M1 Garand- Still on Duty 2007

[Titan6]

I was absolutely stunned last week to see an M1 Garand being carried by a soldier in the mess hall in Baghdad. True he was on the color guard but this was not a drill rifle, it was fully functioning.

The rule in the chow hall is that you "must carry" or you will not be served. He was carrying the weapon he was issued. Nice to know that it is still around nearly three generations later.

 

[Smokehouse69]

I wonder if it had been rechambered for 7.62 NATO or if is still .30-06?

 

[Titan6]

I did not ask the question, but the rifle had been rebuilt. It was in fine cosmetic condition.

 

[mukluk]

It's a cerimonial rifle; it's only required to function well enough to fire blanks and be manually cycled. Judging from what I've personally seen regarding honor/color guard rifles I would be amazed if it would function as a semi auto let alone have any chance of being remotely accurate. All this is moot of course since the likelyhood of there being any usable M2 ball available is pretty slim.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

The rule in the chow hall is that you "must carry" or you will not be served.

Wouldn't it be great if that were the rule everywhere?

Personally, I think that when you show up at the polls to vote, you should have to have your rifle with you, ready for inspection, show your ammo pouches are full, and present your current rifle qualification certificate.

 

[Jeremy2171]

Theres plenty of usable 30cal ammo in Iraq...I have 3 cans of 4-1 AP-TR SL53 dated stuff here. Shoots great in my '03.

 

[Titan6]

It's a cerimonial rifle; it's only required to function well enough to fire blanks and be manually cycled.

He didn't have any blanks for it. Only Ball.

 

[High Planes Drifter]

How long did you talk to him? Did he say why it is he was issued the rifle? I mean, was his unit out of M16's?

 

[kir_kenix]

ive seen quite a few m14's in biop, but never a garand. next time im up there im going to be on the lookout tho...

 

[Oohrah]

Well Mukluc,
I have to disagree with you. Our Marine Corps League has several
detachments with Ceremonal Garands that even with blanks, fire semi
auto. The six that I have had for several years now, have never failed
to function 100%. They even even work with the new type blanks with
the crimped cased mouths. KIA Marines are rendered military honors by
their units using M-16s that do not function with blanks as well.
The Garands come with the gas cyclinder lock removed, adapter scewed
on, and the gas cyclider screw screwed down. I have noticed the new
blank adapters have the orfice in it, larger to handle the faster burning rate
new blank powder. Real life is the rifles are cleaned after every event.
They are run pretty lubricant dry, and chamber attention a must due, to
not very clean burning powder. Just for info only, one part is all that would
allow complete functioning with M2 ammo.
Semper Fi

 

[rero360]

actually now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure I saw one guy carrying a Garand, tons of M14s, but I do remember seeing one garand, complete with the leather cheek rest and some sort of scope mounted, probably converted to .308, it was no ceremonial rifle, that thing saw patrols.

 

[Roswell 1847]

The Navy had a lot of Garands converted to 7.62 NATO ,partly for use in shooting at mines, the 5.56 couldn't set one off.
Its possible that a few of our ships still have these converted Garands in their weapons stores.
There has been recent talk of retraining some Naval personel in land warfare tactics. Of course many Naval personel are already serving on the ground in Iraq in various roles, and as security.

My Dad's WW2 Blue Jacket's Manual has operating and maintenance instructions for the WW1 Lewisgun as well as more modern firearms.
The Navy doesn't like to ditch tried and true weapons, and the 7.62 Garands could still be the best rifle for busting floating mines.

Just saying, its possible that a few Garands are still in inventory just as a few 1911 pistols have re emerged in recent years when needed.

 

[possum]

never seen a garand here, a few 416's, a few m14's.

 

[sacp81170a]

Personally, I think that when you show up at the polls to vote, you should have to have your rifle with you, ready for inspection, show your ammo pouches are full, and present your current rifle qualification certificate.

I'll second that!

 

[Moonclip]

I believe in Switzerland it is or was traditional to show up at the polls armed. An 03 in Iraq? A M1c or M1d on patrol? Very interesting. I though M1 Garands were phased out of USN service by the end of the 1960's. My ship had 1911a1's as late as 1997 though.

 

[Jeremy2171]

There are no M1s still in USN service, they have been replaced by M14s or M16s depending upon the ship.

 

[1911 guy]

There are some oldies still in service.

I was part of a security detail onboard the U.S.S. Carl Vinson (CVN-70) and there were .38 revolvers in the weapons stores. They got used, too. I carried one on watch a few times. It comes as no surprise to me that there are M1's still around and being used.

 

[Titan6]

I didn't get a chance to talk to the soldier but for a minute as we were both on our way somewhere else. But he was Army, the weapon was fully functioning, did not have a scope, he had rounds for it and looked in good shape. There are a bit of M14s over here that are scoped as well as some other tools.

