I’ve always sort of wanted an M-1 Garand, the weapon that General George Patton called “the single greatest battle implement ever devised by man.”
Used to be you could get in a queue to purchase an M-1 from the Civilian Marksmanship Program, but by the time I had the unobligated scratch to purchase a rifle I couldn’t really use for anything much more than historical appreciation, the inventory started running dry. Plus, you never quite knew what you were going to get quality-wise, and that was before CMP started bidding the rifles at auction rather than selling them outright.
Anyway, whenever the fancy struck me, I always had something better to spend a thousand dollars on.
Turns out a supply of nearly 90,000 rifles that defeated fascism and militarism were to be made available for purchase here in the States. Re-imported from South Korea, where they have finally been made surplus.
Except that dad said no:
The Obama administration approved the sale of the American-made rifles last year. But it reversed course and banned the sale in March – a decision that went largely unnoticed at the time but that is now sparking opposition from gun rights advocates.
A State Department spokesman said the administration’s decision was based on concerns that the guns could fall into the wrong hands.
“The transfer of such a large number of weapons — 87,310 M1 Garands and 770,160 M1 Carbines — could potentially be exploited by individuals seeking firearms for illicit purposes,” the spokesman told FoxNews.com.
“We are working closely with our Korean allies and the U.S. Army in exploring alternative options to dispose of these firearms.”
Dad promised us that he wouldn’t take our guns away. He never said that he’d let us buy new ones. After all, the peasants people aren’t to be trusted.
I probably still wouldn’t have bought one: 7.62x63mm is expensive, the rifle is heavy, I don’t hunt large game and for home defense purposes, it’d be over-kill. And I’m pretty sure that the All Girl Spending Team would have vetoed the purchase in any case.
But I would like to have the option of saying no.
That’s a damn fine rifle, I wouldn’t mind having one either.
Oh, and by the way, I’m just a dumb civilian, and even I can see where the Defense Logistics Agency could be the agent of sale, check your background, sell you a rifle and make a bit of profit. This is just liberal BS at its worst.
sell them through the CMP, with all its safeguards…. but then again, those are the people he most wants to disarm.
$500 for a field grade shooter: http://www.thecmp.org/m1garand.htm
Yup. And higher grades available, all at remarkably low prices. Buy one today.
….And try http://www.gunbroker.com/.
I could almost picture Lex with the Garand…. “Get off my lawn!”.
And stay away from my Gran Torino!
I’m sure the restriction is for our own good.
After all, Daddy BO can’t be wrong.
Can he?
Many years ago, my father owned a M1 Garand; I even had a chance to shoot it once. It was actually one of the “range rifles” that had been used during basic training. After all that abuse, (and then my father neglecting it,) the mechanism was still sound, and it was a joy to shoot.
While I was stationed overseas, he sold his house, and along with it, sold what I considered to be “my rifle”! I love my Pop, but that was hard to forgive… ;-D
This post made me so angry that I, apparently, took down the website. Sorry about that.
A friend of mine bought his father a replica M-1 in .308 for his birthday. A beautiful gun to shoot, but not something I would want to carry around, say to a crime scene. Yet more evidence that our President shouldn’t confine his helmet-wearing to when he’s on a bicycle.
I want an M14. They were pure fun to shoot and deadly against your average Arabian sea snake.
Had a skipper who disliked sea snakes and sea gulls.
We had had to delink MG belts to get 7.62 for rifle quals, so being thrifty souls, we decided to use the leftover tracer in the skipper’s weapon.
He warmed to the idea with the first round. He still couldn’t hit anything, but it kept him amused and that was a win for the Dept Head Protective Assn.
As an advocate for gun control, I’d like to point out that this is not a restriction on what you can buy, simply a decision not to sell them. There are many things that are legal that the government choses not to sell–as a general thing it’s better for the government to stay out of the business sector anyway. That said, these aren’t exactly the sort of guns used in an average gun crime, and even as a gun control advocate who thinks that the second amendment is less than well suited for the current era, I think it’s a shame to see so much history “disposed of.”
Tyler, why do you advocate for government curtailment of civil rights?
