[M440]

Hello there, did the dirty bird with m1 garand 1943 SA, surplus Greek ammo, shimmed original stock it had literally about a 1/16 inch of play between it and action. Peened gas cylinder and the barrel is canted about 4 degrees so my front sight is hanging off to the right side about 1/32 of an inch. My question is, can I expect more accuracy from this rifle as is? Or is this about as good as it will get without major tuning? How to fix the barrel/front sight cant? Thank you guys in advance!

 

[nf1e]

Correcting the barrel index should be a fairly straight forward operation. Depending on condition of the barrel, it can be removed, shoulder rolled and then properly indexed.
Better ammo and some practice should do as much to improve the rifle's accuracy as anything.

 

[M440]

Thank you very much for the advice! I appreciate it a lot .

 

[Allen Humphrey]

Personally, I don’t think indexing the barrel will affect raw accuracy, but I would desire to correct it. Stock fit and better ammo will/should help. A little trigger tuning can help depending on how yours feels. Practice is the best accuracy modification there is.

 

[brianns]

Based on that group maybe it needs to be adjusted to the right some. Meaning you might move your front sight tip back left a bit. Depending on where your rear sight is adjusted to now, you can adjust it so the front sight tip isn't way off to the right for visual appearances.

 

[M440]

Thanks, by rolling the shoulder back? Does that mean to machine the shoulder a certain amount or am I missing the concept? This is all new to me and I am no machinist or smith. Just trying to get it right in my mind. I will also move the front sight back to the left to get the group centered on target. My rear sight is centered now.

 

[brianns]

Thanks, by rolling the shoulder back? Does that mean to machine the shoulder a certain amount or am I missing the concept? This is all new to me and I am no machinist or smith. Just trying to get it right in my mind. I will also move the front sight back to the left to get the group centered on target. My rear sight is centered now.

In that case try moving the front sight by an amount that equates to 1” at 100 yds back the way you need to. For the M1A it’s .008/1”. I just don’t know what it is for the Garand. Might be close to what the rear sight moves per click.

The point is to do it in a measured fashion so you don’t get out of whack and have to start all over.

 

[Allen Humphrey]

Thanks, by rolling the shoulder back? Does that mean to machine the shoulder a certain amount or am I missing the concept? This is all new to me and I am no machinist or smith. Just trying to get it right in my mind. I will also move the front sight back to the left to get the group centered on target. My rear sight is centered now.

IF the barrel tightened past top dead center, then a gunsmith can Remove the barrel and put it on a lathe in order to use a tool that will displace (deform) some of the shoulder so it tightens up earlier. i.e. rolling the shoulder

If the barrel tightened before top dead center then the smith can remove some shoulder

 

[nf1e]

Thanks, by rolling the shoulder back? Does that mean to machine the shoulder a certain amount or am I missing the concept? This is all new to me and I am no machinist or smith. Just trying to get it right in my mind. I will also move the front sight back to the left to get the group centered on target. My rear sight is centered now.

Rolling the shoulder is simply compressing the OD of the shoulder back to close to it's original position. When barrels are installed there is usually a flare created as the metal mushrooms outward. Rolling moves this metal back so a new torque and index can be achieved. Lot's of ways to do this, but the majority like to use a tool similar to this one of mine.

 

[M440]

Ok cool I understand what’s happening now, thanks for the education!

 

[Douglas Haig]

From what you shot with the M1A on the iron sight challenge, I’d guess that group is a problem with the rifle. What is the date on the barrel? and the range on the SN like this 2,3xx,xxx we can speculate if the barrel is original and worth saving. How loose is the front hand guard ? What does the muzzle look like ? I’d bet that a new criterian barrel and stock set would do a lot of good. Our resident expert Tony Ben (spelled poorly) has his new shop open and recently said he has time slots open.

 

[M440]

Douglas, the gas cylinder was very loose on the barrel. I peened it and it’s tight now. Don’t know how long it will stay tight. The barrel is dated march of 1943. The serial number on action is 1,7xxxxx. Stock is very loose so I shimmed with credit card. Crown is kinda rough as well. I’m just getting into accurizing these m1 garands. Had them for years but never shot any for accuracy other than just shooting for fun. But the accuracy bug has now intrigued me with the m1 garands! I appreciate the help and advice. Thanks y’all!

 

[Shomway]

I thought the Garand was only meant to be 3-4 MOA rifles? What is the barrel readings on the OP's rifle?

 

[migunshooter]

Art, where did you get the extra roller to replace the cutting wheel on your homemade shoulder roller?

 

[Douglas Haig]

Your rifle was made between May and June 1943 so thats probably the original barrel.

 

[Shomway]

Your rifle was made between May and June 1943 so thats probably the original barrel.

More like June or July 1943.....June production ended with 1,710012

 

[M440]

I believe it to be the original barrel also, the bore as looking from the muzzle end looks like you can’t see any rifling for about the last inch of the barrel the lands are very faint on the end.

 

[15636215]

Thanks, by rolling the shoulder back? Does that mean to machine the shoulder a certain amount or am I missing the concept? This is all new to me and I am no machinist or smith. Just trying to get it right in my mind. I will also move the front sight back to the left to get the group centered on target. My rear sight is centered now.
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[nf1e]

Art, where did you get the extra roller to replace the cutting wheel on your homemade shoulder roller?

Like everyone else, I had to buy two tools and put them together to make the roller.

 

[15636215]

Charles Redfield, one of the super old collectors of garands showed me with a ballpeen hammer 20 years ago. And I still use that method!! I have to try and get 2 rollers.