Tag Archives: m1 garand

A true relic from a forgotten battlefield

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160817-N-PM781-002 WASHINGTON (Aug. 17, 2016) An M1 Garand rifle used by U.S. Marine Corps Raiders during the World War II attack on Japanese military forces on Makin Island is at Naval History and Heritage Command’s (NHHC) Underwater Archaeology Branch. Due to the rifle’s significant surface concretions, corrosion and other physical damage, NHHC Underwater Archaeology Branch is performing an assessment of the artifacts stability. (U.S. Navy photo by Arif Patani/Released)

160817-N-PM781-002 WASHINGTON (Aug. 17, 2016) An M1 Garand rifle used by U.S. Marine Corps Raiders during the World War II attack on Japanese military forces on Makin Island is at Naval History and Heritage Command’s (NHHC) Underwater Archaeology Branch. Due to the rifle’s significant surface concretions, corrosion and other physical damage, NHHC Underwater Archaeology Branch is performing an assessment of the artifacts stability. (U.S. Navy photo by Arif Patani/Released)

During the darkest part of the war in the Pacific, a group of Marine Raiders stormed Japanese-held Makin Island. Today one of their Garands left behind is undergoing long-term preservation.

Scarcely eight months after the attack on Pearl Harbor and just weeks after the fall of Corregidor, the U.S. Navy was planning to take the war to Imperial Japan at a little known island in the Solomons by the name of Guadalcanal. As part of the initial assault on that chain, “Carlson’s” 2nd Marine Raider Battalion were to carry out a diversionary strike on Makin Atoll in the Gilbert Islands.

Carried to Makin by two submarines, USS Argonaut and USS Nautilus, some 211 Raiders came ashore in rubber rafts in the predawn hours of August 17, 1942. By the end of the day they had annihilated the Japanese garrison, sunk two of the Emperor’s boats, and destroyed two of his planes. As part of the withdrawal the next morning, 19 fallen Marines were left behind in graves on the island.

In 1999 the military returned to Makin, now known as Butaritari in the island nation of Kiribati, to recover the Marines, 13 of whom are now interred at Arlington National Cemetery.

Now, attention is being paid a rifle found during the recovery process, a corroded M1 Garand discovered in the grave and returned to Hawaii before its eventual transfer to the Raiders Museum located at Marine Corps Base Quantico.

After an Explosive Ordnance Disposal team inspected the rifle to make sure it was not loaded, it has now been transferred to the Naval History and Heritage Command’s Underwater Archaeology Branch at the Washington Navy Yard.

There, the archaeological conservators are formulating a plan to treat the rifle, buried in wet sand on a Pacific battlefield for over 50 years, and preserve it for future generations.

Everything you wanted to know about Garand rebuilds

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The always knowledgeable Bruce Canfield has a great piece over at American Rifleman on field and arsenal care of the M1 while in U.S. service to help better illustrate just what happened to these guns.

m1_lede

When M1 rifles were received by an ordnance facility for overhaul, they were unpacked, serial numbers recorded and the arms were degreased as necessary. They were broken down into the major groups; stock group, barrel group and trigger group. The metal parts, except the barrel, were removed and set aside for inspection and gauging. The wooden components were inspected and repaired, refinished, or discarded as necessary. Barrels and receivers were inspected and gauged to make sure they were within “specs.” Any barrels that proved unusable–due to substantial pitting, wear or excessive throat erosion–were removed from their receivers and scrapped. Receivers passing inspection were refinished (reparkerized) as required. The other metal components were inspected and gauged. Parts passing inspection were placed in storage bins for subsequent use. Superseded (obsolete) components were replaced, and those that required modification for continued use were altered as necessary.

Much, much more detail here.

Making that ol’ Garand

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Ever wondered how the old school U.S. Army’s Springfield Armory cranked out the M1? Well here’s a 1950s documentary on not only the development of the Garand (with Mr. John C. Garand himself speaking in his distinctive accent) but production as well. Its pretty neat.

Lawmaker seeks to open the floodgate of South Korean M1 imports

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Universal Soldier by Tim Page showing a ROK marine in vietnam after combat. Note the M1 Garand, the South Koreans have over 87,000 of these in arsenal storage that they have been trying to sell to a U.S. importer since 2009

Universal Soldier by Tim Page showing a ROK marine in Vietnam after combat. Note the M1 Garand, the South Koreans have over 87,000 of these in arsenal storage that they have been trying to sell to a U.S. importer since 2009

A measure introduced this week to the U.S. House of Representatives is looking to override the State Department-imposed blockade on thousands of M1 Carbines and Garands coming home from Korea.

