M1 Garand loading tool

[odugrad]

Alright, I need a little help finding something that may not exist. I went shooting with my dad yesterday and he brought his M1 Garand. He's getting older and was having a lot of difficulty loading the clip into the rifle. I'm not too familiar with the M1 but even I thought it was really tough loading it.

I was looking online for a tool that would make it easier to push down on the clip so he could enjoy shooting it again. Does anything like this exist?

 

[smee78]

Sorry, Not that I know of, its all timed just right to close on your thumb if your not fast enough . He may have to switch up to a box fed gun like the M1A or a 30 Carbine??

 

[LavaTech]

No worries about getting M1 thumb while loading the rifle, that can only happen when the bolt is resting against the follower slide....at which time it can’t be loaded. Loading does require a somewhat authoritative push on the enbloc though, no way around that.


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[odugrad]

Thanks for the responses. Maybe I'll try and rig something up for him. As a retired Marine he's not one to ask for help and he'd be more likely not to shoot his M1 again than to ask for help.

 

[David R]

Hold your right hand down the side of the rifle so the bolt handle will hit your pinky finger when it slams forward. This saves your M1 thumb.

David

 

[Aguila Blanca]

Google Holbrook+M1+Thumbsaver

 

[brasscollector]

I googled it. You can find a few other forums where they've discussed the Holbrook but no webpage.
I would suggest going to eBay and searching "M1 thumbsaver" and hold onto your wallet..

 

[odugrad]

There's not an issue with the bolt closing prematurely. The issue is that my dad's arthritic hands don't have the strength to press the clip down far enough to lock into place.

 

[Erno86]

I sometimes fit my Garand with a clip (that doesn't eject) designed for single shot loading only. I believe 'Brownells' sells them.

Just be careful to close the bolt slowly on a single round, so it doesn't have a chance to slamfire on you.

 

[Dfariswheel]

There was an older man in my old gun club who had trouble loading the M1.
I suggested this and it worked for him........

First, as long as you're pressing down on the top round in the clip, it CANNOT close on your fingers.

To load, lay the clip on the follower.
Make a fist with your thumb sticking out.
Put the thumb on the top round in the clip, and with your wrist locked and your elbow held above the receiver, just shove the clip in until it locks.

In most M1's you have to give the op rod handle a bump to close the bolt.

 

[tangolima]

A 3/4" wood dowel 8" long. Hold it with your fist. Use it in lieu of you thumb. The strength is your arm instead of your thumb.

-TL

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[mehavey]

Have him use two hands
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebmGLDG1g5M



Start at 7:00

 

[odugrad]

Thanks for the advice, everyone. I'll have him try these techniques! I really want him to enjoy shooting his favorite rifle. It was sad for me to watch him struggle.

 

[Bart B.]

I've observed all sorts of issues reloading Garands with 8-round and 2-round clips as well as single round loading across the several barrels in them I wore out. Observations.....

New clips with 8 rounds have enough friction on the top round to stop the bolt from moving it as the bolt stops against it. You have to bump the op rod handle to start the top round moving out into battery. With use, the same clip has less friction to the top round and it's going to get pushed out and chambered. With practise, one can learn the dexterity to have a limp thumb that's safely pushed out of the way so the bolt can chamber the round.

 

[jrothWA]

You should buy your Dad a...

S.L.E.D. -> Single loading enhancement devive.

Buy these from champions choice or Brownells, it slip into the reciever and catches under the reciever rail and a round slip in under theun-modified clip and hold until the OP rod is retrated and goes home, chambering the round.

 

[smee78]

I just read about a Holbrook device for the M1 in the American Rifleman magazine and does what the OP was looking for. Its funny before Agulia spoke of these in post #6 I had never heard of these before.

 

[pwc]

Odu grad - Place butt on the bench and lock the op rod back. Could you make a loop sized to fit over the OP rod, then around the stock wrist behind the trigger guard so as to allow him to put his left hand thru the loop and grip the stock wrist to keep the op rod back. With the rifle laying on the bench, receiver up, then push the clip down maybe with a shaped stick until it latches.

The loop, wrapped around his hand, would allow him to get a better grip and use more body strength to pull the OP rod back

 

[berettaprofessor]

I bought a Holbrook device after reading the magazine article mentioned above and installed it two weeks ago. For $75 on Ebay it will solve your Dads issue as long as you can do the simple job of putting it in the Garand. It retains the clip and allows you to load one or eight rounds at a time. And no worries about your thumb.

 

[agtman]

(1) Knife-hand the op rod handle with the back edge of your right hand with sufficient back-pressure to prevent its forward movement while (2) simultaneously pressing the top of the loaded clip into the magazine with constant downward thumb pressure. Then (3) release your knife-hand's pressure again the handle.

Often at this point a bit of a slap on the handle is required to get the op rod moving forward to chamber the first round off the clip. That is NOT a design defect, just the nature of the beast.

With practice, your thumb gets stronger and your technique gets smoother. That's your 'loading tool' right there, ... whether at the range, at a Match, or just patrolling your front lawn late at night.

Just ask any of the millions of G.I.s who had the additional incentive to do it fast and often under fire while serving in WW2 and Korea.

By the way, did ya note how those terms of art ('clip' and 'magazine') were correctly employed to explain the proper loading technique for an M1?

You can thank me later.

 

[Reloadron]

My best advice is get more clips and as you have time just load them. There is no tool made to load en bloc clips which I am aware of. I agree getting those clips loaded with arthritic hands can be difficult. Also, and you may have a handle on this, when you load the en bloc clips note the clip grooves.

You want the cartridge extractor grooves to align with the grooves in the clips.

You can buy the clips for about a buck each. That's in lots of 20. That includes the cardboard inserts. If you bring him out with 12 loaded clips that's 96 rounds, two bandoliers worth, which should be more than a good day for him.

Anyway sorry as no easy way to load the clips.

<EDIT> Never mind, I get it now. The problem is not loading the clip but pushing the clip down in the rifle. Yes, it takes some force and getting it down can be rough on old hands. Obviously I thought loading the clips was the issue. </EDIT>

Ron