New year, new post(s), new gun.

Sorry I've been down for a bit. Took a trip for New Year's Eve to escort some showgirls up to do a show in Jackson, MS and caught one hell of a respiratory bug from one of them. Guess that's what happens when you share a suite with five gals. I'm still coughing from it. But it was fun nonetheless.

But with the coming Second Civil War brewing in Virginia, the long-awaited arrival of the latest pistol is timely. I may need it for when I head up and join in.

It's a 1911A1, ex-US Gov't Property, just released from the CMP stores to me after over a year's wait. It's been refinished a bit since it's birthdate in 1943--the last rebuild mark visible is 1981--but she's pretty and tight and as much a shooter as she is a collectible.

She's been refinished. Some of the old markings are gone. Frank J Atwood's initials are barely legible to my eyes.

But she's genuine WW2 US issue, and she was obviously still in service as late as 1981 if not longer.

And she looks good paired with my WW1 Colt 1911 made back in 1918.

Just the heft and feel of these makes me want to go fight some of America's enemies. Two 1911's = 16rds without reloading. And some may say that they are big and heavy by today's standards but they got lanyard loops and that right there is worth something.

To my friends who shoot Garands and Springfields and Enfields (Oh, my!)

If you can stomach dealing with the profiteers at Cheaper Than Dirt, they do have a quantity of surplus Greek HXP ammo in .30-06, some in boxes and some on Garand clips, at a decent price. They also have .303 for you Enfield Shooters, both in boxes and on clips.

Click here for .30-06 and .303 Greek HXP ammo for sale.

Let the record reflect that I am NOT a fan of CTD after the last gun-ban panic and their wholesale price-gouging when more reputable outfits like Brownells were still honoring their pre-panic prices, even on back-orders. That said, for some reason, CTD has this Greek ammo and no one else does. And let's face it...genuine quality military surplus .30-06 and .303 is neigh impossible to find these days as no one has made any of either for several decades. The HXP, made by the Greek Pyrkal factory, is non-corrosive and boxer primed, which means that you can reload these cases over and over. And HXP has proven itself to be more consistent and accurate in .30 than even the US Lake City-produced surplus stuff, a fact known to many Civilian Marksmanship Program(CMP) shooters who have bought and fired both from the CMP over the years. Likewise, the .303 that I've seen before is slightly oversize, running closer to .312 than .310-.311, and consequently it works better in those wartime Enfields that tend to have slightly oversized bores. (I shoot it, then reload the cases with Hornady's 174gr .312 SPRN bullets and my Enfields love it.)

So despite my dislike of CTD, I'm passing this on to my shooter friends. CTD will make some money, but they're going to make it off someone anyway, and hopefully this way, a few of you who shoot these calibers can benefit.

Twins!

The M1 on the right has been in my gun safe for about a decade. The stripped receiver on the left just got here. They both likely left Springfield Armory together back in June of 1943, eventually going their seperate ways during or after World War Two. 1665008 was eventually loaned to Denmark and returned, heavily rebuilt with Danish parts, in the early 2000s, then sold to me by the Civilian Marksmanship Program(CMP). 1665009? Who knows? The CMP just released it as a refinished stripped receiver, suggesting that the complete rifle was too badly damaged to be sold as a complete unit. But now they're together again, and I will rebuild the stripped receiver into a "period correct" Garand, just as soon as I can acquire a few more parts for it.

What are the odds of these two finding each other again after 71 years?

To be fair, most of the credit is due to CMP member Fatbrewer, who bought the stripped receiver from the CMP, then tracked me down after seeing my information attached to "5008" on the list of known Garand owners at USrifleM1.com. We talked, a deal was struck, and the two siblings have been reunited.

A better article will follow once the second rifle has been rebuilt, and in the meantime, I'd love to get any information at all as to how that rifle became a stripped receiver--where did it go and what was done to it to get it to the point where it had to be totally disassembled and refinished? was it a damaged rifle, recovered from some battlefield after a fight, or was it just a victim of decades of neglect? All the CMP can tell me is that they got that serial number back from the US Army in 2004 and that is wasn't part of the Danish group. Any thoughts or ideas? Fatbrewer's got some great ones, but no hard evidence. What do you think?

The Fed-Ex Fairy Came Calling

And a box from the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) got left behind.

Opening it up, I find this beautiful service-grade M1 Garand rifle.

At first glance, I'm pleased. The wood is tight and sports just a few little nicks here and there. The finish is great. This rifle looks to have been used very little.

But appearances deceive. This rifle sports a serial number that indicates that it was made in November of 1943. As such, there's a pretty good chance that it saw service in World War Two, and maybe Korea as well.

At sometime in it's life though, it saw enough shooting that it's original barrel was replaced at least once. Now it sports one made in March of 1965, twenty-two years after the rifle itself was made.

This barrel has a muzzle wear of 1 on a scale of one to ten, one being virtually new, and ten being shot out. It also has a throat erosion of 2 on that same scale.

All of it's marked parts appear to be Springfield Armory parts, so there will be no temptation to remove bolts, trigger assembly parts or operating rods for substitution onto other Winchester, H&R or IHC rifles. But I'm good with that, as this rifle came here intact and it's parts are it's parts, either original to it or added during some chapter of it's service life.

The stock is undoubtedly a replacement, as it bears no stamps indicating arsenal re-working. Pulling the stock off reveals that she saw an arsenal rebuild on September of 1965 at the Red River Army Depot.

Interestingly, they seem to have left the early-style gas cylinder lock on instead of "upgrading" to the newer version with more metal on the top.

That pleases me, because I like the older ones like this.

This one is a beauty, and I can't wait to get her out and see how she shoots.

Of course I might have a bit of trouble taking it out. It looks like Miss Memphis Belle is laying a claim on it for herself.

Trade you for a marrow bone, Belle? How about two marrow bones?


And no, it didn't come with a sling. CMP seems to have stopped sending those with the rifles. But fortunately I have a few spares so I could put one on quick before Tam calls me out for not having one on my rifle again. ;-)

Mossberg Model 44US

Because someone keeps asking me to blog about the rifle that I let her shoot a while back...

This rifle is a Mossberg Model 44US. It's a cut-rate version of their commercial 44B, made specifically as a trainer for US military soldiers during World War Two.

It's a magazine-fed bolt-action .22 rifle with a trigger that breaks crisp and clean if you just give it a sharp look.

