Springfield Armory M1 Garand

calsdad said:
Not sure if you're going to feel much less recoil out of a .308 (7.62x51 actually) - than you will out of 30.06 . I've got Garands in both .308 and 30.06 - and can't say I've ever really noticed much of a difference in the recoil. If you're worried about recoil there are things like shock absorber pads you can get to put on the end of the buttstock to lessen the kick.

If it was me - I'd figure out whether you want .308 or 30.06 and base the decision on ammunition availability and cost. A few years ago 30.06 was pretty easy to get - and cheaper than .308 - if you got it from the CMP. They had a warehouse full of millions of rounds of Greek ammo and the cost was not too bad.

I think .308 is cheaper than 30.06 now - and it's likely to stay that way since nobody really makes 30.06 in quantity any more - and there are far more milsurp type rifles that take .308 (7.62x51) - than take 30.06.

Garands are definitely legal to own in MA - I own several as do a whole bunch of other people here. As others said : it will need to get transferred to you thru an FFL - so they'd ship it to that FFL and you would pick it from them. I have used Four Seasons in Woburn to do this a number of times - it's pretty straightforward. There is another place in Woburn who has advertised decent prices on transfer cots - unfortunately the name escapes me at the moment.

I'd say the Garand is probably the winner for rifle with the most amount of information available on the internet. There is a HUGE amount of info available, some good info right here on NES, if you really want to dig into minutia - join the CMP forums, there are people there who know literally EVERYTHING about Garands.

Have you shot rifles with iron sights before? If that is something you're not used to - or prefer red dots or scopes - don't worry, there are ways to mount scopes or red dots on a Garand. Some peopel would say blasphemy - but if that makes the rifle "work" for you then go for it.
Click to expand...

Don't fret about the iron sights of the M1 garand. They are almost fool proof. Your only real limitation is your eye sight.

The aperture style sight is the easiest of all iron sights to use. You look through the hole of the rear sight your eye/brain will want to center the front sight in that circle all by itself.
 
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Laura,

The short answer to your question if you know you want a M1 garand and your primary function is to shoot it.
1. Buy a service grade M1 through the CMP then buy as many of the 10 case limit cans of HXP from the cmp as your budget allows or invest in a reloading press and learn to load ammo for your M1.
2. Get a nice Ron Brown or Turner M1907 National Match sling.
3. Then enjoy

There are three choices for mail order M1s from the CMP
Field grade is 630$ shipped it will be a rifle that has seen some good solid use. The stock will be somewhat rough but overall they will be functional and fun shooters.
SERVICE GRADE 730$ shipped these are great guns. In better shape than the field grades and more times than not now will come with a new wood stock.
The above options are luck of the draw between Springfield and HRA manufactured rifles.

Then there is the CMP SPECiAL. It is a refinished M1 with new barrel and new stock installed by the CMP. 30-06 and 308 can be had this way.
1030$ shipped. This as close to a new M1 garand you can get with out spending 5k or more on a unissued M1 or IMHO wasting money on the commercial built Springfield armoury Inc. Rifles.
 
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Ultimate Shield said:
Yeah, there are some that make new rounds specifically for the Garands, but it almost all sells for a premium
Click to expand...

There are also ported gas plugs and a non-ported hollowed out gas plug that is reported to allow commercial ammo to be used without risking the op rod.

I have been thinking about getting the hollowed out plug myself. I have heard good things.
 
You can also install a ported gas plug which allows safe firing of 'hotter' ammo. I have the ported plugs from Garand Gear in my M1s and they work well. The only issue I've had is some lower powered ammo not cycling the action.
 
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Ultimate Shield said:
Yeah, there are some that make new rounds specifically for the Garands, but it almost all sells for a premium
Click to expand...

PPU M2 ball can be found for 75 cents per round. CMP can still sell you some HXP for 60 cents per round shipped. You can reload for about 45 cents or a nice match bullet for 60 per round.
 
I have a M1A and Garand both Springfield and they would be the last two rifles I would ever get rid of. The Garand is just fun and historic and the M1A is a serious tack driver...and fun.

Sent from my Passport using Tapatalk 2
 
ericcif said:
I have a M1A and Garand both Springfield and they would be the last two rifles I would ever get rid of. The Garand is just fun and historic and the M1A is a serious tack driver...and fun.

Sent from my Passport using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...

What model or who built it. Tack driving accuracy is not a trait of either the M1 or M14/M1a unless you do some serious tweaking.
 
JackOfAllTrades said:
That it does...

I thought the M1 Garand (8 round internal magazine) came first, then they made the M1A (Garand with a removable magazine), then came the M14 (M1A with full auto).

