After reading the latest Garand thread it got me to thinking how nice it is when I take mine to my hunt camp.
I don't do it often, its usually a 94 in season or an AR to plink with otherwise.
Sometimes I'll drag that big heavy beautiful M1 out there though.
I have to say that whenever its in the gun rack, everybody says " Wow! Can I check that out?"
Realistically, it will take care of any 2,4 or 6
leg alien critter that might want to harm me or a 4 legged one for dinner.
I just like them, a heck of a gun!

They are quite the beast

I'm a huge fan of the M1 Rifle Cal .30 and had 14 of them at one time. Down to the finest three (IHC, WRA and SA) and my Springfield is a late 50's that appears brand new. This rifle was a major breakthrough in auto-loading design evolution and for a 1939 design, it still remains an awesome rifle. I hope everyone gets theirs out of the safe for a drive around the block once in awhile! Glad you do. H.

I was lucky enough to get a Winchester
From the CMP. It's not a collector, didn't want to wait that long, but I'm happy to have collected it.

Everyone should experience the M1. Just to see what it was like back when men were men and women were glad of it.

Our son is a Coast Guard Academy graduate. The CGA drill weapon is the M1. For his graduation I picked up an old non functional import from Korea and had it rebuilt by Fulton Armory. His is popular around the camp fire too.

Sadly, I've never owned an M1.
I did, however, train with its successor, the M-14 while in the Army.
Now that's a great gun!
Wouldn't mind having both now.

The son of thre Garand

Have to agree the M1 Garand is probably one of the most iconic rifles in history.
This one was purpose built in Italy for a Dutch Military contract and chambered in .308 Nato :

My other one is a Springfield from 1944:

I have 2 Garands. A WW II Springfield and an HRA from 1955. I used to have AR's but when I got my first M1 and held the two next to each other, the AR was sold to fund the HRA. There's something about holding an iron and wood piece of history that just cannot be duplicated. And I have no fantasies of the end of the world, so I figure if an M1 was good enough for the heroes of WW II and Korea, it's good enough for me. Every Christmas, I treat myself to 2-3 cans of ammo and shoot either one of my Garands. Usually 100-150 rounds. Something about winter shooting the M1. Reminds me of Bastogne maybe.

It's my favorite rifle and the one I want to always stay in the family.

I have one, and each of my boys has their own, too. My nephew who lives with us also has one, not pictured.



I was smart enough, for once, to get them while the getting was good at CMP.

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“What you got, ain’t new.”

Yep, not too many like the Garand! I own two, one a late production Springfield 56 or 57. It is just like new and I love to shoot it! i have another Springfield that I shipped to Shuff's Parkerizing for his Mini G treatment.
I love to shoot this one too. It is just so handy.
chris

I shot my Garand so good, the CMP gave me a medal.



Almost looks like the guys we fought in Korea hacked the .jpg file for vendor.
Wait,... the vendor is Chinese.

Man, those guys must have had a good laugh on us.

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This is a one that I put together on a Winchester receiver from the CMP, along with my favorite handgun.





It was in a different stock set when I test fired it. Shoots pretty good.






I too purchased a few from the CMP and have enough receivers and parts kits to put three more together. One of those will be a "Tanker" in .30-06

I'm gonna be the odd man out here. As a fan of firearms I had one. An H&R mix match whatever. ...it was irrelevant to me. The stock was repainted and you could see the training # on it through the paint. The rifle was solid but had severe throat erosion however it shot great. I got it for a steal along with 2k rounds of surplus 7.62. But realistically it didn’t do anything my more modern rifles didn't do. Since I'm not a bench shooter my other rifles were shorter, faster, lighter with more ammo AND cheaper to feed....much much cheaper. So I sold it. Happy to try it, nice rifle but nothing special

This prompts a memory of when I lived in Ky.
There's a group of guys we used to get together with in deer season. One is a federal judge. Great guy and I have the utmost respect for him.
One year I brought my Garand. He said " You can't hunt deer with that"
I told him it was perfectly legal since Ky. allowed a 10 shot mag for semi's.
Guess what? Next year he shows up with a Garand.
It's not often you can correct a federal judge on the law.
I enjoyed it immensely.

I bought mine, an early '50s Springfield Armory model, through CMP about 10 years ago.

Here it is posing with it's nephew, a Springfield M1A. Both are good shooters.

Edmo

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An AR is cheaper to shoot (I get 200 rounds of surplus 30-06 for 120 bucks shipped), but I don't shoot hundreds of rounds a session, nor would I want to in a 30-06. What the Garand has over more modern firearms is the history. I just can't describe it. When I got my first Garand, I looked at the AR in the safe and just went "bleh". Nothing like 8 big BOOMs followed by that iconic PING. Every time I take it to the range, it gets attention and compliments. Always have people ask me where I got it. I tell them about the CMP and that they can have a Garand shipped right to their door for 730 bucks. Many of those who asked ran home to order one.

As for the stock being painted, some people keep them looking that way, but stripping a wood stock and applying several coats of tung or boiled linseed oil make it look almost new again. You can even steam out the dings in the wood and lightly sand the stock if that's your thing.

You described it beautifully. Like the difference between a 55 Chevy and a Ford Taurus. The Taurus gets you to the same place more economically, but not in style.

