Why did the Garand blow up?
Was the shooter using modern commerical ammo instead of military ball ammo?
I heard the trigger nut was a bit loose.
An M1 Garand will eat through any 30.06 ammo you can fit in the En-bloc clip.
Some have said that firing the heavyer grain bullets might damage your operating rod after a time. I’ve found no problem with 150-170 grain bullets. Now, the 170s do kick a bit in the ‘03.
Strictly conjecture on my part, but I'd guess "handloaded ammo with a high primer leading to a slamfire".
It's my understanding that early in the life of Garands one was tested with a custom load which was estimated to produce 120,000 psi, roughly twice that of a standard load (probably fired with the gas-cylinder plug removed).
As the story goes, it broke off one of the locking lugs on the bolt, but no other damage. It went on to fire another 5,000 rounds (with the one-lugged bolt) uneventfully.