M1 lubrication rule: " If it slides, grease it. If it rotates, oil it " Don't over do it, a little goes a long way, Also, keep that front [forward hand guard] away from the rest, could distort your barrel and grouping on target. I have been involved in M1 match shooting for 65 years. I know these rifles.

They're known as "mix masters" and too many collectors put too much stock into matched parts. During the war (or when the M-1 was in service), the armorers would reach into a bin and grab what they needed. Thus any recruit or soldier would be re-issued one with very few matching parts. My H&R is like that's and I consider it as authentic as it gets!

You can use heavier than 150 gr bullets in the garand. Its the powders burn rate that causes the issues in these rifles. Either a shuster adjustable gas plug or handload for it.

It will be fun dialing the ole girl in. First shots at the range are extremely promising for operation. May want to consider hotter loads for a few loads to see if your results are more consistent. She should have no issues running them. Congratulations on owning a piece of military history.

Beautiful rifle. Got my service grade last year in July. Ran about 100 rounds of various commercial brands. Never exceeded 150gr. Ran flawlessly. Congrats on the purchase.

Thanks Don. Good content. Yes you are right. It is reckless to use modern 30-06 sport cartridges in an M-1. They can blow out the op rod and injure the shooter. I have purchased 7 Garands from the CMP. Yes the new walnut stocks are very tight fitting, and each time you disassemble, you degrade accuracy. One I had to put in a vice and beat back together with a rubber mallet. But I have found that the CMP does not always do a great job of putting the M-1s back together. So a good inspect and cleaning is required at least once upon arrival. I have found heavy rust inside and rear sights improperly assembled.

I got an after market replacement gas plug that is adjustable for my special grade. At the time I got it there was plenty of M2 Ball ammo available so I stocked up. Theoretically, you can can use modern "hot" ammo and adjust the gas plug to compensate. I haven't tried that yet.

Bring me back mémoires of my service days almost 50 years ago . Good accuracy , lethal within 500m but was easily overheating above 50 shots. Cleaning often required. The M1 carabiner was more popular although less accurate in long ranges.

I was fortunate enough to find two all original.

I received a batch of ww2 30-06 ammo from an uncle. They had 168 gn bullets. I pulled the bullets, deprimed, cleaned, reprimed, loaded with 45 gns of CFE 223 powder and the 168 gn bullets I pulled from them. Shot excellent!

i just got 2 cmp rack specials last week.a march '44 and a june'45. have not shot them or any garand ever. its going to be a very memorable rang day very soon. thanks for sharing.

You have to watch the primers on commercial grade ammo you get slam fire from the primers and you should watch going over 150 gr bullets .

Nice! I just got my first CMP Garands - Field Grade Springfields. One is a June 1944 with a rebuild in 1956 and the other is 5.9 million sn# that puts it as a 1954, and has all Springfield parts except the safety, which is a HRA. Haven’t shot them, yet, but the barrel readings are pretty tight: 2/2 and 1/2 respectively. Receivers have some surface pitting, and the stocks look like they’ve been there and back, but all in all, good rifles with stories to tell if they could talk.

I liked the way you bashed the stock while removing it from the case; give it some character.

Awesome gun! You might get a tighter group if you don’t rest the barrel on the bag. Some of the competition guys were telling me to rest the gun closer to the action where it is supported by the stock.

Thats not bad for your first 8 rounds at 100 yards, all eight are kill shots and you haven't even done any zero adjustments yet. Not bad, I got the same from the cmp, can't remember Special grade or something and my serial number on the receiver was just over 400k. I haven't shot mine yet but took it down and greased it. Hope mine shoots as good as yours. Thanks for the post.

I think the word you were searching for was rearsenaled with different parts just to get them back into fighting action for mine is a 43 Winchester receiver and most parts are of Winchester manufacture which is what I wanted but all are original war time parts with the barrel being the newest of 55 manufacture !!!!

I'm the guy that will recommend you rest the rifle on the stock somewhere rear of the sling swivel and will also recommend that you rub the stock with Boiled Linseed Oil and wipe off all of the excess at least a couple times. I'm the nosy guy.

I would hope that by now you have learned where the safety is and how it works

Kind of late, I have one as well. But you cam shoot commercial ammo, as long as it is below 150 grain weight.

Nice rifle !! While watching the video I noticed that when you were shooting you seem to feather the trigger with your finger. Try just resting your finger on it and slowly put pressure on the trigger til it fires. Oh by the way, that's not bad at all for your first 8 shots !! Just my 2 cents and now I'm jealous.

Resting the gas block on your rest is causing your shots to string a little, but not bad for a first time out!

Lol your wearing a very german hat shooting a very american rifle......great video

"The CMP advises to not use .30/06 ammunition in M1 Garands, 1903s, and 1903A3s that is loaded beyond 50,000 CUP and has a bullet weight more than 172-174gr. These rifles are at least 70 years old and were not designed for max loads and super heavy bullets." "Each M1 Garand rifle sold by CMP is an authentic U.S. Government rifle that has been inspected, headspaced, repaired if necessary and test fired for function."

Nice Video, I Just got mine today! what kind of oil did you brush on there?

I’ve got a six digit as well

Fastest M1 Garand reload: 11ccom

The reason the numbers are different is they are not serial numbers , they are drawing numbers. :)

I didn’t know they were open for buiss

I just found a CMP Expert Grade H&R Garand at my Local gun shop, im pretty sure it's 30-06, what do I look for if by off chance ofiginal owner wanted it in 308? Will 308 be marked on the barrel?

The only part that is serialized is the receiver, the numbers on the other parts are drawing numbers.

Did you notice if there is any oil on the new stock? And if not what oil would you use on it?

It's a new stock! Proceeds to bang on table. :( I also would have cleaned the bore or at least examined the bore before shooting. It's a nice piece congratulations!

10:56

Your not going to get best accuracy resting the gas cylinder on the rest which looked like a wooden one with a blanket on it. Rest the forearm on a soft bag or your hand not hard surfaces.

Don't support the rifle with sandbags under the front handguard. Only under the main stock. Watch your groups tighten up. Also your ammo selection and reason is bullshit 173 gr M1 30/06 is what the M1 was designed for, not anemic "Garand specific" Loads". Shoot 180gr or lower commercial and your fine provided the Op rod spring is 19.5" and the rifle is properly greased. Also, parts are stamped with drawing numbers, not serial numbers. So they will not match, even if the parts are 'correct' for the serial number on the receiver.

Never rest your rifle barrel on a rest when shooting ....it will affect your accuracy.

In your thumbnail picture, you’re resting your gas chamber on the rest, if you want it to not throw flyers rest it on the belly of the stock