Thursday, September 18, 2014

The Ever Popular and Collectable M1 Garand

Dated.

??) The author’s 1943 M1, about 1986, by which time the barrel had been replaced, displayed and photographed here with vintage ammo and U.S.M.C. militaria, on a World War II vintage camouflaged shelter half.

 

The M1 Garand’s rich history continues to grow as this rifle remains a popular option among collectors and competitors.

 

The rifle taking shape on John Cantius Garand’s drawing board in the 1920’s, even to 1932, was a very radical departure from its predecessors, not merely because it was a semi-automatic.

Garand conceived and designed the rifle and the tools and machines that would produce it. For the first time, it was a truly unique U.S. design. The Springfield single shots had been mundane but reliable, nothing that startled anyone. The Krag-Jorgenson rifles, from 1892, were beautifully made, the work of Ole Herman Johannes Krag and Erik Jorgenson, but genuinely obsolete from their inception. The ’03 Springfield was a fine rifle, based purely on the Model 1898 Mauser, license arrangements resulting in the payment of hundreds of thousands of dollars to the originating firm in Oberndorf.

Any new military firearm stirs up the “old guard.” This wild new thing, controversial from the very first announcements, stirred up imaginations and resentments far and wide.

Using the “gas trap” system, involving a false muzzle, handling a huge volume of hot, still expanding gases, was radical enough with the then-new .276 Pedersen Center Fire cartridge. There was considerable use of stainless steel in the gas cylinder and the piston of the operating rod. Using new, faster powders, it seemed the new cartridge would obviate the issues of sludge, residue and secondary ignition that plagued other such contraptions in the U.S., Great Britain, Belgium, Germany and Russia.

More @ Gun Digest

12 comments:

  1. Well......Aside from the authors mistaken belief that the .308 WIN. is in some mysterious way "better" or more accurate than the 30.06 I'd have to agree with the author. I do take issue with the assertion that 7.62 NATO military issue Ball is ether plentiful or cheap. I would also add to his article that IMO the Garand is still one of the best combat weapons in history. Better in every way to any of the "new" assault rifles, and certainly better than any "semi-automatic sporting rifle" made today. If everything went pear shaped my 1956 built M-1 NM would be my first choice. ---Ray

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    1. They're hard to beat. Just glanced at the article again and the year I graduated from military school and left the M-1 behind (Actually the last year I didn't have one, but a sabre): Look at the price!

      The author ordered his first M1 Garand, a remilitarized, welded specimen, in 1963, for $77.85 from P&S sales. It was a wonderful, accurate rifle.

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    2. The M-1 was never completely( or even partly) superseded by the M-14. The changeover from the M-1 didn't start to take place on any scale until 1960 . Regular army units like the 4th ID didn't make the transition to the M-14 until the summer of 1963. They drew their M-16A1's in June of 1966 less than two years later (just before getting on the boat for Vietnam). MOST of the regular Army(80%) never drew M-14's at all , but kept the WW-2 weapons inventory until the M-60 and M-16 replaced them in '66/'67. The NG and reserves kept the WW-2 inventory well into the 1970's . (The Ohio NG was carrying M-1 Garand's at Kent State in 1970). The reason for all this was a 1962 pentagon report to Secretary Mac Namara(spl?) Stating that the M-14 was so difficult to mill and machine and the skilled WW-2 workforce and tooling at Springfield were both aging so FAST ( and Springfield would be closed within a decade cutting production by 1/3) ,that it would be imposable without full wartime(WW-2) production, to replace the world wide active duty military inventory in less than 30 years. But they could meat the goal to replace the inventory with the M-16 in ten. AND. A little FYI for your readers .The M-1956 web gear was originally issued with AND FOR the M-1 Garand, M-1 Carbine and BAR. It was supposed to replace all other web gear then in use for infantry arms. Its use with both the M-14 and M-16 was an after thought as nether rifle saw service until years after its introduction. The first webbing made just for the M-14 and M-16 was the M1967 Nylon web gear. Almost none of it was issued in Vietnam.---Ray

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    3. M-16 replaced them in '66/'67

      You are a fountain of knowledge. :) Thanks. The M-14 was still issued at USARV headquarters in '67 and '68 as I remember. I had a M-2 in '69 and '70. but don't remember how I got it.

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  2. I would trade every Mosin Nagant in my safe for a good condition Garand! :)

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    1. I want a case of MN's. :)

      http://www.classicfirearms.com/mosin-nagant-rfile-by-the-crate

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  3. Don't hate me.

    Last year I was able to pick up a Garand in near mint condition in a privately brokered deal from an estate for $500.00. :) :) :)

    hbbill
    Somewhere behind enemy lines,
    Peoples Republik of Kommiefornia

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    1. Oh yeah. I forgot to mention....it's off the grid. ;)

      hbbill
      Somewhere behind enemy lines,
      Peoples Republik of Kommiefornia




      Delete
  4. My Dad was a US Army combat veteran of South Pacific theater. He spent most of his time equiped with a Garand and swore it was the best combat rifle ever(and hes been quoted by so many lol). He said the 30-06 produced many one shot kills. Latter in the war he was re-assigned and issued an M1-carbine. He felt the carbine was a fine handy little carbine that would have been more than capable of killing vermin but he felt very under guned engaging the kamakazi type jap marines and more often than not required multiple rounds or head shots to stop them. Back in the 80s I bought my dad a nice 1944 garand. Never saw an old man so happy and even in his later years he could still consistantly bang a 12" steel plate at 200 yards and I once witnessed him dump a coyote with it @ 400 yards.

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    1. Memories, they can't take that away from you. Thanks.

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