M1 Garand

[ballou's dad]

I was issued an International Harvester in 1959 during basic training at Fort Leonard Wood. A real beater, but could it ever shoot! Two years later I was back on active duty at Ft. Riley (Kennedy's Berlin Crisis,) and we still had carbines and M1s. The following year, 1962, word came over that we could go to a demonstration given by the lst Infantry, of the Army's new M14 rifle, about to be issued to them.

That was the first that we had seen of the M14.

[Niner]

Thanks for the post and welcome to the site, Jim.

If you were at the beginning of the M14 era as general issue, I was at the end. In 1969 the M14 was being used in Basic training for all troups at Benning. Then orders came down that those who were going to go to Vietnam get a quick training on the M16. I shot an M16 for the first time at the beginning of a week and qualified at the end of the week and shipped out to AIT the following week.

During that time, 1970, the National Guard, apparently, to some degree still had M1 rifles. I say this because of a link to the Kent State incident linked in another post.

[ballou's dad]

Hey Niner,

The rest of the story about the M14 demonstration is that we were all laying in our bunks, resting up after lunch, when this Regular came in with the word on the M14. Some of us sat up and listened to him. He then announced that if we wanted to shoot the M14, then we first had to sit through a 3 hour orientation at the field house.

Wham! It was just like a lightning bolt had struck! All of us that had sat up to listen flopped back down like we had been hit with stun guns. So we never saw the M14 before we were released in August of '62.

Many years later, in 1971, I was jumping services and so tried the Army Guard again, for a one year hitch. They had M14s at that time, but about half way through the year, the Army came and got 'em, and replaced them with new-condition M1s. Where the M14s went I haven't a clue.

[krinko]

Korea returnee, rebarreled in .308.

Shot offhand at 200 yards with M118 BALL----All the latest 1964 Match modifications, NM rear sight and the "Air Force" trigger.

I had forgotten what a lovely rifle this is...hadn't taken her out in three or four years.

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL165/11 ... 032399.jpg[/pic]

-----krinko

[A square 10]

ive gotten a camera finaly and am able to post my winchester

http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r188 ... les007.jpg[/pic]

[riptidenj]

Officially, the M-14 replaced the M-1 in 1957, in reality the M-1 was assigned in Basic Training as late as the Spring of 1964, when I went through Basic Combat Training in the Summer of 1967 the several National Guardsmen in my squad refered to their M-1s "back home."

[Pilgrim]

When I went in the Army in Feb 67, the M14 was the standard trainer. When I got to my duty station in Europe, M14's were there.

In 4 years of active duty, I never even picked up an M16.

[Mk23]

Here is my M1:

http://www.ozinga.dds.nl/images/garand5.jpg

http://www.ozinga.dds.nl/images/garand_kleiner.jpg

.

Bought it in Germany, april 1944 receiver with all "new" parts and a 66 barrel.

I'll repark it in the summer and the elevation drum needs some work since it will not hold elevation when I can still turn the windag knob.

Regards,

Dick

p.s the white specks is sand from the range.

p.s.2 including images seems to be too difficult for me:)

[OverHill]

We used the M1 rifle in basic training at Ft. Hood in the early 1960's, we continued to use it at Ft. Bragg the whole time I was in the 82nd, when I went to the far east as part of a joint military group we still used the M1 rifle for awhile, and I shot the M1 rifle on rifle teams.

When our M14's finally came in we only kept them for a few months because we could not keep the sights adjusted; my armorer told me after working with the experts sent over from the states that our batch of rifles seemed to have some kind of heat treating problem, parachuting with them was causing the issue, and he said the experts laughed when they told him the demand for M14's was so high that they would probably just be reissued to a non-airborne unit. At this point our M1 rifles were gone so we were temporarily issued like new refurbished Korean War M2 carbines. I was sent home before the M14's were replaced and before the switch to the M16 occurred.

[Niner]

You dug up an old one Overhill. The photobucket photos and other linking images were what we were using back a dozen years ago are all gone like several of the posters in this string. We've had the internal saved to site upload of images for several years now and ....if people use it... it will keep the photos from going away as long as the site continues in operation.

By late 60's the M14 was the basic training rifle and the M16 was the AIT standard for Vietnam rifle. Many people liked the M14 as a basic target rifle over the M16 back during the transition. But the M16 had a lot of advantages in actual combat.

The M14 continued as the sniper rifle platform in Vietnam. I think I've read where they have been dusted off for the same purpose in the Muslim wars.