Oh, but all of them are "weapons of war", made to be battle rifles for the US military.

The AG in my state has recently made a statement about "weapons of war". She says they have quote "no business" being in civilian hands. While the statement was specifically about platforms such as the AR 15, she has made the statement nonetheless.

Well again, my personal Glock has never let me down, and the vast majority of troopers are happy with the switch to the 37.

The middle one is a Garand. What are the other two?

I think they're Springfield 1903's, possibly of different revisions. WWI issue.


If my ID card ever comes through, I'll likely be adding a long gun or two of my own to the list of what's owned by people here.


Norm

Easy way to tell an 03 rifle from an 03A3: 03A3 has the rear sight right above the bolt handle, 03 has the rear sight on the receiver ring

Top rifle: 1943 Remington M1903A3 rifle converted to an M1903A4 sniper clone. Has USGI sniper “C” stock, Weaver 330 scope, original M1903A4 bolt. Scope base is reproduction.

Center rifle: 1944 Springfield M1 ‘Garand’ rifle.

Bottom rifle: 1943 Remington M1903A3 rifle. Strangely enough, that stock is a USGI sniper “C” stock as well. They differ from the standard “C” stocks a little bit. My Dad bought the stock in 1962 for 5 bucks, for his 1943 Smith Corona M1903A3, but never put his rifle in it.

Good looking guns. :respekt:

Guess I was off by about one WW. Always thought that by WWII the armed forces had adopted the Garand M1 and the M1 carbine.


Norm

On paper you are 100% correct about the M1 rifle.

However in practice...The US military was very underfunded in the years leading up to 1941. If you look at some Bill Mauldin cartoons from that era, for instance, you'll see standard gags like plywood howitzers being used for training, or cars being used to simulate tanks, which was the truth. Some interesting photos of that era show US tanks that didn't even have guns installed. Issuing every unit with M1 rifles was very costly, and the demand was slow to be filled.

When war broke out and the US was involved, the M1 rifle had already been adopted as the 'standard' battle rifle of the US armed forces. But even so, the 1903 rifle, in 1903A3 form or even 1903 form (1903A2 was an aiming device for armor training if I recall correctly, and 1903A1 was costly to make so they used simplified stampings, cheaper to make sights, less well finished metal, etc, which resulted in the 1903A3 design) saw front line duty even late in the war for instance in the CBI. The USMC was even using 1903s on Guadalcanal.

USMC was initially reluctant to adopt the M1 rifle. There was a famous test in which it is very likely that the USMC marksmen- who loved their 1903 rifles and wanted to keep them and the bonus pay for their shooting level- stacked the deck against the M1 by making sure the en bloc clips for the M1 were sandy and dirty, encouraging failures during the test.

But in combat, when the marines on Guadalcanal saw what the Army's M1s did in practical application, they stole every M1 rifle that wasn't chained down. There's an anecdote about this, in which a marine rifleman was dogging a soldier's steps on the march, and the soldier asked him why. The marine said "you'll get yours in the first burst, Mac. And then I'll throw away this 1903 and grab your M1".

Then too, the 1903A3 was very valuable as a training rifle. It was stored aboard USN ships in their armories. Photos of the D-Day landings actually show many troops had 1903A3s during the assault.

Next, the M1 sniper model in WWII, the M1-C, was in very short supply and wasn't until near the end of the war. The USMC had their own sniper variants, made from 1903s or 1903A1s, that their own armorers made. But the 1903A3 was pressed into service as the 1903A4 sniper rifle. It even carried the stamping "1903A3" on it, but it and the s/n were offset so they could be read with the scope mount on.

So while by 1937, the M1 rifle was the "official" battle rifle for US troops, the 1903A3 was just as numerous.

The M1 carbine was not in existence before 1941. It is sometimes called the 'war baby'. Production of US Government Issue M1 carbines ceased in 1945; anything made after that is a commercial copy.

About the M1 carbine, I think I'd really enjoy something that closely resembled the ones with the full wood stock but perhaps chambered for a more current cartridge . . . say .223 or even 7.62x39.

But I think something like that would be on NJ's "we're not gonna let you have one" list. :frown:


Norm

What gun cleaning products are you guys using? I've decided to give the M-Pro7 line a try. So far I'm loving it. The LPX makes actions and slides so smooth.

http://www.tacticalwholesalers.com/a...HP070-1452.jpg

Hmm...never even considered the oil I use.

On the one hand, very few commercial M1 carbines are made to accept USGI parts. Some even have cast receivers. There are new offerings by Inland (not the same company as the Inland that made M1 carbines for gov contract in WWII, they can just legally use the name) but I have not heard much about them other than they are more expensive than an original M1 carbine. Link: https://www.inland-mfg.com/index.html

On the other I have never heard of one being chambered for anything but .30 carbine. Nothing wrong with 30 carbine.

Original M1 carbines are not delicate relics or dangerous to shoot. They are over-engineered. Hell, my own almost doesn't require lubrication and it will ten ring a 50 foot pistol target at 100 yards. In addition, Almost all .30 carbine ammo is non-corrosive, even in the '40s, and the majority of original carbines still have good original barrels.

Recoil is mild, as well. The M1 carbine is the perfect small rifle in my opinion. I do wish .30 carbine ammo was cheaper though.

The mrs and i need a little more practice. We both started out slow but started warming up. I should have brought a little more ammo. The mrs is up top and mine is below.

Good stuff used it years ago, or the earlier version. Good point just like your Camaro you have to properly maintain your firearm.

I use Ed Brown oil and TW-25 grease. Espically for my 1911's things that slide get greased, things that rotate get lightly oiled along with all other parts that are steel.