Preface
Iconic American firearms often come from historic battles and legendary service histories. Today we revisit one such firearm, the venerable M1 Garand. The Garand like many other US military rifles, accompanied soldiers through some of their most challenging times. Additionally, the M1 stands out as the first semi-automatic service rifle used by infantry. I expect the firepower was well received by the young men who were used to running 1903 bolt-actions. For a bit of a personal touch, our test rifle today came from my late Grandfather, a Veteran of the Korean War.
The M1 Garand
The Garand was chosen after much testing to become a mainstay for the military, it’s rapid rate of fire and accuracy made it an obvious choice. The curious design of the Garand uses a one-piece gas-piston and operation rod, which opens and closes the rotating-bolt. The rifle is fed from an equally curious magazine system that uses en bloc clips that bundle cartridges together eight at a time. Simple controls and operation were made possible by cunning design and some seemingly complicated parts. The end result was a robust battle rifle with awesome power and range. Today that may not seem as apparent, but lets get into why it mattered then.
My Grandfather
My Grandfather grew up in the dry deserts of the American Southwest, raised on a cattle ranch settled by our Swiss ancestors. I credit my love for the outdoors at least partially to my Grandfather’s influence, his love of hunting and fishing surely was the inception of my own passions. As a small town boy growing up in the 30’s and 40’s, he spent much time in the wild west. And I expect most of that time he carried a gun with him.
He joined the Utah National Guard as a young man, as part of 213th Field Artillery unit. And shortly after the beginning of the conflict on the Korean Peninsula, his unit was called to serve. I can imagine a group of young Southern Utah cowboys must have felt extremely excited and nervous about such a foreign and dangerous engagement.
Having grown up hunting deer and other game using typical firearms of the epoch, I imagine they were familiar with lever-action 30-30 rifles and similar firearms. I expect it was of much comfort when the Garand rifle was issued to them, with its heavy hitting 30-06 cartridges stacked deep in the magazine.
Shooting the M1 Garand
My brother and I took the Garand for a range trip to see how the old rifle shoots. The dry desert in the summer can be a bit warm and windy, but I knew our testing would simply be a refresher. The Garand has proven itself many times over, this was more about me experiencing the rifle.
We managed to get through the day without any smashed fingers, and a bit more familiar with this piece of history. The M1 Garand shoots very nicely, especially when run on the Lake City M72 Match ammunition. Like the rifle itself this ammo is from another time, 1967 to be exact. The 173 grain ammunition shot flawlessly from the rifle, though I don’t know if it was the rifle or me that wasn’t producing the best accuracy. In all likelihood it was me and my unfamiliarity with the rifle, as well as trying to shoot with iron sights which I don’t often do.
Results
Shootability
The Garand was very fun to shoot, with modest recoil and a different impulse than what I was used to. The loading and shooting procedure is as simple as you’ve seen it portrayed in all the movies. And I even found it wasn’t that hard to not get bit by the action.
Adjusting the sights is pretty self explanatory, and made it quick to get on target. I did notice that the stock feels pretty thick compared to our modern firearms, which made my grip feel slightly inadequate.
The controls of the rifle seemed perfectly predictable for a service rifle. The trigger was nothing out of this world, but it was good enough. The safety was a bit stiffer than we’d anticipated, but again it was serviceable.
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