Articles

The M1 Garand

This gun has been relegated to second class status by most of the shooters and all because very few gunsmiths knew how to make them shoot below 1 MOA. I found out later than even the gunsmiths who built some guns which shot under 1 MOA also built a bunch of guns that would not shoot that well. I'm sure they were puzzled as to why, some of the guns, which didn't shoot well, had custom barrels on them and still the accuracy was less than desired.

After spending 10 years building double lugged M-14/M1A's practically all of which shot 1 MOA or less, I decided to take another look at the M-1 to see if the things which worked well on that gun also would work on the M-1. The first innovation was to put a lug on the rear of the receiver so it could be bolted down. Without a doubt this was successful. It relieved the trigger guard of its job of holding the gun together and greatly enhanced the life of the bedding job. Later, I added the front lugs to finish the job. There are two front lugs both small and mounted on the right and left sides of the receiver just under the front corners of the trigger plate. The action is pillar bedded with great care. Custom barrels were installed, op-rods aligned properly, and gas cylinders were also fitted properly. I expected dramatic results when I tested the first one but I was disappointed. Many of the guns did shoot under 1 MOA, but many did not which was very frustrating. The problem went into my hair-top computer and weeks later the analysis came out. The gun actually had two problems, both of which must be addressed in order to obtain peak accuracy and also to retain it. The first was that long skinny op-rod. I knew how to straighten and align them but I didn't know how to prevent them from bending later. Accuracy procedures up to then said that the op-rod should touch nothing in its cycle so metal was cleared away in the stock ferrule, the liners were removed from the hand guard all in an effort to give the op-rod unfettered room to move but also unfettered room to bend. Clearly we needed some op-guide system like the M-14 has but how to put one on a rod with two bends in it? Further work for the hair-top computer. The solution came one day when I was examining a DCM issue M-1 and noticed a .050 gap between the bottom of the op-rod and the ferrule. Why the gap? Well Dummy, it's a combat gun and you need such gaps so the gun will function even if cruded up with mud or sand and stuff like that. Hmm. None of my shooters use these M-1's as combat guns so why do I
need poorly fitted parts? I wonder what would happen if we went in just the opposite direction? Instead of loose fitting combat parts we have snug fitting match parts, but again, how to do it on an op-rod with two bends in it. Then came the solution. The guide system had to be two pieces. The forward piece a circular track epoxyed in the upper hand guard and a lower track silver soldered in the stock ferrule. Both had to be fitted just right. They could not bind the op-rod, but they had to almost touch it, a light slide fit. I built the first pair and installed it in my own M-1 hoping it would still function without binding. I loaded a clip of Israeli ball and shot it into a rotten tree stump in my yard. It worked and thus a serious durability problem on the M-1 was solved. That still left the second problem.

I became aware of it after building a rear lugged M-1 with a Krieger barrel for a customer in Washington State. On the test bench it shot 2¼ inches. For a Krieger barrel this was not acceptable so I set the gun aside with a feeling of frustration. I knew the gun had been built with care. I knew the barrel was first class. It had to be something else. A week later the hair-top computer spun out the answer. It was timing. The bullet was still caught in the rifling when the op-rod started to move rearward. It set up barrel vibrations, which affected accuracy. This explained all those guns with good components, which did not shoot well. They could all have been made to shoot good if a way had been found to delay the op-rod function until the bullet just cleared the muzzle. The problem dictated the solution. When the bullet cleared the gas port a high-pressure impulse of gas filled the chamber between the plug and piston tip. If the volume of this space was just right the gun shot good, if not, it shot poorly. Perhaps we could do something to make the volume variable. The solution was an adjustable gas plug. A plug with a threaded bore with two setscrews mounted inside. By adjusting them outward the volume was increased. More volume, more time needed to fill it. Time measured in parts of a millisecond. To say this solution worked is an understatement. It was the missing link, the last rear hurdle. Back to that gun for Washington State. I pulled the plug on it took dimensions off it and made a crude drawing. On my lathe I made my first one that afternoon. Next morning, out to the test bench, first group 2¼ inch, which is what I expected. First adjustment, outward ½ turn, group shrunk to 2 in. On the fifth ½ turn adjustment; the group was .800 in. I sent all five groups to my customer and explained what I had done. To this day, I've never heard a word from him but then,
us gunsmiths rarely ever hear from customers unless something is wrong, so I wasn't surprised. I've learned no news is good news.

With these innovations the average accuracy levels came below 1 MOA. It was only an occasional gun, which didn't make it, and this was usually traceable to poor barrels. Recent work with fire lapping has made some GI barrels and Douglas barrels shoot like Kreiger barrels. I'm really pleased with this as it cuts barrel cost dramatically. All this caused my reputation on the M-1 to soar to such a point that a military armorer said "If you want a good shooting M-1 get Clint Fowler to build it." Getting such praise from a military armorer is rare. Those guys are convinced that service rifles are their art form for a civilian gunsmith to be recognized is rare.

The most cost effective gun I build is a DCM M-1 with new GI barrel, a rear lug and pillar bedding, with op-rod tracks and adj. Gas plug and maybe fire lapping. It can be expected to shoot 1 inch or less at 100 yards with good ammo. All provided at a total cost under $500.00.