The M1 Garand Isn't Accurate*

In this video we go into some of the historical accuracy standards of the M1 Garand, how that relates to modern accuracy standards, and how that relates to you.
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At 2:06, it would have been 5.6 MOA as the cut edge includes the bullet diameter x2. .30 Cal x 2 = 0.6 inches

[@KHbanjo]

Back in my day I used to shoot the balls off bullfrogs with my M1

[@danieledmunds3602]

I was at Bastogne, we didn't have time to accuracy test, there was a war going on!

[@SaundersE5]

There were Krauts to kill. My man.

[@afallencheetah6610]

This is a pretty normal level of accuracy during the first half of the 20th century. British service rifles were expected to be about 4 moa and the ones that shot less then 3 became sniper rifles. Germany had a standard of 5 moa for service rifles and snipers. Hell, most modern service rifles still have acceptable accuracy at around 3 moa.

[@JaredAF]

Thanks for watching. I get so tired of explaining this to people sometimes. I put together an M1 in 6.5x55 and some people I showed it to derided it because it wasn't shooting "MOA," as if the .264 bullet diameter is magic and suddenly changes the entire system into a precision rifle. Victims of modern marketing

[@hummingbird9149]

Not quite right. The German minimum acceptance standard was 4.1 MOA (5 out of 5 shots in 12cm dia circle at 100 m) for the std. K98k service rifle during WW2. For the Sniper variant it was 2.8 MOA.

[@afallencheetah6610]

@hummingbird9149 Yes, GERMANY had a different standard of accuracy then BRITISH service rifles just as the USA had a different standard. The US accepted M1s with up to 4-5 moa because they didn't need super accurate rilfes.

[@hummingbird9149]

@@afallencheetah6610 Minimum acceptance standard for the M1 Garand was 5 MOA (5" group at 100 y), and for the Lee Enfield No.4 it was 4.5 MOA. So all three nations had very similar accuracy acceptance standards.

[@pigeonpallz1733]

I enjoy your videos . Thank you

[@henryofskalitz2228]

Just rebarreled my m1 garand that fought in Korea its an ihc garand. The bore no longer had rifling and shot a 2 foot group at 100 yards. Now it's shooting 2.8 inch groups at 100 yards now. Made me pretty darn happy especially since I rebarreld it myself.

[@JaredAF]

Congratulations on your marriage. I married a Beretta M1 receiver last year

[@henryofskalitz2228]

@@JaredAF lol what a fucking drunk typo did i make

[@chris.3711]

Accuracy is always that point of contention that as I have found is myth born from truth. The gun is accurate, but it is not bolt gun accurate. However, guns at that time (even still today for the most part) really only needed to hit a silhouette target at 100 yards/meters. Yeah, there was requirements, but hitting a man was really all that mattered. The gun is accurate, but people have construed and redefined accurate as having extremely tight groupings. My father is a firm believer in groups touching. I believe if you can keep it in the target you're good.

[@JaredAF]

It's kind of like the bell curve meme. people with no knowledge of the rifle think it's laser accurate. people with some knowledge who chase small groups think the rifle is a shotgun. then those who understand firearms know that accurate depends on what you're aiming at.

[@KHbanjo]

Nice channel btw

[@HaroldTheSloth]

I own several M1s, and my best shooter is an HRA w/CMP stock. It's got the original HRA barrel, and I can get 2.5-3 MOA with hand loads. My worst shooter is about a 4-MOA gun. These aren't sniping weapons, but for any reasonable self-defense or hunting application, they are accurate enough to get the job done. I am going to try glass bedding one of them to see what improvements I can get out of it.

[@buckshot927tx]

LetterKenny Arsenal 🤣🤣

[@dumberthandirt9912]

If I’m “hitting the broadside of barn” with any of my riffles I’m having a good range day, so yeah the M1 is accurate for me haha

[@JaredAF]

Use case is everything!

[@reddevilparatrooper]

I read something in a book by Osprey that a rifle was accepted into service from the factory was it should shoot under 8 inches. Those are rifles coming off from Springfield Armory and Winchester during WWII. My own standard is if it hits inside the 9, 10, and X on an NRA B-27 target at 100 yards after being zeroed, it's combat effective for me.

[@JaredAF]

That's a great way to look at it. I initially had a part of the video that went into the SR Target and how it makes a good standard for accuracy but cut it out of the script as it took up too much of the video. It has a roughly 7 MOA bullseye.

[@frederickking1660]

Think it was about like his first group. Not every one was tested. So some were pretty bad I bet.

[@chima193]

I have a Korean War M1 with many original parts except for the barrel and a few other things. It was produced in 2023 and actually gives the rifle exceptional accuracy for an M1. It isn't accurate like an Ar15, but I would say that it is as good as it can get.

[@alanb2845]

They aren’t the most accurate milsurp by any means (as compared to M96s or M39s). But they certainly can be accurized to an impressive level. Best place to start is a new stock with tight lockup and a new criterion barrel. And don’t field strip it unless absolutely necessary. Hand loads also help too. Regardless, it doesn’t matter how accurized the rifle is, it comes down to the person behind the trigger to do the work.

