Did the M1 garands ever come back from Korea?

[roverboy]

I've been working a lot the last year and haven't been on here or heard anywhere else. But, did they ever come back?

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Not to my knowledge. There was the first wave back in the late '80s, many of which had "Blue Sky Ent." stamped on them, but the remainder folks have been hoping to see returned under Pres. Trump are still over there.

[curator]

Rumor has it that SOKO Wanted too much $$$ for the M-1 rifles and the CMP told them "no thanks." These particular rifles were purchased by the Koreans, and who knows if they might actually need them again! Another batch is arriving from Turkey. These are repatriated U.S. property so the CMP gets them for transportation costs only. Check with them about availability in a few months.

[Bigslug]

When I was a young lad working the gun shops in the early '90's, we had LOTS of Garands and Carbines come through via an importer known as Arlington Ordnance. We had thought at the time that Korea was the most likely source, but don't know that anybody actually confirmed that. This was also when the Daewoo "triple action" pistols and 5.56 rifles from S.K. were coming in, so. . .seemed reasonable to assume at the time. . .

I'd be interested to know if we were right. . .or wrong.

[texasnative46]

curator,

THANKS for the info. - I'm told that LOTS of H&R & IH Garands went directly to Turkey from those contractors & I have neither in my collection.

yours, tex

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Bigslug- your assumption was correct. I was a dealer during that time period, and the influx stamped Arlington Ord. and Blue Sky Ent. came from S. Korea. Curator's information is new to me, but makes sense, because weapons supplied on a lend lease or aid basis would have a different status for re-entry than weapons that were purchased. Since that first influx of S. Korean M1s they have also come home from Denmark and Greece. On these, one had to buy them from the CMP which was proactive on the import and secured a monopoly. They should be able to come into the country under the Customs exception of "American Goods Returned" without import duties, and if someone was able to secure the huge number remaining in S. Korea there would probably be far more than CMP would be able to store and process, and we'd likely see a dozen for sale in every gun shop again. Sadly, one of the great quantity importers of the past, Interarms, is no more.

Texasnative46- H&R and IH are among the less common. I wanted an H&R for my collection and ended up buying a stripped receiver on gunbroker from a guy (one of many) who buys the more desirable specimens from CMP and then parts them out to obtain a higher price overall than just doing a straight resale. The finish on the H&R receiver was just like new, so I assembled a rifle using other very nice parts and a new Criterion barrel. Lots of SA and WRA parts, just what I had on hand. Of course, it's not a "straight H&R" and not a collector's piece, but it looks so nice I hate to take it to the range. But I have, and it shoots great! I've never heard that the bulk of H&R and IH rifles went to Turkey, but it could be as they were allies in the Korean War, used our equipment, and may have been issued the brand new ones. I was in an infantry outfit stationed in Germany in the early 1960s and every manufacturer of M1s was represented in our arms room, but the large majority were SA.

A general comment and thought: If we don't get a bunch brought in under President Trump it might never happen. Going way back to Bubba Clinton, he actually had thousands of M1s and thousands of M14s destroyed, even though a fellow devised a way to permanently alter the M14s to semi-auto. The comment was made that the public already had enough guns and they didn't need these military weapons. Even today, it is true that the M1 is a very powerful and effective weapon in trained hands. But, we can't put it all on Bubba, because neither of the Bushes allowed them into the public's hands either, from our own arsenals or from overseas. And of course Hussein Obama was pro-gun control, so my thinking is that it needs to happen during this presidency or it probably won't.

[dpoe001]

My son received a garand about two months ago. He ordered it in August when he was home on leave.Not sure where it came from but it is a beautiful gun.

[Bigslug]

Even today, it is true that the M1 is a very powerful and effective weapon in trained hands.

Pish posh! It only holds 8. They can't POSSIBLY be dangerous. . .unlike those M1 carbines they don't want to let back in because they have detachable mags

Had several influxes of Garands come through on consignment in recent years at a shop I used to work for that are pretty heavy on the Beretta barrels and other parts I'm guessing CMP guns being resold?

[Omega]

Back in the mid 90s I was stationed in Japan, we had tons of M1s in war stock waiting on Army Material Command (AMC) to give the order to dispose of them. My understanding was they were sent back to the US to be sold, anyone know if they actually hit the civilian market?

[Jack Stanley]

It's very likely all those that were in Japan came back through CMP and into the waiting hands of an American .

Jack

[fatelk]

On the CMP forum a common discussion topic was the reselling of CMP rifles and ammo. It seems that there are plenty of guys who make a cottage industry of sorts buying M1s and ammo from the CMP to resell for a profit at gun shows and such.

The arguments raged between those who thought that the CMP should sell cheap so they could afford to buy as many as possible, and those who argued for higher prices to discourage the re-sellers, as well as limits on quantity purchased.

