I been spouting about how cool Garands are as of late.  Well for Father's Day my wife got me a stock set from DGR.  It is absolutely gorgeous!  I srounged eBay and a few shows to gather new stock metal as the reciever and barrel are nice.  Refinished the gas cylinder and I put a nice repro 1907 sling on.  Well I put it all together this evening and it is astonishing!  I will get pics up ASAP.  It is almost to nice to shoot......


Almost!

edit for spelling

I wish I could see it, too; it sounds great! Hurry up with the pics!

Ahhh, nothing like the classics.

Well, until Valkyrie gets it done, here's a pic of MY refurb'd Garand to hold folks over -

[img]http://home.earthlink.net/~rayra/hard/garand.jpg[/img]

WWII era small arms are some of the sexiest in existance.  I'd just die if I ever had the pleasure of shooting a BAR.

Sorry guys no pics tonight.  Tomorrow I promise.

Rayra, very nice!

Is it me, or is the M1 just one of the most graceful looking rifles ever designed?

It certainly is.  Anyone know the going price on a shooter grade M1 these days?

They are something to look at!  Even ones that are beat up are nice.  Built during a time when rifles were made of wood and steel.  Not that I have anything against plastic and such but nice walnut is hard to beat.  The M1 has sleek lines.  A distinct refinement.  It's hefty.  It has a good feel to it.  It is well balanced.  Very easy to shoot unsupported.  30-06 is a great round!  Very simple rifle also.  When stripped down it has only a handfull of parts.  

I love it!  By far my favorite of the whole crew in the safe.  My grandfather has a beauty H&R M1.  He's all excited to go shooting with me.  

cplchaos,

A Springfield service grade from the CMP will run you $520.  There's a few hoops to jump through but if your a vet or military they wave the biggest ones.  You can get a beater Springfield for $400 and Danish rifles for less.


The ones I saw last weekend at the Valley Forge show were anywhere from $650-$1600.  The lower end rifles were beat up badly.  The higher end rifles were Navy 7.62 Garands.  Go with a CMP rifle, it's the best deal around and you get the genuine article.  The rifle you will get will have a worn buttplate from fresh recruits drilling with it.  It may have charring uner the handguards from some battle.  It might have worn finish from repeated cleanings but soldiers in some far away place.  You ask for a Springfield you stand a good chance of a WWII rifle and it may have landed at Tarawa or Normady.  The CMP gets your hands on history.  
go here:
[url]http://www.odcmp.com/[/url]

If I'm a minor trying to get one through my mom will that increase my chances?

Well, you might be better off waiting until you are 18, shoot a match, send $20 to the GCA and get the rifle.  Unless you want to have your mom get the rifle and "give" it to you when you are old enough.  

out of all the FA ive shot the BAR by far was the funnest. followed by the 75 round burst from a 7.62x39  krinkov.

Well, I haven't read all of that site yet but I noticed they have an emphasis on youth shooters.  I plan on joining the Navy after high school but was wondering where I'd have a better chance of getting it now or waiting.

Well if your are gonna join My Navy then you'll have no problem with the CMP.  You will have to join a CMP affiliated club.  The GCA is only 20 or 25 bucks a year and can sign up online.  Being in the military you will not have to shoot a match.

Just curious whatcha looking at job wise in the Navy?

Thanks for the info!

I'm thinking of starting in EOD and then trying my hand at BUD/S after a year or two in conditioning.  I got a perfect score for my AFQT on my ASVAB so it shouldn't be too difficult for me to qualify.  I still need to talk to a recruiter though.  If the Navy has a SpecOps program like the Army does for their SF where the qualifying recruit signs a contract that sends him straight to SF out of high school then I may just go right to the SEALs if I can.

[img]http://photos.ar15.com/ImageGallery/Attachments/DownloadAttach.asp?iImageUnq=7011[/img]
1943 Winchester receiver, Springfield barrel, mostly WRA parts.
[img]http://photos.ar15.com/ImageGallery/Attachments/DownloadAttach.asp?iImageUnq=7009[/img]
And it's not so distant cousin. (Ignore the lowly black rifle).

Just looking for an excuse to post some of my pics.

Nice Winny!

Very desirable amongst the M1 collectors from what I gather.

Did ya get dem der pics ready?[:)]