[@JaredAF]

yup, as a guy that loves swedish mausers, they are laser beams out of the box by comparison. garand has way better sights though

[@ranchodeluxe1]

My Winchester Expert grade shoots 2 inch groups at 170 yards over the seat of my ATV with 1968 FN M2 Ball ammo.

[@JaredAF]

Those new Criterion barrels are fantastic. WW2 Era barrels were straightened *by eye* after the hardening process. Modern barrels are dead straight

[@ranchodeluxe1]

@@JaredAF My WW2 Springfield Armory Rack grades have well-worn barrels. The worst one still shoots a 5 inch group at 170 yards. That's well within military specs for a new rifle, which is amazing since the barrel looks like a sewer pipe.

[@JaredAF]

@@ranchodeluxe1 Yep! Barrel condition can be deceiving. I never got around to doing the video but the test I conducted of my 5 M1s at the time showed no correlation between visual bore condition and accuracy, and little correlation between muzzle/throat erosion and accuracy. Basically, you don't know toll you shoot it. Also, ammo and the consistency of that ammo is incredibly important to accuracy

[@ChevelleMike71]

@@ranchodeluxe1 It’s strange how that works. The most accurate rifle I have is a post war rebuild K98 with a pretty worn and pitted barrel. On two occasions the planets and stars aligned, and Paul Mauser himself smiled down from the heavens and I managed a sub minute five shot group. That’s two times in 15 years though.

[@ranchodeluxe1]

@@ChevelleMike71 Accurate rifles are nothing new. My Grandpa only had one rifle, a Savage Model 99 Featherweight in .300 Savage.He survived the 30s on the South Dakota prairie, so he never was a target shooter. He thought it was wasteful. He'd shoot once at a pile of cow dung, or at a prairie dog, before he went deer hunting, but when you heard him shoot, something was dead. If he shot twice, there was two dead mulies. I inherited the rifle, never shot it for years. I got what was left of the three boxes of cartridges he bought with the rifle in 1957. It has a Weaver MK4 scope with 3/4" tube. The barrel shines like a diamond in a goat's ass and it shoot 5/8-3/4 " groups at 100 yards, easily.

[@twistednixon2911]

My garand does 5-6 moa with greek ball, 3 moa with handloads, which i'm fine with. It can certainly hit IPSC targets out to 400-500-600, but it's not going to hit coke cans out that far like some modern rifles can...

[@Kingnickie]

Next we need the k31

[@darrellruehter9877]

Has anyone put a red dot on their Garand ? I’ve been looking at the HOPCO & Bad Ace Tactical mounts that replace the rear sight . I have doubts about putting one on any of my Harands but thinking about getting a M1A Socom 16 and trying that out .

[@frederickking1660]

Make sure the rear sight is tight

[@theheck5176]

Great video - thanks Jared. I believed the M1 Garand was accurate - perhaps it was back then.

[@JaredAF]

Yep, different standards of accuracy

[@rachelsatlas]

It's a combat rifle....measure it by minutes of person

[@RoyalCustode]

Do you own a M1 Garand in the 308 caliber?

[@JaredAF]

no

[@gameragodzilla]

Yeah, the fact that M14s (which are very similar to M1 Garands) have been a bitch to accurize definitely shows the M1 isn’t the most accurate rifle by design. But it wasn’t an issue for the context it was used in since most engagements happen within 500 yards where the accuracy of the M1 is more than sufficient to hit a man sized target, and the sheer speed advantage you got with a self loading rifle trumped any slight accuracy increase the bolt actions have. It’s only when that main rifle niche was taken over by intermediate caliber assault rifles that full power battle rifles got their niche of being long distance DMRs, and a Garand action will always have an issue there. Would love to see it modernized in some way, though. Everything being AR-patterned these days is getting dull.

[@JoeLaFon3]

You should make a whole series on debunking crappy firearm operating methods and what not like the whole "just mortar it" idiots with the m1

[@Sverd_Ok_Skjoldr]

It's a WW2 battle rifle. Not a 2024 DMR.

[@HerrWayne45]

I know that such a claim is total bulshit cause I out shot my friend with his own garand lmao, we were shooting a 5x5" target pistol target at 250 yards irons only, I took 2 shots to hit it and My friend took almost and entire clip to hit it lol.

[@stevenrodriguez9655]

My eyebrows almost jumped off my face while reading this comment, I’m half asleep still pre-coffee and I read “I know that claim is total bullshit cause I SHOT MY FRIEND WITH HIS OWN GARAND…” lmao… glad that was a misreading on my part 😂

[@HerrWayne45]

@@stevenrodriguez9655 LOL

[@ecleveland1]

My M1 is very accurate.

[@NoGoBu]

Perhaps its the shooter 🤔 🤷

[@BaconSlayer69]

The AR15 is more accurate

[@JaredAF]

Yeah, amazingly accurate for what they are and how cheaply they can be had for.

[@BaconSlayer69]

@@JaredAF you can thank Stoner and Sullivan for that