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M1 Garand accuracy test and improvements.

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mac1911

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So for my next little project I'm going to take the SA in the stock lock up thread and see what it can do with the know accuracy improvements with out the need of any special tools or gun smiths.
Everything I will do was found on the internet and forum discussions.

I am going to reassembly this rifle as it came from the cmp back in 2006. The only mod already done was the peening the gas cylinder spline on the barrel and replaced all the springs.
http://thecmp.org/training-tech/armorers-corner/gas-cylinder/
So I'm going to reassembly this rifle with the poor fitting stock, USGI trigger, loose lower band and then shoot a test target. I will be using HXP fresh from a tin. I will take 3 warm up shots then 16 shots on Targeting target at 100 yards prone using sling and sand bags for support.
Then I will retest after I "fix" all the loose ends and tighten things up.
1. Install new production CMP stock set.
2. Gauge and install the best gas cylinder and open rod I have on hand.
3. Trigger job and to be with in the 4.5# pull for the matches.
4. Fix the loose lower band.
I will detail what I do the best I can. I will up date as time allows.
AAMO


Rifle Mid 50s SA SG from cmp 5-55 barrel all parts that are marked are marked SA so it's at least SA correct.
What was done to the rifle when I received it.
Gas cylinder splines peened front cylinder had good amount of wobble. Replaced all the springs.
I buy the Orion7 spring kits for all my cmp rifles when I get them and replace them when I do the detail strip.

UPDATE #1
Books:
US 30 cal gas operated service rifles A shop Manual volume I,II by Jerry Kuhnhausen... more info than most of us will ever really need.
US War Department Weapons Overhaul manual 1965 us 30 cal rifle M1


Tools: USGI M10 tool/Cleaning kit.
Clymer Headspace gauges: Go and No go If it fails the No go the project stops there. I dont bother shooting rifle for score if it fails the NoGo. These are not expensive and can also be rented, borrowed or any decent gun shop should have some.
Muzzle wear and throat erosion gauge .....now to find mine? I have a commercial unit. I have not used it in many years though.
basic hand tools, hammers, punches, screw drivers, 1/4 drive
For your basic M1 needs a cleaning kit and M10 tool is all you really need.
UDATE #2 Bore condition
all but one of my garands has frosted barrels. I gave this barrel a good 50 brush strokes with gunzilla then a 10 min sweets 762 treatment. Came out pretty clean. Crown is in better condition than some. CMP hang tag has this at a Muzzle Erosion 3+ and Muzzle wear of 2. when I find my guage I will see what my gauge says. I have come to the conclusion that frosty bores shoot just fine.
I will heed a WARNING if you like how your barrel look peering down the bore with your eye and a bore light DO NOT BORE SCOPE IT!


UPDATE #3 Headspace check
using the M10 tool in the cleaning kit I disassembled the bolt and cleaned the chamber with the chamber brush in the GI cleaning kit. Using the Clymer go and no go gauges. I use Clymer as that's what I have for chamber reamers.


8/19 Update #4 Targeting and Accuracy test and target.:
So I decided to make up to the best of my skills the Targeting and Accuracy target used in the U.S. weapons Overhaul manual. This is not a "zeroing" target
The rifle is set up in a testing jig at the arsenals. I will be using sandbags to support my forward arm using a sling and shooting prone.
For testing the front and rear sight are centered for windage and the elevation is 8 clicks up from bottom. 3 warm up shots are fired before the 5 consecutive shots are fired on the target. I will be doing 3 warm ups and 10 for test shooting at about 1 min between shots.
The test allows +/- 2 clicks to correct shot group for elevation and drifting the front sight to correct windage.
I would guess that's why early M1s had a cap over the allen screw holding the the front sight on? Maybe a time when they tested every rifle.

I will be assembling the rifle today and hope to get out next week for the first test
Update #4: Accuracy and Targeting Test
100 yards
HXP 1977 M2 ball. loaded by enbloc

and it passed with 11 shots


NEXT UP: Do everything I can to improve on this with what I have on hand.

Stage 2 starts at post #17
 
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The stock Garand and ammo got tested for accuracy many times between December 1941 and August 1945, then again during the 1951-3 timeframe.

It seemed to do okay.
 
Picton said:
The stock Garand and ammo got tested for accuracy many times between December 1941 and August 1945, then again during the 1951-3 timeframe.

