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Failed case that got stuck in the chamber plus a load little hot for the Garand resulted in an explosive self disassembly of my M1.

Anyone got a replacement stock, preferably USGI one?
 
Small scratch to the cheek, so in all a good outcome . I can always get a new rifle. It's with a gunsmith now, so I will know what metal parts broke later this week, but I definetly need a stock. I will post some pics when I can later .

Yikes, hope you made it out in one piece....
 
....
55866BDC-8866-4A29-9A5F-398081412E95.jpeg
 
SCLID
Sudden
Catastrophic
Load
Induced
Disassembly

Glad no one was badly hurt! Check eBay or the next gunshow. I imagine you may need at least a new op road and/or extractor as well, depending on how hot the load was...
 
So what's the failure mode here. Whole receiver being slammed back into the stock and splitting it ?


SCLID
Sudden
Catastrophic
Load
Induced
Disassembly

Glad no one was badly hurt! Check eBay or the next gunshow. I imagine you may need at least a new op road and/or extractor as well, depending on how hot the load was...
 
Failed case that got stuck in the chamber plus a load little hot for the Garand resulted in an explosive self disassembly of my M1.

Anyone got a replacement stock, preferably USGI one?

HoLee crap! Shudder. Glad you're okay.

As the new owner of a rebuilt Garand with '43 Winchester receiver, SA '53 barrel, repro birch stock and the rest BMB parts. Please explain how this happens? Case head came off? Bolt unlocked prematurely? Double charge, even possible? Too fast powder?

You're saying "A little hot". Aren't these guns built like tanks? I read you need to load lighter than bolt action hunting round for fear of tweaking the op rods.

No judgments from me, just trying to learn all I can.
 
Anyone got a replacement stock, preferably USGI one?

 
I saw this happen once before with a Garand. The shooter ended up with a cut on his thumb and a fat lip, but was otherwise OK. The only main part left on the rifle that was salvaged was the receiver. The op rod was really messed up. The stock was blown apart like this one. It made a very loud bang when it happened. Very different sound that a round being fired normally. The cause was determined to be too much powder in the case.
 
Few K54 stamped rounds were mixed in with my other surplus m2 ball. Yes, should have checked better. Other rounds are either lake city or SL , but seems there were few of these. So a surplus round. It used to be sold by cmp, but long long ago. Afterward I searched a bit and found other reports of it failing in the M1. I thought they were Korean made, but seems it's a British made round . Also, I was not the one shooting when it happened,. My friend was and I only heard it happen and saw the aftermath, so not sure if anything else contributed to this. He was single loading at the time . When it happened, the case did not eject, it was stuck in the chamber. I had to move the bolt handle back manually to eject it. I don't recall it being any more difficult than normally,, but then i was probably little high on adrenaline at the time after seeing this.

Wow! What Ammo / load were you running?
 
Last Edited:
Thank you for posting; glad nobody was seriously hurt. I remember when the CMP sold that Kynoch ammo. I bought 2 cans of it, came on 250 round 1919 belts. I never shot any of it.

Actually one of my cans, ordered as Kynoch ammo, actually came as HXP (much better). I remember hearing that the Kynoch ammo was problematic and prone to case failure, but that a lot of guys shot it in bolt actions that were less likely to be damaged. After seeing your post, I won't shoot it in anything. I have plenty of good modern brass, and one of these days I'll pull all the Kynoch ammo down for components.
 
Few K54 stamped rounds were mixed in with my other surplus m2 ball. Yes, should have checked better. Other rounds are either lake city or SL , but seems there were few of these. So a surplus round. It used to be sold by cmp, but long long ago. Afterward I searched a bit and found other reports of it failing in the M1. I thought they were Korean made, but seems it's a British made round . Also, I was not the one shooting when it happened,. My friend was and I only heard it happen and saw the aftermath, so not sure if anything else contributed to this. He was single loading at the time . When it happened, the case did not eject, it was stuck in the chamber. I had to move the bolt handle back manually to eject it. I don't recall it being any more difficult than normally,, but then i was probably little high on adrenaline at the time after seeing this.
It's difficult to identify the root cause on things like this. Absent any other information you have provided thus far I would surmise it's probably worth considering a few things. First; they make a single load device or SLED for those who need to chamber one round at a time, rather than have a loaded clip inserted where the drag on the bolt exhibited by the clip and cartridges slows the momentum of the bolt as it travels forward. Too much forward speed and that inertia style firing pin may impart sufficient force to set off a round prior to the bolt locking into battery. Second; the firing pin may have broke and or for some other reason found itself wedged forward within the bolt causing its tip to protrude from the bolt face. As you can imagine, any primer coming into contact with that pin would be ignited, regardless the bolt is in battery or not, regardless how little or how far the cartridge has been chambered. Third; simultaneously firing mixed and unknown lots of cartridges is never a good idea because when things like this happen you will have a very difficult time identifying any one of those particular loads as being the cause. Something that's lost on a lot of people when it comes to buying milsurp ammo is you should ask yourself, "why is that entity getting rid of this ammo at these prices rather than keeping them for government use?" I know there's a variety of reasons. But among them are that they know its unreliable and or degraded, and they don't want to hazard their personnel or loose a fight that's gotta be won. A lot of our allies stored their equipment (as do we) over in the desert. Some countries don't take care of their stockpiles as good as others do. Ron's got a really nice stock for you - you should take him up on his offer.
 
Last Edited:
I'm glad you're okay. I've had a couple of close calls with my Garand (jams, stuck cases, etc.). The Garand is a lot of fun, but every time I shoot mine I am reminded these rifles are starting to show their age and they are not ideal for inexperienced shooters. I have great admiration for the men who carried them into combat. I can't imagine fussing with a jam under fire. It really makes me appreciate the AR/AK platform.
 
It's difficult to identify the root cause on things like this. Absent any other information you have provided thus far I would surmise it's probably worth considering a few things. First; they make a single load device or SLED for those who need to chamber one round at a time, rather than have a loaded clip inserted where the drag on the bolt exhibited by the clip and cartridges slows the momentum of the bolt as it travels forward. Too much forward speed and that inertia style firing pin may impart sufficient force to set off a round prior to the bolt locking into battery. Second; the firing pin may have broke and or for some other reason found itself wedged forward within the bolt causing its tip to protrude from the bolt face. As you can imagine, any primer coming into contact with that pin would be ignited, regardless the bolt is in battery or not, regardless how little or how far the cartridge has been chambered. Third; simultaneously firing mixed and unknown lots of cartridges is never a good idea because when things like this happen you will have a very difficult time identifying any one of those particular loads as being the cause. Something that's lost on a lot of people when it comes to buying milsurp ammo is you should ask yourself why is that entity getting rid of this at these prices rather than keeping them for government use? I know there's a variety of reasons. But among them are that they know its unreliable and or degraded, and they don't want to hazard their personnel or loose a fight that's gotta be won. A lot of our allies stored their equipment (as do we) over in the desert. Some countries don't take care of their stockpiles as good as others do. Ron's got a really nice stock for you - you should take him up on his offer.
Good post. CV-66 is a very accomplished long time competition shooter. When single loading a M1 it is important to
use a SLED (single loading enhancement device) to slow down the bolt.;)
This home made SLED works better than the commercial one. You do not need a tool to remove it. You have to tweek it
a little for it to work in a particular rifle. I have some that work in some rifles but not in others.
 

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