M1 Garand Operators Course Sept 17th

[saryan]

We have our first M1 Garand course coming up on September the 17th. It is a 3 day course focused on the M1 system. If you know anyone interested then be sure to let them know. Its not often a course like this comes around. Lead instructor is Erik Lund.

http://www.usshootingacademy.com/training_course.aspx?&enrollClass=1&id=81

 

[Perplexed]

That's most interesting - instruction on the use of the M1 Garand? I bet that hasn't been taught in the Army in decades! Looks like the course is geared toward 3-gun competitions? Unfortunately, 1,000 rounds of 30-06 can be awfully pricey when the cheapest M1-friendly ammo is 50 cents a round...

 

[saryan]

That's most interesting - instruction on the use of the M1 Garand? I bet that hasn't been taught in the Army in decades! Looks like the course is geared toward 3-gun competitions? Unfortunately, 1,000 rounds of 30-06 can be awfully pricey when the cheapest M1-friendly ammo is 50 cents a round...

Not really 3 gun. I know Erik is known for 3 gun but his skill is not limited to that. You cant really run an a garand in a standard carbine class due to the ammo capacity. We just wanted to offer a class specific to the Garand. The first thing I said when I saw it was "Whoa! Thats a lot of 30-06!".

 

[SMS]

Unfortunately, 1,000 rounds of 30-06 can be awfully pricey when the cheapest M1-friendly ammo is 50 cents a round...

Plus another 300 for pistol...that $600 class is no longer anything close to $600. Gulp.

Maybe someday I'll win the lottery so I can take some classes up there.

 

[saryan]

Plus another 300 for pistol...that $600 class is no longer anything close to $600. Gulp.

Maybe someday I'll win the lottery so I can take some classes up there.

Ammo is pricey. Its always a juggle. Flying Erik Lund in from Atlanta for 3 days isnt cheap for us.

 

[AKguy1985]

that'd be awesome to go to but i dont have near that much ammo or money

 

[SMS]

Ammo is pricey. Its always a juggle. Flying Erik Lund in from Atlanta for 3 days isnt cheap for us.

Completely understand the business side of things...good on y'all if you have folks lining up to dole out that kind of scratch.

 

[Barry in IN]

I've never taken a class at USSA nor have any other connection with it, but found this thread last night and wanted to log on to say that if one is thinking about taking this class, you should.

I used a Garand in a Yavapai Firearms Academy (Louis Awerbuck) Carbine class last year. This was not a Garand-specific class at all, yet I got my eyes opened a bit about what it was capable of. A Garand-specific class should be even better at that.

People think the Garand is too old, heavy, and slow to be of much use now. A Garand may not handle as well as a stubby little carbine, but it isn't bad. I compare it to using an eight-shot shotgun with a 24" barrel. That would be a typical fighting shotgun except for a few inches more length. The handling is similar, as is the magazine capacity, yet people do OK with the shotgun.
Actually, I used it a lot like a shotgun- Using a similar stance, and planning reloads accordingly.

As far as weight goes, I'll just say that I doubt my Garand would have been the heaviest rifle in any carbine class I've taken.

A Garand isn't bad.
It doesn't carry a lot of ammo on board but it hits hard and reloads fast. I was able to keep up, which I did wonder about before the class. I can only think of one drill where I got caught looking at a target with an empty rifle in my hands without time to reload it (a close range advancing drill- I think the target would have been handled after the first eight big bullets though).

I think the AR has the best ergonomics of anything out there, but I was one of the very first to get a shot off on every drill so the Garand isn't too bad there either.

I had opened the rear sight aperture slightly (using a 3/32 drill, I think) and this let me get on the sights a little quicker. Although a red dot would obviously be faster, it wasn't bad at all.

Rain hit us pretty hard one day, and some guys started having gun trouble (no doubt from lube getting washed away). I was concerned that the Garand's wide open action would let the lube be washed off and give trouble there but it did not. I did have some trouble with some odd-sized clips sending the bullet nose a little high. Once that was found and I got rid of them, it was fine (my having a .308 instead of a .30-06 was possibly part of that). A good thing about the Garand is if there is a problem feeding, you look down and you are looking right into the chamber. A quick poke to align the cartridge or a sweep of the hand to remove it, and you are up and running.

The clip is either in or it isn't and you know it immediately. Anyone who has had a mag fall out after the first shot from failing to fully seat an AR mag can tell you that's a good thing.

Loaded clips are easy to carry. They fit in pockets easier than any carbine mag I know of excluding the M1 Carbine. When I take a Garand for a walk, I stick a few clips in my pockets. I keep a Garand in the SUV as a car gun, and have clips in all sorts of cubbyholes (That IS what cup holders are for, right?).
In the class, I used a Maxpedition Rolly Poly for an ammo pouch and just kept a bunch of clips in it. They got turned around and pointing different directions, but I liked being able to use the same motion to reload each time because the clips were in the same place instead of being spread around in pouches in a vest or on a belt.

It would be nice if those clips had 30 or 40 rounds in them instead of eight, but I think that, realistically, eight rounds of 30-06 or 308 is probably enough. But we don't know that.
In a 3-gun match, it's no contest. An AR with a couple of mags will run right through a typical stage, but it's a lot of with a Garand.

I might not head out into a riot in my front yard or an Afghanistan city with a Garand instead of an AR, but I do keep one as a car gun.
I might not have done that before running one through a class to see how it could keep up and shooting a couple of 3-gun matches with it.

 

[lockoutmonkey]

WOW!!! The class cost aint too bad, but I sure in the hell can't afford the ammo.
Sorry USSA, I won't be in this class either.
I love my Garand. What a nice shooter. Thanks to the DCM program. Iknow it is called somrthing else now, but that is what it was called when I took it 15 years or so ago.

 

[Glocktogo]

With ammo, the cost of this course would be around $1250. That's a lot of scratch for a class on a weapon that most would not choose as a primary. I love my Garand, but in a fight I'm going to grab an AR.

A 576 round course (3 cans of Greek M2 ball) would be $314.85 worth of ammo. Considering the recoil of M2 ball in a Garand and the weight of the weapon, a course designed around this round count would be more finacially and physically appealing. Add another $40 for 200 rounds of pistol and drop the price of the course accordingly, and you might double your attendance. Add in the cost reduction of a 2 day course not costing people a day off work and it becomes even more appealing.

Another factor is using a 60 year old weapon for 1000 rounds over 3 days. That's a lot of wear and tear and heat. A Garand in good condition with parts that spec well can take this kind of abuse. Some of the rifles that appear in class may not be in good repair, or have marginal parts that may fail. Will there be spare rifles, parts, or a qualified armorer/gunsmith available? Decreasing the round count would also ensure that more of the old war horses survive the course without failure. One thing's for sure, a Garand course should begin with proper disassembly, inspection, cleaning and lubrication. Some people don't know how to properly care for and maintain a Garand.

I don't know about you, but I'd rather have 20 people in a class at $400 than 10 at $600. I do hope you fill the course though. It's good to even see something tailored to these magnificent rifles!