Firearms Section

[Tenring]

Originally Posted by drivingagain

On another note:

I am curious if you guys have any experience between two semi auto .308's I am looking to acquire.

Fulton Armory FAR-308 Phantom LTE: Side cocking BCG and 18.5" criterion barrel

http://www.fulton-armory.com/farifle...4-2-5-1-2.aspx

Patriot Ordnance aka POF: P308 Gen 4 in 20" barrel all np3 coated

http://pof-usa.com/p308/

I am really leaning towards the POF P308 Gen 4. I found a private supplier and can get wholesale on the POF rifle for the same cost as the fulton. Although the whole gun is custom NP3 coated by Rabar and it is Gas piston. The upper and lower is also 7075 forged t6 treated vs fulton 6065. I know this is not a make it or break it part but nice to be the best available. The research shows out to 1000 yards both guns are very accurate. The Fulton is guaranteed to 1moa but I know the Pof is as well from research with snipers and law enforcement.

According to all the AR guys and their outstanding reviews, the POF is very high quality and one of the most sought after AR around. i have been thinking about picking one up myself.

[Tenring]

Originally Posted by ChrisBlair

Too many pistols here. Too much new stuff here.

Wow - Mr. Blair you sure don't disappoint

[sherob]

Originally Posted by Tenring

Wow - Mr. Blair you sure don't disappoint

[ChrisBlair]

jes' ol' junk

[Tenring]

Originally Posted by FenwickHockey65

If it ain't broke?

Sorry there Fenwick its not that I hate Glocks, but it is never a good thing when the top falls off.

http://www.alloutdoor.com/2016/08/20...ides-fell-off/

[Dizzy82]

Originally Posted by ChrisBlair

jes' ol' junk

At least they can't be banned.

[ChrisBlair]

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.

[FenwickHockey65]

Originally Posted by Tenring

Sorry there Fenwick its not that I hate Glocks, but it is never a good thing when the top falls off.

http://www.alloutdoor.com/2016/08/20...ides-fell-off/

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

[Yippee38]

Originally Posted by ChrisBlair

Too many pistols here. Too much new stuff here.

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

[Norm Peterson]

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

[ChrisBlair]

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.

[PHXLT1]

Originally Posted by ChrisBlair

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.

[Norm Peterson]

Originally Posted by ChrisBlair

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.

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

[ChrisBlair]

Originally Posted by Norm Peterson

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.