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All semi autos are made to operate in a relatively narrow range of pressure. Narrow compared to a bolt gun, that is. Some designs have greater tolerance than others.

The M1 Garand was designed to shoot GI ammo. This means a 150gr @2740fps +/- or the 172gr @ 2650fps +/-. Look at the specs for commerical ammo today. 150gr @ 2900! This puts a strain on the gun.

Also, due to its design, the M1's op rod is long and has some bends in it. This makes it vulnerable to damage when it is moved too fast. Does it happen every time you exceed the design parameters by a little? No.

But it can happen, and often does when its run hard, too long.

As to being a GI battle rifle, and should be both idiot proof, and invulnerable, the Garand does a pretty fair job of surviving both GIs and combat, evidenced by the fact that they are still out there being used by us.

However, military service and combat virtually always means using the ammo supplied by the same folks who put the rifle in the soldier's hands. And that ammo will be in spec for the rifle. (please don't start on the M16 and Vietnam era ammo, that's a specific anomaly).

The M1 is sensitive to port pressure. If the gun is stock, shoot only GI spec ammo. If you replace the gas plug, you can adjust the rifle to deal comfortably with a much wider range of ammo.