My $200 GARAND goes KABOOOOM!!!!.........

C

cjb

New member
No... it didn't blow up! I mean more like POW!
I'M IN LOVE!! My wife says if I bring that ugly thing to bed, she is sleeping on the couch! ( I hope the M-1 dosen't hog the blankets!)
For some reason I can't get that beach assault from Saving Private Ryan out of my head. This rifle is a real relic, I LOVE IT!
I put 80 rds. thru her today... got it zeroed, and it shoots! My AR-15 is jealous!
QUESTION FOR YOU GARAND EXPERTS....
How do I know what I got?
here is what I found...
Springfield Armory- M-1 .30 cal on the reciever along with the serial#
* on the stock below the reciever, on the top of the grip... a small bomb.
* on the bottom of the stock, the number 9 and the Springfield crossed barrels.
ANYONE KNOW WHAT I SHOULD BE LOOKING FOR as far as worth...or when it was made...or if it was rebuilt 100 times????? IT WAS $200! But I would still like to know what I got. Thanks for any info!
CJB

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" I SHOOT BACK! "
 
UPDATE......
Looked again... I forgot this...
It has a capital "P" on the stock, and another "P" on the barrel. GOOD? or BAD?
ALSO... on the stock... RIA FK in a box on the left side.
CJB

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" I SHOOT BACK! "
 
On the stock...

The capital "P" enclosed in a circle was used by both Springfield and Winchester to indicate that the rifle passed the proof firing test (this is good). If the "P" has serifs, it's a WWII stock.

On the "RIA" and "FK" found on the left side, the "RIA" indicates that it is an Rock Island Arsenal overhaul (rebuild) and "FK" is the inspector. Sorry but I can't say who "FK" is.

The small "bomb" is the Ordnance bomb, common for WW II Springfield produced M1s.

On the Barrel...

The "P" indicates that it is proof fired.

Virtually every part may have a clue, either by its drawing number or by its shape. It's not uncommon for a rifle to have been rebuilt either in the field, at some base, or as in yours, by an arsenal. More clues are needed to tell you about your rifle.

Good books to read include Scott Duff's, "The M1 Garand: World War II" and "The M1 Garand: Post World War II" and Bruce Canfield's, "Complete Guide to the M1 Garand and the M1 Carbine." Canfield's book is the more readible of the two and you can buy it direct from him at http://www.brucecanfield.com He'll autograph it for you too. Duff will do the same but you can also buy his books through http://www.fultonarmory.com .
 
Those Garands DO feel very "substantial" when you fire them, don't they?

One of the few peeves I have with Saving Private Ryan (I love the Omaha Beach segment, also!) is the covering fire they're putting on the MG-42 nest, with the Garands going poppoppoppopopop CLANG-G-G-G!!! (at least the clang sounds the same) but I'm watching like "those are obviously blanks because a .30-06 out of a Garand goes BOOOOOM!!!!" with some substantial but manageable "shove" to the shooter!

Wow, now I want to take one of my Garands out for a pop. :D

Edmund
 
FK is Frank Krack, Rock Island inspector. His mark appears on many rebuilt rifles and pistols before, during and after WWII.

Jim
 
One other suggested WEB site http://www.jouster.com/
They have a similar forum that can answer about anything relating to M-1's.

They have some great articles one of which is a reprint from a reporter covering a gun repair unit in Europe. It really describes how many M-1's became a mixed bag of mfg. sources. As m-1's were collected from the fighting, split stocks, burst barrels, pieces of partial rifles, etc. were all disassembled, with newly repaired parts rifles sent up for use. I have three M-1s each are Springfields 1942, 43, &44. Only the 1943 is complete Springfield, with the uncut op rod, nuance. Great guns. Sheer beauty to hold and behold. My appreciation of them is only exceeded by those men who carried them in battle. Now there was real heros!
 
For Edmund Rowe...actually, NPR reported that for Saving Private Ryan they took the actual weapons represented in the movie out and fired them to record the sounds for the movie...they wanted them authentic. How they "mixed" the sounds, or emphasized some elements of the gunshots over the other is up to the sound editor.

If you ever get to play the movie on a good Dolby Digital 5.1 setup with everything set right, it sounds pretty amazing.
 
I read a similar article in Small Arms Review about the recording of real guns for the movie.

Apparently to me, they were more detailed on the full-auto guns than the rest. Reiben's BAR makes a throaty BA-BA-BA-BUM but the M1 Garands go like pap pap pap pap. Even though they both shoot .30-06.

Anyway, I realize they would have to go to greater lengths to do this right but all the Garand shooters in the movie show absolutely no recoil (obviously from shooting blanks). If you ever shoot a Garand or watch old history films on soldiers in WW2 or Korea shooting the old warhorse, there's a definite SHOVE when you shoot one. Not really a kick so much as a shove. I'm splitting hairs but I would have loved to see the Garand riflemen showing the full effects of shooting .30-06 ball. Probably the only way to do that would be to have them shoot live ammo, which would really complicate movie making.

...and like I said, they really got the clip ejection sound PERFECT!

One other comment: The sounds of bullets striking different stuff like clang on steel, and thuds hitting the ground and such really adds to the effect of the movie. When they show that one MG-42 nest blazing away at them at Dog One Exit, I flinched in my seat at my movie theater because it sure sounded real!! Also that 20mm flak gun in the end gave me nightmares with that BWA BWA BWA BWA BWA sound. I took a WW2 vet to see the movie and he visibly flinched at that part.

Edmund
 
The sounds of impact were close, but also the pictures of some of the rounds hitting the ground looked so real to me that I think they may have actually filmed some Cal .30 or 8MM hitting the ground and inserted it in the movie. When the squad wipes out the APC when they finally meet up with Pvt. Ryan, notice the sound of the rounds not only hitting flesh but the misses (and the ones that penetrated flesh through and through) hitting the armor of the APC. all I can say is realistic!!!

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Carlyle
 
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