Garand Guy

[kman 56]

Just writing to see if anyone has any recent experience with the Garand Guy.

 

Reason being I bought a Garand from him in January, and it keeps jamming.  I took it to the range four times, tried cleaning and regreasing it, tried a new op rod spring to replace the old worn one, and it still jams at least once for every clip of 8.

 

Since his Garands include a guarantee, I figure he will be able to make it work right.  Should be easy for him, probably a part needs to be replaced.

 

I emailed the Garand Guy three times, and left a message on his phone number.  Email and phone number are what I got from his website.  He never replied to me.

 

Before I get mad, I just want to make sure that god forbid he doesn't have a medical issue or something. 

 

I hate to think that he sold out his inventory with the current high demand and is just giving up on the business.  Because I have a $1000 jam-o-matic right now.

 

Anyone have any info?

[Tallday 10]

I have one from him and the day I took it out I had a problem with bolt head space.  I called him from the range and he told me to come to his house and he replaced the bolt and gave me an free lesson on some of the functions of the gun. I also was talking to him and I remember hearing his wife was ill. this was about two months ago. He has a great rep and something must not be right he has always been more then accommodating to me.

[Tallday 10]

is the gas plug on tight? I am new the the rifle and no expert. just troubleshooting.

[kman 56]

Yup plug is on tight.  With the new op rod spring in there, all I can think of is either the gas cylinder is worn beyond spec, or some other part in the receiver is worn out.

 

I hope that his wife is OK, if that's what it is I can wait, family comes first.

[intercooler 41]

crappy enblocs will do that too

[emac31 0]

Are you using the proper ammunition. Commercial 30-06 is typically to hot for the garand and can cause this problem.

[kman 56]

Using the enblocs that came with the gun, and some others that have the same stamp I bought from Dillon - stamped "AEC 3" which according to Dillon are made by the same company (on the same machines) that used to make them for the government.

 

I read that sometimes the enblocs have parkerizing too thick or too dry so I put some rem oil on some (and wiped them off so no excess) and on others I used emery cloth to take some of the parkerizing off.  Still jammed.

 

Shooting Lake City 1969 surplus 30-06 so should be the right ammo.

 

The op rod spring was really worn when I took it out, the circular wire on the coils was worn flat where it rubbed on the channel in the op rod - perhaps there is another spring in there that might need to be changed?  I was looking at some tables on some Garand websites and read it could be a bunch of parts in the action (bullet guide, etc) but I don't want to just go ahead and order a whole bunch of parts at random.

 

I'm assuming that Garands are reliable when they are put together right - my prior experience with semi auto rifles are SKS and Saiga, and those never jammed at all, so I'd appreciate if someone could confirm to me this Garand will be reliable once it is set up right.

 

This damn thing sure is accurate, those sights are fantastic.

[Celraysoda 7]

I had purchased a Garand from Tony about 4 years ago. Still no issues after 400 rounds or so. I have heard things like this come up but not too often. I also know he is good for correcting any issues on his garands.

[pbkid6974 1]

what kind of stoppages are you getting? that might help us figure out what could be wrong.

[kman 56]

Two problems:

 

1) Cartridge gets jammed to the side so instead of feeding into the chamber the bullet tip gets jammed to the side with the bullet jammed where the chamber meets the receiver, and the primer end hard against the bolt.

 

2) No round feeds at all (chamber found to be empty after rifle doesn't fire even though clip still has rounds)

 

That's why I am thinking maybe the gas cylinder or the gas piston is worn out - not enough oomph to get the bolt back far enough to ram the next round into the chamber with authority (or not far enough to engage the round at all).

 

I notice sometimes when I cycle the slide the op rod hangs up when it is near the cut-out where you pull it out when you take the gun apart - like when I pull back and have a little force pulling out also.  When that happens i push in and down on the handle to free it.  Is that normal? 

 

I've been meaning to do the "tilt test" but have not done that yet.  Think that this is a test I should do?

[pbkid6974 1]

Could Be A Bent Operating Rod. Or Something Wrong With The Follower Mechanism. I Would Replace The Op Rod And See What Happens.

[thegerb50 0]

I had the same type of failures on my CMP special, my problem was out of spec enbloc clips. They were to tight and not releasing the rounds properly. This is usually the problem especially if the if occurs on round 7 or 8 which is usually when spring pressure is the weakest. Check the CMP forums if you can't find the garand guy. They may b able to help.

 

http://forums.thecmp.org/

[kman 56]

The en blocs I have are very tight - very hard to get the last round in, perhaps that is it.  The jam is usually near the end of the magazine too.  I have no frame of reference as to how tight they should be since I never used these before.

 

Where did you get good enblocs?  I'll just buy a new batch and try again.  Can you recommend an online site where you bought good ones?

