M1 Garand, very difficult to insert en bloc clips.

[foxtrotx1]

Title says it all. My "new" CMP garand is putting up a lot of resistance getting the clip in the gun. Anybody have any insight? The gun is a CMP special so all the park is new and the gun was very stiff when I received it as expected.

[lowprone]

Original US military clips are preferred but buy 8 dummies or load 8 rds w/o primers
and load, eject, repeat.

[SurplusShooter]

Some ideas: Try a different clip, see if it's a problem with an out-of-spec enbloc clip?

Is this your first/only Garand or does this same clip work fine in other rifles?

On the sheet metal of the clip, can you see anywhere where it might be rubbing?

I have a CMP Special, also (among others) and FWIW In my example I did not notice any difference when inserting the clips on the CMP Special.

[foxtrotx1]

This is my first and only garand. I have a CMP clip as well, but i'm not sure I have used that one yet.

[T2C]

Things that can cause difficulty inserting a M1 Garand clip are:

1) An improperly loaded clip. All cartridges should be seated fully into the clip and should protrude from the clip at the same length.

2) A new clip that requires break in. It could be a little stiff or have a burr on it.

3) A bent or defective clip.

4) Something that interferes with movement of the follower. A burr in the magazine or interference between the follower arm and bullet guide can cause this issue.

Those are the four things I would check first.

[foxtrotx1]

I'm going to test these things in the morning. I will try and grease the rails the clips rides on, and maybe polish the sides of the clip.

[T2C]

Polishing the clip should not be necessary. I would not apply grease to any part that makes direct contact with the clip. Here is a link to articles on the M1 Garand that a lot of people find helpful. http://www.garandgear.com/m1-garand-tutorials Click on the icon of the grease pot for lubrication tips.

[foxtrotx1]

Polishing the clip should not be necessary. I would not apply grease to any part that makes direct contact with the clip. Here is a link to articles on the M1 Garand that a lot of people find helpful. http://www.garandgear.com/m1-garand-tutorials Click on the icon of the grease pot for lubrication tips.

Oiling the internal clip rails cleared up the issue, much easier to load. I think the CMP repark job adds a bit of thickness to everything. The bolt was hard to work at first as well.

New question for you.... Why is my rifle throwing cases over at the 12:00 and 11:00 position? Ejection is pretty erratic actually. HXP ball is the ammo.

[T2C]

I shoot a lot of HXP ball and the brass consistently ejects from 1 O'clock to 2 O'clock.

If dirt inside the bolt interferes with movement of the ejector, it can cause erratic ejection and can be addressed by disassembling the bolt and giving the bolt and all the small parts a thorough cleaning.

Another cause for erratic brass ejection is inconsistent bolt speed. It can be caused by a worn or damaged operating rod spring.

[daniel87]

You may want to do a full details strip clean oil and grease.

The rifle is a cmp surplus rifle.

If the rifle is rack grade it may need new parts or heavy cleaning. If it is service grade it may just be in need of some heavy cleaning

After stripping the parts try soaking the parts in a pot of boiling simple green and water. Then rinsing in a pot of boiling water. Then baking to dry. Then oil and grease.


Sometimes a machine just needs to be strip cleaned. You will br amazed what comes out of a gun that visually looks clean.

If you don't feel comfortable take it to a gunsmith. Then ask how they clean guns.

At the least a bucket of simple grean and water to clean then rinsed in regular water.

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