Posted on 09/07/2018 12:41:28 PM PDT by Simon Green
It is said that General George S. Patton called the M1 Garand rifle “the greatest battle implement ever devised.” That may very well be true. If it is, then M1 Garand rifle serial number 1,000,000 should be considered “THE greatest battle implement ever devised.”
Why the emphasis? Simple: that gun belonged to the inventor himself – John Garand. (Incidentally, all of us may or may not have been pronouncing his name incorrectly for decades. The article below is from 1943. However, Garand’s son noted a different – more common – pronunciation in 1999. You decide!)
When Garand retired on April 30, 1953, he received one heck of a retirement present. No gold watch here – no, sir! Instead, he received the most important landmark example of his life’s work, of which 5,468,722 were made over a 20-year span.
Made in November 1942, the serial number on what would become Garand’s retirement gift was just the beginning of what made this rifle so special.
The stock is the most remarkable piece of fiddleback walnut wood I’ve ever seen on a Garand.
Housed in a custom-engraved, felt-lined wooden case, the gun was presented with a silver-plated en bloc clip containing gold-plated dummy cartridges.
Garand passed away in 1974. His family began searching for a buyer in 1999. Enter NRA Past President Allan Cors.
After reviewing multiple personal resumes from potential buyers, the Garand family arranged for a sit-down interview with Cors before agreeing to sell the rifle to him in November 1999.
Last fall, I had the rare opportunity to handle the gun myself. Given its incredible history and provenance, it was a privilege to hold such an important piece of American history.
This impressive rifle will be sold at public auction by Rock Island Auction Company during their September 2018 Premiere Firearms Auction, which runs from Friday, September 7 to Sunday, September 9. The estimated price is $225,000 – 375,000. Someone with far deeper pockets than me will take it home, where it will begin a new chapter in its storied history.
Wow!
I am sure Patton thought highly of the Garand and rightly so.
Still he had a habit of praising American equipment even when he must have known it was not that great.
Probably to keep the troops confident.
I just finished reading a book written by a Soldier who fought on Guadalcanal.
He had high praise for the M1.
The Marines on Guadalcanal were not happy that they had the 1903 Springfield while the Army had the M1 Garand.
Very nice gun.
But that particular one is a safe queen. What good is that? It’s like being married to a beautiful woman you can’t kiss.
I hope the auction vets the buyers as well as the family did when they sold it. I could just see some rich liberal buying it and then making a spectacle of destroying it.
Yep.
He wrote that there was a joint Army and Marine Patrol.
He said this one small Marine was tailgating a large Soldier.
The Soldier finally turned around and asked the Marine why he was following so close.
The Marine told him that he (the Soldier) was a big target and would surely be hit in any ambush and then he’d grab the Soldier’s M1.
Waaaay worse.
lol
I have 5 of them and they still shoot accurate...
Well, you raise a good point. On the other hand, one could say if we are going to install a woman for our Queen, lets for damn sure find a virgin. [;^)
Must have been priced by the CMP. (Dark muttering...)
“Probably to keep the troops confident.”
Pappy Boyington would fly the worst plane for the same reason.
Real men.
Lovely safe queen. Take it out from time to time, look at it, and masturb*te.
Supply and Demand are cruel masters.
I wonder if Ian of Forgotten Weapons will have a video.
Very likely I think.
But unlike wives you can have more than one.
If you can afford the 1,000,000th Springfield Garand you can afford another Garand you can shoot.
Are you saying this about the M1 Garand or as a 'general' statement? Here is the letter that he wrote to the US Army Chief of Ordnance in 1945, General Campbell. Note that he starts by specifying praise for the M1, then gives praise for the bounty that the Ordnance operations had delivered.
If you take 1943 as an exemplar year for WW2, the best rifles in common use were probably the German K98 Mauser, the British Enfield Mark 4, the US M1 Garand and the Russian Mosin Nagant 91/30. Only the M1 Garand was a non-bolt and thus maintained the sight-picture through a firing sequence. It's apparent biggest weakness was a nonadjustable 8-shot magazine and a ping sound when completed. One on one may have been a problem, in squad actions and at distances, probably a non-issue.
I think that the M1 Garand fully deserves its reputation.
Ya got me. I thought that the article was going to say they’re going to start MAKING them!
If you read my post #3 you would already know the answer to that question. I said “rightly so” as to his praise of the Garand.
Now as to the MG-42, 88 millimeter artillery and Tiger, Panther etc. Were they really inferior to our weapons?
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