[Shooter 2.5]

A casual shooter can expect to shoot around 400 or less with a Garand. Around 430 or less with a M1A. An out of the box Colt HBar can let someone who hardly shoots but knows the basics get a 450 score.
Did you ever use that Garand in a regular High Power match? If so, what was your score?
My experience told me that accurizing a Garand is a waste of time and money. Shooting a Match Grade M1A is a lot of fun but after a while, they need a lot of expensive re-work done.
There will never be a good book on accurizing the AR that isn't filled with reloading data. Except for buying a trigger and making sure the front sight isn't loose, there isn't anything that needs to be done.

[Redleg Duke]

Nope, I haven't. Fatherhood stepped in the way. I belong to a club up here in NH and plan to start this next year. I will never be as accurate a shooter as the weapon I am holding, though. :-) It is just great to be able to do it and not have to walk past picketers to do it!