Weighing in at 8.5 lbs, it sports a heavy 26" long barrel that is 13/16 in diameter. It has a crowned muzzle. It's chambered for .22 long rifle but the detachable 7-round magazine will handle .22 short, .22 long, and .22 long rifle.
This is one of the earlier-production rifles (SN 100,001-114,500) that came with the Lyman 57MS peep sight.

And just so there's no mistaking it's provenance, these were all nicely marked with the Mossberg logo and a "US Property" stamp. (click picture to make larger)

After the war, thousands of these were made available through the Department of Civilian Marksmanship (DCM) to local shooting clubs run out of various schools and National Guard armories. Pretty much anyone over twelve years of age could just show up and learn to shoot with these, often under the instruction of military coaches. But that was back when the government considered it to be in our national interest to have a solid core of Americans who knew the basics of marksmanship. Many high schools had rifle ranges back then for just such instruction. My, how the times have changed.

I bought this particular rifle back when the CMP (Civilian Marksmanship Program, successor to the DCM) was selling them for $75.00. I almost didn't, but a friend and I did the old "I'll buy one if you'll buy one" deal. When it came, the only wear on it was a log scratch in the wood stock where someone at CMP had carelessly sliced it out of the shrink-wrap that it was in, marring the stock with his blade. This, sadly, was quite common but it in no way detracted from the rifle's shooting ability. I had to hunt up a magazine for it because they came without, but I found two in short order. (Always get spares. If you have to replace a part once, you'll likely have to replace it again sometime.) The rear sight was gummed up with preservative, but once I got it freed up and working, I was amazed at how well it shot.

Unfortunately, by the time I got around to cleaning it up and shooting it and realized what a peach it is, the CMP had run out of them and the scumbag re-sellers that are the bane of the CMP's programs were demanding quite a bit more than $75.00. (I've seen them going for ten times that these days.) I'm glad that I got this one when I did, but, like the $59.00 SKS rifles and $129.00 M-1 carbines that used to be so abundant, I sure wish I'd bought more than one at that price!

Every man a Rifleman II

This simple but eloquent post by Ed Rasimus got me to thinking.

Every real, patriotic American should have a rifle and ammunition, and be proficient in their use. Our government once agreed, hence the creation of the Department of Civilian Marksmanship (DCM), now privatized and known today at the Civilian Marksmanship Program, or(CMP).

Yes, there was a time when the government wanted us all armed and able to shoot in defense of our nation and our freedom and liberty. Ironically, many in that government would love to take every one of those guns back away from us as liberty and freedom just aren't in in vogue these days. See what happens when liberals get control?

Anyway...I'm also a fan of preparedness and self-reliance when it comes to personal defense, which is why, like many of my readers and blog authors that I link to, I maintain the requisite tools.I've owned this M1A and 1911A1 pistol since the mid 1980's. Both are Springfield Armory products and two of the very few guns that I've ever purchased new. I've competed with them, traveled and camped with them, and fired countless thousands of rounds through them to get to the point where I seldom fail to hit what I aim either of them at. I will defend my country and my personal liberty at all costs and these are my liberty teeth.

But sometimes, you need a bit more. You can't really expect to play golf with just two clubs, can you? I mean, you can if that's all you have, but as different shots call for different clubs, you do better with a full set.

Sometimes, you need to go for distance.

Sometimes, you need to work in close.

And sometimes, when you really need to cover an area or defend a point, you need to work with a partner.
Will bear ammo and spot for Milk Bones.

I met history today

I hit the range today for my weekly practice session. This time, in addition to a handgun, I brought out one of my M1 carbines because I needed to test a new load I'd worked up. I'd been reloading the .30 carbine rounds using surplus W820 powder, but I finally used the last of that up and have to switch over to Hogdon's H110, which I absolutely love for my .357 loads.

The carbine I was using today is the top one on this rack, A 1943 General Motors, Inland Division manufactured rifle.From top to bottom by manufacturer: General Motors Inland Division, Rock-Ola Jukebox Company, General Motors Saginaw Steering Gear Division, Underwood Typewriter Co., and Winchester Repeating Arms. (This last one I recently sold to Aaron over at The Shekel, and I still miss it. At least I know that it has a good home where it will be treated well.) All but the Inland have come to me over the years from the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP).

As I got to the range, I groaned and cursed when I saw a couple of trucks already parked by the firing line. The main reason that I shoot on weekdays is because I want the range to myself; I don't want to share with the typical target shooter or hunter that belongs to this club. Many of them are seriously rigid about the club's policies regarding rapid fire, drawing from the holster, and other things that I routinely do for practice. This club is run by a cadre of old men who seriously believe that guns exist only to poke holes in paper or put a deer in the freezer, and any sort of realistic training or practical shooting is frowned upon heavily. I know this well, having been talked to by the caretaker/rangemaster numerous times over the years simply for practicing basic tactical pistol and carbine drills. (Shooters aren't even allowed to shoot standing, kneeling or prone on the rifle range--they have to shoot from the benches only. So much for Hi-Power rifle practice.) But despite my frequent brushes with their inflexible rules, they keep renewing my membership, and they've gotten a bit more tolerant of me after all this time. I also do my part by restricting my tactical training to the weekdays when I'm alone on the lanes.

But now...Sigh. Other people. Dammit. Grumble, grumble....

Seeing as they were on the pistol range, I went over to the 100/200M line to test the .30 loads. I burned up about half an hour there and used up the test ammo, and then some guy with a benchrest rifle showed up (these folks are about the worst range nazis, IMHO) so I called it a day on the rifle line and headed over to the pistol line, figuring that maybe the shooters there would be finished soon and I'd wait them out. I still had some .30 left and a pistol to work with.

When I got over there, one of the shooters was just packing up, leaving one old man, who was shooting a 1911 .45 from the 25M line. I decided that unless he was going to be totally unreasonable about me getting a bit closer to the target and working from my holster, I could get along with him. As I set my gear up on the bench, including my carbine, he stopped and turned to check me and my guns out, like most shooters tend to do. Then he set his pistol down and came over to look at my carbine. "I used to have one of those," he said.

"Oh, yeah?" I replied. I like talking guns about as much as I like shooting them.

"Yep," he said, looking at the carbine, then looking at me. I motioned for him to go ahead and pick it up, which he did. He pulled the bolt back and locked it then held it up so that he could look into the chamber. "Carried one of these in Korea back in 1950." I noticed that his range gear was covered with Marine Corps stickers, and I figured that he probably had some stories that he could tell.