[nicholst55]

My understanding is that some of the M1s here in Korea were received as military aid, and some were purchased outright. There are no records remaining to indicate which rifles fall under which category, therefore whoever ends up with them would have to buy them all. I am also rather dubious about the condition of these rifles, based on the Blue Sky rifles imported during the '80s. I have been assured by a very senior ROK NCO (and very close friend) that they are 'completely serviceable,' however, I have my doubts. Koreans are very frugal people - at least, those from older generations are. If something can still be used regardless of how worn out it is, they continue to use it. I would have to personally inspect every rifle involved before I accepted the claim that they're all serviceable. Then again, I've also heard that the asking price for these rifles is completely unreasonable.

[Earlwb]

Maybe 30 years ago I got a M1 that came back from South Korea. It was used a lot but still serviceable though. The barrel was worn some and thus it seemed to have barely passed the government accuracy test. I eventually sold it though. As others mentioned already the ones loaned to SK got returned eventually. The ones SK purchased though haven't come back.

[arlon]

Is there any way of telling where an M1 or carbine actually came from? I assume not.

[Thumbcocker]

I have a .30 carbine that is Blue Sky that has Korean writing on the sling. A Korean friend translated it for me saying it was issued to some sort of reserve unit or some such. It is worn but shoots boolits well. At the time I traded into it in the 90's I was complaining about having over $300 in it.

[fatelk]

I bought my Blue Sky carbine probably around 1989 I think, for $120 as I recall. The stock was garbage and there’s some pitting under the wood line (under newer parkerizing). The bore is good though, and I’ve shot thousands of rounds through it.

[Motor]

curator,

THANKS for the info. - I'm told that LOTS of H&R & IH Garands went directly to Turkey from those contractors & I have neither in my collection.

yours, tex

My son bought a service grade Garand from the CMP about 3 years ago. It's a H&R.

Motor

[WILCO]

Going way back to Bubba Clinton, he actually had thousands of M1s and thousands of M14s destroyed............

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/02/25...-firearms.html

Meet 'Captain Crunch,' the Pentagon gun muncher that has destroyed 1M firearms



Cody Derespina

By Cody Derespina
·Published February 25, 2016
· Fox News

It’s the place where military weapons go to die.


Once a weapon is marked for destruction, it is sent to Anniston Army Depot where it will more than likely spend its final moments being chomped apart by the military’s Grim Reaper for guns: "Captain Crunch."

The massive metal shredder has been in operation since the early 1990s and has used a pair of intertwined blades to chop up more than a million weapons during that time.

“There were days when approximately 2,500 weapons, mostly rifles that were deemed unserviceable, were shredded using Captain Crunch,” said Susan Lowe, a public affairs specialist for the Defense Logistics Agency, the overarching government organization that oversees the demilitarization work done at Anniston. “Approximately 500-600 pistols that were deemed unserviceable can be demilitarized in a day using Captain Crunch.”


Lowe said in an email to FoxNews.com that any small arm or light weapon in the military arsenal marked for destruction has probably passed through Anniston, which is the only small arms demilitarization center in the United States. Despite the huge number of weapons that flow into the facility, Lowe said Captain Crunch can be operated “with a minimum of two people.”

The Army Depot sits on a 25-square-mile tract of land about 10 miles outside Anniston, Ala. and about 60 miles east of Birmingham. The facility does more that destroy; it also repairs all manner of combat vehicles. But inside the Nichols Industrial Complex sits Captain Crunch.

No one seems to know who first coined the catchy moniker; however, it’s not difficult to imagine why it was devised. Completely intact weapons are loaded on a conveyor belt at the front of the machine, and by the time Captain Crunch spits them back out, they’ve been deconstructed into small, jagged metal scraps.

“We have one guy that throws ‘em in, feeds the Crunch,” said one operator, Jason Nail, during an interview for the History Channel series “Boneyard” in 2007. “At least two, if not three, other guys on the line make sure nothing don’t go where it’s not supposed to go. All the little pieces that come off – triggers, sights, bolts, etcetera – get thrown into the box. We take the box at the end, when we’re done using Captain Crunch, bring it to the torch cutting stations and light ‘em up.”

Rifles, though larger, are easier to destroy. Small weapons take more time because of the smaller parts and pieces that each must be sufficiently demolished.

Two types of weapons are sent to the shredder: those deemed “unserviceable” and those that are “obsolete.” The determinations are made by the individual military services that used the weapons.

Some items marked as “obsolete” are refurbished and sold to collectors through the Civilian Marksmanship Program in Anniston. Even some of the Captain Crunch operators, many of whom are gun enthusiasts in addition to gun destroyers, get a kick out of seeing some of the older weapons.

“It’s like Christmas,” property disposal specialist Jerrod Kirkpatrick said in a 2011 article for the Army’s website. “You open up a box and say, ‘I’ve never seen this before. What is this?’”

[NuJudge]

A recent Garand Collectors Association magazine had pictures of the Korean Garands. A large number of them were in sealed vertical storage cans, just as they left Springfield Armory after rebuild after WWII.

The Koreans apparently also have a LOT of M1 Carbines.

[10-x]

Heard a rumor about M1s from the Philippines coming in, anyone know anything?