Even supposing that the State has some valid authority for depriving us of our rights, to what legitimate purpose? Study after study after study, usually conducted by either the powerful and well financed anti-civil rights lobby or an anti-civil rights administration such as Clintons, show that at best restrictions on honest citizens exercising their civil rights have no effect one way or the other on crime or violence. In the National Academy of Sciences report, started under Clinton, as well as the CDC MMWR of Oct. 2003, the conclusion was that there was no evidence at all that they could find that gun control worked as its advocates said it did, but that didn’t mean it didn’t work. Give more money for more studies and they will find that evidence. One honest researcher for NAS basically said “Wait! You guys are not seeing the obvious! Gun Control doesn’t do ANYTHING!” And for some reason these studies are always top heavy on the anti-gun types. Some, like Lott do look at the numbers they come up with and say “Wow! All I thought I knew about guns and crime is wrong!”
Honest studies that don’t try to massage the numbers to fit the pre-ordained antis conclusion show that allowing honest citizens to exercise their civil rights actually helps reduce crime. Just a rough review of real world evidence shows that. All the states that in the last 20 years or so have become shall issue or open carry states have seen dramatic drops, far in excess of the national average, in the rate of all violent crime.
What you advocate is really empowerment of criminals. Nothing else.
Well Tyler, if you think the Second Amendment isn’t “well suited to the current era”, how do you feel about the First? Perhaps we should rethink freedom of speech and religion, to boot. After all, Stephen Hawking declared the universe wasn’t made by God. Which with Obama will constitute “scientific consensus”. All those means to communicate, and the chances of someone saying something disagreeable cannot be chanced.
And the Fourth Amendment? So many more places we consider as personal, the government needs to have far more right to investigate those. After all, a reasonable right to privacy is only required if you are hiding something, no?
Since the Ninth Amendment is also being violated here, and the Tenth is being subverted daily with Arizona immigration and Obamacare, perhaps we should just dispense with the entire Bill of Rights and let out government determine for us. After all, they have such Wise Latina Women as Sotomayor to educate we the (little and ill-educated) people.
Seriously? By deciding not to sell them the government is restricting my ability to buy them. ROTFLMAO… Define “is”.
You beat me to it Steve. LOL!
I’m an advocate for gun control too. I’d like the access of the government to guns to be strictly controlled by a well armed civilian population.
Oh?
I want a 3/8ths inch bolt. Can I buy that without interference from the White House and won? You’re an idiot.
What an idiot. Do you realize that there are lots of companies that sell radiocactive supplies all over the US?
Tyler said: “I’d like to point out that this is not a restriction on what you can buy, simply a decision not to sell them.”
Please square your facts away, sir; the government was NOT being asked by the South Korean government to sell the rifles on it’s behalf (as with the CMP); it was simply being asked for permission to import them and sell them in legitimate, perfectly legal commercial transactions.
The requested permission was first granted, and then revoked. There are no other exceptional restrictions on the sale or purchase of M1′s – - they are not restricted goods in any way more or less than any other semi-auto, non-assault-rifle long gun.
So yes, this is in fact the Government restricting what could otherwise be legally bought, making it impossible to buy these legal, US-made rifles by ensuring that they cannot be offered for sale, through the mechanism of prohibiting their import.
Tyler, Gun Control is not all that you are advocating.
Then again, I freely confess that I am biased also, just biased in favor in keeping the American Principles that our country was founded upon.
Those that believe in BHO’s New World Order live in a different world than I.
Still have my M1 Navy. Only firearm I won’t part with. Knock a bowling pin over at 200m standing off- hand with the first shot. What a beautiful thing she is too as she came back to the Navy from Springfield Armory (when it belonged to the government) with new wood and rechambered for 7.62 NATO. Got her with the cosmoline still in it.
My opinion of the alien Regime occupying the White House and that decision to block these fine rifles is not printable.
That would make it The Rifle, MK3. I want one!
“….alien Regime…”
The proverbial “Truer words were never spoken..”
Got mine about a decade ago, and it’s one of the best shooters I have. Worked a treat on deer, coyotes, or pretty much anything else I was likely to want to hunt in South Dakota, and I am convinced it was more accurate than I am. I want another, but a 1903 is probably more likely.
This past week I finished adding a scope to my Mauser ’98, re-chambered in .308, for use in thinning the whitetail herd this year (my eyes not being what they once were). Patton’s sentiments above reminded me I’m going to be using the very same implement that Germany used to *lose* two world wars. Maybe I shouldn’t leave the Garand at home?
– Max
This old liberal is a proud owner of an M-1, purchased through CMP many years ago. What a fine weapon! What history! Accurate as heck. My favorite. Wanted a carbine too, but like lex, never got around to it. And the good ones seem to be all gone now.