"How'd you like it?" I asked.

"It was great to carry when things were going good. Nice and light and easy to shoot." He hefted it a bit, as if he was recalling the weight of another carbine long ago. "But after the first night that the Chinese came, I never wanted to see one of these again. I threw it on a pile of damaged guns and took a BAR instead. Now THAT sonofabitch was heavy, but it got the job done when the Chinese came back." He set the carbine down. "If I'd still had that thing when they came back, I probably wouldn't be here today."

"That bad, huh?"

"I guess the rifle's fine normally. I liked it before. But we had the automatic versions and mine got all fouled after a while and I didn't have time to clean it so it started jamming up. And the bullets just weren't getting through whatever the Chinese were wearing. It wasn't stopping them."

We talked for quite a while, and he was more than willing to tell some of his stories. I'm not reprinting them all here because they're his, but they were something. I've read about such things but this was the first time I heard it first-hand from someone who was there. This old man was right up there near the Chosin when the Chinese attacked, and he walked almost all of the way back out under fire in one of the coldest winters on record. I'm still in awe hours after hearing him talk about it.

Before he left, I offered him my carbine and the last magazine of my ammunition. He thought about it for a minute, then he took the rifle and inserted the magazine. Shouldering the rifle, he rapid-fired it off-hand, emptying it in about ten seconds and putting every round on the target nicely. Then he cleared it, and handed it back with a smile.

"I still like these things for shooting," he said. "But I'll stick to my .45 or an '06."

I like my carbines too, and I still think that--within their limitations--they make an excellent defensive weapon. But who am I to argue with a little old white-haired man who was once a participant in some of the toughest fighting in the history of the United States Marine Corps.? I've got nothing that even comes close to that.

And my new friend shoots on weekdays too, so hopefully I'll see him again soon.

Tractor Guns

No, not guns made to shoot tractors, or shoot from tractors...guns made by a tractor company!I love M-1 Garands. I really do. And these two, just a couple of the Garands that I've acquired from the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) over the years, are among my favorites. As rifles go, Garands were some of the finest combat arms ever fielded by the US military. Winchester repeating Arms Corp. and the government-run Springfield Armory made a bit over four million of them for World War Two, but when the Korean War broke out five years later, we needed more, so the fine folks at the International Harvester Company made another 337,623 of them at their Evansville, Indiana plant between 1951 and early 1956. And out of that number, after decades of military service and storage, these two eventually became mine.IHC did not make the barrels for their rifles, however. That job was subcontracted out to the Line Material Company in Birmingham, Alabama. Their barrels had a reputation for being the most accurate of the M-1 barrels, and while many of the IHC rifles out there today now sport replacement barrels made by one of the other manufacturers, both of these rifles still have their original Line Material (LMR) barrels.(Click on the pictures for more detail.)This one shows the LMR stamp and the December, 1954 date of manufacture. Both of these rifles had relatively little wear on the barrels when I got them and this one in particular had almost no detectable muzzle wear or throat erosion.

Both of these rifles are fine shooters, fully capable of holding the nine-ring of the standard SR target at 200 meters even with forty-year-old military surplus ammunition, and one of these rifles--probably #5095202 here--will probably be accompanying me to one of the bigger Garand matches at Camp Butner or Camp Perry in 2010. I have a feeling that we'll be coming back with a medal or two, at least if I do my part. I have no doubts about either of these rifles.

Rocking to the oldies with my jukebox carbine

Back in the 1930's and 1940's, Rock-ola was a name well known to Americans who liked to listen to music or play pinball. Founded in 1927, this Chicago-based company made jukeboxes, pin-ball machines, slot machines and other coin-operated novelty devices. And when World War Two came along, a number of German and Japanese soldiers got to hear the sound of another Rock-Ola product--the M1 carbine that Rock-Ola manufactured for the US military in conjunction with other wartime manufacturers. (Others included General Motors (Inland Division and two Saginaw Steering Gear plants), IBM Corp. National Postal Meter, Underwood Elliot Fisher (a typewriter manufacturer), Quality Hardware, and Winchester--the only actual firearm company that the government contracted the work out to. Rock-Ola made only a small number of the carbines produced for the war, however, and today they're somewhat scarce and desirable by carbine aficionados.

But they aren't scarce here at Lagniappe's Lair any more. A new addition to the arsenal arrived the other day--this beautiful and well-maintained carbine, courtesy of the wonderful people at the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP). click on picture for better viewThis particular carbine was part of the batch of them that the US government gave to the Austrian Government at the close of World War Two for their use in policing their own people and defending their borders. This one bears a small stamp on the bottom of the trigger housing that indicates that it was used by the Austrian Gendarmerie and maintained in OberoÖsterreich (Upper Austria). The Austrians no longer need these obsolete arms and recently sent these weapons back to the United States where they were turned over to the CMP for sale to American shooters and collectors.



They clearly took good care of this one. it still has the original Rock-Ola barrel and a Rock-Ola bolt. The action is tight, the stock is clean and free of and cracks or major dings, and the barrel appears to be virtually pristine. And of course the Rock-Ola logo is clearly visible beneath the rear sight and behind the front sight.







This one looks to be a real winner, and a prize addition to my carbine rack. I can't wait to get it out to see how it shoots...if I can ever get it back from You-know-who, that is!

Bad Influence

So this week-end, I did much good gun stuff.

I know... I do much gun stuff every week-end. It's what I do. Either gun stuff or airplane stuff of dog stuff comprises most of my free time.

Well this time, Nicki was along. We went shooting and I gave her carte blanche to try anything in the gun room that struck her fancy. She's now decided that she absolutely must have a Model 1911 .45, hopefully as a replacement for those effective but dull Glocks of hers. She also took a liking to the M1 Carbine and the SKS.
Here she is, killing targets downrange with my ex-Yugoslavian M59 SKS. ----->




For my part, I took along an old World War two-vintage M1 Garand--one that I've had for several years but never actually shot before.This particular Garand came from the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) back in the day, and while I was quite pleased to see that it was a Winchester rifle with what was probably the original bolt and barrel and the nice green parkerized finish, a check with the bore gauges indicated that the throat and muzzle were both heavily worn to the point where I simply relegated it to the display rack without even bothering to see how it shot. It sat there for probably eight or nine year until Friday, when on an impulse, I grabbed it and took it out to the range, basically just to play with it and pot-shot at whatever targets of opportunity presented themselves. However I was shocked to find that despite it's badly worn barrel, it was dead-bang accurate and almost invariably put round after round into some old plastic laundry detergent jugs and small boxes at both one hundred and two hundred meters. That just goes to show that you can't always judge a rifle just by the amount of indicated wear in the barrel--this one still shoots good enough to use in the local CMP matches. Nicki shot it too but she seems to think that the M1 Garand is a mite too much rifle for her. I can understand that. The M1 is a man's rifle and she is, after all, just a girl.

