M1 Garand question
 

Hello everyone,

I'll be taking delivery on my first M1 Garand in a few weeks. I've owned the M1A and several Mini 14's, and I've handled and fired a Garand before. I was wondering if it is possible on a Garand to close the action on an empty chamber with a fully loaded clip in the gun. Thanks!

DougT

DougT,
No you can't do it with a fully loaded clip. Of course, you can close the bolt on an empty chamber if there are fewer than eight cartridges in the clip.
Paul

but, I guarantee you will catch a finger or thumb trying to hold the rounds down!

great firearm... ;)

Ed

Ed,

Trying to close the toggle on an empty M1 Garand is one of the pleasures I have to endure every wednesday evening when storing the shooting club's M1.... :D

Fun rifles and very pleaseant to shoot. Reloading the clips is a very, very tedious job though....I always seem to get that job :)

Gentlemen, I have to state that there is an exception to the rule. I have handled Garand rifles whose trigger group lockup was worn enough that a fully loaded clip could be pressed down far enough that the bolt would close over the top of it... If this condition exists, it is theoretically possible to load a single round into the chamber and have 9 rounds available for shooting...

The inverse of this equation is that if the fit or lockup of the trigger group is sloppy, then the receiver is not being held down into the stock well enough to produce the battlefield accuracy that the Garand is known for.... This fault neutralizes any advantage of loading 9 rounds in my opinion...a bent follower arm may also cause this condition without a detrimental impact on accuracy...

The Garand is the weapon I received my initial centerfire marksmanship training in ROTC ...way back in 1965... One of my extra curricular duties was unit armorer to about 250 of these wonderful rifles...

The dreded M 1 thumb. Heck,I've done that just loading a full clip!