Like Curtis, I really would like to have an M-14 too, but can’t in the people’s republic of CA. (Yes, I vote Democratic, but I write my liberal reps often about our too restrictive and ludicrous gun laws.) The commercial M1A is on my list, but is pricy.
Powerful and accurate, my only complaint is the M-1′s weight. It must have been a heavy weapon to lug around in the heat of the South Pacific, or the hedgerows of Europe.
I do so want an M-1 carbine, preferably one made by Rock-Ola. I have read that the M-2, or full-auto, version, was made only by IBM. That is a shame. Just think: Full-auto made by the jukebox company! Rock ‘n Roll, baby!
Yeah, thanks to the liberals that people like you keep voting in California has some of the most Byzantine and restrictive gun laws in our Republic. Perfectly safe firearms that are legal in most other states are Deemed by the Deems to be too dangerous for the ordinary citizen. Or we are too stupid to handle them safely – do some checking and you will find that a lot of the Deems (by the way, that comes from Madame La Speaker saying We will just Deem the bill passed without taking a vote on it) who are so scared of guns in the hands of people like you and me have CCWs of their own…remember Pistol Packin’ Perata? Kept pushing for a ban on private ownership, but had a CCW with several guns listed.
And of course, the classic example is the Divine Ms. Di who snapped at a reporter, who dared to ask why, if guns were so bad for everyone she had a CCW (from San Francisco, no less…those are almost impossible to get, I don’t think even LEOs get them in SF, and SF doesn’t recognize CCWs from other counties – that direct from the office of Newsom) something along the line of “If I get attacked, I want to be able to blow the thug away.” And showed off the SNS snubbie she carries.
i am often amused by people of Flit’s ilk. They vote for left wing idiots then expect them to vote like they have a brain. It’s all part of the package, Flit. If you want soemone to act like they are conserative when it comes to civil liberties, then have to vote for conservatives. Very few socialists will act like civil liberties mean anything, unless it has to do with the mellanin content of someone’s skin. If they act differently, then, they aren’t liberals. It really is strange how that works.
I hear ya. Fan of guns, but am a Democrat as well. I’ve only had my hands on an M-14 once and it was one of the best shooting days ever. Loads of fun.
Flit, you can’t even get semi-auto replica of the M-14? Those are commercially available.
As for the weight, that’s why they made the M-16…
I’m a lefty and the bolt from an M14 almost broke my nose during gun quals. Not a fan for that reason. Nice weapon but all-around awkward if you’re of the sinister persuasion.
That would be me. Rifles and cues on the sinister side. Shooting the combat qual with 9mm was a joke for me. I’m right handed for most things but ambidextrous with weapons when it comes to ‘offhand’ which isn’t really true. My offhand poolshots usually suck.
The M14 never came close to biting my nose. I’ll admit that hot brass did from time to time find its way down my shirt collar. disadvantage to shooting sinister.
nice rifle
Likewise here; the M16 had a precise ability to stuff ejected brass straight down the collar of my woodlands, even with the snap-on ‘brass deflector’ in place.
Didn’t stop me from winning crossed rifles every time I fired for qual, though. Series high shooter, too.
My high-school sweety had her Daddy buy her a special left-handed autoloading shotgun so she wouldn’t be distracted by empty shells whizzing past her face while shooting skeet. Amazing gal, maybe 90 lbs soaking wet, had no problem wielding a 12-gauge.
First qualified on the Garand in boot camp in 62 and got to play with them again in Preflight PCola in 65. Great weapon, but heavy. I own one now but never shoot it. I also have a collection of M-1 Carbines, Rockola being my favorite. The idea of a jukebox manufacturer making weapons is just too cool.
If you rally want an M-1 or M-14, just buy a parts kit, an after market receiver and build your own. I built my two AR-15′s that way from GI parts and commercial receiver.
Interesting that this topic came up today. My hunting group got together for the opening of dove season this week as we do annually. Two of the members also brought along an M1 and an M14, both of which I got to shoot for the first time. D A M N ! That was an eye opener. The power of those weapons was awesome. Want one. Don’t want the cost for the ammo however.
I guess The Won can weasel word his way around this by claiming that his ban on importation of merchandise legally purchased from a foreign country somehow is not an infringement on the right of the people to keep and bear arms.
And some people will believe him. And millions more will not believe him.
The present administration is acting more like a bunch of tyrants, the worst we have encountered over us since 1775. Their actions now are despicable, but between November 2nd 2010 and January 2011 when the new Congress is sworn in could be “interesting” to say the least. I hope they will behave themselves, but the prospect of a rogue Congressional session of lame ducks passing bills contrary to the [expected] overwhelming mandate of the voters is entirely possible. Especially given the criminal nature of so many of the governing “elites.”
Perhaps the administration is even more fearful of the Second Amendment as they approach what they may consider a last ditch opportunity to destroy our country.
The founders were very clear that the citizens should have the power and means to correct a government that strayed from the government that was agreed to under the Constitution.
Well armed Militia would welcome the M-1, but we never quite got around to defining well regulated. Damn shame, I hate to see a fine weapon go to waste.
“Well regulated” would require the repeal of at least 3/4 of the regulations currently in place, IMHO.
Any historian can tell you, Mark, that when the Constitution was written, “well regulated” meant well-trained & (IIRC) properly-equipped.
Come to think of it, not too long ago here we were discussing what a well regulated militia would look like today, and I believe the M1 was the weapon of choice for the full kit. Obama’s objections to returning those guns to the US are foolish; how many times have you heard of gang-bangers, drug-dealers, or bank robbers using 60-year-old rifles? Besides never?
Perhaps it has been too soon after I ended the chapter of my life entitled “Profession of Arms”… Maybe I’m tapping into the whole rural “guns, God, and self-sufficiency” vibes…
…But is anyone else getting tired of being treated like a child and having my decisions made for me?
I DO have an M-1. She’s a tack driver at 500 yards… I’m praying to God that her days of speaking in anger are over, but the soft and fuzzy feeling I used to have isn’t so solid anymore…
I’m just saying..
…But is anyone else getting tired of being treated like a child and having my decisions made for me?
Yes. So long as I obey the laws of the land I expect to make my own decisions as fit my lifestyle and needs. I don’t need an anti-American like P.BO dictating what is available to people who follow those laws.
He’s a twit – or worse. November 2010 is the first wave; the 2nd will be 2012. And neither can get here soon enough for my taste and freedoms.
Kris -BHO is a Twit with the soul of an Imp.
I’ve got 2 Garands. One a WWII era Springfield, the other a nearly 100% complete International Harvester. I liked the second so much I bought a Scout to haul it around in.
I’m thinking I need a third so I can make use of the stacking swivels.
The downtown woolworth in Houston during the 1990s had these on sale. always kick myself for not buying one as they were brand new never fired and only $100
My Dad lugged one from the Yalu to Pusan. Said it never quit, never jammed, and if you hit a chink he stayed down. The Norks and chinks used to listen for the clip ejecting and then charge the foxhole while the GI was re-loading. so the guys used to keep an empty clip handy. Pow pow pow. Hit the empty clip on the steel pot. Up comes the chicom thinking “he outta ammo, now I go”. Then hit him with the remaining 5. Said they never got wise to that.
These people go looking for a way to piss of the voting public. Between things like this and the EPA looking to ban the lead in ammunition, you just know that if he gets a second term, gun owners’ rights will be seriously trampled.
Stock up now.
G-man – I read earlier this week that the EPA will not be looking to ban lead in ammo. Rest easy – one down about a billion to go.
Those who wish to be tyrants fear the general populace generally, and most specifically when adequately armed.
A superb piece, the M1. Watch out for your thumbs, mes enfantes.
Oh, not just the thumbs. Reminds me of a horror story, told to me by a guy who was an Army officer in the fifties. It seems there was this sojer, dressed only in his skivvy shorts (with the open fly), sitting on his bunk, cleaning his Garand. Apparently there was a problem with the bolt release latch, and he had the thing in his lap, and when the bolt finally came loose and went forward, it trapped his Johnson in there.
They got him loose and he healed up just fine, but they had to transfer him far away because of all the people pointing at him and laughing.
For some reason COMSIXFLT decided we would have bow sentries and so the senior Gunner’s Mate brought all of us honorees to the Courtney’s Mess Deck to be briefed on the operation of John Garand’s wonderful device.
The Gm said to be sure to quickly removed the thumb so it would not get caught as the bolt stripped a round and went into battery, otherwise it world hurt like 30 Mother F******s when the bolt caught said thumb. One guy did get his thumb caught, and he said it did indeed cause a great deal of pain.
I can’t imagine getting your Johnson caught in it. The mere thought makes me cringe.
Gotta love the excuse – “concerns that the guns could fall into the wrong hands.” and “… could potentially be exploited by individuals seeking firearms for illicit purposes.”
Ah yes… a 5 shot semi-auto rifle! The weapon of choice for any criminal from the guy who knocks over gas stations, gang-bangers in major cities and Mexican drug cartels (who I am sure don’t have cash for more potent weapons?). Anyone who wants to commit crimes always looks for the easily concealed long rifle with a small capacity mag to stick down their pants before walking into a bank or whatever.
What… a…. CROCK! The average left-leaning politician or liberal-type (our own esteemed Fliterman not included!) must think all contrivances which propel a metal slug a great velocity are identical.
Side note on this point – newspapers in Detroit today reported on the great success of a recent gun buyback program. It got 800 guns off the street!! The guns they showed were all old and beat up long guns and shotguns. Wow!!! We’re all safer now!!!!
George V.
Not just five shot semi-auto… but weighing between nine and eleven pounds. And closing in on four feet long. Def’ my weapon of choice for bank robbing and drive-bys.
I had to bag and carry some guns to Korea a couple of times and now regret that I could not have taped a rifle or two to the box and add it to the load on the KAL flight. If carrying 9mm pistols was an instant upgrade to business class, carrying some nice rifles was an easy upgrade to first class.
Now all those rifles will go to the highest bidders…. NORK, Al Queda?, Taliban? Stupid really when one thinks about it.
I got a Garand from CMP a couple of years ago. Korean War vintage by the serial number. It was listed as ‘Service Grade’, but when we took it apart, there was still cosmoline on some of the internal parts. Aside from some age cracking on the wood (which polished up nicely) it’s in great condition. Fires like a champ. .30-06 ain’t cheap unless you get the surplus stuff (which our indoor range won’t let me use ’cause it goes right through their backstop). I wouldn’t want to lug it around the mountains of Afghanistan, but it sure as hell announces it’s presence with authority!
Charlie, have you heard of Dillon Precision and a personal (1) friend of mine Steve Hornady? Reloading isn’t rocket science or surgery — anybody with some attention to detail and willing to invest in some equipment for a long-term savings can do it. Which, if you’re doing the latter chances are you have the former ability.
Reload. It’s kind of like buying your beer by the keg — the cost per shot is a lot lower, but you make up for that by shooting a whole lot more. As expensive hobbies go, shooting a Garand with reloads is among the cheaper, and unlike beer kegs you rarely have to lift 150lbs worth of ammunition at a time.
And if you think that Garand is heavy, ponder that the average US soldier who carried it around Iwo Jima and France weighed about 145 lbs, was 5’8″ and had a chest size of just under 34″. I’ve not been that small since the end of junior high school! Remember, these men were the sons of Great Depressions parents — malnourished by today’s standards, the lack of plentiful and nourishing food stunted growth, and genetics had us smaller then too. It takes three generations to overcome those factors. Their sons were 5’10″ and 200lbs, but they went to war with the physique of the Junior High varsity football team.
Betcha it doesn’t seem so heavy now, does it?
(1) I doubt he remembers me, but I shook his hand once in 1997 as part of a group from a software consulting company he’d hired. He gave me one of his boattail .50BMG bullets as a momento when the contract was done (2). Anybody who hands out .50BMG bullets is somebody I consider a friend, even if we never do exchange Christmas cards.
(2)My part of the job was in the manufacturing spaces. Having seen it up close and personal, I can tell you from the perspective of an industrial engineer that if you buy two bullets from Hornady and all else is equal, they’re both going in the same hole. They were that precise, at least when I was looking them over.
– Max
Dunno, that M1917 Enfield (not available til 2011) looks awfully sweet. Even if just over the fireplace.
.30-30 Winchester isn’t cheap, either, but having just received Dad’s Marlin lever-action(and his sweet old High-Standard HD Military, with which he taught me pistol at a tender young age) when he shuffled off this mortal coil back in April, I find it makes a comforting noise when cycled. Sounds rather like ‘freedom,’ with overtones of ‘you sure you belong in here?’
And as for “overkill for home defense,” well, it really depends on what type of defending the current situation calls for, now don’t it?
I’d love to own an M1 carbine. Especially one which has a long and storied history of standby duty keeping Dear Leader’s trained monkeys cowering in their barn.