After the shooting, we took in a classic guy movie that Nicki had never seen before: The Wild Geese, with Richard Burton, Richard Harris, Roger Moore and Hardy Kruger. She actually got teary-eyed when Richard Harris died on the airport runway, screaming his son's name as Richard Burton emptied an Uzi into him. It was cute.

Saturday we went to the gun show in Chantilly. Neither of us bought anything because the prices were high and the selection on things that I needed was poor. There were very little in the way of ammunition and even less when it came to reloading supplies. One dealer had a few boxes of Winchester small rifle primers on his table and I had to ask the price because I was sure that I was reading the sticker wrong. But he confirmed that he was charging $135.00 for a thousand primers. As the normal price is about twenty to thirty dollars per thousand, I let the profiteer know what he could do with his primers and anything else on his table. Pity, because he did have several other things that I might have bought in a package deal with a box or two of reasonably-priced primers. His loss, but that's what happens when you get greedy.
Bridget and her guy were supposed to join us there but bailed on us, allegedly "sick". (insert rolling eyes emoticon here.)

And after spending all this time with Nicki and giving her some good shooting tips, does she thank me or tell me how great I am?

Uh, yeah. As if. But she gets points for the attitude.

Later that evening, a nice Thai dinner settled her down a bit and served to put a nice cap on the evening.

Now it's Sunday and I have to spend most of the day doing household and yard work and giving Lagniappe some attention since he was badly neglected this weekend, but I figured that I could spare a few minutes to blog about the past couple of pretty nice days.

Back from Butner

So it's Monday and Lagniappe and I have returned. We took a trip this week-end, leaving Friday and heading down through Virginia, passing through Fredericksburg, Richmond and Petersburg on the way. we didn't do much in the first two because my leg was giving me some grief, but in Petersburg I stumbled across a nifty restaurant called the Brick House Pub, which was about as close to a British pub as I suspect you could get. I had the Fish and Chips, which consisted of a massive piece of deep-fried cod with fries and a plate of peas. The fish was quite tender and flavorful and I the quantity of both fish and chips was enormous. And then there were the peas. Now normally I'll go a long ways to avoid peas or anything else remotely healthy, but something inspired me to at least try these and they were incredible. I almost ordered another dish just of them because they were great. I must be getting old. There was a berry shortcake for dessert and some wonderful ales on tap. I had a couple and they were great but I had to forgo sampling them all because I was still driving. I heartily recommend the place if you want to experience British dining (They had a whole menu of British dishes) or just want a good meal at a good price in Petersburg.

Saturday morning, I arrived in Butner, North Carolina to shoot in the Civilian Marksmanship Program's Eastern Games at the North Carolina National Guard range at Camp Butner. Before checking in, I dropped Lagniappe off at a local motel. The manager--a nice fellow from India--wasn't too happy about having a dog stay in the room, but I told him that neither I nor the dog smoked and I assured him that Lagniappe would be quiet and non-destructive. Faced with the option of renting to us or us going elsewhere, the manager consented, asking me to tell Lagniappe to stay off the bed. I told him that Lagniappe was a floor dog, and he replied: "OK, but please...tell him not to be on the bed. Please."
"OK," I said. "I'll tell him."
The manager seemed happy with that. I guess they don't have many pet dogs in India because I don't think he understands much about a dog's comprehension ability.
Sure enough, a few minutes later when I was putting Lagniappe in the room, the manager walked up. "You told him no bed, right?"
This guy's killing me.
So I told Lagniappe to sit, and I sternly wagged a finger at him and laid down the rules. "Lagniappe, while I'm gone, you do not turn on the pay-per-view, you do not make long-distance phone calls, and you stay off the bed."
The manager then thanked me again, pronounced Lagniappe a very nice dog, and went back to his office. " honestly don't think he knows that all Lagniappe understood was: "Lagniappe, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah..." But hey, if it makes the manager happy...

I reported to the range check-in and got squadded for the first day's match. I was shooting an M1 Garand for this one. It was one of the ones returned to the United States from Denmark a few years back and it sports a virtually new VAR barrel.

And here's my set-up on the 200 Yard line before the match. downrange are the fifty electrically-controlled targets that we're firing at. For perspective, the nine-ring on the target is about the size of a dinner plate. The ten ring is centered inside the nine ring and it's half that size. There's an X-ring inside the ten and it's about silver-dollar sized. That's what every shooter's hoping to hit.



I got there early enough to take part in a last-minute instructional clinic taught by some of the CMP volunteers who are ranked shooters, including a few who are on service rifle teams in the various branches of the military.
This match started out so well for me. I was actually paired with an expert shooter named Jim who helps run the M1's for Vets program that refurbishes M1 rifles for wounded veterans. He helped me shake the rust off with a few tips and pointers, and when the firing began, that old M1 started laying solid hits on the nine and ten rings. Now I'd noticed before the shooting started that the web sling on the rifle was a bit frayed, and Jim noticed that when I tightened up on it, a tear was starting in one spot. Looking back, I should have replaced that sling right then with the new one off of my 1903 Springfield, but I decided that this particular one would get me though one more day of shooting. That was a decision that I regret now, as half way through the first stage, the sling snapped in half. I dropped steadily in scoring from that point, finishing just below the Bronze Medal ranking. If I'd only replaced that sling and put the new one on. If...

Ah well. Shake it off. There's still another shooting day ahead. After a tasty and filling beef brisket dinner at Bob's BBQ in Creedmore, (You've got to try their pecan pie!) I returned to the motel and I have to say that a hot shower and cool air conditioning never felt so good.

And Sunday came. I checked out of the motel and returned to the range. I was going to let Lagniappe remain in my van since the firing would be over by noon but the ladies in charge of the registration and squadding insisted that he stay with them in their air-conditioned hut. So I left him with them and went to shoot again, this time bringing the M1903A3 out. This one was made in 1943 by the Smith-Corona typewriter company and this was only it's second time out since I'd acquired it. It proved it's worth right off the bat in the prone slow-fire stage by shooting a string of 5 nines and 5 tens for a first-string score of 95 out of a possible 100. This was a phenomenal, nearly perfect start, and I could see the medal coming already.