It seemed to do okay.
Click to expand...
What i am going to do is try to point out what you can expect from a rifle from the cmp in "service" grade condition and then what can be done to improve on that with a little attention to detail and a few new parts.
the accuracy and target standard for the M1 garand was 5 consecutive shots at 1000" to stay within a 1.77" dia group size. Right from the US war DEpartment overhaul manual :targeting and accuracy test...ohh and that was just batch testing.

as for being tested from 1941-45 and 51-53 yes it sure was. I have had a few Korean war era military folks say the lack of M1s ready for service in 51-53 was the reason the M1 carbine got its bad rep. as the M1 carbines where ready to go from the depots right away vs sufficient numbers of M1 garands. Thus putting more Carbines in the front line positions that really should not have been there.This is all secound hand from those that where there. not so sure of the truth behind that but I do see a unusual amount of carbines in Korean war footage vs WWII ??
 
Ok its all back together and going to just add a few videos here for fun.


my son managed to get his foot in the video, funny because he asked why so many videos I watch people show their feet[laugh]


 
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un related to the test

shim trigger assembly to help tighten up the lock up.
 
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found my MW TE gauge its made by Merchant is it the best ? i picked it up on sale several years ago to get me to the "ships free" amount
uawz7rzl.jpg
 
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A quick comparison of a cmp service grade and a new Criterion barrel.
 
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When I'm done I will do a little reloading test.
Sort of a OCW type of test although I will be running at .5 grain increments. I will start with the lowest charge that will cycle the action which should be around 38 grains of H4895.
 
STAGE TWO

STAGE 2:
CMP new wood stock fitted better
Trigger is 5lbs and feels good
Barrel is clean again
Gas cylinder is the best I have
Target test ASAP



Stage 2 Update

So after fixing the loose lower band, fitting the stock , trigger work down to a nice clean 5# total pull, fitting and correcting the cmp boyds/dupage stock , peaning the gas cylinder it's as good as I think I can get it.
Now I 1 10 shot group is not much of a test. Although I'm going on what the arsenal would have down to test a M1 to see if it was good enough for GI.
Now the rifle as received from the cmp with all,it's little quirk and faults still passed the Accuracy and Targeting test.
The test after the mods and replacement stock show there can be significant gains in with just a little effort. In the near future I will update my results with the reloads.

Accuracy and Targeting test as out lined in the
U.S.ARMY WEAPONS COMMAND DEPOT MAINTENANCE WORK INSTRUCTIONS FOR
Overhaul of the Rifle, U.S.Cal..30:M1 June 1965
 
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mac1911 said:
//I have had a few Korean war era military folks say the lack of M1s ready for service in 51-53 was the reason the M1 carbine got its bad rep. as the M1 carbines where ready to go from the depots right away vs sufficient numbers of M1 garands. Thus putting more Carbines in the front line positions that really should not have been there.This is all secound hand from those that where there. not so sure of the truth behind that but I do see a unusual amount of carbines in Korean war footage vs WWII ??
Click to expand...
That's not correct.

M1 Carbine production was roughly double that of the Garand, as they were designed to replace the M1911. Most headquarters officers, Senior NCO's and people like drivers were issued them. Even in a rifle company, the Plt Ldr and some Plt Sgts were issued carbines.

After the war, SA engaged in an extensive arsenal rebuild program for Garands. They'd rebuilt and out into storage roughly 500,000 rifles. These were ready to go for Korea.

The Carbine did not have an arsenal rebuild program. In many cases they'd been used less, and all Carbine ammo was non corrosive, but there was not the kind of postwar refit program, in part because many had been upgraded late in the war with new sights, safeties, bayonet lug, and stock.

In Korea, the Carbine suffered from the longer engagement ranges, and the less-powerful piston system, which did not perform as well in cold weather.

It so happens one of my Army buddies dad was a Rifle Company Commander in Korea. He got to Europe late in WWII because he was held in the US for 6-9 months as a marksmanship instructor. Stayed in the Reserves and was on the front lines three weeks after being called up.

He describes shooting at Chinese soldiers repeatedly with the Carbine. In one engagement he fired seven rounds at one soldier before he went down. He ditched the Carbine for a Garand after that.



Equipment is issued according to the "TO&E" - "Table of Organization & Equipment." The Carbine repl
 
garandman said:
That's not correct.

