Designed by John Cantius Garand (1888–1974), the M1 was an en-bloc clip fed, gas-operated, air-cooled, semiautomatic rifle chambered for the .30-06 cartridge. It was adopted by the U.S. Army on January 9, 1936. After a redesign to correct a major problem, the Marine Corps began employing the M1 in November of 1940. 4,000,000+ M1 rifles were constructed between 1942 and 1945 by Winchester Repeating Arms and Springfield Armory.
The M1 saw extensive service in World War II and the Korean War, and was officially removed from service in 1957 (replaced by the M14), although it was employed by Allied nations in the Vietnam War. I saw rifles in active service with the Republic of Korea Army as late as 1979 but have read that they were used by reservists until very recently. Approximately 100,000 of those ROK rifles will be re-imported soon.
I've been wanting one of these rifles for a while but always managed to convince myself not to buy one. The weight, chambering, use, and price always seemed to work against it. However, it is an iconic rifle, one that is a must have for either the shooter of the .30-06 cartridge (for which I have much brass), the militaria collector, or somebody who enjoys "classic" rifles. I guess that now includes me. So, for the past couple of years I've been working my way to sufficient funds for the purchase of a Civilian Marksmanship Program Garand.
However, as it seems often happens, when I actually got to the site to get the forms to order the rifle the CMP had managed to lay out some rather tempting bait for me guaranteed to take more of my money than I planned.
The CMP Special is virtually a new Garand with CMP cartouche. It is beautiful and it has nothing of the commemorative, "gold" "inlaid" trash one sees about it but is a purely military gun. I had to have it. So, just about the middle of January I finally got all the paperwork together and sent it off. I expected to have to wait until the first of May but then got word it would only take about 60 days or the first of April and then, suddenly it seemed, notice that it shipped on the 9th of February! That was exciting but then an intense relationship with the FEDEX tracking page ensued. I was somewhat disappointed when it wasn't delivered as forecast but the rifle has now arrived and we will now begin accumulating the necessary accouterments.
This particular rifle was rebuilt by CMP on a receiver first manufactured as a rifle in July 1943. One can only wonder at the history this particular receiver has seen.
Aside from ammunition, one has needs and "needs" with this rifle. One definitely needs the en-bloc chargers aka "clips". Without them the rifle is nonfunctional. The clips are available in single round, 2-round, 5-round and standard 8-round types (a partial list of manufacturers below).
En-bloc clip/charger manufacturers
| Maker | Code |
| Aggressive Engineering Corp | ACE |
| Aggressive Engineering Corp | AGE (1&2) |
| All Metal Products | AMP |
| Austrian | 5mm hole |
| Barry L Miller Eng Inc | BLM |
| Borg Warner | B-W |
| Borg Warner | BR-W (1-7) |
| Danly Machine Co | Danly (side of clip) |
| Dominion Arsenal Quebec | DAQ |
| Fedders Mfg | fE |
| Fedders Mfg | fF |
| Haerens Ammunitions Arsenal | HA |
| International Silver | IS (1-5) |
| Israel Military Industries | IMI |
| Italian or Danish | L&H 81 |
| Italian | LP (1955,1956&1961) |
| Julius Maurer | JMO (68-74) |
| Lerio Patent Cup Co. | C |
| Nationalist China | 58 |
| Nationalist China | C* |
| Northwest Metal | NW |
| Manfacture D"Armes St Etienne | MAS |
| Metaalwaren Fabrik Tiburg | MFD |
| Murik & Ball Zeist | MBZ |
| Northwest Metal | NW |
| Serini France | S.F. |
| Stanley Works | S |
| Stanley Works | SW |
| Springfield Armory | SA (large or small or with dashes) |
| Thomas French & Co | TF&S |
| R Wallace & Sons | W (4 or 5) |
| Wade Electric Products | WEP |
| Winchester Repeating Arms | WRA |
| Winchester Repeating Arms | WRA Eductional |
I'm going to have to sort it out with this list...