The second stage was prone rapid-fire, and I dropped into position and cranked off my 10 shots in the alloted 80 seconds. I had a tight sling-hold on the rifle, and the sight picture left me no doubt as to where each of those rounds was going on the trigger break. However when the scoreboard was run up, I was stunned to see that I'd fired a series of misses. My shots had all dropped to the bottom edge of the target! Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?!

Examination of the rifle showed that the rear sight had come loose and dropped to the lowest setting, taking my shot pattern with it. In an instant, this match went from a serious medal run to nothing more than target practice. During the standing off-hand section, I was still able to keep all but two in either the nine or ten ring, but the lost points from the second stage were fatal.

"Cheer up," said the Marine Rifle Platoon Lieutenant scoring for me. If that was a person out there, you'd have still hit him with every shot. Yeah. I guess. And to be honest, it was a pretty good group centered right below the target rings at 6 o'clock.

So I was dogged by bad luck this time around, some of which was of course brought on by my failure to inspect and repair my rifles adequately. (I don't think I'd have caught the Springfield sight but that Garand sling was obvious. I deserved that one.)
But I had a good time, learned a few more tricks, and I know that if I can get my act together next time around, I've got the ability to take some awards home.

After the shooting, the CMP staff brought out guns and ammo for the competitors to buy. Lookie, lookie at all the nice Garands and M1 Carbines, many of which will find new homes with these CMP shooters. And I can't stress enough my thought that these people who I shared the range with this week-end are the people who the CMP was set up for and the ones who keep the CMP's programs going. I'd love to see a return to the days when we competitors could buy the rifles and ammunition way below market value like we used to, but unfortunately the profiteers ruined that by swooping down on our program to stock their gun show tables with or buying the rifles and stick them right up on Gunbroker.com. Now I understand that CMP has to move the material and that the goal is to do so on ways that will fund the programs in the future, so I'm not against selling at least some of the guns and ammunition at market prices to people who just want collectors' pieces or shooting toys, but what I'd really like to see is a two-tier system where verified regular competitors could still get the guns and ammo at low prices while the average members of the public still can buy some stuff but at market prices. That way the demand gets filled, we make extra money for CMP programs, and the real competitors can keep firing, subsidized by the non-competitors. And non-competitors need purchasing limits too. While I don't mind a little sharing, there's no reason why we need to let people who are indifferent to or even hostile to our sport dip into our ammo stocks to the tune of thousands of rounds per year each. Let non-competitors have a case our two of ammo and a rifle or two a year and call it a day. That's what I'd do if I ran the CMP. Oh well... I don't.

And when I returned to the office to get Lagniappe, I saw him frolicking outside with a couple of the ladies and a new ball they'd scrounged up for him.While I'd been lying out in the hot sun shooting and pulling targets, he'd been lounging and playing, and they'd even renamed him "Frank" because they couldn't pronounce "Lagniappe". Whoever said that it's a dog's life?

Here come the Rambos...

Well judging by a few of the e-mails that I got today, and comments that I declined to publish, I'd say that the angry militia fringe has once again found this humble blog and taken offense with something that I posted. (Real buncha First Amendment swells, ain't they? NOT!)

The uproar this time appears centered around my post suggesting that people who flock to the Civilian Marksmanship Program just to glom onto cheap ammo and guns to squirrel away are somehow less deserving of it than the actual program participants and match shooters that it was intended for. Of course, like the potheads from Boulder that I offended last week, almost all of the feedback I'm getting contains obscenity or a personal insult of some kind, along with the usual label of "elitist" and dire predictions about how, when the time comes and the government turns on us all, I'll probably be siding with the government. I'm also being called a traitor for not standing with other gun owners.

Excuse me? I hate to tell my critics, but you guys are the lunatic fringe and you're out of step with the rest of us--the vast majority of Americans who own guns for hunting, self-defense, competition or basic recreational shooting. Most of us don't buy into your conspiracy theories about how "the government"--every single elected official and bureaucrat--is all secretly planning a big swoop in which they suspend the Constitution, take all the guns away from everyone, and do all sorts of other bad things. In case you haven't noticed, this government--made up of regular people just like anyone else here--can't agree on even the most mundane matters on any given day. How could they possibly all conspire to topple America as we know it AND keep it a secret when they can't stop anything else even remotely confidential from leaking out? Wake up, whacks...take the tinfoil hats off and calm down.

Now what's truly pathetic is that in a nation where so many people claim to care about the Right to Keep and Bear Arms--and I'm one of those--more than 95% of gun owners don't even bother belonging to the National Rifle Association--the only group that actually stands up for gun rights and the shooting sports and which has the power to make a difference. I belong to the NRA for that reason. I'm betting that few if any of the screamers calling me names do. Nah. They're too busy typing in internet forums telling each other how the NRA is a bunch of sell-outs because it doesn't win every single fight. And they can't give the NRA $35.00 because they need to buy another gun or more ammo, not to shoot it but to hide it for the day when the black helicopters land and take the rest of their stuff. They worry so much about losing their gun rights but they won't do a damned thing today to help those of us who are working to prevent it from happening.

So if my criticism comes from people like that, I say "good". These aren't my allies or anyone that I want around me, good times or bad. I value the company of most of America's shooting community because by and large, gun owners are among the most responsible and law-abiding demographic in our society and most are just good, solid American folks. But these crazies that infest the gun forums on the internet? The ones who don't want to help the rest of us pull the wagon but instead sit around planning for the day when they can rise up and take the wagon under the guise of fighting some sort of domestic tyranny? Screw 'em. They're just a small bunch of bitter no-life-having sad sacks who talk the talk but don't do much else. I'm much happier to be a member of the sane majority of the pro-gun community, the one made up of everyday people, of police officers, veterans, hunters, target shooters, recreational plinkers and people serious about their self-defense. And it's those people--the ones that do belong to the NRA and/or the CMP--that are keeping America free every day while the Walter Mitty types fantasize about a day when they can stand up and fight the rest of us and actually be taken seriously for once in their pathetic lives.

It just galls me to think that the regular decent people who shoot the Garand matches and youth shooting events, either at the Nationals or at the local gun clubs, will face a day when the cheap ammunition for training runs out because it all got bought up by a bunch of squirrels who just hoarded it all up in their basements or sold it at the gun shows for a profit.

