TM 9 1005-222-12, Maintenance Manual for M1 Garand rifle.

Restoring an M1 Garand Rifle
Finding the Manuals

How to Find Official U.S. Army Manuals

Official Department of Defense manuals are U.S. Government documents, so they cannot be copyrighted. It's just a matter of finding them. There are some nice collections on line, but you can also find them yourself (and find manuals not included in someone else's collection) with some simple Google searches.

TM 9 1005-222-12, Maintenance Manual for M1 Garand rifle.

The 90th Infantry Division Preservation Group has a great collection of manuals!

If they don't have what you're looking for, learn to use more advanced searching at Google! Here are some examples and jumping-off points for Google searches for M1 Garand manuals and much more:

TM 9-1005-222-12
Its rather long title is:
"Operator and Organizational Maintenance Manual Including Repair Parts and Special Tools List / Rifle, Caliber .30 M1 / Rifle, Caliber .30 M1C (Sniper's) / Rifle, Caliber .30 M1D (Sniper's) / M-1 Garand"

"TM" means "Technical Manual", it's what it sounds like. A manual describing in technical detail how to do things when you're back at base with resources at hand. Ask Google to find it for you:

"tm 9-1005-222-12" filetype:pdf OR filetype:zip

FM 23-5
has the shorter title:
"U.S. Rifle Caliber .30, M1"

"FM" means "Field Manual" with the emphasis on "Field". This is a description for the men in the field — how do you really use the thing in a practical setting. Ask Google to find it for you:

"fm 23-5" filetype:pdf OR filetype:zip

Manuals and U.S. Army Training Films at archive.org

Video: Marksmanship With the M1 Rifle — Preparatory Training

Book: How to Shoot the U.S. Army Rifle, companion to the above film.

Book: SMALL ARMS INSTRUCTOR'S MANUAL, An Intensive Course, including 1917 Enfield, 1903 Springfield, 1898 Krag, M1911 pistol, revolvers, etc., compiled by the Small Arms Instruction Corps, 1918.

UNITED STATES RIFLES AND MACHINE GUNS, Fred Colvin and Ethan Viall, 1917.

M1 Garand Owner's Manual
Amazon 1888722037
M1 Garand Complete Assembly Guide
Amazon 1888722134
Hatchers Book of the Garand
Amazon 1934044253
U.S. .30 Caliber Service Rifles Shop Manual
Amazon B0006F5XOW

Other Sources of Information

Nicolaus Associates sells a large collection of reprints of manuals, diagrams, and more, some of them the result of meticulous restoration.

ODCMP Coaching Resources page has lots of very useful target shooting information, including tips from the U.S. Army Service Rifle Team and much more.

Flash animation of the M! action, trigger group, and feeding cycle

Wikipedia page on the M1 Garand

See Steve Ricciardelli's site with:

mediafire.com page containing:

  • Accurize The M1 Rifle.pdf 248.97 KB
  • Enfield Springfield.pdf 456.63 KB
  • GuidebookForMarines Ch12 The Pistol.pdf 556.12 KB
  • GuidebookForMarines Ch15 M1-Rifle.pdf 1.41 MB
  • GuidebookForMarines Ch16 M1-Carbine.pdf 4.19 MB
  • GuidebookForMarines Ch17 The Automatic Rifle.pdf 938.35 KB
  • M1 Garand Clips.pdf 1.03 MB
  • M1 Trigger.pdf 304.22 KB
  • M1 Garand Postwar SA bolt heat lot dates.pdf 12.57 KB
  • M1 Garand WW2 Springfield Armory Bolt Heat Lot Dates.pdf 11.16 KB
  • MCRP 3-01A USMC Rifle Marksmanship.pdf 6.81 MB
  • Single Load Enhancement Device.rtf 6.06 MB
  • TB9X-115 Complete interim.pdf 1.94 MB
  • TM9-1005-222-12.pdf 4.94 MB
  • TM9-1276 1947v2.1.pdf 4.07 MB
  • TM9-270 1943.pdf 1.28 MB
  • US Rifle Caliber 30 M1.pdf 1.04 MB
M1 Garand Specifications
Weight 9.5 pounds / 4.3 kg
Length 43.6 inches / 1.107 m
Cartridge .30-06 Springfield
Barrel Length 24 inches / 610 mm
Sight Radius 27.9 inches / 709 mm
Rifling Right-hand, two grooves,
pitch of 1 turn in 10 inches / 254 mm
Trigger Pull 5.5—7.5 pounds / 2.5—3.4 kg
Muzzle Velocity 2,750—2,800 ft/sec / 838—853 m/sec