I did some more rummaging and it looks like I was wrong. The M1 Garand beget the M14. Somewhere in the middle there was the M1 Carbine of which the M1A is a variant. Although they look similar they are quite different. I would say the M1A is a cousin to the M1 where the M14 is the descendant.

The M1A fit a need that the M1 didn't (smaller, lighter, magazine fed, select fire in the M2 variant) but many of the features of the M1A ended up in the M14 later.
Click to expand...

The "Garand" was designed by John Garand in the 1920's - and was adopted into service by the US Army in 1936. ( I remembered the basics of this but had to go look up the details).

The rifle was given the military designation of "M1". It was later that it was called the "Garand" (after it's designer).

The M14 came about because the US military had started development of rifles with smaller calibers (smaller than 30.06) near the end of WW2. After NATO was formed - there was competition for a standard rifle - in most countries that became the FAL - in the US - there was resistance to the FAL - and they adopted the M14. Both the FAL and the M14 shoot 7.62x51.

The M1A is a Springfield Armory INC model designation for their M14 version.

The M1 Carbine is a completely different rifle (carbine actually) with it's own development history completely apart from the Garand. There were variants of the M1 carbine such as M1A1, M1A2, - etc.

What's really going on here is that the US military for some reason just kept using the "M1" designation over and over again for multiple different things. There's the M1 Garand, the M1 Carbine - and a whole bunch of other military equipment that got designated "M1".

Then you throw the M1A1 Carbine variant into the mix - and add Springfield Armory INC a few decades later calling their M14 clone rifle the "M1A" - and everybody's head gets all ****ed up.

- - - Updated - - -

mac1911 said:
Don't fret about the iron sights of the M1 garand. They are almost fool proof. Your only real limitation is your eye sight.

The aperture style sight is the easiest of all iron sights to use. You look through the hole of the rear sight your eye/brain will want to center the front sight in that circle all by itself.
Click to expand...

My eyesight isn't the greatest - and has gotten worse over the last few years. The first Appleseed I shot - I brought my M1A - and the pounding from that thing over the course of an entire day had me losing my eyesight near the end. I found the next time I did an Appleseed I did a lot better with an AR and a red dot.
 
calsdad said:
The first Appleseed I shot - I brought my M1A - and the pounding from that thing over the course of an entire day had me losing my eyesight near the end. I found the next time I did an Appleseed I did a lot better with an AR and a red dot.
Click to expand...

Which ones were those (the Appleseeds)?

I just wonder who the instructors were. And, yeah, unless it was in the last 3-4 years, I probably know them, or was there myself.

As to the OP, Laura. Calsdad has the right info here. I'll wager he will answer any questions you have on this.

Or, feel free to shoot me a PM on it. I've got an M1 (1943 vintage Winchester), plus an M14 clone (FedOrd, early, USGI parts) and an M1A Loaded. I also reload and understand loading for these rifles pretty well. And, obviously ammo in general as well.

And, if you can come up to an NES shoot in NH, you can try mine, if you want. Just have to let me know ahead of time, so I bring them and ammo.
 
calsdad said:
The "Garand" was designed by John Garand in the 1920's - and was adopted into service by the US Army in 1936. ( I remembered the basics of this but had to go look up the details).

The rifle was given the military designation of "M1". It was later that it was called the "Garand" (after it's designer).

The M14 came about because the US military had started development of rifles with smaller calibers (smaller than 30.06) near the end of WW2. After NATO was formed - there was competition for a standard rifle - in most countries that became the FAL - in the US - there was resistance to the FAL - and they adopted the M14. Both the FAL and the M14 shoot 7.62x51.

The M1A is a Springfield Armory INC model designation for their M14 version.

The M1 Carbine is a completely different rifle (carbine actually) with it's own development history completely apart from the Garand. There were variants of the M1 carbine such as M1A1, M1A2, - etc.

What's really going on here is that the US military for some reason just kept using the "M1" designation over and over again for multiple different things. There's the M1 Garand, the M1 Carbine - and a whole bunch of other military equipment that got designated "M1".

Then you throw the M1A1 Carbine variant into the mix - and add Springfield Armory INC a few decades later calling their M14 clone rifle the "M1A" - and everybody's head gets all ****ed up.
Click to expand...

Thanks for clarifying (?) that.

The fact that all three of the firearms we have been talking about look quite similar doesn't help any either.
 
JackOfAllTrades said:
Thanks for clarifying (?) that.

The fact that all three of the firearms we have been talking about look quite similar doesn't help any either.
Click to expand...