Funny...You'd think with two wars going on right now, all those internet big-talkers who want to fight someone so bad would have enlisted years ago.

Oh that's right. The military has weight limits and psychological examinations. Oh well...


Edited to add: At least one critic has pointed out that I own a Browning Model 1919A4 .30 machine gun. I do and I'm rather proud of it, hence it's appearance on this blog from time to time. However they also assert that my gripe is that I want to buy CMP ammo for the Browning, and nothing could be farther from the truth.
That beautiful gun subsists on the large stocks of foreign surplus from places like Taiwan and Turkey, countries thoughtful enough to put it on Browning links before eventually surplusing it off. I bought a lot of that when it was cheap...far cheaper than even CMP ammo. It also gets reloads, lots of reloads, fresh off my press. But it doesn't get any of that CMP ammo that I've purchased over the years. Nope. That stuff's for my Garands and Springfields, and they may shoot a little slower than the Browning but between practice and matches, they get out to the range a lot more than it does.

People who need to shut the hell up #5--Ammo freeloaders criticize CMP

That's right. The Civilian Marksmanship Program, which exists to promote the shooting sports, is now being bashed for raising the prices of the ammunition that it's selling and for putting limits of ten cases per year on that ammo.

Now the CMP makes ammunition and rifles available to rifle clubs and competitive shooters, and has done so for nearly a century, either in it's current incarnation or the government program that it was started as under the Department of Civilian Marksmanship.

Instituted in 1903, The intent of the program originally was to train up a cadre of competent shooters who would be available for induction should the military need to mobilize. This program was run under the direct auspice of the US Army until 1996, when gun-hating President Bill Clinton (no doubt acting on instructions from Hillary), ordered the program shut down and the stock of surplus rifles and pistols destroyed, along with millions of rounds of ammunition. The program was saved from total devastation when some pro-gun members of the legislature authorized the creation of a privately-run, non-profit corporation which was to mirror the original program. This corporation, the Civilian Marksmanship Program, was then given all of the old DCM assets, including the remaining guns, ammunition, buildings, etc. They currently continue to run nationwide shooting programs and sponsor the National Matches at Camp Perry, Ohio every summer, which attract some of the best military and civilian shooters from around the world. The new CMP no longer receives government funding but relies on the sale of the rifles and ammunition that have been turned over to it, mostly surplus World War Two Garands, Carbines, and even some Springfields, Enfields and Krags. It no longer sells pistols, which is a shame, and thanks to Clinton, hundreds of thousands of historic and very valuable WW2-production Model 1911 .45 Automatics were ground up and melted down.

The CMP has always made guns and ammo available at very reasonable prices to shooters who compete in matches through various clubs or run youth programs designed to teach the next generation to shoot, but unfortunately it's become a victim of it's own success and the guns and ammo too frequently wind up being purchased by unscrupulous speculators who aim to resell them at a profit instead of use them for their intended purpose--competition. Even worse, a growing number of anti-government whack jobs and militia fruits are buying the ammo, along with countless hoarders who just want to amass stockpiles of cheap ammunition which no doubt plays a role in their post-apocalyptic fantasies. The CMP is touted on many nutbar websites as a source of cheap ammo and I suspect that more ammunition these days goes out to non-competitors than it does to the legitimate intended recipients, those of us who have supported the CMP and shot in the sanctioned matches for years.

Now the CMP could do one of two things to stop this sort of thing. They could either institute some restrictions on who could purchase the items, limiting sales to actual shooters who show documented proof of competition or current military/law-enforcement membership, or they can raise their once fabulously-low prices closer to the market rates in order to discourage the profiteers. The first choice is the one that I and many other serious shooters prefer, and it would also require a means by which profiteers who buy the guns and ammo and immediately resell it at gun shows or via the internet be reported and barred from future purchases.

The second thing that the CMP could do--and has done--is raise it's prices to reflect market rates, cutting off the profit to unscrupulous resellers and hopefully discouraging at least some of the whack jobs who are no longer willing to give "the government" a list of how much ammo and how many guns they've bought. This is what's now going on, and incredibly, there's now mass bitching about the latest price increases on gun websites like 1919a4.com, AR15.com, Falfiles, and other sites infested with anti-government losers, fat Walter-Mitty types and other assorted losers with out-of-context quotes from our founding fathers on their sig lines; people who have and will never shoot competitively or serve this country via military or civilian service time. In effect, my cost--and that of the other legitimate competitors--has been driven up by the same people who now sit back and whine that our program which graciously (and I hold mistakenly) sells them guns and ammo is now requiring all of us to pay a higher price.

Sorry losers, but the only ones who have and right to object are those of us who actually participate in the CMP program and shoot the matches or teach the junior courses. If you've never bothered to support the CMP with your time and labor or done anything more than just scoop up bargains that the rest of us have allowed you to obtain via OUR work, you've got no business complaining about anything that you get from it. So all of you crybabies on the gun forums, unless you're an active CMP shooter, you need to shut the hell up and go buy your ammo at Wal-Mart, leaving us legitimate competitors and our finite stock of rifles and ammo alone.

A man's got to know his limitations...and those of his rifle.

So today was a day I've looked forward to for months--the first CMP Hi-Power rifle match of the year. I got myself up at 7am this morning and went to get my gear loaded, anticipating another great day at the range with my trusty M-1 Garand.

But as I was in the gun room, I heard a voice call out to me. "Yo! What about me? Are we ever going to go shooting again?" It was my Smith-Corona 1903A3 Springfield, sitting there in the rack. When was the last time I'd fired one of the Springfield rifles, I asked myself? Wow. Camp Perry National Matches, 2004. Almost four years ago. Well damn... I plan on firing one in the Nationals this year, and it sure wouldn't hurt to take one out and re-familiarize a bit with it. After all, I'm left-handed so it takes a bit more effort to smoothly operate a bolt-action rifle under the time constraints of a match that it would had I been born right(wrong) handed.

So with an apology to my Garand, I grabbed the Smith-Corona, gave it a quick inspection to ensure that the bore was clear and the rifle was functional, and headed for the match.

I got out to the range, and damn it was cold! A biting wind on the line really made it unpleasant. But at least there was no snow. I got all prepped and loaded my ammo onto '03 stripper clips, remembering the last time out at Perry, when I stupidly thought that I could substitute M-14 strippers for the hard-to-find '03 strippers, only to have the set-up fail miserably during the first rapid-fire stage of the '03 match. Ah yes...that would have been 2004, this rifle's last time out. No wonder I hadn't shot it for four years. That screw-up is still embarrassing, particularly as the score is matter of permanent record.