The move comes as the latest installment in an effort by Republican lawmakers to force change in the administration’s 2009 decision to block the importation of no less than 87,000 rifles donated to South Korea that are now surplus to that country’s needs.

Previous attempts launched in past sessions to free-up the guns failed to gain traction, however with recent GOP gains in Congress and a seemingly lame duck president in the twilight of his term, one representative isn’t giving up.

The rest over in my column at Guns.com

A day for remembrance

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Today, I’m refraining from posting my typical drivel and instead will leave you with this image of veterans from the War Between the States. The practice we know today as Memorial Day (the remembrance part, not the obscene excuse for 25 percent off bedsheets part) started in 1868 as Decoration Day, ordered by the commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, the veterans’ organization for Union Civil War veterans, for the purpose of decorating the graves of the nation’s veterans both of that war and those that preceded it.

Over time, it has merged with Confederate Memorial Day (which started in 1866) to become the tradition we know today.

American Civil War veterans being shown modern rifles and machine guns on Veteran’s Day at the Minnesota State Fair circa, 1940’s. The veteran holding the rifle with the bayonet affixed was Henry Mack, an African American Civil War veteran who lived to be 108 years old before passing away in 1945 Hattip http://www.freedomhistory.com/henrymack.php

American Civil War veterans, all with GAR badges, being shown modern M1 rifles and Browning machine guns on Veteran’s Day at the Minnesota State Fair circa, 1940’s. The veteran holding the rifle with the bayonet affixed was Henry Mack, an African-American Civil War veteran who lived to be 108 years old before passing away in 1945. Click to big up. More on Mack’s fascinating story here.

4 Confederate Veterans of the American Civil War, the man on the left can be seen wearing the southern version of the Medal of Honor, the Southern Cross of Honor, ca. 1922. Source: Denmark-based creative Mads Madsen, aka Zuzah, http://zuzahin.tumblr.com/

4 Confederate Veterans of the American Civil War, the man on the left can be seen wearing the southern version of the Medal of Honor, the Southern Cross of Honor, ca. 1922. Source: Denmark-based creative Mads Madsen, aka Zuzah, http://zuzahin.tumblr.com/

Please use any extra time you normally spent reading this blog that you now have to spare and put it towards the reverent respect of all those who have served our great country and paid a price we can’t begin to repay.

Springfield Armory’s War Daddy: The Illinois M-1 Garand

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The company we know today as SA, who use the same name as the legendary Springfield Armory founded by the Continental Army, actually started in Illinois in 1974 with the production of a semi-auto version of the M-14 rifle (dubbed the M1A) and a new-production version of the classic 8-shot 30.06 brawler of World War II and Korea: the M-1 Garand rifle. Would you like to know more?

The M-1

Author's 1943-made WWII-era (real) Springfield Armory M-1 Garand. Click to drink in the walnut and steel goodness in high rez!

Author’s 1943-made WWII-era (real) Springfield Armory M-1 Garand. Click to drink in the walnut and steel goodness in high rez!

In military speak; the M1 Garand is officially known as Service Rifle, .30 Caliber, M1, NSN 1005-00-674-1425. Between 1937 and 1957, at least 5,468,772 Garands were produced by five manufacturers for use by the U.S. military. The government, always tight with a penny, kept these in front line service until 1963 and then transferred them to reserve and National Guard where they were often seen giving hippies some love as late as the mid-1970s.

The Army likes the M1 so much that they still keep more than 68,000 of them on hand for training and ceremonial purposes and loans out another 250,000 are still owned by Uncle but loaned out some 31,000 veterans groups and law enforcement agencies through the Ceremonial Rifle Program.

Orange County sheriff honor guard with loaned M1 Garands

Orange County sheriff honor guard with loaned M1 Garands

Designed by John C. Garand (hence the name) over a ten-year period, this iconic gas-operated, semi-automatic, rifle with its rotating bolt and long-stroke piston extraction is fed by a unique enbloc clip that holds eight rounds of 30.06 Springfield ammo and a skilled rifleman could run up to 50 rounds per minute through his weapon when the chips were down.

Out of production by the government since 1957 in favor of the M14, in the 1970s they made a comeback…in Illinois.

springfield armory garandRead the rest in my column at XD Forum

Looking for a deal on a M1 Garand?