I just thought it was neat that thing has been carried now for it's fourth generation and still does the job. Somebody really did something right back then and it shows even today. I talked to a friend and he said that some of the DM's here do have M1's but I have not seen that set up. I am also glad I am not on the other end of one.

 

[kBob]

The sniper rifles in use by the Infantry Regiment ( I forgot their number designator but the Motto was "deeds, not words" unfortunately the motto of a para militry unit in a bad adventure movie of the time) of the 3rd Armored Division in 1982 were M-1Ds with an open ended prong flash supressor They had one of the M80-something scopes. They were in .30-06 and were issued to the individual shooter after attending a two week course up at Baumholder......I was terribly dissappointed when I was told that by no means could a butter bar red leg stuck in a weenie desk job go to the school and get a rifle.

The rifles were in .30-06 BTW. Ammo was match in 20 round boxes and loaded by the shooters into clips or Black Tip AP in clips. They were considered to be 800 meter rifles with either.

-Bob Hollingsworth

 

[Travis Morgan]

Funny. They're still screwing around trying to find another platform to launch tiny little bullets, but too proud to re-issue an old standby that works! Idiots.

 

[MatthewVanitas]

Funny. They're still screwing around trying to find another platform to launch tiny little bullets, but too proud to re-issue an old standby that works! Idiots.

Oooookay. More like "they realize it's not practical to switch back to a rifle and cartridge which weighs twice as much as the current issue, particularly a rifle which hasn't been in large scale production since the long before the average sergeant was even born."

If it were a "pride" issue, Marines would still be carrying the M1903.


Anyway, I'd be extremely curious to hear the story behind this M1 Garand sighting.

My assumption, had I seen such, was that his unit had confiscated it from the Iraqi insurgents, and somehow he was able to carry it around without getting hassled.

I've been told that carrying confiscated weapons is extremely uncommon in Iraq now, but back in 2004 it wasn't unheard of. Not the "every single Marine ditched his M16 for an AK" that some Internet folks make it out to be, but over the course of a deployment I saw maybe three or four Marines/sailors with AKs, one EOD gunny who carried a confiscated Iranian G3K, and a handful of enlisted EODmen (working for said gunny) who said that gunny let the drivers carry a Sterling or similar confiscated subgun on their laps while driving. Oh, and one Marine captain who inexplicably carried a French FAMAS. That's the sum total of confiscated gear I saw actively in use over the course of seven months on one of the largest combat bases in Anbar province.

The notion of a color guard carrying a combat-serviceable M1 Garand is very odd.

The notion that an enlisted man could still get away with carrying non-issue gear in late 2007 is even odder.

If you get any more info, I'm very curious.

 

[Moonclip]

We had .38's in the USN in the armory in 1995. Anyone seen any revolvers as of today?

 

[Titan6]

My assumption, had I seen such, was that his unit had confiscated it from the Iraqi insurgents, and somehow he was able to carry it around without getting hassled.

I've been told that carrying confiscated weapons is extremely uncommon in Iraq now, but back in 2004 it wasn't unheard of. Not the "every single Marine ditched his M16 for an AK" that some Internet folks make it out to be, but over the course of a deployment I saw maybe three or four Marines/sailors with AKs, one EOD gunny who carried a confiscated Iranian G3K, and a handful of enlisted EODmen (working for said gunny) who said that gunny let the drivers carry a Sterling or similar confiscated subgun on their laps while driving. Oh, and one Marine captain who inexplicably carried a French FAMAS. That's the sum total of confiscated gear I saw actively in use over the course of seven months on one of the largest combat bases in Anbar province.

Carrying anything other than what you are issued will get you in trouble these days, especially if you are near the flag pole. The only ones I have seen not carrying standard weapons are the special ops guys and they have all kinds of toys but no AKs (or Garands either that I have seen).

This guy was carrying this last week. I have moved out of that FOB and so I likely won't see him again but if I do see another I will try to run it to ground. Like I said, I really couldn't believe it myself.

 

[def4pos8]

kBob

It might amuse you to learn that this miserable, old ChAir Force puke has a 1:25000 chart of Truppenuebungsplatz Baumholder, framed, on a wall. I spent too much time there for my own good in the late '80s. I was range safety officer for my cruise missile unit. We had Tomahawks on some really interesting trucks.

Let's see: ChAir Force unit, using a Navy weapon, performing an Army mission, with Marine Corps defense doctrine, working for NATO -- has to qualify as a five-finger circular, uh, event.

 

[Cosmoline]

Strange things can happen in wartime. Just as long as you don't see someone at the mess hall showing up with the Brown Bess he was issued I think we're OK.