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Garand Op-rod bent?

richbug
I know that M1 Op rods are not supposed to be straight, but how bent are they supposed to be? If I lay a straight edge along it how far should it move? I shot about 150 rounds out of mine today over an hour or so, and after about 125 it started acting up. Someone said Th e rod may have been bent. I don't have another to compare it to.

Why does everyone feel the need to burn that much powder?
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10 comments

Date Votes
  • Snuff
    oh, but the Garands NEVER malfunction or break down. NEITHER do AK'S, m14'S, etc. Just ask the bozos who are always running down the AR's (which kick their butts at nearly every match that they DARE enter) :-)
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  • richbug
    FYI snuff, my 60 year old Garand still outshot all of the Ar's that were at the match today, Even when malfunctioning. 81 seconds on 47 pieces of steel spread over a 100 yard course.

    Why does everyone feel the need to burn that much powder?
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  • Snuff
    Then you had some REALLY inept AR users. That's always possible. TRY your Garand at a WELL ATTENDED match, that AINT set up to allow for reloading every 8 rds, and SEE what happens. Also, Jeff HAD to put the Minor Caliber handicap on the 223, or it would ALWAYS win the serious combat rifle matches. :-)
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  • nmyers
    The easiest way to check for a bend op rod is to re-assemble the rifle without the op rod spring. Tilt it up a a 45 degree angle and the op rod & bolt should slide back from gravity. If not, check for rub marks other than on the bottom of the barrel.

    It would help if you could define "act up". What, exactly, is the problem? Failure to extract? Failure to eject? Short cycling?

    Neal
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  • mrmike08075
    yes, M-1 oprods are supposed to be bent. not at a 45 degree angle, but not straight, level, and plumb. i witnessed an individual whose M-1 would not function. he had staightened out his oprod in a bench vise. MARK CHRISTIAN is the resident M-1 GARAND expert, and he can anser this question better than i can. i have never heard of an oprod being bent or damaged by firing the gun. you would have to delibratly damage it and put it back together. i checked the oprods on my two standard M-1`s, and my fathers M-1C SNIPER. all 3 were bent in an identical fashion. best regards, mike.

    What other dungeon is so dark as ones own heart, what jailer so inexorable as ones own mind.
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  • Snuff
    I HAVE heard of firing being the culprit in the bending of an op rod in the Garand. It is said that using commercial 180 gr sp's will do this.
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  • richbug
    The bolt didn't close all the way a couple times. The RO said it was acting like a bent OP rod, I was more inclined to believe that I had a bad round, as I was shooting a lot of assorted types and brands of brass but thought it was worth asking. Maybe some didn't get Full length resized somehow.

    Why does everyone feel the need to burn that much powder?
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  • Laredo Lefty
    richbug.... If your problem was once in a while, and you were using a mix of different "out of spec ammo" I would say it was bad ammo. If the op rod was bent if would probably malfunction all the time.

    I have several Garands, one of which is my kick-around I use for corr ammo and knocking around the desert. I bought the gun from the old Federal Ord. When shooting it I found the op rod would pop out of the channel maybe every 10th to 15th round. It would come out at the dissassembly notch during recoil.

    I bought a used replacement op rod at a gun show, and that solved the problem. The original rod was appearently bent slightly, but comparing the two visually I could not see any difference.

    Try shooting some reliable factory ammo that you know is within specs and see if that helps. You didnt say what you meant by "acting up", ie failure to feed, failure to extract, etc. You could also have a headspace problem.
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  • Laredo Lefty
    one more thing..... If the bolt was not closing all the way, then your cases are too long. In addition to full-length resizing, you should trim the cases to their recommended length as they stretch in length when they are resized.
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  • richbug
    Rod not bent by Nmyers's test Moves freely at 15 degrees. I have fired 1000 plus rounds out of the rifle since I have had it, with no malfunctions, I checked the last couple clips left from what I shot today and there were a couple left out of spec(270 cases that had mixed in with the 06 and I hadn't moved the shoulder back adequately). Thanks for all the help

    rich

    Why does everyone feel the need to burn that much powder?
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