that is your issue?

I know this may be above some peoples comfort level but this is why you must learn to do the detail strip Before you go to the range link> Detail Stripping The M1 Garand Rifle. You did get a field grade right? I dont have the oprod or gas cylinder guages (yet)

So yes I would contact CMP and see what they say...its possible your op rod is bent or worn. Which can happen with the field grades. I dont think the foield grades get as good of a go through as the service grades...or maybe even the cmp has a different "acceptance" level for wear on parts. ? Have you had the oprod spring out? Some times oprod spring breaks off a few windings near the ends and gets all buggered up. Looking at the rust on the barrel wont surprise to see the same in and on the op rod spring and inside the oprod spring houseing. Seeing that it was functioning fine until the bind the cylinder and oprod tip should be fine.

a.jpg it might be the angle but that op rod doesnt look right ? looks as if its pushing up into the track on the reciever ? All you can do is compare a functioning garand op rod. Bends can be hard to see also the little nub that rides in the reciever can be tough to see it to be worn. Again this might be the pics but I dont see any grease on that op rod channel ?

Here is the quide to lube I use link> http://www.garandgear.com/how-to-grease-your-m1-garand

good luck, I will do my best to help. I am not a gunsmith or a Garand expert but have had my share of issues that I worked out on my own. As there is only one local guy I would trust but his wait is longer than the CMPs!

What ammo did you use ?
 
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