So I started firing my five sighting-in shots to get the rifle on-target. It only took three rounds to put a solid hit on the X-ring and I was pleasantly surprised. I shot my 20 rounds prone slow-fire for record and damned if I didn't finish out a close 2nd place on the line with 188x4 out of a possible 200. That rifle was dominating the ten-ring. The only flaw was a round that had dropped way down into the six ring, the result of two consecutive misfires caused by light primer hits. When the next round actually went off, I wasn't where I should have been mentally and I doofed it. So what was up with these misfires? Then it dawned on me: The rifle still had excess grease inside the bolt from it's military long storage before I'd gotten it just before that 2004 match. It hadn't been an issue on that hot August day but here in this chill air, the grease was much less fluid and it was binding the firing pin. Aw, damn. And I hadn't brought the Garand as a back-up. Stupid, stupid, stupid...

Rapid-fire prone came next. I had another misfire, but I pulled the striker back and hit it again and the round fired. Still, it rattled me a bit and cost me some time so that even though I put all the rounds on the target in the alloted time, it wasn't as good as I'd have liked. But I was still in 2nd place...just a little farther back but still within striking range of the leader if he choked or if I had a strong finish.

But then came the rapid-fire sitting position. A bit of lost time trying to get into a solid sitting position thanks to my prosthetic leg--followed by two more misfires-- totally trashed the stage. I couldn't get the two duds to fire by re-cocking it this time, so I wound up only putting 8 rounds downrange instead of 10, and the last few of that string were scattered. So much for a medal this match. It ended here. It just wasn't in the cards for a one-legged left-hander to accurately put ten rounds in the black with a malfunctioning bolt-action rifle in sixty seconds.

I won't even bother writing about the slow-fire standing offhand. I was actually pretty fair on that stage in the past with the M-1, but I just could not get that light '03 to sit still on the target and I'd lost the attitude after that last stage and it was all downhill. Very sad...Very sad indeed.

But the next match is a month away, and next time I'm going to be back out there with this 1093 Springfield sans the grease and we'll try it again. Meanwhile, I'm going to be doing the position practice that I should have been doing all winter and we'll see if I can't clean up my sitting position and solidify my standing off-hand. All it's going to take is some self-discipline and effort on my part, so there won't be anyone or anything to blame next time around if I don't improve.

Last match of the season...Good times.

Today was the last CMP rifle match of the season. I was supposed to be on the line at 0830 but when my alarm went off at 0630, it was pouring down rain, so I switched the alarm off and went back to sleep, resigning myself to the season going out not with a bang but with a sigh.
However when I woke up again at 0730, I noticed that birds were singing. I listened, and sure enough, the rain had stopped. well hell--the range is only 40 miles away, I figured. if I could get moving, I might still make it. I got dressed hurriedly, grabbed my Springfield Armory M-1A out of the safe along with sixty rounds of ammo, and threw them into my vehicle along with my shooting mat, jacket, spotting scope, and range bag. Lagniappe, true to form, gave me a few rough minutes when I let him outside and he jumped the fence in pursuit of the neighbor's cats. But he came back when I called, doubtless because he knew that it he caused me to miss this match, he'd be sitting down by the road with a "Free to good home" sign around his neck.

I made the 40 mile drive in just over 45 minutes, arriving just after 0830, still in time to check in and grab a spot on the line.

Now I love my old M-1A. It was my first 'real" rifle, purchased back in 1988 when President Bush Sr. signed the nation's first "Assault Weapons Ban" into law. (Thanks alot, sir!)
Back then, I bought it just because of the ban and I did little with it until I caught the Service Rifle Competition bug in the mid 90's and began shooting it in Hi-Power matches. It's crowning glory came during the 2001 National Matches at Camp Perry when, during the President's 100 match and firing Lake City Match ammunition, I shot an 89 out of a possible 100 with it in the 600 meter relay, putting five shots into the 9-ring and three into the 10, with 1X. (The other three were 8-ring hits...and this was in that high-wind that Perry is famous for.) I've never shot that good before (or since) and had I done so well at the 200 meter and 300 Meter stages, I probably would have made the top 100. Sadly, due to my acquisition of an AR-15 HBAR and a solid-shooting M-1 Garand, I didn't fire the M-1A any more, and it's sat in my safe ever since, save for periodic cleanings.

well I took it out today, just to see what I could do with it in preparation for next year's M-1A match at Perry during the 2008 Nationals. We fired the NRA "B" (long course), shooting 50 shots for record (actual scored shots) with five "sighter" (practice) shots to get set. I felt pretty good even though the sights were parked in the bottom notch, not elevated at all for 200 Meter shooting. I cranked the rear sight up to what should have been a good 200M zero and fired my first practice shot. Clean miss. Whoa. That's embarrassing. I adjusted and fired again. A second miss. Now I was starting to worry. I had no idea where the rifle was shooting and I only had three sighters left. One more elevation adjustment put the third shot on the paper, and two more dialed it into the 10-ring. I was ready as I was going to get and began shooting for score.
The first stage was 20 rounds slow-fire prone, and during the twenty minutes alloted me, I shot a rather respectable 185 (out of a possible 200), with three hits in the X ring. Other than three close 8-ring hits, I dropped my second to the last shot into the six ring because I heard a snatch of conversation from a couple of people behind me on the line and let it break my concentration. But scoring results showed me to be in third place on the firing line. Hmmmm... Not bad considering this was only my third match in over three years and my first with the M-1A in six.
Next came the standing-to-prone rapid-fire stage, where we all start out standing and when the "commence fire" command is given, we drop prone and have 70 seconds to fire ten shots, with a mandatory reload somewhere in the string. I had a bit of trouble with the reload and rushed the next two shots (both 8-ring hits) but everything else was a 9 or 10 for 91 out of a possible hundred. Not bad. And I found out that I'd risen to second place. Not exactly stellar shooting compared with how I used to do, but passable these days.
Third stage was standing-to-kneeling rapid fire. When the "commence fire" command was given, we all dropped into either a kneeling or sitting position and began firing. This is now my worst stage since injuring my leg, as I can no longer acquire my formerly rock-solid cross-legged sitting position, so I have to adapt using a less-stable position these days. But despite that, and despite the fact that my rifle musse seemed to be swinging around like an orchestra leader's baton, I managed to finish up with all shots on and 84 out of a possible 100. Yet due to a stroke of luck, the leader had a rifle malfunction and missed several shots. Scoring showed me of all people to be in first place with one final ten-round stage to go. Damn!
We went into the last stage--standing offhand, where the last ten rounds are fired while standing and without the aid of a sling. This used to be my worst stage and it was where I always screwed up at Perry, but here my leg injury seems to have blessed me with a more stable firing platform due to the rigidity of the prosthetic. I wanked one into the 6-ring, and tossed another into the 7-ring but the rest were solid nines and tens and I finished up with an 85 out of that 100 and a total score of 455-3x.

