I’m starting to get ready for the upcoming shooting season.  One project I’ve had on the back burner for quite some time was fine tuning my M1 Garand.  It’s a 1942 vintage Springfield.  One addition is a gas plug.

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A few years ago Moose wanted to take the Garand out for some plinking. I let him do it. I later found out he had run 180 grain Hornadys through it– very bad Ju-Ju. It did not bend the operating rod up, but you need to watch your loads with the Garand. It was tuned to M2 Ball, which was not a very hot load. That put the idea in my head to get a variable gas plug for the Garand as a bit of added protection. Along the way, I found out that some of the after-market gas plugs are tunable.

From the Schuster website:

Installation: Remove existing gas plug, and replace with your new adjustable gas plug. Start with setscrew at the factory preset position. Turning the screw about ¼ turn at a time, tighten screw, and fire until the rifle functions reliably with your particular load. If the adjusting screws seems to loosen, install the hollow locking screw and tighten against the original setscrew locking it in place. Locating your Rifle’s sweet spot requires some trial and error. Once rifle is functioning properly, try turning the setscrew 1/8 of a turn at a time and fire a few rounds. Repeat until best group is found. Some shooters like to scribe a small line on the setscrew itself, and use it as a marker for identifying plug position (i.e. 3 o clock).

*Since handloading operations are beyond our control, we disclaim all liability for any damages which may result.

The bottom line is that adding this $45 dollar doohickey to the Garand will accomplish two things:

1)  Reduce wear and tear on the action. I’ll be able to dial up just the right amount of gas pressure to work the action consistently

2)  Allow fine tuning so that I’ll get better groups.

Not all gas ports are able to be adjusted in this manner. The Schuster MFG version is one is.  All you need is an included standard hex key.

More on this later.

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