Why my MBR is NOW a Garand!

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Texian Pistolero

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I was at the range a month ago, and was going to impress the young whipper snapper next to me with what can be done with iron sights, even from a short Bush master.

To my embarassment, the best I could do was pie shaped groups at 100 yards!

Turns out that wil astigmatism bifocals, two year old prescription, and back side of fifty eyeballs, I can't focus on the front sight any more!

But I've compared side to side with the Garand, the front sight on the Garand is reasonably crisp.

The Bushy has a 15 inch sight radius, the Garand is almost double that at 28 inches.

So, it's back to the future for me.

I'll probably hang an Aimpoint, or something, on the Bushy.
 
Try a smaller sized aperature on the Bushy. Not so good for lower light, but you'll be amazed what a difference it makes. You can simulate this by taking black electrical tape and covering the aperature, then poking a hole with a hot needle. That way you can see how it works on the cheap.
 
Well, I'm 30 years old, but being that I'm somewhat artheritic, they tell me that effects vision and I'm getting the feeling my eyes ain't what they used to be. I skipped right over the M4/M16 series and went straight to the Garand. My Granddaddy is a WW2 vet and he told me how good it is and I beleive it's a lot more rifle to begin with. Hits where I put the front sight.
 
All my friends think I'm nuts for my thoughts on the garands(shtf, MBR, HDR). But the garand is the greatest rifle I have ever fired/owned, very accurate, reliable, and I would feel very secure using it if the shtf. My buds are all about low drag high speed tacticool eagle-hawk blah blah; but I'll smoke 'em with my m1. Plus, it's the only firearm I own that impresses my father, which is a big plus. Garand=finest rifle ever.
 
Yeah, I was trying to convince my 30-something nephew to invest in a CMP M1 Garand. He got to see and handle the second one I picked up, a USGI service-grade.

While he acknowledged the "nostolgia" factor (he saw Saving Private Ryan), he's hung up on what a Garand isn't (from his perspective).

* It's not a sleek, cool-looking black rifle (like an AR) that you can hang even cooler stuff on ("No place to mount a flashlight," etc - his words)

* It's not light and compact like an AR ("Feels like a heavy club ...").

* It isn't fed by a rapidly detachable 20+rd mag ("Too slow to reload, so it might as well be a bolt action").

* The ammo isn't light to pack around, or inexpensive.

No sense of history, I guess. :rolleyes: But I'm working on him. He'll get a chance to shoot it at the range when the weather clears. Maybe that'll help change his mind. :scrutiny:
 
*The Garand is faster to reload than a magazine fed rifle. And, it will shoot through things the AR-15 can't. (When the shooting starts, the bad guys try to hide).

*The Garand is heavy. Better for buttstroking... I mean tactical buttstroking.

* Tape a $30 Surefire G2 to the side of the rear handguard. Problem solved. I have done that in the Night Urban Rifle class I took.

*So the ammo is heavier. Start working out. Geesh.

*So the ammo costs more, you will need to shoot the bad guy less times. Besides, it is only money. You can get good ammo for $5 a box.
 
Pistolero: I was trying to rationalize buying a G3 or a Daewoo, and now it looks like I'll just have to go back to my CMP Garand. You're destroying America's gun economy...
 
The Garand is faster to reload than a magazine fed rifle.
Click to expand...
I've heard this many times, but I've never found anyone willing to try it on the clock. I can 1-reload-1 on my AR in under a second and a half fom the belt, and I'm pretty slow. I doubt that the average shooter could reload a Garand in under three seconds.

Anyone want to give it try? I'll provide the timer.

- Chris
 
AR - access new mag. Remove old mag. Insert new mag. Hit bolt release. Put new mag in pocket, bag, pouch. Fire.

M1 - access clip. Insert clip. Fire.

Tactical buttstroking is cool because it is so tactical. Any technique or product without the term "tactical" in it just is sooo yesterday.
 
I've had a Garand in the past...loved it with one exception. I want the ablilty to replenish ammo when I want to....not neccessarily when the gun is empty. The box mag .308 beats the clip for me.
Also, that ping really sounds cool, unless someone else is listening for it.
 
Also, that ping really sounds cool, unless someone else is listening for it.
Click to expand...

The old timers said a great trick against the Japs was:

Empty clip in left hand, full clip in weapon.

Waste one shot by tossing empty clip on top of barrel and firing.

Empty clip hits barrel during recoil -- makes the "ping" they've been waiting for.

Finish the job with seven good shots as they charge.

--wally.
 
Well...Not that I don't have evil BR's, but I also have 3 CMP Garands!
Thumbs up to the M1! :cool:
 
"***that ping really sounds cool, unless someone else is listening for it."

That was sort of my nephew's comment when we were going over the ejection mechanism on my CMP SG Garand. He said (paraphrasing): "That 'ping' tells all the bad guys when you're out of ammo. Nobody knows when I'm reloading an AR."

dave3006: Actually, for a cop, he works out quite a bit. ;) So hauling around a waist-belt of 8 loaded clips probably wouldn't be that big a deal. He just doesn't think a Garand has much practical use today - given the other options available, like ARs. You have to understand that the younger guys frequently don't see the value or utility we see in these older battle rifles - Garands, 1903s, 1903A3s, etc. I like them myself, and enjoy shooting them when I can. He likes going to the pistol range with me, so once we get the time for rifles, he'll get to shoot my CMP Garands on the rifle range. I think he'll like it - these guns grow on you. :)
 
My Granddaddy said there's nothing obsolete about a M1 Garand. Nobody twisted my arm to order one. :D I don't get a lot of these young guys' problem and I'm their age. BWAAAHAHAHAHAHA
 
Chris, your shrink has a "long barrel" rifle and will help with the therapy of firing it? There's a Freudian joke in there, struggling to get out.

And any enemy combatent who is close enough to hear the "ping" is so close he's about to do the buttstroke on our intrepid GI. War is LOUD and the ping problem is a myth IMHO. And for those ask "did you BTDT?", I only know this from the LOUD target range.

Bart Noir
Who also needs that long sight radius.
 
I doubt that the average shooter could reload a Garand in under three seconds.
Click to expand...

I agree. I've heard people say that M1s are faster to reload than ARs, and I'm dubious. With a bit more practice I don't think I'd have trouble coming in under 3 seconds, but getting under 2 would be a feat, I think. The trouble is that while AR mags are inserted from the bottom without any real resistance, M1 clips have to go in from the top, and you have to work against a spring to do it.

Pappy John - You can top off an M1 any time you like. Just open the action and push loose rounds in. Or alternatively, open the action, eject the clip (along with any ammo in it), and load a new one. It may take a bit more time than tac-reloading a box magazine, but it's by no means impossible.
 
With the Garand, I can go from empty gun to bolt closed in 3 seconds flat during rapid fire stages (I put a stopwatch on a video of a rapid sitting stage). That's not particularly hurrying - I do it smartly but not rushed. Definitely faster than reloading an M14/M1A, but faster than an AR? I dunno about that, especially if you aren't pulling the AR down off your shoulder.
 
He just doesn't think a Garand has much practical use today - given the other options available, like ARs. You have to understand that the younger guys frequently don't see the value or utility we see in these older battle rifles - Garands, 1903s, 1903A3s, etc.
Click to expand...

I happened to show up at the range with a M-1917 when the prison SWAT team snipers were practicing with their scoped Robars & Remingtons. They were quite impressed to see what could be done with a eighty year old rifle equipped with iron sights.

Pilgrim
 
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