- Blank stamp Springfield Armory
- AMP Stamp All Metal Products Co. (hard to read)
- ACE 2 Stamp Aggressive Engineering Corporation (Military production)
- AEC 2 Stamp Aggressive Engineering Corporation (Commercial production)
- AEC 3 - Aggressive Engineering Corp (Commercial)
Anaheim, CA
- AGE 1 - Aggressive Engineering Corp (Millitary contract)
Anaheim, CA - AGE 2 - Aggressive Engineering Corp (Millitary contract)
Anaheim, CA - AMP 1 - All Metal Products Wyandotte, MI
- BLM - Barry L Miller Eng Inc Irvine, CA
- BRW 1 Stamp Borg-Warner Spring Division
- BRW 2 Stamp Borg-Warner Spring Division
- BRW 3 Stamp Borg-Warner Spring Division
- BRW 4 Stamp Borg-Warner Spring Division
- BRW 5 Stamp Borg-Warner Spring Division
- BRW 6 Stamp Borg-Warner Spring Division
- BRW 7 Stamp Borg-Warner Spring Division
- B-W 4 - Borg Warner (WW2) Spring Division,Bellwood, IL
- C - Lerio Patent Cup Co. Mobile, AL
- DAQ Stamp Dominion Arsenal (Quebec)
- fF - Fedders Mfg Buffalo, NY
- HA - Haerens Ammunitions Arsenal Copenhagen, Denmark
- IMI Stamp Israeli Military Industries (Israel)
- I S 1 Stamp International Silver Company
- I S 2 Stamp International Silver Company
- I S 3 Stamp International Silver Company
- IS 4 - International Silver Meriden, CT
- IS 5 - International Silver Meriden, CT
- JMO Julios Maurer, Oberstein Germany
- 58 - Nationalist China
- 59 Nationalist China
- 68 JMO Stamp Julius Maurer (Germany)
- 69 JMO Stamp Julius Maurer (Germany)
- 70 JMO Stamp Julius Maurer (Germany)
- 71 JMO Stamp Julius Maurer (Germany)
- 72 JMO Stamp Julius Maurer (Germany)
- 74 JMO - Julius Maurer Oberstein, Germany
- LP 1956 Stamp Italian (name unknown)
- L&H 81 Italian or Danish
- LP 1961 Stamp Italian (name unknown)
- NW Stamp Northwest Metal Products
- MAS Manufacture D' Armes St. Etienne France
- MBZ Stamp (fat letters) Mourek & Ball, Zeist (Netherlands)
- MBZ Stamp (small letters) Mourek & Ball, Zeist (Netherlands)
- MBZ Stamp (regular letters) Mourek & Ball, Zeist (Netherlands)
- MFT Mataal Fabriek Tilburg Netherlands
- NW - Northwest Metal Seattle, WA
- SF Serini France
- S - Stanley Works (or SW) New Britain, CT
- S A Stamp Springfield Armory
- S A Stamp with dash underneath Springfield Armory
- S A Stamp (oversized letters) Springfield Armory
- TF&S Thomas French & Co. Ltd
- W4 - R Wallace & Sons Wallingford, CT
- W5 Stamp R. Wallace and Sons
- W6 - R Wallace & Sons Wallingford, CT
- WEP Stamp Wade Electric Products
- WEP1 - Wade Electric Products Sturgis, MI
- WRA - Winchester Repeating Arms New Haven, CT
- WR Wallace & Sons Mfg.
- 5 Stamp Unknown - might be an S for Stanley Works but uncertain at this point
- 5mm hole. - Austrian
- Sling: The rifle was issued with a cotton canvas such as was first issued in 1943. This sling is very similar to the green nylon slings issued with the M16 rifles prior to adaptation/issue of the black "silent" sling. This sling would be correct for the Korean War period.
- Carry Case: I want a period case but I also want quality. I've not yet decided how to go with this.
- Bayonet: The correct bayonets, i.e. those used during the life of the rifle include the M1905, M1942, M1, M1905E1, and M5. I have a Springfield Armory 1905 made in 1906 (bright finish sans scabbard) but it won't go on the rifle. Not sure exactly why it doesn't work as the ring fits and latch works. Nothing seems out of spec, but... I really want an M1 or M1905E1.
Loading for the Garand is an exercise in balance. One needs to ensure that there is enough but not too much pressure at the gas port. Original M2 Ball ammo moved a 150 gr. flat-based spire-point bullet at 2700 fps. The long-time ideal powder has been IMR4895. With that in mind I've been looking for a load I could "mass" produce for my rifle. Here follow some of those suggested loads. Bullets are seated to a cartridge overall length of 3.34"
| Bullet | Weight | Powder | Weight | Velocity | Energy |
| Sierra MatchKing | 150 gr. | IMR4895 | 47.0 gr. | 2650 fps | ______ |
| Sierra MatchKing | 150 gr. | IMR4895 | 48.5 gr. | 2700 fps | ______ |
| Sierra Int. HPBT | 168 gr. | IMR4895 | 47.5 gr. | 2670 fps | ______ |
Links:
- Ace Case for Garand Rifles
- Appleseed Project
- Assembling an M1 Garand Rifle from Parts
- Civilian Marksmanship Program
- Clip Manufacturers (with photos!)
- Guns & Ammo Video on the Garand
- Fulton Armory
- Garanditis
- Garand Collectors Association
- Shuff's Parkerizing and Military Arms Restoration including the Mini-G
- The .30-06 Military Cartridge
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