M1 garand accessories

Pajamasgirl0807

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Aug 17, 2020
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Hello, my husband has recently taken the plunge and bought himself and M1 garand. He decided to get it after he has found a love for babying his M1A and getting a bunch of old Vietnam era accessories and tools. His birthday is coming up and I want to get him something for his Garand, but I’m not very knowledgeable on it. I would like to get him things relevant to the ww2 era that would have been issued with the gun or something that is somehow otherwise important. For those who collect, what would be something that you would want to receive for a newly purchased Garand? Is there a good refurbishing kit or modification piece?
 
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I know it's not terribly exciting, but consider a replacement spring kit such as the one from Fulton Armory. These old rifles often have tired, worn out springs and replacement springs can improve reliability and performance.

It's never a bad idea to have extra en-blocks and the pricing from AmmoGarand is pretty reasonable. The bandoliers and inserts for the loaded en-blocks are also nice to have. Get enough to hold the amount of en-blocks you get him. Bandoliers

Of course the other usual things like slings and bayonets are cool too.
 
Thank you so much for your reply. I think he will appreciate your suggestions more than the obvious accessories. He has a couple of family ancestors who died in ww2 and has been in the military himself for 15 years. He is expecting the gun to need a little bit of work to bring it to its old glory and is looking forward to doing the work. I appreciate your time and help with this
 
M1907 sling.

 
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A bit of work is good to do to the gun as long as he doesnt plan on refinishing it. I would advise against that. If the stock is beat up and he is thinking about refinishing it you can get him a new stock from the Civillian Marksmanship Program
 
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If you can find some of the nickel oilers, they're "WWII correct" and pretty cool. GarandGear.com usually has them, along with Gunny Paste (a personal favorite for keeping the stock nice).
I'd say the best gift, though, are 2 books by Scott Duff: The M1 Garand: Owners Guide and The M1 Garand: World War II (Volume 1).
 
If you go on the CMP website you can buy surplus slings, cleaning kits and spare parts.

Better than all that stuff though is Ammo.

Privi Partisan sells a reasonably priced 30-06 ammo good for M1.


CMP also has ammo for sale.
 
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Since you asked, every M1 Garand needs a nice USGI green web sling and a nice vintage bayonet. Both are good accessory gifts. Attached are the flavors of M1 Garand bayonets used from late 1930s to the late 1950s. For a WWII era Garand, a nice condition 10” M1 bayonet with matching sheath is my recommendation.
 

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Thank you all so much, it’s always great to get some information from people who have an appreciation for these things. I’m going to look at all of these things and see what I can get and make a kind of gift basket I think
 
Since you asked, every M1 Garand needs a nice USGI green web sling and a nice vintage bayonet. Both are good accessory gifts. Attached are the flavors of M1 Garand bayonets used from late 1930s to the late 1950s. For a WWII era Garand, a nice condition 10” M1 bayonet with matching sheath is my recommendation.


I spy Ratworx gas trap and perhaps a Kollmorgen MC-1.........sweet.
 
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I just finished loading a couple hundred rnds for my three garands. I don't have any period specific accessories or cool looking bayonets (I would love to have one though).

Ammo is a great suggestion! I love, and get so much enjoyment out of shooting the M1.

If he reloads, buy a keg (8lbs) of H4895 and some Sierra 155 Match Kings (https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1482176707).

If he does not, try to find some of this... (sorry my link shows out of stock) https://www.midwayusa.com/product/953112253
 
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Solid advice. I have an Olongapo carrier and it is top shelf. (Mark my words...that will be the first thing he grabs to keep kids off your beautiful crabgrass lawn.) Ammo-if you can find any-is equally solid. If reloading is in your future, remind him at the end of the bayonet you were waiting to give to him...that the Garand is very sensitive to loading pressures.. If possible, check the receiver for a manufacturer and S/N. Run that S/N thru an online search to find date of mfg. Then try to scoop up a Basic Field Manual from that date as my daughter did for me. Bayonets are a rabbit hole alone. They are out there but be wary...I stumbled across a cut down stamped with the same date of mfg as my rifle. Post any queries here and no doubt many members will point you in the right direction. I am really surprised nobody asked if you can advise (comfortably) on the maker....no need to post the S/N here, but the manufacturer, Winchester, Springfield Armory, International Harvester, Harrington Richardson will help you narrow things down. Last, but not least, a boat load of en bloc clip thingys...when not loaded, (sacrilege) they make great cigar holders...
 
My source for things Garand is ammogarand.com, a kind of catch-all location for all the things you might want to get him. It's a decent vendor who provides quick and courteous service.

To shoot, he'll need ammo; and I recommend this; and yes it's out of stock, but the current political climate has made all ammunition hard to find. Other sources are facing the same temporary demand/supply shortages. Eventually, that will change. Besides the rifle and the ammo, he'll need Garand Enbloc Clips, which group the cartridges by 8's and make them loadable and shootable in the Garand's unique ammo feeding system. Ten clips should be plenty to get started with. They'll fit nicely in this piece of reproduction WWII Garand Ammo Belt gear.

Some bits of advice.

First; the Garand has vulnerabilities, and the foremost is that it requires ammunition that generates less energy than customary 30-06 hunting ammunition. If it is not specifically marked and advertised as being for the M-1 Garand, don't put it in the rifle. Very expensive damage would result.

Next; WWII memorabilia is just that, 75+ year old collector bait, likely to be crumbly, and way overpriced. Leave that stuff for the collectors.

That replica belt I mentioned above is a much better buy than an original one. The only other things I'd be thinking of getting is a good cotton sling, and maybe a bayonet, 'repros' in both instances. Here are the proper installation instructions for the cotton Garand sling. Finally, the proper lube for the Garand is Lubriplate Grease. It is applied very sparingly on the areas that show bare metal from wear.

Hope this helps. This is a rough time to be looking for gun goodies, but hang in. It'll either get better or it'll get worse, and if the latter, buying Garand goodies will probably be the least of our problems.

Greg

PS After reviewing the following post (which I heartily support), I am reminded that some forms of service rifle competition require single fed firing, i.e. only one round in the rifle. A device, known by the acronym SLED (Single Loading Enhancement Device) makes this possible without doing all sorts of extra gyrations. No Garand Service Rifle Competitor's kit is complete without one.

Attempting to load and fire a single round my manually placing it in the chamber and releasing the bolt to close freely can produce a slam fire. This slam fire event can produce serious personal injury, as well as damage to the Garand.

Other modified clips can accommodate state hunting laws limiting magazine capacity to five rounds, and other ones can allow the completion of a 10 round course of competitive fire by combining the standard 8 round clip with another 2 round clip.
 
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This dry fire device is amazing. Drop it into the chamber and close the bolt. It closes the bolt enough to let the hammer drop, but the bolt is wedged open enough that it takes a slight tug on the charging handle to cock the hammer again. Makes dry fire practice super easy.
 
As someone who suffers from Garandaphobia, ammo wise, I'd recommend buying him a can of Greek HXP ammunition. Great ammo made for the M-1 and you can get it in bandoleers ready loaded into en-bloc clips. Check out the CMP Forum, it's free to join and I see it for sale pretty regularly.
 
CMP has been out of Greek HXP ammo for some time. It does come up for sale occasionally in the marketplace. The days of cheap surplus are over, I remember getting in on enblocs and bandos for .25 per rd
 
If you have access to the rifle, could you look at the top of the receiver on the back and see what the make and serial number is? I think a bayonet and a proper sling would make a lovely gift, but knowing if it is a ww2 or a koeran war era rifle will help steer you in the right direction.