Garand Reload Times

[Ceol]

I don't shoot a lot of 3-gun (none, actually - but my local IPSC club has bimonthly all-rifle matches), but I have a lot of fun shooting rifle with a .308 tanker Garand. I didn't intend initially to shoot for score, just to have fun and improve my rifle skills. However, I'm doing much better in the standings than I'd expected (6th of 18 at the last match), and so I'm wondering about the competitiveness of my Garand. Specifically, reloads. Do any of you really experienced guys have much practice time behind an M1? How fast do you think a shooter could make a reload with one, assuming a whole lot of regular practicing?

I'm not really interested in switching rifles or tricking out my M1 more than it already is - just wondering if I could actually be competitive with it (edit: at a more serious level than my local club matches) if I really knuckle down and practice more.

Edited November 11, 2005 by Ceol

[SRT Driver]

That depends on where you put the clips and how big/sore your thumb gets!!

[George]

Against other Garands and bolt rifles you could be very competitive, but against even even the 20 round box mag guns in HM division, you will get your lunch money taken by any equally skilled shooter with an M1A, or AR-10 in any stage that had more than 8 rounds without a good bit of movement before any more shooting needed to be done.

One slip speedloading a Garand and you will be loading that sucker a good bit slower from then on, no matter how fast you were loading it at first ;-)

BTW, even if you can reload just as fast, or even slightly faster than a box mag gun, you are doing 3 for their 1 against 20 rounders, and 4 for their 1 against 30 rounders. At 2-3 seconds a reload, that hurts!

--

Regards,

[SinistralRifleman]

What you lack in speed, you will make up for in cool guy points...especially if you shoot your Garand with 18" Trench bayonet in place.

[George]

I agree with Russ about style points meaning a lot :-)

There is a guy that shoots local 3 gun out here with a Garand and a stock Gubmint level 1911. He makes it through all the stages handily. I like watching him burn that rifle downrange at IPSC speed and just keep slamming reloads. Way cool!. I think he tapes his thumb to help protect it, or maybe it's just all chewed up and he has to tape it, I can't remember ;p

[SRT Driver]

Does the timer pick up the "boing" sound after the last shot?

Don't worry about giving up any speed. Have fun and everyone will remember you as the "M-1 guy".

[latewatch]

We used to shoot rifle side matches and we would have a seperate class for Garands. It was way FUN!!! When there was a stage with 8 round arrays and some movement between, the Garand times gave up nothing to the M1A's and FALs. Other than that the box mags would eat you up.

If there is enough interest in your club, you might consider a seperate class for the old M1. There's a bunch of them out thare and the CMP still has a supply for a few more years. Good excuse to bring out and shoot a piece of history.

[richardschennberg]

Does the timer pick up the "boing" sound after the last shot?

The timer has to be set that it can pick up shots but not the "boing," and the R.O. needs to know not to hold the timer too close to the action if the shooter might run dry on his last shot.

[uscbigdawg]

E-mail Mike Gibson (yep...the steel target guy). I shot with him at the '04 Superstition Mountain Mystery 3-Gun. I'll tell you what...ol' boy was making that Garand sing. The coolest part was watching him getting ready to go into the dark house stage with 10 or so clips of ammo hanging off a sling diagonally across his chest ready to rock that rifle out and damn fast too.

As for preserving the thumb...take any precautions you can. Mike's a big dude and was probably feeling it by the end of the weekend. Dang...that was an awesome match!

Good luck with it though. Fact is that if you can shoot, you'll make up a lot of time on folks that aren't so good with magazine fed rifles.

SPC Richard A. White, Senior Medic

249th MP Detachment (EACF)

Camp Humphreys, ROK

[Ceol]

Hmm. So I guess the question is, how fast can a good shooter reload an M1A? I just need to be able to make my reloads in 40% of that time.

Seriously, I haven't noticed any thumb issues reloading except at rifle class (where I reloaded a heck of a lot more than I would in any match). My M1 requires a tap to the bolt to chamber the first round, for better or worse, so I don't have to worry about it crushing my thumb.

[Mickster]

Here's something I realized while shooting a He-Man/Heavy Metal 3-gun match with my Garand that uses the IMGA/Paladin scoring of one "A" hit or two hits somewhere else.

I really aimed my rifle to get the one "A" hit!

Doing that cut down my number of reloads. The time it took to aim the shot wasn't all that much more (if at all) than when I do two shots per target with the FAL.

On the long steel it was a no-brainer.

I assure you, the Garand can be competitive in that type of match using that type of scoring.

Having the clips all along my belt worked very well. Just drop the rifle to the belt, strong handedly jam in a clip, and off you go.

One fellow who shoots with us does a weak handed reload. The rifle stays at the shoulder and he jams a clip into the top with his weak hand using his fore-fingers instead of his thumb. Beats me how he can do that.

[wsimpso1]

I campaigned the M-1 in High Power for four years (in the 1980's). Fun rifle.

There is plenty of time in High Power, so we just tried to load and get back on target with good clean positions. We got to the point where we were doing a four second reload from Sitting or Prone when we had no real time pressure.

The M1A guys have to do that rocking dismount of one magazine before going to the belt or bandolier for the next. I would bet that you could slap clips and be on the next target in 2.5-3 seconds with regularity. The next thing is that could help your time is when moving between arrays, eject the partial clip and slap a full one in.

Competitive? Naw. Big style points? Sure. We are doing this for fun, are we not?

Billski

[pdg45acp]

I’ve been working with my M1 Garands for a long time.. In anticipation of our shooting club having a “He Man” 3 gun match.

The fastest way to access loaded clips... for me anyway.. has been to use my old skeet shooting “empty shotgun shell” pouch to hold clips on my right hip... The pouch stays wide open so I have easy access to the clips.. and they are always in the same place.. BUT.. you have to be careful moving, and if the COF has a prone you could dump the whole bag... Bandoleers seem to be the 2nd fastest way. The old WWII ammo belt works ok but you have to shift the belt around to get what you want..

I’m trying to get in the habit of leaving the gun on my right shoulder pointed slightly down and to the left, grabbing a clip and slapping it in..It’s hard to do but it seems to be faster for target re-acquisition than dropping the butt for a reload...

If you work on this you can get to the point where you can “Almost” keep up a steady stream of fire.. but it’s still no AR15 when it comes to pumping them out.. dealing with the 30-06 recoil to get back to the target is the hard part...

Oh, and BTW.. Painting the front sight florescent orange helps a lot on these old battle rifles...