M1s may be coming home after all!

[NE Bull]

I believe the best we can do is HOPE for CHANGE in the big White House.

USA --(Ammoland.com)- 86,000 U.S.-made M1 Garand rifles are schedualed for auction and maybe possibly be coming back to the United States from the Republic of Korea (South Korea) to be sold to Americans (June 25).

While the deal is still on- there’s some good news and bad news.

The good news is that progress is being made to repatriate these legendary firearms back to the United States.

The bad news is that we’re only talking about 84,417 M1 Garand rifles now.



Read more at Ammoland.com: http://www.ammoland.com/2012/04/20/korea-to-begin-brokers-auction-of-84417-m1-rifles-destined-for-usa/#ixzz1sfzzogmA

[altheman2]

They better come home....No Reason they can't, and i want one....or a few

[bkoenig]

My next big firearms purchase will be a CMP M1.  At least that's the plan, unless I see something shiny at the gun show this weekend.....

[SemperFiGuy]

I want a very specific United States Rifle, Caliber .30, M1 :   that fairly early Springfield with exact serial number #1070170.

It has significantly damaged and discontinuous rifling, just about 2/3 of the way down the barrel.   The stock has "numerous scars and markings all over", as stated on the 782 gear sheet.

Nevertheless, It still shot Expert Rifleman during range qualification, despite the boot recruit who was waving it around all over the range.   It never drew a Maggie's Drawers.

I always fancied that it was used in the campaigns in the Pacific during WWII.    That maybe the barrel was shot out during frontal assaults at the caves at Peliliu.   Or maybe at the foot of Suribachi.   Or at Shuri Castle.

Whatever, that Beautiful Sum***** is a keeper and I'd surely like to have it back.

sfg
"Only accurate rifles are interesting."
"The .30-06 is never a mistake"."
         Townsend Whelen, Colonel, USA

[Wilson]

I was given an M1 Garand and really love it!!!!!!!!!!   

[NE Bull]

SFG,
Did you ever read the story of the guy who found the Very rifle his grandpa was issued and bought it for him. (price undisclosed). It's a true needle in a haystack story.

[SemperFiGuy]

NE Bull............

I do dimly recall the general details of that story, just as you said.   It was one of those great coincidences of life.  Including the fact that a true M1 user never forgets the serial number of his rifle.

Now that you've mentioned that story, here's what I'm gonna do:    I'm gonna trace that story down to a credible source.    And then..........

I'm gonna send copies of it to all of my grandsons.    And granddaughters, too.

Matter of fact, I've got five great-grandkids.    As soon as those little buggers get old enough to read, I'm gonna send it to them, too.

Maybe they can all chip in on Grandpa's M1 Rifle.

Thanks for the mention.

sfg

[Husker_Fan]

The CMP has some really good forums on M1 Rifles and Carbines.  There is a current thread in the carbine thread on a guy who has managed to track down his dad's old carbine from the serial number on the receipt the Army gave his dad when he had it.

[NE Bull]

The CMP has some really good forums on M1 Rifles and Carbines.  There is a current thread in the carbine thread on a guy who has managed to track down his dad's old carbine from the serial number on the receipt the Army gave his dad when he had it.

That might be the same story, coulda been dad.
The part I remember most is the ol' fella hoisting the old gun and saying something to the effect that he sure wasn't 18 anymore. 
Back to the OP. My bucket list includes owning a M1 of some sort and a period 1911. Someday, someday.

[maanbr]

IIRC that story was in American Rifleman magazine within the last year or 2?

[SemperFiGuy]

Just got a PM from NE Bull w/the original M1 story.

Something else of interest:   Back then we started shooting the M1 for both practice and qualification from the prone position at 500 yards.    With that famous M1 peep sight.

Ten Rounds, Rapid Fire.    From standing to prone.  Two rounds from a partial clip to start.   Two bangs.  Ping!!!   Then the 8-round full clip.   BangsX8    Ping!!   Whole line of 50 shooters  blazing away makes a heckuva adrenaline pump.

We used head-and-shoulders silhouette targets at that 500-yard distance.   That target was about the same size and all as the present FBI Q-target [which we now use for NE CHP qualification, starting at 3 feet.]

Anyhow, a reasonably good shooter could dependably put all ten shots into the black at that 500 yard distance.   And---if you didn't put all ten shots into the target, your qualification day was off to a bad start.    A hard boot in the rump from the Marksmanship Instructor was not that uncommon.


sfg

[dkarp]

Only bad part is: since they were sold to the South Koreans, when (if) they come back to the US they will have to be stamped or marked in some way by the importer.

If they were originally loaned, they could be returned without needing any import marks. That's how I understand it, I may be wrong.

IIRC the "greek return" M1 Garands that the CMP is selling now do not have any import marks. They were returned to the US Army, then turned over to the CMP.

[bullit]

I think they'll have "Hyundai" or "Kia" stamped on them.