Ah yes, the ultra-scary, completely unconcealable, 60-year-old “war weapon”. I bet this made the twits at Brady change their diapers, so they ran to BB for protection from the Killer Guns…
I used to have a t-shirt:
“Guns don’t kill people – I do.”
“rifles that defeated fascism”
And that’s exactly why they are an abomination to the current administration.
Not to defend “The Won” for any reason, and being a card carrying member of the NRA I am against gun control in all its insidious forms, however, on a gun related site that the reason for blocking this re-importation was not gun control. The weapons were sold to Koreans with the condition that they not be resold. When the Koreans were done with them they had to be destroyed or returned to the US government. Selling them would violate that contract. The Koreans are trying to profit from a sale when they should be returning them to the US. The admin spokesman is either an idiot who doesn’t know the facts or is trying to use the situation to look tough on guns for the lefty base, which also makes him an idiot.
Unlike our host, I happen to have the spare scratch (no wife, kid or mortgage claiming my dollars) to buy an M1. I’ve been looking to buy one through the CMP but I’m also interested in the Springfield M1A (M14 civilian variant). Since it sounds like some of you are familiar with both, which would you recommend for my small collection. Use would be target shooting and in the case of the apocalypse – self defense. I’d like to take one of the Appleseed marksmanship courses but don’t have an appropriate rifle.
If you are looking to use it for self-defense, I’d buy the M1A as it is chambered for a current military cartridge. I’d say the same for the Daewoo DR-200, which I won, as it takes the current military round, as well as the same magazine box. something in the 7mm class maybe more effective, but no military uses it, so you can’t buy inexpensive ammo for one. I’d have a .270 bolt action rifle for hunting, along with one chambered for the .308. 30-06 is likely to disappear quickly, and stay that way. 7.62 or .308 will be more common if the baloon goes up.
I’d have a .45 ACP chambered handgun as well, but would also keep a Glock or Taurus 95 in 9mm as well. use the .45 as long as you have the ammo, and have the 9mm just in case. Once more, something chambered for the normal military cartridge.
Thanks. I have a .270 as well as an M1 carbine (Iver Johnson 1980 or so that my father bought but never fired) but sadly, no handguns. I live on long island where I could possibly get a license but haven’t been able to get started on the paper work. Good point about the ammo getting short. I hadn’t thought of that.
This is a kind of catch all response – To those saying that ammo for this or that is too expensive, get dies and components. You don’t need a fancy thousand dollar Dillon progressive with all the bells and whistles. A decent single stage press and the necessaries, including one set of dies, will run you about $125 or so, maybe pick it up on a special for closer to $100. If you go to a turret press, you can do it for about $250. Extra dies run +/- $40 a set. But with my single stage press, I can load up about 200 rounds in an evening.
Also, ITSHTF, having a variety of dies and components in the most popular sizes will be better than gold. You can let others do the hard work of getting game and then trade reloads for meat.
On the subject of meat – A good .22 rifle, I prefer a bolt action, will put more meat on the table than anything else. And you can stash 20k rounds of .22 in next to no space. Also, if you want quite, .22 shorts, or better CB Caps, are darned near silent out of a bolt action. And you can still take small game out to about 50 yards.
Another thing might be a good air rifle, say an RWS. In .22 you can take small game and birds at 30 yards. And again, you can stock up a whole lot of ammo in almost no space.
Don’t forget a few flinters too. Make your own powder. Learn to knap flint. Have molds to cast your own ball.
On the subject of meat, Joe, my dear and departed grandfather used to poach deer using a .22 short during the Great Depression. His logic was that the .22 short offered less noise to alert neighboring farms or law enforcement, and if you hit the deer in the back of the head or shot through the artery in the throat you didn’t need much cartridge to kill the beast. Today we have laws saying how many lbs-ft of energy a bullet must have when deer hunting, people today being either incapable of aiming or in too much of a hurry to wait for a shot.
My grandfather wasn’t much for hunting laws, now that I think about it. To him it was more a case of the Governor doesn’t have a private property sign on that deer, the family needs meat, not a particularly tough decision.
I do miss him so. He was ever a free man — if he felt the law was stupid and he would not harm another he felt quite free to ignore it.
I fear that sort of spunk has largely disappeared from the body politic, and we are the worse for it.
– Max
Unless you are truly competent, trying to make your own black powder is quite dangerous. Yeah it can be done, but proper mixing of the components is not a trivial task. I gave some friends the proportions of black powder while I was in High School. They stole the components from the high school stock room and mixed it up. All they managed to do was splatter themselves with burning sulfur. The rest of what you say, I’d go for. I was just responding to Daryle’s question. Mel Tappan pretty much made the same list as you have Joe. It makes as much sense now as it did in the late 70s, and that was a lot.
Just be sure to store your ammo in a cool dry place, with the temperature as even as possible. I bought 5 bricks of .22 long rifle back in the 70s and by the mid 90s about have the ammo was bad. Accuracy was terrible for what was left. I was lucky I didn’t end up with a bullet lodged in the bore. I had to discard of 3 of the bricks. Pained me much.
Cannot have Dear Leader violating any old contract, can we?
Destroy the Constitution, though commercial/business contracts are a priority?
Color me (more) confused.
Like I said, I don’t want to defend this administration. But it seems that President Bush blocked the same attempted sale by the Koreans as well. I would have preferred that the administration honor the debt contracts of Chrysler’s secured creditors and breach this one. On the bright side, maybe we’ll get a nice supply of Garands in February of 2013.
I think AOCS spoiled the magic. After spending so much time with it marching, running and (mainly) polishing, I never wanted to touch one again.
“The M-1 is a gas operated semi automatic single shot shoulder fired weapon weighing 11 pounds carrying 8 rounds in an internal clip. It has ……” Good Lord, how many times did we recite that thing doing up-and-overs running around that dumb field? In the rain! Baaaad remembery there, Flat.
I bought my first M1 from DCM (predecessor of CMP)in 1986 for the princely sum of ninety-eight bucks. The shipping was almost as much as the price of the rifle. When CMP made the M1 carbines available, I bought two – one for me and one for my son. Same with the M1903s. A couple of years back I bought another M1 from CMP, this one the arsenal re-worked, unfired flavor. I missed out on the M1917 and the M1903A3. I really couldn’t afford any of the rifles I bought, but managed to find the wherewithal somehow. Why? Because they ain’t making any more. Not the orignals, anyway. In 20 years or so these icons of American military history will go to my grandchildren. There are lessons in patriotism embedded in all that walnut and steel, and I want them to know about those lessons.
Another layer to this story is that the rifles were loaned to Korea. They don’t have right to sell them back to the us. The deal with our allies is that they return them when their done with them. Those returned rifles are then checked out, graded and sold by CMP.
not true: it seems the State Department just decided to block the sale….
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/09/01/obama-administration-reverses-course-forbids-sale-antique-m-rifles/
It is true, but State is ignorant of the fact, so they blocked it for their own stupid reasons.
I am in favor of granting RoK an exception to the “do not sell” provision of the lend-lease just to get the guns to the CMP. We could add it as a rider to the millions (billions?) we send over there every year in assistance.
Lex needs a Garand! I mean if a lowly Sargent of Tanks (me) can own one, why cannot a lofty Captain of Bugs?
The statement struck me as a bit odd, if not offensive. Firearms distribution and sales in this country are closely monitored and regulated, with sales being allowed only after a distributor clears a prospective owner through a national criminal database. What the statement then implies, is that that we law abiding citizens might, through our purchase of such firearms, turn to the dark side and become anarchists…or, worse yet, Illicitists!
Imagine that! Law abiding citizens becoming Illicitists, perpetrators of illicit acts. Being saved from becoming a nation of Illicitists, on the road to a pluperfect state of WunWhoWoness. Are we not blessed, my fellow citizens? We, who are so cared for by those on high.
As to the articles in question, to ‘dispose’ of them is a travesty. Having had the privilege of firing the M1 Garand and Carbine, their presence in my ‘arsenal’ would be most welcome; one day soon. I regret not having purchased the M1D when I had the chance back in the mid-80′s, but that Galil was just too tempting to pass up.
Tp the loony (no other kind) left, anyone that owns, or wants to own a weapon is from the dark side.
I’m all for gun control, as long as we don’t let the loony left get guns, we’ll probably be OK, as long as we can still get them. Other than that, gun control is hitting your target.
Amen, and otherwise, what you said.
