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Post by brushpopper on Mar 21, 2013 22:48:34 GMT -5
The first Garand rifle I held was the one issued to me in 1958 as a spit and polish Cadet in Confederate gray at August Military Academy in Ft. Defiance Virginia. It was a Winchester and I can still remember the serial number. I have owned several since then, but the one I own now is a 1944 Springfield that was rebuilt at Red River in May of 1965. It was unfired when it fell into my hands in 2004. It isn't going anywhere!
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Post by curmudgeon on Mar 21, 2013 23:19:44 GMT -5
Yep, 1129659, that was before Soc/Sec numbers.
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Post by bradshaw on Mar 22, 2013 9:10:01 GMT -5
The fine marksmanship Lee Jurras describes from the M1 in his hands with stock unbedded walnut stock illustrates a quality of this rifle which far exceeds its semi-auto gas operation rapid fire capability.
I have never glass bedded my DCM Springfield Armory M1, as it is so consistent the way it is. I have an extra, unisssued stock with handguard and forward handguard which someday might be bedded. But the original DCM rifles are the true arsenal rebuilds following WW II and Korea, and no rework should permanently alter that character.
An original mint M1 is an extreme rarity, as practically every rifle was issued. John Garand, as did John Moses Browning, wittingly or unwittingly designed rebuildable arms, a concept which may no longer be understood. Sometimes rebuilding was carried to extremes, as evidenced by some examples of the 1911, BAR, Browning 1917/19, Thompson Gun, Browning M2, and the M1.
I tell folk not to by an M1 at a gun show, as the stuff I've seen is butcher-cobbled junk. The great arsenal rebuilt M1's are brilliant restorations, restored specifically to fight again: timed, reliable, accurate.
David Bradshaw
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jdntn
.240 Incinerator
Posts: 19
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Post by jdntn on Mar 25, 2013 15:36:25 GMT -5
I have the privilege of belonging to an Honor Guard that does funerals for deceased veterans. We fold and present flags to the family and fire a volley over the graves with M1s fitted with blank adapters. Those M1s still preform when called upon at funerals just like they did when called by WW11 and Korean vets to protect themselves in time of war. Many times at these funerals an ole WW11 vet will come and handle a rifle like a father taking the hand of his child. You can see the memories flood back to his younger days. Truly something worth seeing and hearing about when he carried HIS M1.
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