"Get off my lawn..."

[Brian in Oregon]

Picked this up on Black Friday. Springfield Armory 1953 with a nice bore and nicely finished metal, no harsh bead blasting and parkerizing. Need to get a pic of it displayed with accessories and my late dad's Korean War Army uniform.

[6518John]

"The greatest battle implement ever devised."

[kbm6893]

I have 2. A 1944 Springfield and a 1955 HRA. My favorite rifle ever. 8 rounds of 30-06 in a semi auto will keep the animals at bay. Just feeling the history of them is awesome. Got both of mine from the CMP. Gonna shoot one of them next month.

[vonn]

No situation that a M1 can't handle! Hit something with a 30-06 and it stays hit.

[da gimp]

A big yup to both John & vonn... I'm down to a correct IHC postage stamp Garand that I got in the mid 1990's for $550.00 & a Type II NM Garand that I purchased from the widow of a friend after he passed... he'd set the prices on his stuff & if their kids didn't want them to offer them to his friends next.

My dad, a WWII combat infantry officer, popped 4 strokes before the docs found the brain tumor that was causing them ... they got the tumor out & the primitive early chemo & radiation cured his cancer, but he was no longer able to be a watch maker & jeweler at their store...

About 10 years later, at a good gun show here I found a good old M1 Garand that I could trade into & when my lady & I took it over there to show him, his eyes lit up & he got the biggest smile on his face when I pulled it from the soft gun case I had it in & handed it to him....

You could see the sad memories crossing his face, of losing friends first while fighting the Japs in the Aleutians and then while fighting the Germans in Europe ... and he looked at my wife and told her he used to carry one of these.... and he didn't remember them being so heavy. But as he saw & held an old friend after many years absence his smile returned...

That was the happiest I'd seen him in years, not counting the births of grandkids...

[Jim Mayberry]

I received a British lend lease early M1 from my brother in 1975. Have shot it hundreds of times over the years. I believe it to be a comfortable full power cartridge rifle. I still shoot this heavy rifle and will for years more. It still puts a smile on my face when I shoot it.

Jim

[amazingflapjack]

A great rifle, and a great cartridge; the father of many, many other great rounds-that's a nice one!

[snubbyfan]

[bigchuck83]

Nice looking rifle, enjoy it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[pmanton]

Mine is a 1942 SA with the original barrel. The M-1 was the rifle I carried when I entered the military in 1955. I wish I was still in as good shape as my M-1

[Lee's Landing Billy]

Heard as a child..Ain't many things a man can't fix, with a Hunnered dollar bill and a 30 '06.

[mrchuck]

Love this rifle. Our High School ROTC Armory had over a 100, and we learned everything about it.
Timed dis-assembly and assembly while naming every part was the norm.
And when Summer ROTC camp came, we took them home, and then onto camp.
We were officially personally assigned this rifle.
In College at Texas A&M, we also were assigned our weapon.
But in 1961 in Viet Nam with MACV-SOG, the M1's we received, were for distribution to our Hmong tribesmen!
This rifle was almost as tall as the Hmong!
Finally, after many months, we finally received the US caliber 30 M1 carbine. Now this was wonderful!
Not the M2 selectable rate of fire model!!!
Why, you ask???? Well, they're accuracy went all to hell as they "sprayed and prayed" !! Not good.. But Semi-Auto was wonderful.

[Vulcan Bob]

Welcome to the club! You will find that as an individual rifleman you don't need a twenty round box mag hung under a major power battle rifle to be effective. Oh yeah, enjoy that one!

[Texas Star]

Yep, that takes me back to high school ROTC...Fired them at summer camp, too. They recoil less than bolt action .30-06's.


I like seeing war movies that feature Garands.


One member posted above that his father, although an officer, carried a Garand in WWII. So did Gen. James Gavin, commanding the 82nd Airborne. I guess he wanted an effective rifle, not the less potent M-1 carbine. Gavin wore a Randall Made knife as well as his .45, too. He was an upfront commander, I bet.


