garand clip won't eject.

[robin1t2002]

i have a garand that will not eject the clip after the last round is fired. also at times it will not chamber the next round. could it be a weak spring? any help would be greatly appreciated. i perform minor gunsmithing (because we do not have a competent gunsmith in our area) on my rifles but i am new to the garand. i have been collecting military style rifles for over ten years but started with foreign rifles partly because they are much cheaper. i am very frustrated and am considering not buying anymore US made rifles. if you are interested why please read on. my first US rifle was a ar-15. the first time it was fired it jammed. everyone told me that i needed to clean it, so i did (thoroughly). after trial and error i found out i had two problems, faulty extractor and non GI mags. my next US rifles was a m1-carbine. the first time it was fired it jammed (with GI mags). everyone said "you need to clean it". i never did find out what the problem was. i traded it to someone with more patience than myself. my next US rifle was a mini-30. the first time it was fired it just snaped but the same rounds fired flawlessly in my "foreign junk". trial and error revealed that my ruger will only fire reliably with expensive brass case ammo (although my ak/sks will shoot anything you put in it). i have not decided yet if i am going to keep it. (can't keep buying expensive ammo and can't find hi-cap mags except after market junk!!!!). my next mistake is the garand in question that will not eject the clip and at times does not chamber a round. i cleaned and lubricated it but still no luck. is this the great performance from US made rifles that i have always been told about or do i have extremely bad luck with buying lemons? in over ten years i have never had a malfunction with any of my "foreign junk" even with cheap ammo and being dirty. in fact i have a egyptian AK that is supposed to be the worst of the russian copys but i have never had a malfuntion. (it's appearance is hideous, i shoot it reguarly, have never cleaned it, it hits what i am aiming at, and has never malfunctioned. ) so that is my experience with US made rifles. i think anyone would be frustrated if they spent two to three times the money for something and got undesirable performance from the product and that is what i have with my US made rifles "undesirable performance". sorry for the book but i thought someone might like to know why i am so frustrated with US rifles. HELP????????

[swill269]

:o
those old drag through the mud guns are neat. :cool: a lot of the garands are bastardized in the receiver. :unsure: they were cut up and welded back together not using the same parts. :blink: i had one and it shot ok, the front and rear sight were about 1/4" off center when the rifle was zeroed. :eek: sounds like you don't like to clean up too often. the ak is a sloppy weapon to begin with, loose tolerances, but once a bullet is sent down the barrel, nothing else matters. if the barrel is good what else can you ask for. this gun was made to shoot what ever was made for it. cheap, old, dirty, found, stolen ammo. :ph34r: most every new american gun i have owned took 500-1000 rnds before it got slopey enough operate smoothly. i still have a colt 1911 mk IV/ser 70 that stovepipes because i have not had the ejection port machined to make it work proper. and colt still makes them the same way. the only cheap foreign gun is the ak, any of the others are way out. :eek:
:cool:

[oneshooter]

You neglected to say wheather your Garand is an import,CMP,or modern made. If it is an inport then most of them were pretty well used before being brought back. The problem with your rifle sounds like a lot of wear in the spring that releases the mag. Is it hard to insert the full clip? By "not chamber the next round"would this be # 2,3,4? this could also be because of a weak spring. What area are you located in. There may be a Garand Riflesmith near you. Check out the file inclosed and you may be able to repair it yourself.

oneshooter http://www.dav32.com/action.html

[shaddow]

:usa: I'm back !!! :ph34r:

Send it to me! I'll get it working.

This is a first responce after a long look at the posts, so I'm trying to be nice.

I would try looking at the wear on the elevator / op rod spring fork.

Are the rounds seated in the clip properly ? The base of the case(s) must be seated against the bottom of the clip, else they could hang.

can you be more specific what isn't happening?

The safety spring is the force that ejects the clip, but like a DR Sues machine, there's alot of gizmo's that have to work together for this great MACHINE to work.
( Can you get sub 1 moa's out of your AK - I would like to see them)

Here's a link that shows how how this baby works
http://WWW.DAV32.COM/feeding.html



I have just the opposite problem, my guns work properly with SAMMI spec'ed ammo. The problem is the wolf turds I bought, thinking It was getting a deal. My mini 14 jamms after one clip. I am trying to use them up a few at a time, and they are the last one's I shoot for the day. :cannon:

Those turds even lock into my T/C Encore - one shot at a time

[robin1t2002]

thanks for the info guys!!! after todays experience i am no longer ignorant when it comes to garands. i ordered a new op-rod spring and clip release spring from fulton armory. today they arrived!!!!!!!!!!!! i completely dissasembled my garand down to every little piece except for removing the barrel from the receiver. i then cleaned, greased, and reassembled using the new springs from fulton. i also replaced a few other springs while it was apart. (now it works fine!!!) all i need to do now is zero the sights (it shoots a little to the left and low).

your right shaddow it does have a lot of gizmos and looks scary at first. i guess all it takes is paitence and mechanical understanding. thanks to years of auto mechanicing i have plenty of mechanical knowledge but paitence is not by far my best atribute. if i can remove, dissasemble, reassemble, and fire up on the first try a engine from a car then a rifle should be easy.

also shaddow, i think we both know that an ak will probably not shoot sub moa's. it will howerver fire every time i pull the triger which is invaluble and it cost very little compared to other rifles. what it will do is hit a 12oz drink can at 100 pluss yards every time and that combined with reliability is good enough for me.

thanks again for the info guys i guess now i can be a little less frustrated with the usa made rfles.

[oneshooter]

Now you have a rifle fully capable of keeping withen a man sized target at 500yds+,if you do your part!! It is as reliable as any AK and a heck of a lot better looking!!

oneshooter
Lovin it in Texas

[SKS182]

Hey Robin,

Don't give up on the garand. It is a great rifle but most are 50+ years old so may need some tweeking. I have one that I just brought out of moth balls to shoot high power and am working out some problems as well. My Op rod keeps coming out of the receiver channel. It may be me and how I'm charging it but when it functions it shoots well. They really are great rifles and will continue to work even when extremely dirty. During the second world war they would freeze so the GI's would urinate on them and then they would function just fine. Don't think that would work on an AR.

Regarding the Mini 30, they can be fun little rifles to work on. Promag 10 round mags work just like factory however anything with 20 rounds or more usually doesn't. They can also be made to shoot very accurately. A $20 muzzle break usually cuts your groups in half. I was shooting Fred's AQT course last week with it and my 3 shot sighting in group basically went through one elongated hole. At first I thought I had somehow missed (pretty tough at 25 meters) but when I checked I realized what had happened. Regarding the misfires, I've had them also. Gives you practice clearing your rifle (I know, I should wait 30 seconds and do unless up against the clock). I've heard two theories on causes. One is that the primers on the cheap stuff are harder. I also read that they are not harder but are just set a little deeper into the pocket. It usually only happens to me once every 20 rounds or so. I can live with that. However, if TSHTF, I would not take the Mini 30 with me. I'd grab my FAL and if I was looking for a 7.62x39 it would have to be some sort of AK varient. It all depends on what you are using it for.

well, stay with the garand and good shooting

Brett :sniper: