Saving Pvt. Tommyt

[tommyt654]

Finally realized and long endeavor to grab one of these a 1954 Garand 30.06 Springfield Armory model,Now its off to the range for lots of practice before some comp. shooting with her,happier than a pig in **** right now. Before anyone thinks or says anything I have the utmost respect for all veterans and the title was not to show any disrespect to any veterans. I shoot competitively in C.M.P. competitions (http://www.odcmp.com/Competitions/EasternGames.htm ) in a vintage sniper class, thats 2 members one spotter and 1 shooter who alternate and fire downrange at 300/600 yrds. My team qualified recently and we'll be going to N.C in a few more weeks to shoot there in competition. Just another lesser known of my evils to some here . The other rifle is a Spanish Mauser (8mm) that I recently acquired and although it was purchased with a sporter stock I managed to find a correct original that I refinished with all the complete hardware. Its a 1943 Civil Guard model with a very nice bore(not as nice as the Garand tho) with good to very good rifling that I will also shoot in comp.(not the sniper just vintage). My goal will be to scope the Garand to shoot in the Vintage Sniper class along with another Russian made Mosin Nagant M 91/30 that I now shoot.(The pics show the Mosin in modified stock/bolt as well as scopes not allowed in comp., we are only allowed to use the originally issued stocks and an original PU scope in competition) Together my partner and I have managed an occasional group inside a can of corn at 300 yrds (not often enough ,but enough to qualify well ) and less (still having trouble at 600 yrds as we get some flyers), might be the reloads we use, So little time now its really amazing with all I have on my plate to keep up with it all,hence how junky my office and shop look My hopes are to use the Garand in these comps. as soon as I can find and purchase the proper scope and mounts Sadly this also keeps me outta the shop doing what we all enjoy, woodworking, thankfully the skills I have learned thru the yrs doing that also allow me to modify the stocks and competently do so to accurize my other interest, enjoy the pics

[atgcpaul]

How does paired shooting work? Does the shooter look downrange through the scope the whole time while the spotter identifies the target and guides the shooter there? Like, "look to the left of that tree, the target is on the 2nd branch". Does the spotter have a more powerful scope than the shooter?

[tommyt654]

Shooter fires a round at target ,spotter tells him the position relative to the hands on a clock like 2 o'clock outside ring and shooter makes adjustments for variables such as wind, scope, etc thru 10 rnds (you have 2 minutes in which to fire your 10 rnds as well as adjustments), then they switch positions, this goes thru 40 rnds ,20 at 300 yrds and 20 at 600 yrds each shooter taking 10 rnds each, scores are based on hits inside/outside designated target circles. BTW being the dealmaker I am I thought ya'll should know the Garand was a steal at slightly over 1K after taxes and FFL fees, heres a link to where I think mine may have come from, but I got mine at an auction here in Atl. , http://www.m1garand.com/m1-garand/m1-garand-rifle-sale/ ,.as you can see I probably got a good deal, why would you think less. Yes the spotter has a high power scope, targets are set up on stands just like any rifle range

[dbhost]

That's a nice rifle. I have always wanted a Garand. I've got some wierd Soviet surplus stuff like a Russian SKS, a Nagant, and I have a surplus US issue WW2 Colt 1911A1 that has less than 3 boxes of ammo through it. (I bought it NIB at a gun shop in the early 90s).

Honestly I prefer the older WW2 to Korean war era stuff. There is something about having a piece of world history like that...

[Lonnie in Orlando]

Your vintage sniper competitive shooting is too cool. Congrats on your find.

- Lonnie

[tommyt654]

Thanks DB.Lonnie, turns out it may be an even bigger deal than I thought,my local Walmart as well as the go to guy here in C-ville all had 30.06 Springfield ammo in stock, but thats about all they had and plenty of it, turns out not many folks shooting that rnd nowadays (go figure). So I'm well stocked now, its expensive in the lower weight higher F.P.S. ammo or match ammo as they call it. I bought 200 rnds of what I refer to as ball and another 100 of match for about 3 big bills, but until I get some dies and brass they'll have to do,should have some reloading dies by next week as well as some recently fired brass. I too have an SKS as well as an Enfield and the Mauser to shoot with.The Enfields a Jungle Carbine No5 and the SKS is a Chinese/Soviet /23 model both shoot well, tho not as well as the Mosin I have, tho close with the Enfield(might be the shortness of the barrel0 as it was used primarily in jungle combat in the Australian effort in the Pacific rather than Germany in WWII. I really enjoy shooting these fine vintage weapons tho the black rifles no slouch either. This to some (mainly Momma ) may seem to be another expensive hobby,not really the Garand is by far the most expensive rifle I have ever purchased, the Mosin's were about $100 a piece and can still be had for slightly more. The Jungle Carbine I stole for $150, The Spanish Mauser was $120 and the additional stock and fittings set me back another $68. The DPMS was purchased at Walmart before the big scare and was only $600,so really I have a nice collection worth far more than I have in them to a collector, I don't collect, I shoot,a lot more than most folks. I recently leased 250 acres nearby for that purpose alone for $200 a yr that allows me to shoot all the distances I want without paying range fee's or having to wait for a range officer to be there, that alone makes it worth while for me and occasionally a coyote or 2 pass within my sights and since its leased from a rancher he pays me $20 a head for any I kill on the land as well

[Tom Slick]

Nice collection! Is there a Swiss K31 in the collection?

[chopnhack]

Very cool tommy! Have you seen the M1A that Springfield puts out? I have always thought about putting a .308 in the arsenal, but at those prices the 2nd amendment is out of reach here...

[tommyt654]

Nice collection! Is there a Swiss K31 in the collection?

Not yet, but I have been lookin here at some , https://www.samcoglobal.com/1-k31.html ,not badly priced either.BTW before the big dustup over guns here in the states their were some 85k Garands to come back here to the states before that,I'd think they may now wish they were keeping them just in case , http://www.ammoland.com/2012/06/what...#axzz2PfokWS4h

[tommyt654]

Very cool tommy! Have you seen the M1A that Springfield puts out? I have always thought about putting a .308 in the arsenal, but at those prices the 2nd amendment is out of reach here...

Scroll down to the special grade section. I almost bought one of those in 308.,but passed when I saw the one I got, still nice but a 2-3 month waiting period. C.M.P. has a store in Anniston,Ala. that sells to the public after meeting the qualifications which are easy to ascertain and have rack grade rifles available there on a regular basis or these that are rebuilt in a waiting period,rumor has it they have crates of Garands in inventory they just haven't had time to process for sale as of late lots of arsenal refurbs and returns from armorys switching over to newer weapons,Like Patton said the finest infantry weapon available anywhere. http://www.odcmp.com/Sales/m1garand.htm

[cabinetman]

I shoot competitively in C.M.P. competitions (http://www.odcmp.com/Competitions/EasternGames.htm ) in a vintage sniper class, thats 2 members one spotter and 1 shooter who alternate and fire downrange at 300/600 yrds.

Together my partner and I have managed an occasional group inside a can of corn at 300 yrds (not often enough ,but enough to qualify well ) and less (still having trouble at 600 yrds as we get some flyers), might be the reloads we use

You've got some nice rifles in your collection. But, six hundred yards...that's an in-your-face target. In my Army days one of the weapons we had to qualify with was a 50 cal @ 1100 meters, with a 12" group. IMO, target practice is more challenging when it's shooting back.

.

[tommyt654]

Funny you'd mention the 50. I had an opportunity to shoot one a while back,man thats a heckuva weapon, but the idea of practice involving someone shooting back just doesn't appeal to me right now

[cabinetman]

... but the idea of practice involving someone shooting back just doesn't appeal to me right now

"Practice" is really the wrong word.

.

[scmhogg]

I was lucky enough to have the M-1 for basic training and survey school, in 1961. I bet I could still field-strip one blindfolded. When I got to the 101st in December they had adopted the M-14. Pretty good rifle. But it lacked the nice solid feel of the Garand.

At Ft. Campbell, they still had a 1000 yard KD range. "Some people" were making illegal modifications to the M-14s. Using fiberglass to embed the receiver group in the stock, to stop the rattle. And, filling in the peep sight and drilling a smaller hole. Those "people" got a pretty good group a 1000 yards.

Sir, the maximum effective range of the m-14 rifle using m-80 ball ammunition is 360 meters, Sir.

Steve

[cwsmith]

Tommy,

Thanks for the great post. I guess I didn't realize the Civilian Marksmen Program was still going on. Your marksman abilities are certainly noteworthy and enviable.

At one time, before I got married in 67' I had a fairly high interest in this kind of thing. My Dad had brought back a Karisaka 90, from his service in the Pacific and he had given that to me when I was a teen. It was clogged with cosmoline and the stock was cracked (my Dad said that was from the original owner dropping it rather hard.. often wondered if he was joking, but Dad never talked about the war).

My wife doesn't like guns of any kind, so when we got married I sort of gave all that up (almost 46 years ago) and I left that rifle back home. It came up missing a few years ago, and I think my kid brother sold it, but won't admit to it.

In any case, I have fired the 1903 Springfield, 303 Enfield, and "jungle carbine", 45-70 from the Spanish American war, a 6.5 Manlicher Italian version carbine (too long ago to remember it's exact name) and when I was at Griffiss AFB in the summer of 63' I had some range training with the Garand, and M1 Carbines. No where the marksman though as I recall all of my target shooting was 100 yards or less.

Seeing your picture of the British 303 Enfield "Jungle Carbine" broght back memories of my best friend of the time. His dad had one that he had refinished. It was a beautiful piece! Another friend, a junior officer in my squadron, also had one. But Joe's was pretty just in the same "surplus" condition that he bought it. He used to carry it around in his trunk and I remember carrying it on a couple of canoe trips we made up into Canada.

So, thanks for your post and the old memories that it brought back.

CWS