The M1 Garand Rifle - Why Is It, "Heavy"?

wst38tx said:

I carried 70 mags and two or three times I got down to only two or three. The selector stayed on "rock 'n roll" and usually firing the weapon was from the hip, the adage was "spray and pray." It saved my life several times. An M-1 would have been a disaster.

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70 magazines...!!! ....that's 1,400 rounds

I'm sure when on your first patrol you were 20 magazines, next patrol 40, next patrol as many as you had space which was 70.

May God Bless you in your well-deserved time of peace. Thank you for your service!

BreechFace said:

70 magazines...!!! ....that's 1,400 rounds

I'm sure when on your first patrol you were 20 magazines, next patrol 40, next patrol as many as you had space which was 70.

May God Bless you in your well-deserved time of peace. Thank you for your service!

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My best friend's uncle did 3 tours in Vietnam as a Marine grunt. He carried a M14 for all 3 tours and was part of a small recon and search and rescue team. He said he would carry 1000 rounds of 7.62 when they went on recon patrols. Those guys were some hard bastards.

Garandimal said:

Now that all y'all are thinkin'bout the M1 Battle Rifle...?

... Think about learnin' how to shoot one properly.

How to Shoot the U.S. Army Rifle (.pdf)



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GR

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If you spent as much time at the range as you seem to on YouTube.......

The videos are, well, were, entertaining and somewhat educational, but you learn to shoot "on the range", not watching movies on your computer. If you want to learn to do things right, find a club that sponsors military or high power shoots and learn to do things right.

C-grunt said:

My best friend's uncle did 3 tours in Vietnam as a Marine grunt. He carried a M14 for all 3 tours and was part of a small recon and search and rescue team. He said he would carry 1000 rounds of 7.62 when they went on recon patrols. Those guys were some hard bastards.

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Hard bastards indeed!

1,000 rounds of 7.62x51 m198 would weigh about 56-57 pounds.

1,400 rounds (not counting the 70 - 20 round magazine weight) of 556 xm193 would be around 35-36 pounds.

C-grunt said:

My best friend's uncle did 3 tours in Vietnam as a Marine grunt. He carried a M14 for all 3 tours and was part of a small recon and search and rescue team. He said he would carry 1000 rounds of 7.62 when they went on recon patrols. Those guys were some hard bastards.

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That's a lot of weight and bulk, especially with the 10 round mags for the 308. The 556 is about 1/3 the weight, but the early M-16A1 had a real issue, pull the trigger and burp - mag's empty. Ammo discipline was a constant battle with the new troops.

Tortuga said:

...This is probably the wisest quote in the entire thread. Not surprising this community unfortunately gave it no attention.

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I saw it. I chose not to respond to it; it actually pissed me off.

It’s heavy because it’s an early 20th century semi automatic full power .30-06 with a robust action and heavy full wood stock as was the norm for military rifles of the time. A 9-10 lbs full power rifle bolt action was the norm for infantry at the time. No great mystery.

As much as I love the old Garands they are not as effective as an M4 today.

AK103K said:

But when it comes down to it, the basics are your base. If you want to get a good dose of that, then find a club that has military or high power type matches and shoot a couple.

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Living in the second most densely populated county in FL I'm happy to have this place to shoot.
Some things are easier to say than do.

I'd be willing to bet, if you got to looking around, there's a club within a reasonable drive that hosts that type of shoot.

I used to belong to one club in a populated area that hosted those type shoots once a month, but their normal rules wouldn't let you practice the rapid fire part of the course, among other things. You were supposed to only be shooting from a bench too, but some of the RO's shot the matches too, and would let you shoot off the floor if no one was around.

There's always dryfire too, which is a must no matter how you shoot or what type of shooting you do. I still dryfire everyday in some manner with different guns.

Like anything else, if you want to do it, you find ways and figure it out.

Garandimal said:

Another chapter of wisdom... from Methuselah on what he doesn't know about me.



This is for the M1 Rifle neophytes, pop... the Right way.

That, and Appleseed classes.

How to Shoot the U.S. Army Rifle (.pdf)


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GR

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What concerns me about what you seem to not know, or dont want to talk about, is your lack of addressing and educating people on the dangers of these rifles. Since youre so hot on videos, how about some PSA's on that?

You never responded to that one video I posted of one going grenade. Do you even know that there are issues and that they can be dangerous, and what you need to do to mitigate some things?

Youre all about the M1, so how about being ALL about it? Good and bad.

AK103K said:

What concerns me about what you seem to not know, or dont want to talk about, is your lack of addressing and educating people on the dangers of these rifles. Since youre so hot on videos, how about some PSA's on that?

You never responded to that one video I posted of one going grenade. Do you even know that there are issues and that they can be dangerous, and what you need to do to mitigate some things?

Youre all about the M1, so how about being ALL about it? Good and bad.

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Well said .

