When World War II started, the U.S. Army had a battle rifle called the M1 Garand. The rifle was named for its designer John Garand. This rifle was first developed in an oddball caliber, but the Army Chief of Staff Douglas McArthur decided in the 1930s that it must fire the .30-06 cartridge - because the Army had a large stock of ammunition in this caliber. The Garand is an 8 shot, gas operated, semi-automatic rifle. Once loaded, it will fire those 8 rounds as fast as the shooter can pull the trigger. The .30-06 ammunition for the Garand is held in 8 round clips which are pressed into the rifle's magazine. The trick to loading the rifle is to hold back the operating mechanism with the side of your right hand, while pressing the clip down into the magazine with the thumb of your right hand. When the clip reaches the bottom of the magazine, you release pressure with your thumb and bring your hand up and away from the rifle. The bolt goes foward the and rifle is loaded. If you know how to do this, it is very safe. If you make a mistake, you get something called an "M1 thumb."
Tom Brokow wrote a book called The Greatest Generation about our fathers and grandfathers, and mothers and grandmothers, who fought and won World War II. The rifle used by the soldiers was the M1 Garand. Even though we live in the next century, when we pick up, load, aim, and fire an M1 Garand we are doing what they did all over the world in order to ensure the survival of freedom. The ammunition is the same. The sound is the same. The recoil is the same. The need to hold the front sight on the target and squeeze the trigger is the same. The best way to fire an M1 Garand on Veterans' Day 2000 is the way they did it from 1941 to 1945. When your vision narrows to a tunnel holding the rear sight, front sight, and distant target, you see what the "greatest generation" saw. When you pull the trigger, you feel the same recoil they felt. If you miss, you lose points. If they had missed too often, they would have lost more than points on a score sheet.
Those of us who served in the military in the 1960s and 1970s may have missed an opportunity to shoot the M1. There were M14s, M1 carbines, and M16s for our generation. When many of us shot a rifle it was just to complete a lesson at officer training school or boot camp.
You can own and fire an M1 Garand today. These rifles are available from the Office of Civilian Marksmanship. In order to be eligible to purchase one of these rifles, you need to be an NRA instructor or attend an M1 Clinic as many of us did today. The clinic starts with a classroom lesson about the history and operation of the M1 Garand. That's where we learned yet another little known fact about General Douglas McArthur (mentioned above). We also learned the loading procedure for the Garand and then got to do a practical exercise by loading the rifle with dummy ammunition. The instructors then covered how to aim and fire the rifle from the prone, sitting, and standing positions. They talked about our course of fire, both slow and rapid fire, on the range.
After the classroom session, we went out to the range and watched at the first "relay" (group of shooters) finished their shooting. Their last task was to take down their targets and put up new targets for our group. Once those targets were up, we got a very clear lecture on range safety from the former Marine who was running things. As usual, those who listened to his advice did well. The range was close enough to Dulles Airport so that a bullet fired over the berm might have landed on one of the runways. Needless to say, there were a number of range officers assisting to make sure everything was by the book.
The range to the right is for pistol shooting. The rifle range is to the left. The targets are 100 yards from the firing line. That distance doesn't seem like much unless you're a football player and have 2 minutes to get the ball to the other end of the field, or unless you're firing an M1 Garand at that distance and wanting to do well.
Here is my shooting position (#4) and the rifle I was allowed to use. Our first five shots were for sighting in the rifle. Now, I'm a decent shot, but I didn't hit the paper at all. Time to talk to the former Marine, who said to bring the elevation up "eight clicks" and "center the windage." That helped. When we fired the next stage, slow fire from the prone position, I fired four shots, then checked with a spotting scope and discovered I was "on the paper" at least. A few more adjustments got the rifle "zeroed" as well as I could get it under the circumstances and I fired the rest of the shots. Prone position is fun when you are almost 53 years old. My neck hurt and I was slow getting up, but managed to get all the shots off in the time allowed. Then we had rapid fire, made worse by having to reload the Garand without making a mistake under the pressure of time. Prone was followed by sitting position, then standing. Again, when trying to shoot good, always listen to the nearest available Marine, former or otherwise. I got into the "high rifle" position with good support and shot a decent score standing. We did not use the rifle sling in any of the positions. When you use the sling as it is meant to be used, it helps a great deal.
Now, the question comes up: should I or you or anybody else buy a Garand? It isn't useful for hunting, or target shooting (there are more modern high power competition rifles), or defending your home. It was very useful for defending our country at one time, of course. Maybe those of us who enjoy shooting should have an M1 Garand and shoot it at least once a year, and Veterans' Day seems like as good a time as any, so that we remember what the Garand meant in our history, and to remember the people who carried the M1 in harm's way.
Thanks to Mack Elliott and Chip Fetrow for their work at today's M1 match.
For more information on the M1 Garand, check out www.odcmp.com.