It wasn't great by Perry standards but this day on this line, it gave me a second-place (Silver) finish. The former leader, his malfunction cleared, came back to pass me up in the last stage.

But I was only too happy to finish in 2nd place. After all, I'm just getting back into the sport and I'm having to re-learn almost everything since I've gone so long without competing and had the leg injury mess things up so bad. And the icing on the cake was that Steve, the guy who runs the program, cooked up burgers and brats since it was the last match of the season. So I got a free lunch out of it to boot.

The 2008 National Matches are coming. And if I keep improving, I should do well enough to be able to report about it here.

Shot another CMP match today

This was my second CMP match since the 2004 National Matches. I went up to Thurmont, MD to the Thurmont Conservation and Shooting Club and participated in one of their CMP shoots, finishing with a 409-0x out of a possible 500. Now 409 is not all that hot (I used to easily shoot in the 450's back when I was good) but it sure beats the 379 that I shot last time out. I am climbing up the ladder again. The rifle has shown itself well able to hold the ten ring, sadly I'm still not doing my part. But it's getting better. However, good shooting or not, there's still few things as pleasing as firing the venerable U.S. rifle, Caliber .30 M1 (Garand)--a man's rifle if ever there was one. And August, 2008 will be seeing me back on the line at Camp Perry for the 2008 Nationals. Bet on it.

Back on the line!

Well today was the first time that I've shot an M-1 Garand rifle in competition since the 2004 National Matches at Camp Perry. For three years now, that long row of M-1's and '03 Springfields in the gun room have been begging me to get them back out on the line and today, Springfield Armory Rifle .30 M-1 S/N 16650XX had a chance to show the world what it could still do. And if performed incredibly well, no doubt due to it's apparently "new" 1966 Danish VAR barrel. (This rifle was one of the ones loaned to Denmark after World War Two and it was recently returned to the US Army which transferred it to the Civilian Marksmanship Program from whence I acquired it.)

I went out to the Thurmont Conservation ans Sportsman's Club near Thurmont, MD as I saw an ad for their shoots on the internet. It was a small group of really friendly guys and they were fairly laid back--no hard-core President's 100 shooters here--but I gotta say that a few of those guys sure could shoot. One fellow with a 1903A3 Springfield in particular was seriously tearing up the black target center with that old bolt-action of his. Hell, he'd have been tough competition for me back when I used to be good.
Today I was ashamed to even have my target hanging near his.

As I said, my old M-1 did it's job perfectly, especially considering that I've never shot it since picking it up probably five years ago or so. But the barrel gauged good, the crown was crisp and sharp, and those VAR barrels always did have a reputation for quality, so I selected it over it's brothers on the rack. The front handguard is a bit loose, and the trigger's a little muddy, but these things can be fixed. Anyway, I hadn't planned on shooting a perfect 500 my first time back out.
And I sure didn't. Owing in large part to problems related to re-learning my seated position for one of the rapid-fire stages, I finished the 50-round course with a rather lackluster 379-0x. Granted, whenever I was able to get a good sight picture and hold the rifle steady on target long enough to squeeze the trigger, that old warhorse consistently put a round smack into the ten ring, and the nine ring was pretty well holed as well. (The ten ring is three inches across. The nine ring is six inches.) To be fair, every shot of the 50 would have been a chest hit on the law enforcement B-27 target (or an actual opponent) but I wasn't as steady as I used to be, and the 97-degree, high-humidity day didn't help either as sweat was running into my eyes and my shooting glasses kept fogging. I couldn't help think of the old joke about the shooter whose coach told him to call his shots. The shooter yelled out towards the targets: "Come back!"

Still, even though I came nowhere near my old scores in the high four hundreds, It was nonetheless great to be on the line listening to the gunshots and feeling that rifle kick back into my shoulder with every shot. I'm feeling good right now and I'm going to go have a few beers and clean and lube my rifle. We're shooting again next month and I plan on at least breaking 400 this time.

On rifles and shooting

I participate in the National Matches at Camp Perry, Ohio every year and I've obtained a number of my shooting rifles and ammunition from the Civilian Marksmanship Program.



These are M-1 Garand rifles, most of which came from the CMP. There are two Winchesters and two International Harvesters on that stack, along with one Harrington and Richardson. Two of the Springfield Armory models appear to be unfired since their late 1960's rebuilds. The Springfield Armory model on the far left has a serial number of 208xx, indicating that it was made in 1939. That gun was originally a gas-trap model but alas, it was rebuilt into a "regular" Garand long before it ever came to me. It now sports an LMR 1953 barrel so it's obviously spent quite a but of time in the service and seen some use.

The one that I use for competition is a Winchester-made gun that came with a practically new Danish VAR barrel. I got that one in 2000 at Camp Perry when the Danish guns were first being sold. At that time, you lined up to go into a hut where the CMP armorers were handing out rifles from big crates containing 100 guns each. The rumor had gone down the line that there were Winchester rifles in the crates and as Winchesters are fairly rare, everyone going in was naturally asking for one. Of course this had the armorers a little frustrated after a while, so when I got there and casually asked if they had any Winchesters, the guy in front of me finally snapped and yelled: "OK I've had it! Everybody listen! The Winchesters are few and far between! We've only seen a couple so everyone needs to stop coming in here asking for one. We're offering Garands, period." Then he looked at me and said: "If you want a rifle you can buy THIS one!" Then he reached into the crate and grabbed a rifle at random. He handed it to me and I saw the logo on the reciever: "Winchester".

Of course I yelled "Whoa--a Winchester! Thank you!" and everyone back down the line started saying "They do have Winchesters in there!" The armorer was as shocked as anyone and not happy because now even more people were going to be asking for them.

That rifle turned out to be a good shooter, and at the 2001 National Matches it won me a silver medal in the John C. Garand match. That score: 273-7x.
(273 out of 300, 7 hits to the X ring at 200 yards).