Kingston Armory M1 Garand and M14 10/22 Rifles
Inexpensive .22 caliber rifles that are modified to resemble military rifles are nothing new; the Stevens 87M was an early attempt to create a visually modified .22 rifle for military training, and today you can find many .22 LR weapons modified to look like almost any military rifle you want.
Few, though, look as good as the Kingston Armory rifles.
Kingston Armory, of Liberty, NY, makes rifles based on the 10/22 action that resemble the M1 Garand and (new for 2015) M14 rifles; indeed, calling them “visually modified 10/22s” is stretching the truth; Kingston Armory makes their receivers in-house from 4140 steel, which helps lend a very correct-feeling heft to the rifles.
From behind, the Kingston Armory rifles really do look convincing; the sights are National Match Garand and M14 sights and are as excellent as the originals, which really takes these guns out of “visual clone” territory and makes them trainers in their own right. In fact, the guns feature many new-production Garand and M14 parts, including stock fittings, gas blocks, sling swivels, etc.
That means you can – aside from loading for the Garand model – use and shoot the Kingston M1 and M14 .22s just like the originals. The rifles accept plentiful 10/22 magazines, and come with their own visually modified magazines to complete the look.
At $699 a piece, these guns are reasonably priced, if you are someone who wants a unique, good looking .22 that would be all the rage at an Appleseed shoot. Many will find that seven hundred dollars is too much for a .22, but I honestly was surprised the price was so low given the high quality of the wood and the 4140 receivers made in-house.
Nathaniel is a history enthusiast and firearms hobbyist whose primary interest lies in military small arms technological developments beginning with the smokeless powder era. He can be reached via email at nathaniel.f@staff.thefirearmblog.com.
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Excellent idea. Just as soon as this company is up and running and producing rifles that work, I will be ready with my money in hand to buy one. Simple reason why. I like the M-1 Garand rifle. I like shooting. I have always liked shooting. Keeping a .22 LR round on a SR-1 while at the same time producing a good score with such a rifle as this .22 LR Garand facsimile would be excellent practice for actual shooting in a match. Given that many matches are shot on 100-200 yds. ranges due to the lack of ranges with access to actual distances beyond 100-200 yds., learning to make hits with this sort of rifle will be helpful in actually learning how to produce good scores in typical matches. Cool. As well, the actual cost of shooting will be greatly reduced. This will encourage more actual shooting which is always a good thing.
Of course there will be some who object. They'll complain that this rifle doesn't mimic the actual recoil of firing M-2 ball from a M-1 Garand. No problem. They can just have someone kick them in the shoulder after every shot. That'll help them feel satisfied about the recoil business. After say... 10-20 go rounds of that, they'll probably not care if the little .22 LR round kicks or not. For those who say this rifle will have only a very narrow appeal, so what? The same is true of many things in life. It is not a little 10-22 from Walmart. Those are available new/used just about everywhere. For those that want them, they are fine. But this rifle will appeal to those who very much enjoy the M-1 Garand and who want to enjoy such a rifle for shooting and practice, etc.
Stupid name since Kingston Armory actually exists! It is now a National Guard Armory in Wilkes-Barr.
It also looks like they ripped off the design from Ruger - the 1022 rifle which they freely admit. Only the outside is different.
I mean it's a good idea and I would love to get one but the price is steep. Still though.