Garand stovepiped today..WTF?

[jrfly3006 42]

Ok so I was about 3 rounds into a bloc when this happened

Pic was taken at home to recreate the malfunction

 

Bolt face did a number on the offending round..

 

Pulled the round out...bolt went foward and rest of bloc fired normally. Only other problem I had was one bloc (out of 8 that I fired with today) failed to eject when empty and bolt closed over the top of it. The rest of the day the gun ran fine.

My question to the Garand gurus on here..what can cause the stovepipe?..is it a sign of a worn/broken part? I've never encountered this with the M1..it was easy to clear just want to proactively change a part if thats what needed. I was firing Greek HXP from CMP is that makes any difference..

[1563621 388]

Change oprod spring first and clean and lube.

[yukongt2000 3]

Did the round that was pinched fail to load or was there a round already in the chamber( like a double feed)?

[usnmars 136]

Oprod spring is my first bet.  Get one from Orion7, they make the best!  Normally fixes many garand problems.  Also be sure that it is properly lubed, remember Garands like Grease. 

[usnmars 136]

actually after looking at the picture again, I see the brass in the chamber still.  Check your extractor and plunger.  If it went to load another round and there was brass in the chamber that could happen. 

[jrfly3006 42]

Change oprod spring first and clean and lube.

This was first time I fired it after a complete teardown and lube...Oprod was original one that came with gun from CMP..guess its time to try a new one..

 

  

Did the round that was pinched fail to load or was there a round already in the chamber( like a double feed)?

It was a double feed as shown...2nd round was on its way into chamber when top round went vertical

[jrfly3006 42]

actually after looking at the picture again, I see the brass in the chamber still.  Check your extractor and plunger.  If it went to load another round and there was brass in the chamber that could happen.

 

definitely gonna use Orion for the parts..heard many good things about them..as far as lube I use Lubriplate strictly..lube as per CMP manual...maybe 20 degrees at range today slowed things up?..very weird..that round in the chamber was a live round...previous round ejected normally.

[JonF 79]

I also get this from time to time intermittently and its teh same. Either stovepiping a live round due to double feed or all out ejecting a live one from the gun. I've asked around and get differing answers, but some of the most common was the clip latch spring and the bullet guide.

 

I replaced my clip latch spring first since it was easy and cheap, but still no resolution.

 

I then replaced the bullet guide, but again, no improvement.

 

I then started tracking my clips since i have a finite amount and tend to reuse them. I found that about half my clips were of some dubious european origin and were known for being problematic. I went through and weeded out all those suspect clips and only used the American or other better rated ones and my problems went away. Seems strange that a simple clip would cause such a weird issue, but its true. Check out all teh headstamps on your clips, then google for garand clip head stamp quality chart and see which ones you should remove from your rotation. Try goign out with only your best clips and see if there is an improvement. Doesn't cost anything but the ammo to test out before you start swapping out parts like a mad man on a mission.

[kman 56]

Yeah keep track of the clips.  Some work on mine, some jam on the 6th or 7th shot.  I toss them if they are a problem.

 

The oprod spring does a lot of stuff on a garand - it not only slams the bolt home but also tensions the follower on the magazine and keeps the rounds tight up against the feed lips.  If you are having rounds jump out of magazine, a weak and worn out oprod spring not pushing them hard enough up against the feed lips of the clip might just be it.

[T Bill 649]

A high power matches we would see this type of malfunction on occasion.  Always traced to the enbloc or not seating the rounds all the way back in the enbloc. 

[jrfly3006 42]

Great point on the clips..i dont remember where I got half of them so its safe to say some are probably bad...I've been meaning to build a spare parts kit for the M1 so I will add some quality clips to the list

[Woozy 0]

Had the same issue, so I ordered some new enbloc clips from Garand Gear and problem went away!