M1 Garand Front Sight

Jman · December 28, 2004, 08:11 AM

I'm green as grass on this sight guys. I hope in the right place with this post/question.
I recently purchased a 1943 Springfield M1 Garand (.30-06). I shot it for the first time over Christmas Holidays and was able to shoot a 3" to 3-1/2" group at 100 yards. The gun works perfectly in every aspect with exception of the front sight. It seems to be "loose", such that it ever so slightly pivots on the barrel. The top of the sight "assembly" will move or rotate as much as 1/32" or so. Can anyone offer any suggestions on what's needed to stabalize this problem? I haven't bought any books, manuals, etc. yet, but I feel that they're in my future.
Any comments/advice is welcome.

Steve499 · December 28, 2004, 03:42 PM

The front sight assembly on a Garand is slid onto the barrel from the front and is prevented from moving from side to side by splines on the outside of the barrel. I bought an old loose Garand some time back which had the same problem (among others) yours does. I don't know if it's the preferred way to fix this or not, but I used a small punch to peen the splines on the barrel. That spread the tops of the splines enough to fill the splines on the inside of the front sight assembly and made it fit tightly.

Jman · December 28, 2004, 04:26 PM

Thanks for the response Steve. I printed a drawing from Fulton Armory following my post and after further examination today (at lunch break) I learned that the movement in my sight is dictated by how tight the "cylinder lock" is or "isn't" in this case. When I removed the screw and tightened the cylinder lock (by hand) about a quarter of a turn, everything was stabilized. The only problem is that I need to turn it another 3/4 of a turn to line it up again for screw installation, and that isn't going to happen without a serious tool and probably damaging something. It's going to get way too tight prior to alignment. Fulton did note that it may require a tool to remove if too tight. As rediculous as it might sound, it would seem that a very thin washer or shim of some sort, underneath the cylinder lock (where it threads) would remove the slack that I have. I'm not ignoring your advice, just looking for the best/easiest route. I understand what you are describing and can see how that would eliminate the issue. I'm not sure I'm refined enough to take that on at this point

30Cal · January 1, 2005, 03:59 PM

I think you misunderstood the fulton article.

On a rack rifle, slight rotation of the gas cylinder is normal. It's the price paid for taking the gas cylinder off regularly when cleaning. The gas cylinder lock prevents the gas cylinder from moving fore and aft. If you want to eliminate rotation of the gas cylinder, you peen the splines of the barrel as Steve wrote above.

On a match rifle, the barrel splines are peened and the gas cylinder is driven on with a mallet. Various gas cylinder locks are then tried until you get one which will stop at the 5-7 o'clock position (depending on the preference of the rifle builder).

If it doesn't stop near 6 o'clock, then you turn the gas cyl lock until it stops, then back off until you get the gas plug in.

Ty

December 28, 2004, 08:11 AM	#1
Jman Member Join Date: December 27, 2004 Posts: 28	M1 Garand Front Sight I'm green as grass on this sight guys. I hope in the right place with this post/question. I recently purchased a 1943 Springfield M1 Garand (.30-06). I shot it for the first time over Christmas Holidays and was able to shoot a 3" to 3-1/2" group at 100 yards. The gun works perfectly in every aspect with exception of the front sight. It seems to be "loose", such that it ever so slightly pivots on the barrel. The top of the sight "assembly" will move or rotate as much as 1/32" or so. Can anyone offer any suggestions on what's needed to stabalize this problem? I haven't bought any books, manuals, etc. yet, but I feel that they're in my future. Any comments/advice is welcome.

December 28, 2004, 03:42 PM	#2
Steve499 Senior Member Join Date: December 14, 2004 Location: Central Missouri Posts: 533	The front sight assembly on a Garand is slid onto the barrel from the front and is prevented from moving from side to side by splines on the outside of the barrel. I bought an old loose Garand some time back which had the same problem (among others) yours does. I don't know if it's the preferred way to fix this or not, but I used a small punch to peen the splines on the barrel. That spread the tops of the splines enough to fill the splines on the inside of the front sight assembly and made it fit tightly.

December 28, 2004, 04:26 PM	#3
Jman Member Join Date: December 27, 2004 Posts: 28	Thanks for the response Steve. I printed a drawing from Fulton Armory following my post and after further examination today (at lunch break) I learned that the movement in my sight is dictated by how tight the "cylinder lock" is or "isn't" in this case. When I removed the screw and tightened the cylinder lock (by hand) about a quarter of a turn, everything was stabilized. The only problem is that I need to turn it another 3/4 of a turn to line it up again for screw installation, and that isn't going to happen without a serious tool and probably damaging something. It's going to get way too tight prior to alignment. Fulton did note that it may require a tool to remove if too tight. As rediculous as it might sound, it would seem that a very thin washer or shim of some sort, underneath the cylinder lock (where it threads) would remove the slack that I have. I'm not ignoring your advice, just looking for the best/easiest route. I understand what you are describing and can see how that would eliminate the issue. I'm not sure I'm refined enough to take that on at this point

January 1, 2005, 03:59 PM	#4
30Cal Senior Member Join Date: December 3, 2002 Posts: 1,264	I think you misunderstood the fulton article. On a rack rifle, slight rotation of the gas cylinder is normal. It's the price paid for taking the gas cylinder off regularly when cleaning. The gas cylinder lock prevents the gas cylinder from moving fore and aft. If you want to eliminate rotation of the gas cylinder, you peen the splines of the barrel as Steve wrote above. On a match rifle, the barrel splines are peened and the gas cylinder is driven on with a mallet. Various gas cylinder locks are then tried until you get one which will stop at the 5-7 o'clock position (depending on the preference of the rifle builder). If it doesn't stop near 6 o'clock, then you turn the gas cyl lock until it stops, then back off until you get the gas plug in. Ty