P5 Guy,

If youre interested, try here. These are listed on the CMP site and are an hour or less from what Duck Duck Go lists as the second most dense county in Fla......

https://ct.thecmp.org/app/v1/index.php?do=clubDisplay&club=5226

https://ct.thecmp.org/app/v1/index.php?do=clubDisplay&club=5187

https://ct.thecmp.org/app/v1/index.php?do=clubDisplay&club=5450

Measuring Population Density for Counties in Florida | www.bebr.ufl.edu

Pinellas has surpassed Miami Dade is now the most crowded. I guess all the Everglades counts?

Hey, like I said earlier, if you want to learn to shoot, those type of shoots are great experience, in both learning and fun.

Ive lived in a number of different places over the years, and always found a club fairly close by that had/hosted those types of shoots.

I would wager that the long forgotten and overshadowed littler service pal of the Garand, the Carbine, makes a better all around civilian defensive weapon than the big M1.

AK103K said:

I wouldnt disagree, especially as a "for everyone in the house" gun. Light, handy, and easy to shoot well with, even for kids and the recoil sensitive.

I shot this a couple of days ago with one of mine. Offhand, 2 Second "snap shots" from a low ready, some of which were double taps, at 50 yards.

View attachment 986903

If you want some "humbling" fun, the 2 second snap shot is a fun drill.

First I got to do it was in a side match at the end of a DCM shoot. From what we were told, it was supposedly part of a course of fire for the 03's early in the last century. Although Ive never seen any documentation on it. It was usually done at 100 yards, but I try to do it for at least a few rounds every time I'm out with most of my rifles no matter what distance Im shooting.

Its probably one of the most beneficial things to do too from a reality standpoint.

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What's the "snap shot" drill ?

I've read all of this thread and it has been interesting, entertaining, humorous and engaging to say the least.

First and foremost, I love the M1 Garand, apart from the 1911 there is not another firearm that is as "Americana." For the time it was developed it was well ahead of the competition, and it's technology thrust Kalashnikov's AK into prominence. John Garand like Eugene Stoner should be heralded as person's who gave the best technological advancements to the US armed service members, putting our soldiers at competitive advantages to our enemies. And yes, I don't fault the early M16 disaster as Eugene Stoner's fault, more the ineptitude of our military administration, rushing the design with out chrome lined bores, ball and stick powder fiasco because we needed to use up old design powders, not providing cleaning kits because this new design was "self-cleaning," and others that I won't go into.

If I were in a state that has forgot it's founding and forces draconian laws on the subjects an M1 Garand with its internal 8 box clip would make a lot of sense for mid to long range engagements. But in the same breath I would have to recognize that the ranges the M1 provides benefits to, a civilian would almost never see.

If I were to head to war today, there is absolutely no way I would take a M1 Garand over a Stoner based carbine. The advantages of weight, maneuverability, target re-acquisition after shot, linear recoil, detachable magazines, ability to mount optics, lights and peq illuminators for NOD use. There are too many advantages an M4, M16 variant has over the M1 Garand. To say otherwise is waxing nostalgic.

To @Garandimal: Love your passion for the M1 Garand, I share it as well. But the M1 Garand for today's applications is very niche at best. Does that diminish it's storied career and all those service members that staked their lives on the M1 Garand when running towards danger, absolutely not!

Garandimal said:

The M1 Rifle - is a rifleman's rifle.

Contact range to 500 yards.

There are lighter/higher volume of fire assault rifles, sure.

But the M1 does it all.

... at $750/delivered.



Fly-sh*t-in-the-Pepper, pop.

... like Glock "Ka-Boom."

1. Use Appropriate M1 Rifle Ammo.

... or

2. Use a Ported Gas Screw, which I use in the field and recommend.

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GR

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What? Thats it?

What about single loading?

Ported gas screw really isnt part of it, just another try at getting around using the proper ammo. Just like trying to modify the gun so it retains the clip. You dont need to modify the gun, you need to learn how to use it.

What about reloading?

You need to understand what the proper ammo is and why its important. Why you need to take care when you reload, and know why and what you need to watch for and address.

All you keep telling us is, its a 500 yard gun (so are most all the others), that costs $750 (maybe, but probably one I wouldnt want) and watch your videos and Hector Cafferata ! 20:30!!, who didnt say a thing anyway.

Dont ever remember hearing from you how best to sling up for different uses, different sight settings for the different positions, getting into a prone or seated position quickly from standing (with out hurting yourself ), etc.

Videos are great, but like anything else, the only way you really learn is to actually do it. And that actually takes a lot of dedication and hard work on your part. $$$$ beyond the cost of the gun too.

Tortuga said:

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What's the "snap shot" drill ?

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Snap shot is shot standing, facing the target, with the rifle held at the ready, at the whistle (or just "go" in your head) you shoulder the gun and "snap" shoot the target, quick as you can, like you would snap shooting jumped game. 2 second time limit.