Hallelujah! Finally Back in the Shop

smokeywolf

Well-Known Member
When I inspected the Garand prior to buying it back, the bolt would not lock back.

Tore her down on Mon. Kitchen table is occupied by a smallish piano keyboard, a laptop, case of bottled water, pressure cooker/canner, etc., etc. Too much stuff and not enough house.
So, a couple of towels on the bed and there I stripped her down.

Because of a re-injury to my back several months ago, then a foot injury a couple of months ago, I haven't been able to work in the shop.

Tues. headed out to the shop and here's what I found...

The Garand hasn't been stripped in a very long time; probably decades. Took a bit of romancing to pull the trigger group and get her to shed her stock. Dad's stocks always fit a little tighter than snug. But, along with grease lacking at essential metal to metal contact points, grease on op rod spring was sticky and very congealed.

Op rod catch had been modified to eliminate the arm that actuates the clip latch.
Some years back a fellow named John Holbrook cut the arm off an op rod catch and added a spring to the underside, allowing the op rod catch to function as it should, except that it doesn't trigger ejection of the en-bloc clip after last case ejection. He renamed this op rod catch the "Holbrook Device".
Apparently, my dad invented this back in the 1950s. Was not at all surprised to see this. Dad was extremely cautious about keeping dirt out of the actions and would not have wanted the clips to be thrown into the dirt and brush. Also, the shape of the op rod latch in Dad's Garand is different from that of the "Holbrook Devices".
At some point in time, the spring in the bottom of the modded op rod catch broke off and someone inserted a small (3-48 I think) screw to keep the latch from locking the op rod (and bolt) back before the last 2 rounds were fired and ejected. Unfortunately, that also prevented the op rod from being locked back at all.
I extracted the remnants of the broken spring and replaced it.
All now functions as intended.

Got everything cleaned up spic & span and dug out a tube of Lubriplate. Got every shiny spot treated to a thin smear of grease.
Now have to finish putting her back together.

Would love to know how much an issue stock set weighs. The stock that Dad created weighs 2 lbs. 3 oz.

Although I have a lot of cleaning up to do, it sure is nice to be able to work in the shop again. Knocked over a glass jar with a few dozen Ideal 457124 bullets in it. Got glass and bullets to clean up. Plus, Brad and I need to clean up our reloading benches.

Will add some pics to this thread in a day or two.
 

smokeywolf

Well-Known Member
Here's one pic. I'll get more today. IMG_0103_2015.05.14.jpg Aluminum chips on the floor from the prototype motion picture camera lens parts I was working on when I re-injured my back.

I'll have to get a pic of the op rod. I think it's nearly 10 inches shorter than original.
 

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
Which is better, stripping down a rifle your father made or just getting back into the shop after that long?

Bet the answer is both!
 

smokeywolf

Well-Known Member
Here are some more pics...
IMG_0148_2015.05.14.jpg Stainless gas cylinder IMG_0149_2015.05.14.jpg IMG_0151_2015.05.14.jpg IMG_0154_2015.05.14.jpg
Above, you can see the "bullet guide" and op rod catch and in next photo you can make out, under the op rod catch, the spring that had to be replaced.
IMG_0156_2015.05.14.jpg IMG_0172_2015.05.14.jpg
Above see the dummy rounds in the en-bloc clip in the receiver. Bolt now locks back as it is supposed to. Next pic you can see the op rod catch capturing the op rod and as you can see from the number, this cut down op rod was an original Springfield Armory part.
 

smokeywolf

Well-Known Member
You won the bet Brad; both.

I'm very relieved and frustrated at the same time. Shouldn't complain, but I have parts and tooling in such quantities that it's a PITA to find anything. While I had to spend an hour and thirty minutes slogging through a few hundred springs to find what I needed, I am bloody lucky to have in my shop, what I need.
Once we get moved and I have sufficient space to organize and work, I'm toying with the idea of building a duplicate of this Garand. As I'm not so talented with stock work, I may have to schmooze Ben and see if he will agree to do the stock for me. Perhaps 2 should be built, so he could have one for payment for his work.
 

Ian

Notorious member
An M-14 gas block and piston might simplify a lot of the engineering, if only you could hide the gas vent in the forearm. Take care of that body, we'd love to see you escape to America soon!
 

smokeywolf

Well-Known Member
Got the Garand back together. She cycles, bolt locks back following ejection of last shell and clip goes TWANGGG when I push the clip release button. Now I've got to get to putting some cartridges together. I think that may take some experimentation, as Dad had a bit of tendency toward the warmer loads and I'm more conservative. The effort it takes to pull the bolt all the way back to it's full open and locked position and the smallish port (.059") in the barrel may be additional indicators of this. Granted, as the gas port in the barrel is much further back from the muzzle than seen in the original configuration, it is exposed to higher pressures and therefore must be smaller.

Here are a few pics of the stock without barrel, action and trigger group.
IMG_0120_2015.05.14.jpg IMG_0124_2015.05.14.jpg IMG_0130_2015.05.14.jpg IMG_0140_2015.05.14.jpg
 

Ian

Notorious member
It should be simple enough to build a mild load that fully obturates the case in the chamber and cycles the rifle adequately.