Garand op rod drop free HELP

[jdsal]

I just assembled a post war rifle from a original barred receiver.
The op rod will not drop freely with bolt assembly as it should when tipped on end with no spring attached.

I have tried other op rods (2) that drop correctly on other rifles with same result, so we know it's not the op rod.

Please? Any advise would be helpful.

[Richard H Brown Jr]

JDSAL:

Since it's a *new* assembly. Oil and grease per the TM and shoot some rounds (100 or so), if it fires and cycles. probably the rifle tolerances are tight, and wear will cause it to pass the 'tile test' later on after the parts work in.

If no joy:


Is the rifle dry or fully oiled and greased? Repeat 'tilt test' after lubing per the TM.

Since it's an assembled barrel and receiver, check the bottom of the barrel for rub marks and use grease there. Repeat test, if it fails, it's not lubrication.

If that doesn't help. Parts alignment:

Op Rod, Rear Handguard and Clip, Lower Band and pin, Upper Handguard and liner, Gas Cylinder. Replace with known good ones from another Garand. or conversely, replace the *good* parts in the reference Garand, one at a time, until the 'tilt test' fails. (label the *good* parts, BEFORE swapping, so you don't end with 2 messed up Garands).

If you don't have a source of known good parts, look at the fit of the parts and manually run the Op Rod, to check for binding.

Still fails. This leaves the barreled action. The groove the Op rod rides in, dings and burrs. Bolt: the Bolt, or the milled slots in the receiver, the bolt rides in. Also the lip of the bolt that fits into the Op Rod.

Strip off the Bullet Guide, Follower Arm, Follower & Follower Slide Assembly. If it still fails, and you've removed everthing possible.. Get thee to a Garand savvy smith, or the CMP custom smithing.

Hope this gets you thinking about the possible problems.

R Brown

[jdsal]

Thanks I have tried most items you mention. Not tried or thought of that stands out is lower band PIN. I'll pop it out try it with it free floating.
I failed to say that the drag is in the first 20% of travel once it is pushed about that first inch then falls with no problem.

[jdsal]

JDSAL:

Since it's a *new* assembly. Oil and grease per the TM and shoot some rounds (100 or so), if it fires and cycles. probably the rifle tolerances are tight, and wear will cause it to pass the 'tile test' later on after the parts work in.

If no joy:


Is the rifle dry or fully oiled and greased? Repeat 'tilt test' after lubing per the TM.

Since it's an assembled barrel and receiver, check the bottom of the barrel for rub marks and use grease there. Repeat test, if it fails, it's not lubrication.

If that doesn't help. Parts alignment:

Op Rod, Rear Handguard and Clip, Lower Band and pin, Upper Handguard and liner, Gas Cylinder. Replace with known good ones from another Garand. or conversely, replace the *good* parts in the reference Garand, one at a time, until the 'tilt test' fails. (label the *good* parts, BEFORE swapping, so you don't end with 2 messed up Garands).

If you don't have a source of known good parts, look at the fit of the parts and manually run the Op Rod, to check for binding.

Still fails. This leaves the barreled action. The groove the Op rod rides in, dings and burrs. Bolt: the Bolt, or the milled slots in the receiver, the bolt rides in. Also the lip of the bolt that fits into the Op Rod.

Strip off the Bullet Guide, Follower Arm, Follower & Follower Slide Assembly. If it still fails, and you've removed everthing possible.. Get thee to a Garand savvy smith, or the CMP custom smithing.

Hope this gets you thinking about the possible problems.

R Brown

Got it figured out changed out the lower hand gaurd and magic drops like a box of rocks! The liner must be be out of whack it looks fine upon inspection???

Thanks for making me think outside the obvious.

[jdsal]

Going out to shoot it this afternoon "True Test"

[Ted Brown]

Where is it binding? How did you set up the barrel/receiver alignment? Do other op rods bind in this assembly?

[jdsal]

Read above you shall see the resolution. She shot perfect on today's outing.
Thanks for trying to help.

[Richard H Brown Jr]

Ted:

I scored my once ever 5,000 help posts. Evidently the Front Handguard with the flat liner was the problem. Since it has 4 tabs that fold over and hold the liner tight against the wood, if they're badly fitted, or loosened with age, the liner isn't parallel to the travel of the op rod and can cause as DSAL said. Might be, that the wood is swollen and thus the liner is out of alignment. I've noticed on my action, out of the stock and the follower and spring removed, that the Op Rod cylinder isn't really parallel to the Barrel all the way down it's track as it moves. (and the tab that fits in the receiver track rattles a bit) So I got a nice loose M-1. It might not pull close groups, but it'll hit a target at 100yds. (Which is all my eyes are good for anymore).

Plus we're looking at 70+ (more or less) yr. old wood that's been oiled, cosmolined, cleaned, oiled during use, arsenal rebuilt and cosmolined again. Stripped, sold as surplus, stuck in a wharehouse and heat dried for a few decades, then pulled out and shipped to ODSAL.

Or if it's a brand new made commercial stock set, the pieces don't fit like original production parts do. The dimensions were looser to fit mass production I suppose.

Atleast he's found the problem part, and the 'tilt test' works. Now he can fiddle with the Front Handguard and fix it.

R Brown

[Richard H Brown Jr]

OOPS:

Not belittling anyone. I just stuck in Out-Of-The-Box ideas, and one hit the nail on the head. (Gosh I love 'Murican English).

Ted: Since you have a gun shop, no need to mention how mixed decades old bits, and new bits, don't always play nice together at first.

I found on the Steam game program "World of Guns" program, that you can field strip, fully disassemble, reassemble, and operate a whole mess of guns. and the best part is playing with the operation of said guns, you can cut away parts and slow the operational speed down and watch the various parts move in s l o o o o w motion.

It's *free* and you can take ages to pass tests on the guns, to get points to open new guns, or being a lazy sod, I bought the lifetime access.

Now I can go from a Colt Dragoon Cap N Ball, up to a German 88 cannon. I *think* the company is Russian, and they have some really weird ideas of how a gun can be fully disassembled. Mostly clashes with the *official* way in a manual. (Esp. their way of detail stripping the Garand, M-14, and AR-platforms). The number of guns in the game isn't static, they keep adding more and more, but not always the ones you'd want.

You can get the base game for free on Steam, but without buying gun packs, or going for the lifetime access pay, you might never get to play with weapons, that you could never handle in real life. Whens the last time, you could handle and strip down a Lewis gun, an 88mm Flak Kannone, a MG43, M-60, or Maxim?

After a few hundred times playing with a Browning .30 mg (PBUHN), I think I could *possibly* strip one down, and give the gauges and tools, put it back together, it may take a long while, but I could *probabaly* do it. Course I'd have to have an operators manual to check the adjustments as the sub sections are put together and mated into the thing.

I still can't break the Ma Deuce down in the disassemble-reassemble game mode. Always seem to forget a little fiddly bit, and have to use the Hint button.

R Brown

[Richard H Brown Jr]

I just came up with a new meme. Instead of 'Think Outside the Box'. "Think Outside the Magazine/Clip".