UrbanMan replies: William, the short answer is "yes", but I am assuming that you are not basing all your SHTF preparations just on guns. While it is necessary to own firearms, several in fact, for security and protection as well as sufficient stock of ammunition, it is also necessary for the well prepared survivor should be looking at all categories of survival: food, shelter, water. Procuring the necessary gear and equipment as well to allow one to survive a collapse with the infrastructure gone....no grocery stores, no electricity, no running city water, etc.
But back to the M1. Assume you mean the venerable M1 Garand in .30-06 caliber. Great gun! Accurate and reliable. These two traits go along way in making up the lack of extended firepower – that’s capability to load fast and carry a lot of ammunition. Now there will be some readers who’ll write that they can re-load an M-1 Garand as fast as I can an M-4. Not true, but even if it was, reloading after every 8th round is certainly not as convenient as using 30 round magazines! Before I lose the M1 lovers, one could certainly do 1,000 times worse than the Grand.
If your brother already has a .30-06 rifle, and I am assuming some type of bolt action or pump, either with a five round magazine capacity, then the procurement of M1 Garand’s to base your primary survival weapon on make even go over easier on him. Just make sure you get a bunch of 8 round clips.
You do state that you don’t have much money. Did you know that you’ll pay over $600 minimally for a beat up M-1? The Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) offers M1 Garands for sale to qualified buyers,…you must be a member of a CMP affiliated shooting club. This would cost a minimal fee for an annual membership if you have one close to you.
This is what the CMP say’s about their M1 Garands for sale,....
"In my opinion, the M1 rifle is the greatest battle implement ever devised" - General George S. Patton, Jr.
John Garand's rifle was the single most significant small arms development in the history of modern warfare. No other rifle in this nation's history so outclassed that of its adversaries. The accuracy, reliability, ruggedness and most of all, its firepower, could not be matched by any of the Axis powers during WWII. It performed with distinction throughout WWII to Korea and to the early days in Vietnam . The popularity of the M1 Garand continues to grow as hundreds of new Garand "Fun" Matches are being held all over the USA each year.
In the past ten years, the M1 Garand, regardless of condition, has become a very hot collectors’ item and sound financial investment. The popularity of the M1 Garand continues to grow as hundreds of new Garand “Fun” Matches are being held all across the USA each year.
Over the past 65 years, most M1 rifles have been arsenal rebuilt, refinished, rebarreled or repaired at least once and often several times. Most will show signs of service (often considerable) and replacement of various parts. They are seldom encountered with all original parts and original finish as delivered from the manufacturer. Such "original" rifles, even in well-used condition, are highly prized by collectors.
Each M1 Garand rifle sold by CMP is an authentic U.S. Government rifle that has been inspected, headspaced, repaired if necessary and test fired for function. Each rifle is shipped with safety manual, one eight-round clip and chamber safety flag. Orders are filled on a first-come first serve basis. Rifles of all grades are packed for shipment purely by "luck of the draw". Prices are subject to change. If price has changed after an order has been received, customers will be notified before new prices are charged. Shipping and Handling is $24.95 per rifle.
The M1 was a fine weapon. But in practice, it was always paired with at least one M1A1. The high rate of fire and high capacity of the Thompson was needed to offset the limitations of the Garand.
ReplyDeleteIf you're looking for a rifle adapt at killing men, you cannot beat an AR or AK. Both can be had for about the same price as the M1, with a higher magazine capacity, higher rate of fire and better tactical mechanics. In the states, I would recommend a good quality AR only because of availability of Ammo and spare parts. But that's a personal opinion.
POS both the AR and AK. Get a Garand.
