Is 8 Rounds Enough?

The M1 Garand is really only a wall gun, and hence only suitable for low and mid rounds.
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:confused:

Care to define your terms and expound a bit on that?

Unless you are trying to lay down suppressive fire or having a contest to see how many rounds you can carry, I'm willing to bet that if you can't figure out how to accomplish any reasonable shooting task with an M-1 Garand, then you probably can't do it with anything else, either.
 
I'm not worried about being overran at all. Actually, I'm not sure what situation I would need more than 8 rounds of 30-06.
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^ I think you answered your question right here. ^


As for this:

It's the constant barrage of people saying you should have more than 8 rounds cause of "Murphy's Law" and such that makes me wonder.
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I'd need more information to clarify that this "constant barrage" is valid advice instead of trumped up SHTF paranoia or self egotism.

Yes, Murphy's law can come into play, but if you're proficient with your 8 shot M1...why are you worried about other people and their situations? Any gun can jam or seize up. Better advice would be to realistically assess your situation and plan accordingly.

Personally, I think you're fine.
 
Always remember to use forceful voice commands and convey a serious attitude.

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"I'll blow a hole in your face then go inside and sleep like a baby."

Clint doin' it right.:)
 
Care to define your terms and expound a bit on that?
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He's referring to the video game Call of Duty: World at War, more specifically the Nazi Zombie game mode. The M1 Garand is one of the weapons featured in the game, and it only works well for the first few levels of that game mode.
 
Care to define your terms and expound a bit on that?
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He's referring to the video game Call of Duty: World at War, more specifically the Nazi Zombie game mode. The M1 Garand is one of the weapons featured in the game, and it only works well for the first few levels of that game mode.
 
Personally, I'd be comfortable with a Garand for most defensive applications. I'd be less comfortable with the Garand's ability (or lack of it) to run well with anything other than 150gr FMJ since I would want to use premium defensive ammo that lessened problems with over-penetration.

If I was going to go that route, I'd probably want an adjustable gas plug and be willing to spend some cash testing said defensive ammo in the Garand first.

As far as how many rounds is enough, there are a lot of variables. We just discussed a pistol fight at 21 yards where 3 officers fired 81 rounds at the subject before stopping the fight. I can point to another fight where the officer (off duty and in plain clothes) fired 11 pistol rounds with 10 hits at a single subject inside 7yds before the fight ended. A Garand is going to be both more powerful and easier to make good hits with, so it is less likely to require that many rounds; but I think the people who said it would probably handle most situations; but not handle all have described it pretty well.
 
8 rounds of .30-06, and a reload in a couple seconds? Seems to me that ought to be enough for anything short of unsupported combat.

As an "ordinary" citizen, the popular fiction of laying down cover fire is trained into us by our entertainment media. It good for soldiers in combat, and police in certain situations, but for a mere citizen defending themselves? Hardly.

One can only legally shoot in "gravest extreme", and while there are situations where a high power rifle is not a mistake, spraying the countryside to keep the other guy's heads down is not something the law is going to look kindly on. And that is the only real world advantage to a larger magazine capacity.

Remember too that we are personally liable for each and every round we fire. And what they hit. It is a completely different situation from combat.

All the chest thumping and "mine has more than yours" doesn't change the fact that combat and personal defense are two different things.

I'd say the Garand and some spare clips would handle any likely situation, and most that are highly unlikely as well. Of course, that assumes that YOU do your part right, too.
 
My answers have been rather flippant and fun filled so far in this thread, but I don't see where there should be any doubt. However, there is sometimes a disconnect between those who hunt and have killed big game(and other living things;)) and those who theorize about what bullets might do. For example I have a friend who is a SWAT team sniper and has never hunted. He is not against hunting, he just doesn't want to kill anything.

For my part, I just don't see how someone could have ever shot even just one, or two deer with a .30 caliber hunting bullet and then question whether or not eight would stop a human, or even several humans.

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I use 150 grain Nosler Ballistic Tips in my .308 barreled M1. First I made sure the powder burn rate was compatible to the M1, Varget is. Then I worked up a load that shot sub-MOA in my .308 700, 45 grains of Varget. It helped with logistics. I also have a pre-64 Model 70 Featherweight that shoots 1 1/4-1 1/2" groups with the same load. :cool: The Ballistic Tip isn't the latest design, but they make good wounds and the polycarbonate tip resists deformation. I've killed quite a few deer with Ballistic Tips since the mid-80s and know they work. Nosler makes a 168 grain Ballistic Tip for those who have sniper/tactical rifles sighted in for 168 grain match bullets, if anyone is interested.

44 AMP said:
Seems to me that ought to be enough for anything short of unsupported combat.
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I've owned a semi Galil ARM and HK 91 in the past, but sold them for the large profit during the 1990s assault weapons craze. In the Army I had a M-16A1 and was at one time the team M60 gunner. I've fired full auto AKs, Galils, HKs, etc, etc. I can afford most anything I want gun wise and yet I'm happy with my M1. The reason being is that if I can't take out a likely threat with eight, or sixteen 150 grain Ballistic Tips, I probably can't take care of it with more. Plus M1s have a high cool and nostalgia factor, not to mention they by God work well.:)

I do own the AR and have 10 30 round magazines each loaded with 28 70 grain Speer semi spitzers ready to go for back up though.:D I know for a fact that each one of those projectiles will make a wound channel that is virtually indistinguishable from a 90-100 grain .243 bullet. :eek:

Again, I realize there are more advanced/modern rifles and projectiles available, but I feel well armed with the ones I have.
 
It's 30.06
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I have both, 30-06 and .308 and they use the same bullet. M1's are great no matter which cartridge they are set up for, it's still 30 caliber and the target won't be able to tell which one you shot them with.
 
Ive used several bottle necked 30 caliber cartridges and I can tell you not too many mammals are gonna walk away at self defense ranges.
 
A lot of folks look at the Garand through the prism of today and the M-16/AKM with 30 round magazines.

I would say it is more than enough when you eight rounds semi and the other guy has five bolt action.
 
I'd say the Garand with 8 is as good as a lever action as far as capacity is concerned. Truck gun? Sure. Will it take down a street gang? No...well, maybe. If one or two drop, the rest might run. But otherwise, no.

But if your desire is to have a gun for close range combat in a rural environment with the potential for a lot of shots fired, I'd say the Garand is the wrong choice from the beginning. No need to fire .30-06 at 25 yards.

Get an AK47 for that. It holds almost 4x as much. 'Just as accurate and deadly within 100 yards. Or if you want the "wood" look, then SKS.
 
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