kuhnhausen garand book, and accessories

[MeestaSparkle]

Hey,
Anyone have this book? It's kind of expensive at 50 dollars, is it worth it? I just bought a garand and am interested in doing some accurizing and what-not work on it.

Also, would like a ammo belt and stuff like that. Anyone know where I could get one. Northridge and IMA have repro's for $35, how much would an original cost? Are those repro's good quality?

THanks

[garandsrus]

MeestaSparkle,

Have fun with your Garand! I have a book by Roy Baumgardner called "Precision Shooting With the M1 Garand" that is pretty good. Keep in mind that if you plan to shoot CMP "As Issued" Garand matches, you are limited in what you can change.

I can send you a couple empty ammo bandoliers...

John

[sturf]

I bought Kuhuhausens' book years ago. Yes it"s worth it.

[10-x]

MeestaSparkle,
Original WWII GI cartridge belts (MDL 1923's or MDL 1944's)in good condition will run you some serious $$, $75.00-$100.00+, ratty ones are naturally less. On the other hand Korean War vintage (MDL 1944's), dated in the 50's are usually $50.00 or so. Repro belts are JUNK for the most part, you may want to look for a well used WWII one.
Of course it all depends on what you are planing to do with the belt, wear it to matches(get a Korean War one) or display with your Garand (get a decent WWII one) . Also you may get bitten by the collecting bug and want a canteen,cup and cover, carlisle bandage pouch with bandage and maybe some other goodies to hang on the cartridge belt.
eBay sux and has shot themselves in the foot with their rate increases so I dont send anyone there. Might try a local gun/military show to find one.
Feel free to PM me and will be glad to give you some pointers, been collecting WWI-WWI GI stuff for almost 30 years.
Good Luck:-D

[osage]

MeestaSparkle

I have Kuhuhausens' 30cal service rifle book on my buy list. I found his M1 carbine shop manual to be invaluable. I was able to solve a few issue with my carbine making it fun to shoot instead of a PITA.

[MGD]

I have several of the Kuhuhausen manuals, thay are all worth the money Excellent books.

[MeestaSparkle]

Thanks for the replies guys, I appreciate it. I'll go ahead and pick up the book.

I actually sold my ar15 to buy this. I just love the old rifles too much! I'd like to get into serious collecting but I could not justify the expense being in school (i have a couple things like a korean war helmet and some ww2 leggings, aside from my other ww2 rifles) I think right now all I want is an ammo belt (one of the one's 10-x mentioned) .. I'd settle for something cheaper (but at least some quality) and just ww2-esque for now. I plan too take this beast out and compete with the ar boys in a local summer match and need something to hold my clips. I was just at the gun show this weekend and unfortunately did not find any belts. Do you know of any good online sources? Google did not yield much for me.

[10-x]

MeestaSparkle,
Sounds as you ought to consider a MDL 43/44 belt. The MDL 1923 was developed from MDL 1910-18 belts used in WWI. The 23 has a 1/2' wide web retaining strap inside each pocket to hold 1 of the stripper clips of 5 rnds. Remember we used the 03 through WWII. Due to wartime emergencies in MFG the US did'nt bother changing the cartrige belt until 1943 when all the new gear came out, Boots, jackets, packs ECT. Thus the 1943/44 had no retaining strap since the garand uses the thicker clip of 8 rnds. This belt was used till the M-14 was issued.

Unsure of your 20 as not all gun shows "draw" militaria dealers. Be careful of any online sources for GI web gear, it has been re-proed big time ever since the movie Saving Private Ryan. Original GI web gear is somewhat stiffer, thicker and feels different than re-pro ones.
Might check the gun auction site "A.A." or "F.T.H." as cartridge belts are listed in their militaria sections.
Good Luck.

[dmftoy1]

"Whatpriceglory.com" has repro ammo belts that look brand new and I can't tell them from the real thing other than they're made for fat guys. (they'll expand to 48 inches instead of the 44 of the originals. FWIW. (I think they were made for "Band of Brothers")

Regards,
Dave