Quote Originally Posted by FortTom View Post
Beautiful rifle and photo's. I can really appreciate the design and function of a Garand. A lot of folks have told me they just look to bland or utilitarian. That was certainly the idea behind them, but over the years, to my taste anyway, they've taken on a certain beauty. But I can sure say this. I'm glad I came up many years after they were retired. I really don't think I would have wanted to hump one of those all friggin day.
Thanks kindly. Nothing wrong with bland or utilitarian ... though, I've never heard it called that before. I've heard it called simple and majestic before though

Though I will say, if you ever compare a '45 rifle to say, an early or pre-war rifle - you will notice some variations. Things were definitely simplified over time.

Honestly given the time in which the Garand was developed, it was an engineering marvel - still is, if you consider the fact that the basic principles of the operating system are still used today (M14/M21). The only other well known competitors of its time were the G43 and SVT-40. I don't know much about SVT-40s, but I do know that the G43 had overgassing problems.

Agreed, would definitely not want to lug around 10+ lbs of wood and metal ... though apparently there's a lot of people out there that would rather carry an M1 over an M4