M1 thumb is no joke

[CLT65]

I've been shooting M1 Garands for the better part of three decades, and have never experienced the dreaded "M1 thumb", until today. I've always thought it was an overblown worry, and easily avoided.

Today I made a stupid mistake. I was teaching my son how to load and shoot an M1, and was having an unusually hard time getting the clip to latch in. Well, I forgot that one of the clips I brought had only seven rounds. Loading a seven-round clip is no problem, if you're careful and do it right. I forgot and just shoved it straight down until it latched. When it did, the bolt slammed forward. Having no top round to strip off and slow the bolt down, it hit my thumb HARD. My wife says I'll probably loose the thumbnail. It's still throbbing many hours later. Stupid, stupid, stupid...

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[Joe13]

Thanks for sharing - it's not always easy to share the stuff we think will never happen but then does.

Sounds super painful!

I avoid that particular problem by not owning an M1, but I hope to someday lol.

Better then shooting a toe off though.

Lots of ice on it and whiskey if you drink I guess.

 

[oremike]

I've not gotten a M-1 thumb due to not owning one either. But I did reach across a 1911 I was holding in my left hand being left handed and all with my right hand and trip the slide release causing the slide to slam forward on the meat of my middle right hand finger. It took me a second or two to think my way out of this predicament and press the muzzle against the bench to release my finger. So while not your pain I'll share some of mine that way when they are handing out dum-bass awards you'll know why I'll be standing next to you.

 

[Dozer99]

I have done this as well, only with a three round blocked clip. I now am supper paranoid and always keep the knife edge of my hand on the charging handle. I didn't loose my thumb nail, but the blood blister was supper impressive.

Thanks for the reminder, again!

 

[drstrangelove]

"The shooter must pull the operating handle back hard enough to move it back far enough to engage the operating rod catch. If they don't pull it back far enough, the bolt will simply hang up against the magazine follower.

At that point, all that's holding the bolt from springing forward is the friction of the bolt against the magazine follower. The slightest bump or pressure on the follower will cause the bolt to spring forward.

If that occurs while a new clip is being loaded, any pressure of the shooter's hand against the operating handle will not hold the bolt open. Instead, once the clip clears the face of the bolt, the bolt will spring forward with great force catching the shooter's thumb.

Did I mention that the bolt has a lot of tension on it?

It will hit your thumb like a hammer.

To avoid this, the shooter must always be certain they have pulled the operating handle back with enough force to move it far enough for the bolt to catch properly. If you do that, you should never have to experience the dreaded Garand Thumb."

What Is Garand Thumb?

The condition was so common that it earned its own name… Garand Thumb. So, let's take a closer look and find out what is Grand Thumb?

thegunzone.com

Now if that catch has worn down… all bets are off. Always a safer bet to karate chop hold that bolt back anyway, then give it a shove.

 

[clanhanson]

Yep, it hurts. However, it doesn't compare to "Hakim Thumb" which can remove the thumb entirely!

 

[Alexx1401]

I suspect most of the people who suffer this injury are NOT someone new. The norm is you tell someone new about it and they are VERY careful. It's the person who has been doing it so long they just do it without really thinking that get caught one time. I bet it will be a LONG time before you let it happen again

 

[PiratePast40]

Very true. That's one of the core principles of accident prevention. Recurring evolutions can have high accident rates since people can become complacent.

 

[CLT65]

Complacency kills, that's for sure. I can load an M1 in my sleep, or at least I thought I could. I've found that if I'm going to make a mistake, it's usually when I'm teaching someone else. I noticed something was wrong, forgot that one clip was missing a round, and kept pushing anyhow because I was distracted talking to my son. Dumb mistake, totally my fault.

It's a bit of a funky rifle too, a CMP rack grade that I bought a couple years ago. It has the most heavily pitted receiver that I've ever seen on a functioning rifle. The action feels a bit stiff and gritty due to the pitting and CMP refinishing, even when greased, so that was part of what was going through my mind.

Yep, it hurts. However, it doesn't compare to "Hakim Thumb" which can remove the thumb entirely!

Oh yeah, I know about Hakim thumb too; been there, done that! I had a real nice Hakim back in the mid '90s for a while. I think I paid $125 for it, traded it a couple years later for a Maadi AK. I had both the Hakim and an FN49, figured I didn't need both and the FN49 didn't destroy brass like the Hakim did. I did the Hakim thumb thing exactly once, and yeah it was pretty terrible as I recall.

 

[homeuser6]

i have not suffered hakim thumb myself, but i got a hakim for forty bucks from someone who did.

 

[taroman]

Ouch!

 

[CountryGent]

I've had Garand thumb happen to me a grand total of once. That was enough to learn me.

 

[Toxic6]

View attachment 1927104
Ouch!

Damn that's worse then my finger when I had a Mac bolt slam closed on it

 

[ma96782]

It happened to me twice......hopefully I've LEARNED SOMETHING.

Aloha, Mark

 

[Pepe-lepew]

AR finger is much worse. An AR bolt has teeth.

 

[dude686]

Whewww, I thought this thread was gonna be dissin on ma boi Flannel Daddy...

 

[Stomper]

View attachment 1927104
Ouch!

That'll teach ya for pickin' yer nose!

 

[monks]

Complacency kills, that's for sure.

In more ways than one! I generally find that properly trained new shooters are much better following the four rules of gun safety then seasoned shooters. Getting muzzle swept gets old!

 

[F2CMaDMaXX]

Whilst i haven't used mine enough, i understand that, as well as the bolt not being locked back properly (had also forgotten this) a correctly operating rifle, will only allow it to travel forward after releasing insertion pressure on the clip.

 

[Towhead]

Can't believe how many people got caught.

There is a video.