How accurate can a wood-stock M1 be made?

[cubewarrior]

Looking at getting an M1 Garand from CMP. How accurate can these rifles be made? I'm shooting for enjoyment (not Garand matches), want to retain the wood stock, will probably reconfigure to 308, and I want the gun to be as accurate as current technology will allow.

There seems to be a lot of talent on the East Coast to configure the rifle, but I want to know what is a realistic accuracy claim with a wood-stocked rifle.

Thanks

 

[CavalrySoldier3ACR]

Re: How accurate can a wood-stock M1 be made?

I had a accurized M1 Garand several years ago that could easily shoot sub MOA with match grade ammunition. It had the original wooden stock; however, it had been professionaly accurized and glass bedded. The thing to remeber on wood stocks is that they are suseptible to variations in moisture and heat. This is the reason stocks made from non-organic materials are more stable, but they are not necessarily more accurate. So to answer your original question, a properly assembled and accurized M1 Garand is capable of sub MOA accuracy with a wooden stock and match ammunition.

 

[ORD]

Re: How accurate can a wood-stock M1 be made?

Depending on your skill set and the amount of money you have to spend, with "current technology" (as you stated) you can get an M1 Garand close to the MOA mark or maybe better. Now...that is with substantial modification and money, but you'll be able to go to 308 and retain the wood stock (although you'll likely end up with a new one and not the surplus/issued stock).

Check out here for services and a lot of good info: http://www.nationalmatcharmory.com/

HOWEVER, if all you are going to do is plink with it a couple times a year and you don't intend to compete with it, leave it the hell alone!!!

Seriously, Garands can be made into extremely accurate rifles and they are a real blast to shoot, but you can get 2MOA out of a rack-grade CMP with a good barrel, sights, ammo and shooter (maybe slightly better).

 

[cubewarrior]

Re: How accurate can a wood-stock M1 be made?

Gentlemen,

Thanks.

ORD--if I can handload it to better accuracy, then I won't change the rifle.

 

[nicholst55]

Re: How accurate can a wood-stock M1 be made?

Clint Fowler can build you a triple-lugged M1 Garand that will <span style="font-style: italic">consistently</span> shoot sub-MOA groups. It won't be cheap, and you won't be able to retain your GI stock.

http://www.m1-m1a-ar15.com/

 

[Greg Langelius *]

Re: How accurate can a wood-stock M1 be made?

See this.

Greg

 

[M25BeastShooter]

Re: How accurate can a wood-stock M1 be made?

Remember with all M1's and bedded wood service rifles the rifle can shoot sub MOA just that they will need to be maintained a little more than fiberglass/synthetic stocks and M1's especially are sensitive to their "tuning" like the op rod adjustments. Like as said before there are many great buiders on the East Coast like Clint Fowler who wil make the "greatest impliment of war" shoot like you want.

Good luck

 

[Greg Langelius *]

Re: How accurate can a wood-stock M1 be made?

I accurized my DCM Garand exactly according to the NRA reprint <span style="font-style: italic">The M1 Rifle</span>. The cost was essentially negligible (a Brownell's Accra-Glass Gel bedding kit), and although I chose to forego the metalwork, the rifle still shoots to N/M accuracy spec using handloads recommended in the reprint. My basic, personal accuracy standard with my rifle runs right at/around 1MOA.

Greg

PS We all responded to essentially the same question just last week. I don't mind, but many might and probably should. Taking a moment to click search, type in 'garand,' and turning the sucker loose could do wonders for your ability to 'make friends and influence people'...

 

[cubewarrior]

Re: How accurate can a wood-stock M1 be made?

Greg,

Actually, the last Garand thread got me thinking about this, but I didn't want to hijack it. The thread highlighted that a service rifle could go between 2-3 MOA, but I didn't know how much lower it could go with quality tuning. My results of the Snipers Hide Search Engine gave me great load info, but it appeared the all of the accuracy work was going with M1As.

The link you sent and the comments of others here on this board have been very helpful. Based on the posts, it appears the service rifle can be lowered to 1MOA with a lot of tuning, and it could go lower if substantial elements of the rifle are changed from its service configuration.

Based on comments here, it might be cheaper to just get a top-of-the-line Fulton Armory that runs out of the box. Tough call--I'd rather shoot a tuned rifle with some history.

Thanks for all.

Steve

 

[Greg Langelius *]

Re: How accurate can a wood-stock M1 be made?

Maybe, but I think that the crucial tweaks are actually rather small ones, and well within the scope of the home 'smith. That's all I've ever been.

Functionally, the only real tweak I actually did was a decent, Garand specialized bedding job. After that it was simply a matter of load development, sights refinement, and ergonomics improvement (the butt extension, I'm 6' 5" tall).

I left the front handguard completely alone, and all I did with the rear one was trim 1/16" off the back edge. I did no, repeat, no... metal work whatsoever.

Because the front handguard rtemains totally intact, the rifle also does a perfect job of double duty for parade and volley duty. Add to that the fact that the homemade Tru-Oil stock refinishing job makes it look like a museum piece.

The buttplates swap quickly, and the front sights are marked with witness marks, so swapping them results in only very minor disturbances of the rifle's zero.

As far as I can tell, neither the omission of 'required' tweaks, nor the unsophisticated state of my own training had any bearing on the rifle's sweet looks and performance.

As a battle implement, the Garand needs NO improvements; and in fact, massed fire with a 2-3MOA individual dispersion cone is ideal for fire-and-maneuver doctrines.

For the kind of shooting that derives individual joy, all the tweaks I did have genuine value.

But sending it off neither accomplishes anything I couldn't do myself with a bit of research and determination, nor provides any of the satisfaction that a good self-proclaimed success can.

Read the resources again, and make a cool and considered judgement about your own strengths and shortcomings, and don't sell yourself short. If you think its reasonably worth taking a shot at it, go for it.

90% of the satisfaction I get from shooting my Garand is the knowledge that <span style="font-style: italic">I'm</span> the reason it shoots so nicely.

Greg

 

[ROGER4314]

Re: How accurate can a wood-stock M1 be made?

Been down this road a while and it cost a lot of money and frustration. I've had 7 Garands including NM, 2 glass bedded rifles and built by some genuine Garand authorities. I dumped a ton of money into the rifles to make them something that they are not..... match rifles. These are battle rifles. Leave them alone and enjoy them for what they are.

After all that fussing on my Garands, a nice AR-15 A2 with 20" or a 1903A3 will shoot rings around them! I HATE to say that but you don't even need to believe me. Go to any HP rifle match to see what is on the firing line. There will be a few die hard Garand shooters like I was but that's it.

I also went down that road with M1A's. Mine has every feature but the rear lug. I use classic loads with 168 SMK's and the cotton picker is still outshot by a nice but not exceptional AR-15 A2 20" at 200 and 600 yards.

So........save your money and buy your lady a nice used car with the cash. You can still enjoy the Garand as a battle rifle and the payback from the car purchase will be sweet!

Flash