I bought a HRA M1 several years back.  It's sat in my safe since then.  I decided to shoot it Saturday, so I had a local gunsmith check the headspace Friday.  Headspace is good, but the gunsmith tells me my rifle is assembled incorrectly.  

On my rifle, with the Op-Rod pulled all the way back, if you start pushing down on the bullet guide, the bolt comes forward.  

The gunsmith tells me the bolt shouldn't come forward until the bullet guide is pushed all the way down.

He suggested I watch youtube to find out how the rifle should be assembled.  I watched a video, and it's assembled just like the video.  Is my rifle not functioning correctly, or was the gunsmith confused?

If he's a young-ish AR-trained 'smith, he's likely never seen a Garand except in books, let alone disassembled one to work on.

Be careful who you let touch your M1 at a gunshop, or advise you on "fixing" perceived problems with it.

Just another example of a dumb shit wana be gunsmith.  It's operating correctly and the guy you paid has his head up his ass.  As stated above, you need to find a qualified gunsmith who is trained to work on M1 Garands, not just some guy who bought a 'plastic fantastic' AR, watched a YouTube on how to take it apart, and then called himself a gunsmith hoping that his customers were dumber than he was. 

As a US Army trained Armorer in the M14 and AR in the 60's (as well as 1911s and all light weapons up to and including the 'M2 fiddy' in use in the Army in the 60's), I can tell you categorically that the AR is the simplest of toys to work on compared to the battle rifles they replaced (M1 Garand & M14) so modern gunsmiths who learn to work on them know about as much about a real wood and steel battle rifle as Barbie knows about Condensed Matter Physics.

Yeah, I learned quickly not to push down on the follower when the bolt was locked back.  Good way to smash fingers.

Thanks, I figured my rifle was operating correctly.  Unfortunately, he's the only "gunsmith" left in town, the others have died or gone out of business.  The guy's about 55 and has been doing this about 20 years.  I guess I'll have to get in with the local CMP crowd for future inquiries.

Totally agree. Well said, brother.

If you're is assembled wrong or broken, so are both of mine, because they both do what you described.

It's normal. Remember that guy as a dumbass and move on.

I will try to avoid that guy in the future.  Thanks.

My friend, ... always remember that a properly functioning M1 Garand is a Raging Boner of Freedom.

In the future, be wary and mindful of whose greasy hands you allow to fondle your Raging Boner of Freedom.    

You can thank us for this cautionary advice later.  

I got my first Garand in 1987 when I was in High School.  I took it all apart and tried to figure out everything.  However putting it back together was not working for me.  I did not realize the follower arm had to go into the groove on the bottom of the follower.  So everytime I pulled the bolt back the follow shot across the room!  Took a few tries before I figured that out.

I still have that M1 and she's been through hell with me and re-enactment back in the 80's.  The finish is 100% gone and I ended up cold blueing it just to have some sort of finish on it.  Hell it still has the 7.62 chamber sleeve installed in it.  I could get 7.62 blanks for free while 30.06 blanks were 10 cents.

Why not get back to the guy and help him learn something new, so he doesn't make that same mistake, again?  Then,... and again, and again.

I don't think he'd be open to that.  He claimed to be an expert with M1s, but then again, he also claimed that shooting 180gr commercial ammo was fine with my gun.  I didn't believe him on that one.

Well, he might surprise you.  Then again, if he's so closed-minded, you can say you tried and write him off with a clear conscience.

He is misinformed