Got this in the mail from the
Civilian Marksmanship Program about a week ago. This is, as the title says, an M-1 Garand rifle, the standard U.S. battle rifle during the Second World War, and saw heavy use during the Korean war and limited use during the Vietnam War. This particular rifle has a serial number of 733,XXX, which means it was manufactured sometime between June/July of 1942, which makes it almost 63 years old.
Mechanically the rifle is sound, and the metal parts show little wear. The stock and handguards (the wooden parts) leave a little to be desired though. I may refinish them if I can't get the CMP to send me replacements, I'll be calling them in a few days about it. She may not be the prettiest thing in the world, but its a genuine piece of history, and this rifle in the hands of some unknown American GI helped make sure there was still a America for me to be born in. It's at the gunsmith's right now, I'm looking foward to shooting in sometime this weekend. These are not the best rifles in the world for accuracy and marksmanship, but they're still pretty good, and you can't beat the price. Hopefully it'll be ready in time for UF, so I can join a rifle team and compete in the matchs that are always going on in Gainesville and greater Alachua county.
Click the below link to see the full-size picture.
Click Here.
2005-03-31, 08:46 PM
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