[Tallday 10]

I think you might be right on with the gas system. if head space is fine and the bolt freely moves may not have the power to cycle. Try one shot at a time and see if it locks open on discharge. if it does and ejects right you know its not the bolt or extractor or gas system. or could be the way you load the clips. try two shot clips if they work fine then could be the loading or the 8 round clips you are useing. You can also check to see if the gas port on the barrel is clean and free of obstruction and lined up right with the gas system. if that dont look right Tony will need to fix it when he comes around. I hope its not the reciver ruide rails for the op rod!! When I took a garand class they said you should always use downward and backward force when cycling the op rod. because it may get cought on the opening to remove it on the rail or bend your rod or cause unessary wear on the opening.

[matty 810]

The more you use them, the looser they get--the clips I mean! I have some from old cans of Greek that were a PITA to load and would hang in the well, even to the point of the bolt riding over a full clip. I used them carefully, let them knock around my range bag awhile, even wirebrushed them down a bit. They work fine now. You may still have a weak clip latch spring though. As said above, check the CMP forums for advice--good luck

The en blocs I have are very tight - very hard to get the last round in, perhaps that is it.  The jam is usually near the end of the magazine too.  I have no frame of reference as to how tight they should be since I never used these before.

 

Where did you get good enblocs?  I'll just buy a new batch and try again.  Can you recommend an online site where you bought good ones?

[Tallday 10]

I have a bunch of clips from tony and other places never had an issue. were do you live? I have some that I know works in mine and could give you a few to see if thats the issue. I shoot at cherry ridge often but live in jersey city.

[RUTGERS95 890]

Tony is a great guy and very knowledgeable.  You will have no luck emailing however so just give him a call.  He'll fix what your issue....call

[Worn_Holster 2]

I had Tony work on my Garand a year ago. He invited me to his home and did the work while I waited. I would say that he is an honorable guy and if he hasn't responded to you there must be a really good reason. I would keep trying to reach him and be patient. He stands behind his work and will set your rifle straight.

[kman 56]

If it's just the clips that would be great.  I just bought some old surplus ones on ebay, hopefully these will work good.

[Screwball 483]

I definitely would get some USGI clips. They tend to work.

 

I picked up 30 clips off eBay, and then sent them to CCR for cera-plate (similar to NP3). Cost me a little bit, but the slickness of the plating should work out well for feeding. They are also easy to clean, and pretty much indestructible.

 

I picked up a Lithgow (Century built) Garand, which I'm going to be sending to Shuff's in the near future.

[Tallday 10]

Any updates with getting in touch with Tony

 

Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk 2

 

 

[kman 56]

My god I just checked my phone, and he did call me back, on the same day in fact, he just didn't leave a message and I missed the call and I didn't recognize his phone number.  So it's totally my bad here.  Thanks for your help everybody, I'll call him again.

[lunker 274]

I had a recent good experience with Tony. I bought a CMP Garand in 308. It worked fine, but I found the front sight blade was too fat for hitting small targets at 200+ yards (covered an 18" wide target at 240). I was spoiled by the skinny front sight posts on my 1903 Springfield and M1A Scout Squad. I called Tony and asked him to put on a set of National Match sights on my gun. The sights were on the pricy side (not his doing, real surplus NM sights just are). He installed them in 15 minutes and gave me some advice on applying boiled Linseed finish on my stocks too (they come from the CMP bare) and even gave me a small jar of the stuff. So I get home and am aiming the Garand at distant targets and am realizing that the hooded NM rear sight is damn small. Light barely shines through it. Too small for me to do much but put the gun on a bench and shoot at paper. I know some folks prefer the hooded rear, but I felt like it just slowed me down. I prefer shooting offhand or resting on my shooting bag, or prone.
I gave Tony a call and he suggested a few fixes. In the end, he knew I would prefer sticking with the NM front sight and standard rear. I went over today and he swapped out the rear NM sight and refunded me for the rear (when he easily could have said no way).
So my experience with him was excellent. He gave good service, and when an idiot customer (me) realized he didn't know what he really wanted, Tony made it right even though it was no fault of his. So I enthusiastically support him as a good person to deal with.

[Tallday 10]

Any update on your garand?

 

Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk 2

 

 

[kman 56]

Just spoke with him, I'm going to bring it to him to look at next week.

 

He said something interesting, he asked if the Lake City 1969 ammo I am using is delinked machine gun rounds, which they are.  He says these rounds are usually weak and that might be the cause - not enough power to operate the gun.  And I do notice in shooting the same ammo through my bolt guns that the recoil is reduced.

 

So it could be just an ammo issue.  I need to get my hands on some garand safe ammo to try that out.  But he says he will check the gun out anyhow if I stop by.

 

Anyone know if garand-safe 30-06 rounds are available anywhere?  Cabelas?

[usnmars 136]

depending where you are located i could hook you up when i get home from work in a week and a half

[jrfly3006 42]

Forgive me for being naieve but what machine gun was taking linked 30-06 in 1969?..cant think of any off the top of my head

[lunker 274]

BAR?

[jrfly3006 42]

Bar is mag fed.....

M1919a4 mg

Ah yes there it is! Thx Nick

[halbautomatisch 60]

 

Anyone know if garand-safe 30-06 rounds are available anywhere?  Cabelas?

 

 

CMP

 

It might take a couple months to get, but the Greek HXP ammo is good stuff.