Stacking Swivels - revisited.

[Gewehr98]

Or, how I wish I had a 3rd M1 Garand!

An earlier discussion here about the M14/M1A's lack of a stacking swivel made me wonder about how well said swivels worked.

Out from the dark recesses of the Gewehr98 safes came 4 veterans of USGI history. I found it interesting that the stacking swivels of the 1903A1, 1903A4, and M1 Garand all sat at the same height from the buttplate, perhaps not a coincidence?

First, we have two bolts and an autoshucker - a 1903A1, M1 Garand, and 1903A4 in a stacked "teepee":



Next up, all Springfield with M1 Garand, 1903A1, and M1 Garand:



Now with all WWII rifles, a Springfield M1 Garand, Remington 1903A4, and another Springfield M1 Garand:



And a closer look at the 1903A4 sandwiched between the two M1 Garands:

 

[Kaylee]

Well cool... I always wondered how those thingies worked! Thanks!


By the by.... I take it the original idea was to keep the arms off the wet and the ground while out on campaign? Why are they no longer on modern rifles? They presume the troops will all be back in barracks by suppertime? All arms are locked away unless a team is actually out and about? And if the latter, what DO folks do when out and about? Lean 'em up against the nearest tree or sandpile or som'n?

-K

 

[4v50 Gary]

First time I got my third Garand, I couldn't resist but to remove them from the safe and "stack arms" with them. What a pleasure it is to stand back and see them all "chummy" together. A couple years ago I bought two more from DCM right before they went up to $550 and so I could stack arms, twice. That's two fire teams. Now, for a squad, I need a few more and a BAR.

On the 1903A4, do you have papers for it? The scope I noticed is an Alaskan, isn't it? Didn't see a sun shade on it. Alaskans were used and later given the military designation of M81 for the cross-hairs model and M82 for the post & cross-hair model. I think the M-82 was also made by someone besides Lyman.

 

[Jim K]

Stacking arms is a good way to keep them clean and out of the mud and also to let them be accessed quickly. The drawback is that if someone gets clumsy, you have three dirty rifles instead of one.

Jim

 

[Gewehr98]

No papers.

It was a stripped receiver I bought from a guy for next to nothing. Saw the offset serial number, and knew right away what it was. Then I had to find a bolt, barrel, stock, forend, scope base, rings, and scope. I really don't like the Weaver 330-C with it's tiny 3/4" tube. So I went with the regulation substitute standard Lyman, this one with the post and crosshair reticle. It works like a charm. Don't ever let anybody tell you a 1903A4 is inaccurate, I've got targets that will say otherwise. Someday I may go with an M-84, as used on the 1903A4 during Korea and Vietnam. I understand the Weaver K4-60B was also a popular Vietnam scope for the rifle.

You're right, somebody else did make the Alaskan for a while. They kept the model name, but Leupold made it for several years.

Papers would've been nice, but now I can shoot it without fear of knocking off several dollars' value at a time for each round fired!

 

[Gewehr98]

One of that stacked triad, the darker M1...

Is a U.S. Navy issue Trophy Garand, still marked on several spots with the last three digits of it's serial number in yellow carpenter crayon. The receiver has the Crane Naval Weapons Depot "0-66" electropencil marking. The receiver is a 6-digit Springfield, but the barrel is a brand-new Korean-vintage Marlin, which surprised me even more. How it got into DCM channels when I qualified and bought it in 1992 for $165.00 I'll never know.

 

[jmbg29]

I love this country!

 

[Dave P]

Nice guns! And I couldn't help but notice your good taste in flooring - terrazo is great in florida, until it gets cold! My feet haven't warmed up for the last 2 weeks!

 

[Gewehr98]

Terrazo is absolutely horrible!

Especially the last couple days, because our heat pump went dead. Wife thought I was being amicable, but I just wanted some heat and she's a good source. A new heat pump is being installed as I type this. Now watch, it'll finally stay above the 30's tonight. Reminds me to buy more rugs to cover the terrazo!

 

[No4Mk1]

Why are they no longer on modern rifles? They presume the troops will all be back in barracks by suppertime? All arms are locked away unless a team is actually out and about? And if the latter, what DO folks do when out and about? Lean 'em up against the nearest tree or sandpile or som'n?

Kaylee, I've been out for a while, but when I was in Basic, they trained us to adjust the loop of a sling on one rifle to allow the flash-suppressors of two others to slide into it, forming the same "teepee" effect.

Truth of the matter is, once I was in my regular unit we rarely used this, although we did on occasion. Fact is, when in the field we rarely set our weapon down, it was carried almost 24/7. The few occasions we did "stack arms" were when we had a significant work detail and the weapons were in the way of manual labor. In those cases we would stack like this, leave one person to guard weapons, and get to work....