Happy Early Birthday to me!!

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bbqreloader

bbqreloader

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Have been waiting for my delivery from CMP for a couple of months and it finally came! Springfield July of 45 M1, I so wanted something from WW2 time frame! Been chomping at the bit to get into a project and started gathering supplies to reload for it...CANNOT WAIT TO SHOOT IT!
Sorry for the excitement but the M1 has been on my wish list for a long time, lotta scrimping, saving and waiting for more M1's to get available. New CMP wood. So off to my gunsmith for a once over to just make sure, then to the range with some 30-06 ammo, meant for the Garand (Sellior and Bellot) then start getting the reloads ready and dive into some more reading!
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Very nice ... Gotta love a good M1... Even kids know they're cool.....

then to the range with some 30-06 ammo, meant for the Garand (Sellior and Bellot) then start getting the reloads ready and dive into some more reading!
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You might want to look into and consider getting an adjustable gas plug.... Then if you want to shoot and you don't have any M1 ammo or reloads made up you can just buy some off the shelf 150 gr 30-06 and put your adjustable plug in.... Good Luck....
 
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GunnyUSMC said:
Looks nice.
I just started a week of vacation and my friend from South Dakota just got here . We were shooting the bull about M1s and the CMP. I think we are going to make a road trip to the Alabama store on Friday.
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That trip is worth it if you've never been. We were running a sniper course years back at McClellan and went by. Everyone walked out with either a Garand or carbine (back when they had carbines).
 
Oh, one more thing, if you're looking for a good powder, H4895 has always worked really well for me in my M1's. It's origin was as a military powder for the 30/06 so it should. If you want to make up some fun, "big gun", "plinking" loads for shooting at tin cans, blocks of wood or anything else that is unarmored that you want to destroy or send flying through the air try loading some 150 grain semi-pointed .308 bullets usually intended for 30-30 reloads. The Speer 150gr flat SP #2011 is a good example of the type of bullet I'm referring to. With their thinner jackets and lead tip intended for soft skinned game at 30-30 velocities they're almost explosive when fired from an M1 at 2700 fps, have fed just fine in every M1 I've owned and the accuracy is very good..... have fun...
 
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You need to save the first target you shoot with your new Garand.
The date on this target is 4/15/90, It was the first day I had ever fired a M1. My father in law had just gotten it from DCM. He rubbed me pretty hard for shooting a four inch group.
He passed away about two years later and the family gave my the M1. My ex-wife found this target in his office in a pile of old targets and had it framed.
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Gunny, is it cheating if I use the second target...good lord knows where these sights are set;)
 
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Got my M-1 from the CMP in Oct. 1996.... Still got it and I really like it. Never did save my first target but I remember asking myself " where are these sights set?".... So I started at what's know as M Z ( mechanical zero ) on those things...... Windage adjustment centered and elevation adjustment all the way down... Shot it at 50 yards and began adjustments from there. Then fine tuned it at 100 yds. ........ Happy Birthday... That's one heckuva nice birthday present.
 
I got my first M-1 back in 96 from the CMP. Last summer I let an 18 year old recent enlistee in the USN try his luck with it. I had targets, (five gallon water jugs) set up at 100, 150 and about 200 yards. I showed him how to load it and how it operated. He hit every target, on the first try at every range, OFFHAND!!! I asked him how he did it. He replied:

"It just felt right in my hands."

That pretty much sums up the M-1 experience. You're gonna love that rifle..
 
tark said:
"It just felt right in my hands."
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............ That reminded me of one of my late uncles who had been a young marine in the latter stages of the pacific theater in WWII. I had brought my M-1 over to him a few years before he passed because he hadn't seen one "in person" since about 1945 and he spoke of how they seemed to fit him "just right". Along with the excellent peep sight that he also spoke highly of. They are indeed easy to get attached to.
 
Did a field strip today and found out that the barrel and receiver are the same year! After reading the CMP forums, most barrels were replaced in the 50's as the rifles came back, I got lucky. Bolt and Op Rod are replacement parts in the 50's. Either way, was so happy to dive into field stripping and learning about it
 
Arsenal rebuilds are just part of the weapon's history. My M-1 is a Winchester and it also, has an original barrel and receiver. I have been restoring it for 20 years and I'm still not there. It is now only missing a few small parts to be complete. It left the factory in October of 1943.

There is no way of knowing if it went to the European theater or to the Pacific. That is part of the historic intrigue of these rifles. Every time I pick it up I think of the history it was involved in and what it could tell me if only.....
 
So @GunnyUSMC , does not compare to the 100 yd shots you took, but only had access to my indoor 25yd range. Will get to an outdoor range in the next month or so now that the weather is cooperating more. 1st pic is first ever shots, standing, adjusted sights to where I thought they should be prior to shooting, then fine tuned, I think. 2nd pic is with bench rest, 25yds. Cannot believe how well this thing shoots, although not getting back my brass anytime soon;) (range lets you collect, but flung to far out forward to be recovered)
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