'We assaulted the HELL out of them Japs with those Springfields!'
I read those Marines refused to give up their ‘03s. They were trained and accomplished RIFLEMEN who could score accurate out to the 600 yds an ‘03 could reach. Why trade a rifle that would do what they could for a Garand that couldn’t. They had to be ordered to give up their Springfields.
I was shooting a hi power match and a guy even older than me (15 years ago) had been a Lt. In the Army in WWII. We got to talking about this very issue. He said tactical thought at the time was changing. One did not kill the enemy with rifles any longer but one just “found ‘em, pinned them down with rifle fire, and then brought in the mortar team to kill them”. For that you did not need rifle accuracy but rather a greater rate of fire.
Having fired both in competition I can say that with practice the ‘03 A3 can keep up with the Garand in rate of fire but it is easier with the Garand. A Garand can be made to shoot well but you gotta spend about a grand to get it to shoot as well as a run of the mill 03A3. I used to joke, that is why it is called Garand.