Can't go wrong with any of them... the M designation doesn't help much as far as military goes.
There is tons of M1 XXXX designations.
M1 flame thrower, M1 bazooka just to name a few.

Get into the official titles and it can be even more fun
US carbine 30cal, M1
US rifle 30cal, M1917
US,rifle cal30, M1
Then there is M1 and M1A1 flame throwers of WWII

There is also plenty to be debated on the use and adoption of each rifle.
I was blessed to know one ret marine who seen the passage from garand, M14, M16
Him and his fellow ret military folks could talk endlessly of the transition between the rifles.

His claim wad the M14 was a solution to a non existent problem. He favored the M1 over the M14 and really liked the M16 as stoner designed it before the military decided to play with design details and use powder not designed for the cartridge. One thing I really like is how much JCG was involved in the complete design from rifle to machine to factory layout for production.

It's all fun. Garands are a great rifle. If you buy one and are not happy you will easily get your money back on a cmp purchased one.
 
I don't think you'll find a softer shooting .30/06 than the M1. I got mine from the CMP and that's what I'd recommend.
 
JayMcB said:
Well that would explain it then.
Click to expand...

Explains little, NM doesn't equal tac driver... they can shoot well and be consistent with some work..
The original NM rifles built by Springfield and TRW and RIA where held to 3.5" or less after 3 consecutive 10 shot groups. Getting a M1a to shoot 3" or better consistently is a serious task and consumes a good amount of money.
 
mac1911 said:
Laura,

The short answer to your question if you know you want a M1 garand and your primary function is to shoot it.
1. Buy a service grade M1 through the CMP then buy as many of the 10 case limit cans of HXP from the cmp as your budget allows or invest in a reloading press and learn to load ammo for your M1.
2. Get a nice Ron Brown or Turner M1907 National Match sling.
3. Then enjoy

There are three choices for mail order M1s from the CMP
Field grade is 630$ shipped it will be a rifle that has seen some good solid use. The stock will be somewhat rough but overall they will be functional and fun shooters.
SERVICE GRADE 730$ shipped these are great guns. In better shape than the field grades and more times than not now will come with a new wood stock.
The above options are luck of the draw between Springfield and HRA manufactured rifles.

Then there is the CMP SPECiAL. It is a refinished M1 with new barrel and new stock installed by the CMP. 30-06 and 308 can be had this way.
1030$ shipped. This as close to a new M1 garand you can get with out spending 5k or more on a unissued M1 or IMHO wasting money on the commercial built Springfield armoury Inc. Rifles.
Click to expand...

Very helpful, thank you. Saving up my money as I type... :)
 
Laura said:
I really like the look of this gun and have for some time so I'm considering buying it online. I assume that's legal because it's a bolt action, but I don't know much about the gun itself. I'm thinking of getting the .308 which may be less recoil than the 30-06 - I'm assuming that the weight of the gun will go a low way to reducing felt recoil. Am I right on that? Does anyone own this gun and tell me about the advantages and what it's like to shoot? Thank you.

Laura
Click to expand...

As everyone on this forum can attest, i hated recoil, because my shoulder hated it. I got cuts and scrapes and red marks galore from even a .223. Its just cause im skin and bones in my upper half.

My one saving grace was the limb saver . It is soft and cushions even the hardest recoil into something manageable.

I now own a 762x39, as well as a 308 rifle. Without issues . I am more than willing to let you try out both calibers with the limb savers on it.

Sincerely

Queen bee
 
ericcif said:
They are both Springfield, the M1A is a National Match
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Not true, but close.

The M14 is military, most of them from Springfield Armory (the arsenal/plant) in Springfield Mass. Other vendors were Winchester, H&R and TRW. A real M14 receiver is considered an NFA item, as it would have been a full auto receiver at some point in time. Some companies made legal semi-auto only M14 receivers. LRB and Fed Ord come to mind.

An M1A is a reproduction semi-auto M14 from Springfield Armory (the company) that's now in Springfield Illinois. Some M1A's are NM grade, like the M1A loaded (about half NM grade).

I've got both an early Fed Ord with almost all USGI parts and an M1A Loaded.


mac1911 said:
Explains little, NM doesn't equal tac driver... they can shoot well and be consistent with some work..
The original NM rifles built by Springfield and TRW and RIA where held to 3.5" or less after 3 consecutive 10 shot groups. Getting a M1a to shoot 3" or better consistently is a serious task and consumes a good amount of money.
Click to expand...

True, NM doesn't equal a tack driver. Some of what they did will need refurbishing over time.

