#M1

In the previous previous installment, we looked at how to assemble our eligibility package for the Civilian Marksmanship Program. In this installment, we will look at how to actually order a rifle from the Program. Ordering is not a particularly difficult process, so this post will not be very long. To order from the CMP, you can navigate the website to the ordering page located at this link. You will be presented with this text:

Ever since the news broke that the CMP would be able to sell M1911 handguns to the shooting public, thanks to a provision in the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act, I have received a lot of emails and comments asking me “how do I qualify for the CMP?” Well, you’re in luck: Not only will I be walking our readers through the process, but it’s easier than you think!

Recently, I ran an article on this site pointing out some of the less impressive aspects of the MP.44 assault rifle’s history. Many people were unhappy with my assessment that the legendary Sturmgewehr was overrated and over-hyped, and therefore I think it’s worth spending some time to examine, by analogy, why I think that. But first, let’s talk about a French rifle.

Some firearms have had such a great impact on global events that their very silhouette is synonymous with global events. This is a list of 5 truly revolutionary firearms that have helped shape the world as we know it today.

Welcome to another Friday Field Strip. Watch the Field Strip video below, then read the article below…

Ronaldo Olive sent us these photos of an M1 Garand rifle confiscated by the Military Police of Rio de Janeiro State. It features a  Sage International M1GALCS/PMRI stock (but with a different AR-15 stock and pistol grip). An EOTech scope is mounted on top.

This is the third part of a series of posts seeking to describe and analyze the 7.62mm Light Rifle concept promoted by the Americans, and subsequently adopted by NATO in various forms. This series will cover development from before World War II to the present day, but will focus primarily on the period from 1944-1970, which constitutes the span of time from the Light Rifle’s conception until its end in the United States with the standardization of the M16. This article itself deals primarily with the M1E series of modified Garand rifles created at Springfield Armory between 1941 and 1945. However, some rifles in the series are left out, these being the sniper rifle variations (M1E2, M1E6, M1E7, and M1E8), as well as the 7.62mm M1 conversion (M1E14) developed in the early 1960s. My readers should also note that while I consulted a variety of sources to write this article, my narrative heavily favors Bruce Canfield’s magnum opus The M1 Garand Rifle , as it is the most recent and complete source of information on the M1E series that I know of. On some matters, Canfield contradicts earlier sources like R. Blake Stevens’ U.S. Rifle M14 from John Garand to the M21, which is itself an excellent volume.

About a month and a half ago, Ryan Michad of the Firearms Radio Network reached out to ask me to do a segment for the Gun Guy Radio show. He wanted to tackle the subject of the selfloading rifle trials that led to the US adoption of the first standard-issue selfloading rifle in the world, the M1 Garand. I was happy to accept, and a few weeks later we recorded the segment, which was released just this past Sunday. In it, we cover ground from the earliest semi-automatic rifle experiments undertaken by the French in the late 19th Century, to the “rockstar” gun designer John D. Pedersen, up to the adoption of the Garand rifle as the U. S. rifle, caliber .30, M1, in 1933. We even tackle some “what ifs?” including “what if Pedersen’s rifle had been adopted instead of Garand’s?” and “how would a standardized .276 caliber have changed US firearms history?”

For the collector of firearms owned by famous people in history, Rock Island’s next auction holds a weapon that could be the centerpiece of any collection: An M1 rifle, the “deadliest rifle in the world”, owned by John F. Kennedy:

Back in early 2000’s, McCann Industries (known for their M1 Garand Gas Trap Adjuster) manufactured an M1 Garand in .458 Winchester Magnum. Not made anymore after the passing of McCann’s primary gunsmith, the rifles are a fine example of ingenuity and practicality applied to big-game hunting.

What rifle influenced Kalashnikov’s famous carbine design more, the Garand M1, or the Haenel MP 43? This question was broached by blogger Jeff of TwistRate in a video posted to the Full30 gun video hosting website recently. Readers can follow the link to watch that video before reading my discussion of this question below.

In preparation for an upcoming article about “light rifle” development (i.e., full power automatic infantry rifles), I have been reading the excellent Collector Grade Publication three-part volume on the FN FAL rifle. In it is contained the transcript of the 1950 Light Rifle trials, which pitted the American T25 design (a rifle that was at once a hybrid of the M1 Garand and BAR, but at the same time much more than that) by Earle Harvey, the Anglo-Polish EM-2 design by Stefan Janson, and the Anglo-Belgian FN FAL design – by none other than Dieudonné Saive, John M. Browning’s Belgian protégé – against the Second World War veteran the M1 Garand. The tests were comprehensive, but not all included the “control” rifle – the M1. Why this was so is not clear to me. In the rain tests, the M1 beat the EM-2 and was not so far behind the FAL and T25, and in the cold tests the M1 was a clear winner, functioning flawlessly (this would be echoed later when the T44E2 would beat the FAL in trials in Alaska, preventing its cancellation and eventually leading to the adoption of its descendant, the T44E4 as the M14, in 1957).

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.

Zachary sent us a photo of his M1 Carbine, with fixed bayonet, and his Christmas tree.

I really like this photo Kevin sent us of his M1 Garand. Kevin writes …