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Just got this from the CMP, and they have Internationals going up for sale this week as well as a great deal on stripped Springfield receivers (for $125!) so you can DIY your own.

Jan. 26, 1943: An infantryman is on guard on Grassy Knoll in Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands during World War II. (AP Photo)

Jan. 26, 1943: An infantryman is on guard on Grassy Knoll in Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands during World War II. (AP Photo)

Below is from them:

INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER CORPORATION M1 GARANDS. CMP currently has 511 Service Grade IHC M1 Garand rifles (with LMR barrels) available for purchase. The CMP North and CMP South stores will be allocated 64 of these rifles each. The balance of 383 rifles will be reserved for mail order purchase. Price of these rifles, CMP item number RM1IHCSLMR, is $975 plus $29.95 S&H.  CMP also has 384 Service grade IHC M1 Garand rifles that do not have LMR barrels. Price of these rifles, CMP item number RM1IHCS, is $925 plus $29.95 S&H. Please note that the only part on either of these two item numbers guaranteed to be the IHC is the receiver. Purchasers are limited to only one IHC M1 Garand per customer. Mail orders will be accepted immediately until enough orders are received to allocate the current inventory. Rifles will be available at the stores on 5 June, 2014. We do still have approximately 2,000 IHC rifles to inspect and repair and make ready for sale. We expect the next partial IHC release to be in November, 2014, but it may be sooner.

M1 GARAND GRADE “C” STRIPPED RECEIVERS. CMP is now offering for sale several hundred Springfield Armory Stripped grade C receivers. The receivers are stripped and do not have sights or any other parts. These receivers have all been reparkerized and have a uniform finish but will have some pitting above and below the wood line and some of the engraving / stamping may be worn and difficult to read.  None of these defects should affect proper functioning if built up into a complete rifle. Item number is RM1RECSAC. Price is $125 plus $9.95 S&H.

CMP’s website, etc:

Combat Gallery Sunday: Some of the Best Pulp Fiction Covers..from Mort

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Mort Künstler is one of the most respected military art masters in modern US history. Odds are if you have ever stopped and admired a Civil War painting, it may have come from Mort.

You may recognize his art from this painting of the CSS Hunley just before its last mission

You can almost feel the tension in the air for those brave submariners on this human powered submersible

You can almost feel the tension in the air for those brave submariners on this human powered submersible

Or in his more modern works such as this one of the Alaska Air National Guard

Guarding for polar bears while your C130 on skies unloads supplies. I'm cold just looking at this...

Guarding for polar bears while your C130 on skies unloads supplies. I’m cold just looking at this…

But what you may not know is that he cut his teeth on a whole ‘nother category of military art.
Born in 1931, he started off doing covers for men’s adventure magazines (aka pulp fiction type books) in the 1950s and 60s. Although he often used pen names, some of his better works he signed his own to and they are just really great stuff.

Nothing like a M1 Garand, a M1918 BAR, pineapple grenades, and belts of 30.06 LMG food to put some swagger on your cigar

Nothing like a M1 Garand, a M1918 BAR, pineapple grenades, and belts of 30.06 LMG food to put some swagger on your cigar

With that in mind, what follows is a few of his works from back in the pulp days. You see a lot of Tommy Guns, and a good bit of guest appearances from BARs, M1s, M3 Grease guns, Short Magazine Lee Enfields, and of course, Luger P08s.

Enjoy!

the luger has been a staple of pulp fiction for decades as seen in this 1950s illustration by Mort Kuntsler mort 11 mort 10 mort pulp 9 mort 8 mort 6 mort pulp 5 mort cover mort pulp 4 mort pulp cover mort pulp cover 2 mort pulp cover 3

M1 Americas Battle Rifle

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General George S Patton called the M1 Garand, “The greatest battle implement ever devised.”  And with good reason: this hard-hitting 30.06 armed the ‘Greatest Generation’, as well as a few that came afterward.

After World War 1, the US Army had literally millions of Springfield, Enfield, and Mosin rifles lying around. While these were all adequate for the Doughboys of the Western Front, the military knew that these bolt-action rifles were all essentially 19th Century technology. Through a series of trials and tests in the 1930s, the Army experimented with various semi-automatics that could deliver a much higher volume of fire. By 1936, a single design by Mr. John C Garand stood at the top of the pile and was adopted as the “US Rifle, Cal. .30, M1”.
Read the rest in my column at Firearms Talk

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