Getting the M1A to shoot well all depends on which one you start from.

But, regardless, they will all require a bedding job minimum.

Offer still stands to try mine. I've got both guns and can arrange for M80 Ball, M118 Match or M118LR Special Ball ammo being available. I also have an issue type M1 Garand, and can arrange for M2 reman ammo or M72 Match ammo available.
 
The M1A was made by the company "Springfield" in Illinois. The springfield armory in Springfield Ma was a military facility that produced weapons and was established by George Washington. Your M1 may have been made by springfield but M1s were made by several companies.
 
gerrycaruso said:
The M1A was made by the company "Springfield" in Illinois. The springfield armory in Springfield Ma was a military facility that produced weapons and was established by George Washington. Your M1 may have been made by springfield but M1s were made by several companies.
Click to expand...

You meant the M1A IS made not was as they are still cranking them out.

Sent from my Passport using Tapatalk 2
 
I meant that your M1A was built by Springfield in Illinois. I figured they were still being made because my son recently bought a second one.
 
Nickle said:
Which ones were those (the Appleseeds)?

I just wonder who the instructors were. And, yeah, unless it was in the last 3-4 years, I probably know them, or was there myself.

As to the OP, Laura. Calsdad has the right info here. I'll wager he will answer any questions you have on this.

Or, feel free to shoot me a PM on it. I've got an M1 (1943 vintage Winchester), plus an M14 clone (FedOrd, early, USGI parts) and an M1A Loaded. I also reload and understand loading for these rifles pretty well. And, obviously ammo in general as well.

And, if you can come up to an NES shoot in NH, you can try mine, if you want. Just have to let me know ahead of time, so I bring them and ammo.
Click to expand...

I did two Appleseeds at Harvard Sportsman's Club a few years back. I think the first one I did - was the first one they had there. I did one the next year and brought my AR. That year Fred was there and gave one of his "talks".

I've been slacking the last few years - too many other things to do.
 
gerrycaruso said:
I meant that your M1A was built by Springfield in Illinois. I figured they were still being made because my son recently bought a second one.
Click to expand...

Yes - Springfield Armory INC - (in Illinois) - is still producing their M1A in a number of different versions.

There was an ad or two in the latest issue of American Rifleman from them on one of their latest versions.

M1APAS_FDE.png
 
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When I worked at China Lake the local gunsmith would accurize M1A's (starting with a bedding job) and sell them for about $1600. If you were a regular customer and bought one, him and his wife (the better shot) would meet you at the local 600 yd range and show you that you were getting a sub-MOA gun. They were still in business when I came here in 2011.

There was another guy there who would do the same for Garands.


Anyways...

Was anyone making new M-14s for the military in Afghan and Iraq or were those arsenal refurbs pulled from storage? I know they came from storage at first, but heard a rumor maybe they began being made new again for the military?
 
calsdad said:
Yes - Springfield Armory INC - (in Illinois) - is still producing their M1A in a number of different versions.

There was an ad or two in the latest issue of American Rifleman from them on one of their latest versions.

M1APAS_FDE.png
Click to expand...

They just dropped their 'Loaded' model into an Archangel stock.

There are currently 7 domestic manufacturers of M14 type rifles and several options of for stocks from wood to aluminum chassis and a company making carbon fiber sets as well as a bull pup offering.
 
noddaduma said:
When I worked at China Lake the local gunsmith would accurize M1A's (starting with a bedding job) and sell them for about $1600. If you were a regular customer and bought one, him and his wife (the better shot) would meet you at the local 600 yd range and show you that you were getting a sub-MOA gun. They were still in business when I came here in 2011.

There was another guy there who would do the same for Garands.


Anyways...

Was anyone making new M-14s for the military in Afghan and Iraq or were those arsenal refurbs pulled from storage? I know they came from storage at first, but heard a rumor maybe they began being made new again for the military?
Click to expand...

I believe they pulled M14s out of mothballs to be refurbished, modified. Smith Enterprises had a Gov contract for this. If anyone is making new receivers for the .gov it might be Bula Forge...not sure.
 
Sweeney said:
I believe they pulled M14s out of mothballs to be refurbished, modified. Smith Enterprises had a Gov contract for this. If anyone is making new receivers for the .gov it might be Bula Forge...not sure.
Click to expand...

This. The Army had thousands out "on loan" to rifle clubs all over the country. We had a dozen or so. The DCM recalled them during the recent escapades in the Mid East to support the rifles (parts) they had in-theater.

My county Sheriffs Deputy had one in his trunk around that time too. Not sure if those got pulled back too.
 

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