The paint never bothered me. Added character! When I bought it it was because of one heck of a deal. And because I never had or fired a Garand before. I got a H&R mix match, which didn't bother me, but a solid rifle with 2200 rounds of Greek surplus for $1200. This was around 2011. The rifle shot beautifully and accurate. But it was just one of those things.....neither here nor there so I sold it to someone who would enjoy it. When I sold it I had even more ammo cause I bought a bunch more. All total probably 2800 rounds considering I fired a bunch. By that time the ammo was getting harder to find and to buy from CMP ment I had to join and go to shooting meets which I couldn't do anyway.

Looking back I probably would still have sold it but if someone were to offer me the same deal again I'd probably buy it

Enjoy seeing everyone's pics, nice rifles indeed! I've owned prob a dozen or so over the years but am Garand-less now as I just never shot them very often. I've always wanted to get my hands on a nice Lend-Lease Garand (red paint and all). Maybe someday...

That's exactly right. A BIG reason why I own a gun is for the beauty and pride of ownership. I don't look at guns as simply tools to fling lead downrange. Sure, an AR fires more rounds and is easier to reload, but I honestly don't envision ever needing a rifle to repel a horde of invaders. And I doubt anybody would stick around when they started receiving semi auto 30-06 fire anyway!

It's like passing down a handgun to a child. Can you imagine putting a Glock or an M&P in a nice presentation case and giving it to your heirs? My gun collection is pretty meager. 6 handguns is all. The plastic ones, my kids have no interest in. But the S&W and Ruger revolvers? They sure do like those! Newer guns are almost disposable to me. I might pick up another AR, just to have one, but it will never "speak' to me like the Garand does.

I have seen touched and fired many M1 Garand rifles. But i never had the privilege of owning one maybe i will some day.

The rotating bolt design in the garand was used in the ak47.

My Garand took the sting out of not being able to afford an M1a. My M1's very well mannered and goes right where I aim it. As my old D.I. used to say, "That's the object of the exercise."

And the trigger group as well !

Currently, my safe holds an even dozen Garands (buy 'em in 3's cause that's the way they stack. LOL) My favorite is an early 1941 Lend Lease Springfield that I found in an LGS here in Seattle - most of my others came from the CMP.

This particular M1 is all correct right down to the cartouche on the stock! As issued in 1941, it appears to have spent all its years in the rack & not in the field. At some point, most of the red paint was removed from the forend (its still visible in the pores of the wood) and of course, every part has been stamped with the crown. Export stamps are there as well.

It is a pristine example that I can take to the range or field & shoot an as-issued original M1 Garand! Only one small defect that takes away from its collector value - somebody drilled the receiver for a commercial scope base (M1C type) and it mounts an original Weaver K4 scope. So much for that, but when my wife asked why I had shelled out 850 for a "butchered" rifle, I pointed out there was at least twice that much value in the parts alone, considering the pre-war drawing numbers, early stock with cartouche and serial number on the receiver. That & virtually no throat or muzzle wear to boot!

I've got 8 Garands...all but 1 from the CMP. My first was a 1944 field grade with the original (or at least period-correct) barrel, bolt and many other small parts. This was closely followed by a Springfield service grade and an H&R correct grade. Next, I had Tom Luhmann, a Garand builder par excellence, put together a JCG match rifle using a newly barreled receiver and the parts from a "woodless Dane" (a field grade Danish return, minus the stock). Glommed a couple of International Harvesters over the years, and a few years back, two "last of the Mohican" 6.0 million Garands.

These 6.0 million Garands, so-called because they have serial numbers above 6 million, were the last Garands made before production was phased out. They both were in excellent condition, with National Match barrels, but with new CMP wood.





.

One can never have too many M1's, I always "need" one more.

I shot my first deer on FT Hood with a Garand. The next weekend I almost shot down a Huey heliocopter that was hovering above a 10 point deer. I am in the deer stand standing and shaking my fist at the trying to get to leave. The pilot finally "noticed me" and left. The deer was unfazed by the prop wash and noise but left before I got a clear shot.

Eight years ago I made a little road trip to Anniston. I picked up a May,1943 Springfield. It was marked Field grade I guess because the stock was very dirty. But both the bore and chamber gauged out at 2. Brought it home and the stock cleaned up nicely.
I really don't shoot it enough. Take it to the range maybe once a year. But that is always a really good range day. I love this rifle!

Here tis with a few friends.


It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that PING!

I bought all mine when SG's were $495. Hard to pick a favorite, 6 digit SA, late HRA's, Winnie, IHC, couple of other WWII SA's? The tractor gun is all matching with a beautiul tiger stripe stamped stock.

Picked up a half a dozen 03's and 03A3's as well, missing the RIA. Those are real shooters.

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Sure you did

I started getting mine when the SG's were $565. I believe that the CMP is a great place for Garands. I've never found them to be a great place to buy 03's and 03A3's (just my opinion)

The most well balanced, sweetest, softest shooting .30-06 I have EVER handled is the venerable M-1 Garand!

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First time I shot my Garand I was pretty nervous. I was surprised at the pretty gentle "push" of the Garand recoil. Guy next to me was sighting in his 30-06 bolt gun. We let each other shoot a few rounds of each other's rifle. His bolt gun was much more pronounced. I generally shoot 100 rounds with the Garand. Very easy and no sore shoulder.

The M1 will only beat you up if you sling up too tight, an let it beat your nose or eye socket.

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