The Garand requires more maintainance than a bolt action and special grease in places. I've never had the money when I found a nice one, but would like one. The only military rifle I own is a No. 4 MK II Lee-Enfield. In trained hands, it comes close to the effective fire rate of the M-1. But I suspect that those British troops in Korea who had Garands liked them a lot. I think they were in Commando regiments. Saw a couple of photos of them with US small arms.

[cmansguns]

Congrats............that is a sweet looking Garand!

I have found that shooting the Garand literally forces, not nudges, but forces you to instantly become addicted...just like S&W. Sometimes more expensive (ammo wise for sure), sometimes not.....but again....addictive as all get out. So now you got one that looks so sweet, probably mostly correct internals, you are going to snag the bayonet, the sheath, the WWII/Korean vintage web belt, a couple extra clips to lodge on the (of course) original (no repops allowed) USGI sling (leather if you can find it for under $200) or cotton web (original MRT stamped) and then......and then.....just like the rest of us.....you'll say...this one's too sweet to shoot and bend the op rod so................. I NEED ANOTHER SHOOTER QUICKLY!!!!

Good luck with that sweet one and let us see some more pics as they are always welcome.

[H Richard]

They are great guns. I just sold off my DCM Garand that I bought back in the 80's. Have to start cleaning house at some point. Many fond memories with it.

[MCorps0311]

Love it,very nice looking Springfield Armory rifle.

[Mike, SC Hunter]

My favorite military rifle!.......You will enjoy that.....I do mine..........CMP still has that great Greek HXP ammo for sale.........Scarf up some while its still available.........

[JohnRippert]

My favorite rifle as well. I dropped by the CMP in Anniston, AL a while back and picked up a stripped Winchester receiver, along with a couple cases of HXP ammo. With a few tools purchased mostly from the CMP I was able to assemble a nice M1 Garand. It is one of the few I have left after starting with half a dozen. I do have enough receivers and parts kits to put together 3 more. I am saving those for retirement.

[jessebogan]

I have a December 1944 version. Used, mixmaster, but not abused. My favorite rifle for sure.
Long ago, I had a customer that had landed at D day. (Actually I had 3 over the years) He told me he was a brand new second Lieutenant, and found himself pinned down by a couple of Germans. He said he shot them with his carbine, and they kept popping up and shooting back. He said he crawled back to the first dead GI he could find with a Garand, and he grabbed it, and crawled back where he had been before. He said he shot the both of them with the M1, and they stayed dead...That story has stuck with me for more than 30 years.

[Brian in Oregon]

I've shot Garands belonging to others over the years, and for a brief period shot a club Garand for DCM matches. Really liked them. Been looking for "the right one" for some time. Did not want one of the Blue Sky rebuilds, bad bores, crooked sights, and had an aversion to highway robbery prices (though a NM model would have been worthwhile). This one came along and my son, who is into Garands and 1903s, said to jump on it.

My dad was supposed to carry an M1 Carbine in Korea. He switched to a Garand. He wanted something that would actually work at thirty below zero. Wish he was still around to handle and maybe shoot it.

Vulcan Bob: Welcome to the club! You will find that as an individual rifleman you don't need a twenty round box mag hung under a major power battle rifle to be effective. Oh yeah, enjoy that one!

While I have some 30 rounders for my AR15s, I prefer the 10 and 20 round mags because they allow easier bench and prone shooting. For hunting they have to be plugged to 5 rounds.

One time, to prove a point, I used my Marlin 1895 .45-70 in a tactical match. Came in first on the shorter range tactical course with it. What many did not realize is that most lever guns can be topped off via the loading port at almost any time, including on the move. Came in second for the long range event with a Winchester 1895 takedown in 30-06, and it's a 2 MOA gun at best. It really comes down to knowing your gun, knowing your cartridge and its trajectory, and making the most of them. When my son goes to machinegun shoots others there are often surprised what he can do with a 1903.

[HOUSTON RICK]

Beautiful rifle, sir. So far, I stick to bolt actions, but the M-1 Garand and Springfield M1A are soooo tempting. May you enjoy it for many years. Thank you for posting.