DeleteDude a .22 LR would be an acceptable Primary if you had nothing! If you have good functioning M1 Garand, you have a good primary weapon. Some people get very hung up on looking high speed. I would take a shotgun over an AR if I was more proficient with the shotgun. It's about what you are comfortable and competant with. Are your tactics and strategies going to be different with an M1 Garand than they are with an AR....? Yep, but that might be OK too. Here's the deal...get proficient with whatever weapon you decide to have as your primary. I'm more afraid of a person with just one gun versus a guy that might have two dozen....because you can bet your ass that the person with just one gun definitely knows how to use it! The 30.06 round is a pretty high power round...especially compared to the 5.56/.223 round. The difference is like comparing the 30.06 to the .50 BMG round. Practice, practice, practice and plan, plan, plan; make alternates to those plans and push the limits on your practice. You don't need to be able to take on an army, you need to survive and you need to be able to defend yourself; you are not going to be going out looking for trouble, you are going to want to keep a low profile; you're M1 Garand could serve you very well.
ReplyDeleteWoah,woah,woah you can reload a garand faster then a m14 or an ar 15, for one the en bloc is automaticly ejected-not so with an m14 (m1a) or ar 15 and the clips are less clumsy then a p-mag
ReplyDeleteM1s are great, I own four. The only problem from your perspective is that once you run out of en-block clips, all you have is a clumsy bolt action. During any military conflict where the m1 was used, ammo was supplied in the same en-block clips that you will find hard to obtain or recover. Soldiers did not have to squeeze rounds into them, they were already filled. You had better have A LOT of loaded clips with you. Don't plan on scrounging any if you have to relocate. Outside of a rare sporting goods store or a Garand collectors house, you probably won't find any. Stick with something more conventional.
ReplyDeleteM1 Garand, best rifle ever made. Get one.
DeleteMy grandfather said you picked them up when you could. They were resupplied with linked ammo on occasion. You had to reload clips you saved.
DeleteThe grenade vest developed for the M79 40mm launcher works fine as laid bearer for the Garand. 144 rounds evenly distributed across the torso. add a 10 pocket Garand belt (80 rounds) and you have 224 rounds loaded in en-bloc clips. The key is to buy a bunch of clips. I have 500 for 3 rifles. In quantity they can be had for less than $2.00 a piece, often a bit more than $1.00. They can be carried unloaded, nesting, in your pack. I typically carry 50 spares,at a weight less than 5 empty M14 mags.Recovering empty clips is much less vital than retaining empty mags.
ReplyDeleteI own a Garand and M4. I have to say go with the Garand hands down. It negates body armor, a lot of cover, it has double the range. Now on to important stuff. One hit takes down a target, allowing you acquire other target. You don't need to wait and put 2-3 more rounds into a target. The ammunition does weigh more. You can carry about 20 rounds for 30. The magazines for 30 rounds weigh a lot more than the 4 eight round clips. The real advantage in my mind is the range factor and hunting factor. The second is the reliablity of the Garand. The only environment where I would prefer the M4 is in an urban setting. When SHTF, why would you be near one?
ReplyDeleteWhile any firearm can always be effective as a tool regardless of age, the M1 Garand for survival purposes is a little bit of a stretch in terms of its efficiency. As several individuals mentioned already, en block clips don't just float around at your general Wal-Mart or Dick's Sporting Goods. I can imagine they wouldn't even be around at most gun shops.
ReplyDeleteWhile I respect and admire the Garand vastly (I collect military surplus), I personally would either stick with an M1A/M14, AK, or AR-15 platform rifle. At least those rifles you could find parts for... and ammunition. 5.56 and 7.62 NATO are both at least in mass production, and they even make 5.56 AK's that take AR mags now.
My advice would be (and take it as you will), would be to buy a sportorized M1917 Enfield on the cheap. Mauser-based action, six round internal magazine, .30-06, and bomb proof (one of the strongest receivers produced in the 20th century).
Market price for one of those is between $150-$250 compared to the $600-$1000+ someone would spend on a beaten-up Garand.
With all of that extra money, you could also buy a nice milled receiver SKS for about $300 and then you'd also have a semiautomatic rifle in a very common (and less expensive caliber to practice with) than the .30-06.
But, just my $0.02.