I am 35 yrs. old, my 1st child is 19 mos. old, and we don’t make much over 55K/year combined. However, I’ve managed to buy 2 M1 Garands and 2 M1 Carbines over the last 2-1/2 years, and I’m working on my 3rd Garand (early next year hopefully). It’s too late on the Carbines, they’re gone. However, you can get a perfectly functional Field Grade Garand for $450. That’s not a lot, and the ammo goes for around $0.62 a round. It’s not unreasonable. Surely someone of Lex’s caliber (pun intended) can afford at least one rifle. It’s worth the historical value alone. GET ONE! Or be a square…
I loved my Garand.
http://tinyurl.com/354hycc
You don’t have it anymore?
Lex, it’s .30-06 not 7.62x63mm no matter how hard Fabrique National tried to make it thus. You start down this road and soon .30-30 is 7.62x51mmR and there’s no stopping. JMB (PBUH) will haunt you if you utter the heresy of calling .45 ACP by its metric universal designation. A haunting by Mr Browning causes Guinness to curdle into Miller Lite. Do you really want that on you conscious?
My general rule of thumb is that .30-’06 rifles cost half as much and the ammo is twice as expensive as .308 rifles which cost twice as much to buy but half as much to shoot
*in general*
But reloading costs just about the same. The minor difference in the amount of powder is insignificant in terms of cost.
If you do any serious shooting you almost have to reload, both for accuracy and for economy. Both will cost in the neighborhood of 45¢ a round.
On the average, 45¢ a round beats just about anything I can find in .30 caliber. Besides, what you said before about having a good excuse to spend an evening in the man cave holds good for me. When it comes to accuracy I’m not all that picky about price, so long as I can shoot consistent sub-moa.
BTW, I copy/pasted that cent character because I’m about out the door for a dinner visit. I’ll prolly have to spend an hour or so with the character map when I get back, and all cause you hadda go and use that symbol.
LOL, as I was typing I complained to my wife that I missed the key with that symbol. She said “Use the character map.” To which I said “The what?” So she walked me through it. Of course, if you look at what I reload – .303 Brit. 6.5 x 55 Mauser, 7 x 57 Mauser, 38-55 Winchester – you will see that I’m just ‘slightly’ behind the times.
If you spend the time working up loads and keep accurate records of what you do, sub-MoA should be possible with any decent rifle. Be ready to go through 3 or 4 powders and lots of bullet weights and designs. I figure that if I can keep it in the kill zone of a deer at about 250 yards, all is good. Most shots will be under that distance.
I had a heck of a time working up a load for my H&R 1871 brand single shot in 38-55. Factory loads at 100 yards was giving me a spread over about a half dollar, and I knew it could do better.
I didn’t slug the barrel and went with what the factory said for the groove to groove diameter. Bought .378″ 249 gr. hard lead bullets, which should have been right at groove diameter, and the bullets should have obdurated just a bit to be tight in the grooves. Made up 5 batches of 5 rounds each, plus had one box of factory ammo as a control. First shot at 25 yards, a 5 inch Shoot ‘n See on a 28 x 40 sheet of 110# paper. Keyholed in the upper right. ??? Next shot – not on paper??????????? Tried a factory round – good, but the expected 6 inches high. Back to my hand loads – Keyhole lower left. ?????? Tried at 100 yards – Out of 15 rounds, three hit the paper, all keyholed in. Factory loads were good. Turned out that the bore was .002″ over the specs provided by the factory. Bought bullets that were .381″ and went to getting 5 round cloverleafs at 100 yards. Weird thing was, that was with any powder – Unique, H-380, H-335, and a case full of FFFg. Go figure.
Oh, and I’m working on being able to cast my own 2.93″ hollow base lead projectiles for a muzzle loading cannon. Along with .454 and .690 round ball (that for a double barrel shotgun).
.30-06 has a long neck case and is easier to load than 7.62/.308. Same bullets, primer, and powder. 7.62 takes a slightly smaller powder charge. Last I looked 7.62 will get you about 100fps less at the muzzle which is not significant. You can still get the once fired stuff, although it’s in short supply at the moment.
Hey Tyler: “Μολὼν λαβέ”
Is this Hiram Douglas with a crop dusting background and a grad of Fla Tech School of Aero?
I try to be fairly democratic in my household, but when it comes to my weapons, and particularly military weapons, I do not request nor entertain opinions from the peanut gallery. I just get them. I don’t do it very often, but given that I contribute 75 percent of operational funds, I will not simply be told no arbitrarily in order that we can buy pretty shit for the house. I don’t and won’t live in something that looks like a frakking doll house.