M1 Carbine production was roughly double that of the Garand, as they were designed to replace the M1911. Most headquarters officers, Senior NCO's and people like drivers were issued them. Even in a rifle company, the Plt Ldr and some Plt Sgts were issued carbines.

After the war, SA engaged in an extensive arsenal rebuild program for Garands. They'd rebuilt and out into storage roughly 500,000 rifles. These were ready to go for Korea.

The Carbine did not have an arsenal rebuild program. In many cases they'd been used less, and all Carbine ammo was non corrosive, but there was not the kind of postwar refit program, in part because many had been upgraded late in the war with new sights, safeties, bayonet lug, and stock.

In Korea, the Carbine suffered from the longer engagement ranges, and the less-powerful piston system, which did not perform as well in cold weather.

It so happens one of my Army buddies dad was a Rifle Company Commander in Korea. He got to Europe late in WWII because he was held in the US for 6-9 months as a marksmanship instructor. Stayed in the Reserves and was on the front lines three weeks after being called up.

He describes shooting at Chinese soldiers repeatedly with the Carbine. In one engagement he fired seven rounds at one soldier before he went down. He ditched the Carbine for a Garand after that.



Equipment is issued according to the "TO&E" - "Table of Organization & Equipment." The Carbine repl
Click to expand...

I think over all the carbine was placed in a position to fail by asking it to do more above its capabilities.
I posted the accuracy and targeting test of the M1 garand which is a pretty loose requirement.
Now I also posted the Good enough specs here somewhere for the carbine and that's even looser. So just being able to hit a man sized target with a USGI carbine at any distance beyond 25 yards would be hard enough.
TM 9-1276 Cal. .30 Carbines M1, M1A1, M2, M3, U.S. I have this manual and it's dated 1947
The carbine is in the rotation for me to improve accuracy. Although my 2 carbine Will pass the accuracy and targeting test one uses every corner of the target while the other will hold the black bull of a SR 1 or about 6moa. If your carbine will shoot better than 6 moa at 100 yards you have a darn good carbine.
 
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HMPQIdv.jpg


Ok so I left out the 11th shot in the middle but still shows a bit of what goes on on group size and calculations.

See the military likes to use average mean radius as the numbers just come out better over all. If they set to a standard MOA then a flyer would kill more results than say a mean radius average.

As you can see the mean radius average is a much better number than just moa, You can get more poor results to pass with mean radius...
its all fun and I hope the next test shows some improvement.
Well I did have some gains in accuracy not huge but some gains. Now as I shoot it more and it settles a bit into the stock and the barrel seasons up a bit I expect the groups to get slightly better. In the end its consistent groups your looking for.
AR89q8A.jpg


So the gains are hard to show just by the numbers ...I picked up a MOA by the numbers but the over all group size is much better, As I would rather have a flyer to riun a good group than a loose group
White golf Ts mark my score today on the reverse of the test target. 97/100/4X Now to just repeat that at the matches!
vexjvgs.jpg
 
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Interesting!

What was that app? Can't find it when searching on iphone. Lot of other crap coming up, nothing to do with shooting...
 
It's a program I down loaded from on target shooting.
I don't know if it can be used with a smartphone or not. I'm trying the paid version free trial which has more info than I can absorb with spread sheets and stuff. They have a free version or at least they used to. There might be other programs out there also ?
 
that's it for a while....need to get going on a cast load in the arisaka for the next Vintage match
 
Stage 3: ammunition
So my plan is to load my "generic" load of Varget powder with 110 grain nosler Armageddon's, 155 Custom Comps=CCs 168 grain
Just go see if there is a noticeable difference between the 3 if so I will pick the best of the 3 and play around powder charges +/- a few grains.
 
Small tid bit.
I measured 10 random HXP 1972 unfired cartridges with the hornady case headspace tool.
Min2.040" Max2.042" Av2.041"
Fired cases Min 2.044 Max 2.045 Av 2.045
Now I'm not sure what the headspace is for the M1 service rifle but Min spec for SAMMI is 2.048" So I guess with brass spring back it shows a good chamber? When I am done testing reloads I will check head space with gauges.
 
What's your load for the 110's?


Do you think think that at some point the velocity could be bad for barrel wear? Some of the recommended loads for 110's are over 3100 fps.
 

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