War rifles of my grandfathers

[C-grunt]

Both of my grandfathers were in WW2. They were a large driving force of why I joined the Army myself.

My Grandpa (on my father's side) served in the Army in India and Burma. He served as a MP/security soldier for air bases they were building to bomb the Japanese forces in China and mainland Asia. He was injured in a typhoon, when the building he was in collapsed and crushed him. He had a lot of reconstructive surgery to one of his legs and didn't walk for over a year.

His main issued rifle was a M1 Garand. Though he didn't want to carry it as he found it too heavy. He wasn't a large man. I posted a funny story in another thread about him trying to get out of carrying the Garand. What did smaller soldiers do?

My Papa (my mother's father) Served in the Marine Corps during WW2. He was on many of the islands but saw the bulk of combat on Peleliu, where he was involved in the beach landings. He has some pics from the battle which I unfortunately do not have at this time. He spoke very little of his time in the Marines and only ever told me two main stories. The first was that he was part of the body burial teams after the battle and had to bury many many Japanese soldiers. The second story was how they would get strafed by the Japanese planes. They had concrete bunkers to hide in, but one time the bunker was way over packed. He was the last one to get to it, so he could only stick his head and shoulders in. He joked that "the Japanese were going to shoot my butt off".

The only other thing my Papa would talk about is that he was issued a 1903 Springfield rifle. He had a fondness of that rifle

A few years back I decided I wanted to buy a Garand and a 1903 to add to my collection. Something to kind of honor their service. Unfortunately both had passed away before I came up with this idea.

I bought a M1 Garand about a year ago. It a mid 1950s model that has been factory refurbished and has a new stock from the CMP. 1903s have been hard to come by the last few years unless you want to spend a bunch of money. Luckily last week I arranged a trade with a local friend and was able to pick up a 1931 year 1903 Springfield that is in excellent shape. It has a High Standard 11-44 barrel and Im assuming a refurbished stock as it has very little wear on it.

Now once we get some decent weather here in Phoenix Ill take these old war horses out and run them through their paces.

M1 by chase, on Flickr

M1 by chase, on Flickr

20210617_154942 by chase, on Flickr

 

[jonnyc]

Nice. And fortunately you only need one caliber!

 

[Mk-211]

Man that 1903 is a beauty compared to mine! I have a 1903 from 1921, has a star gauged barrel and shoots true!

It's a little rough around the edges but she really shines at the range. I need to take some pics of her, that way I can post them.

ETA: My grandfather was in WWII, he served on the Yorktown. My uncle took him to see the original Midway movie. Uncle said that my Grandfather got up and walked out, he said they got it wrong!

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

Nice. And fortunately you only need one caliber!

Well, sorta. The Garand should only be fired with M2 Ball or equivalent unless the gas cylinder plug is modified. A double heat-treated or nickel steel 1903 (such as a '31) should be safe with any commercial '06 ammunition.

Gorgeous rifles, OP! Try fitting the Springfield with a front sight hood- it vastly improves the sight picture and makes it much easier to aquire the front blade.

Both my Grandfathers served in the Pacific. One passed before I was born, and the other would not talk about it at all. He served on Leyte and Okinawa and, according to Grandma, was involved in both hand-to-hand combat and strafing attacks.

I asked him once what kind of rifle he carried, and all he would say was, "I dont remember."

I do have pictures of him in Basic with a Garand, but being an Engineer, he would have probably been issued a Carbine or 1911.

 

[RMH]

Both of my grandfathers were in WW2. They were a large driving force of why I joined the Army myself.

My Grandpa (on my father's side) served in the Army in India and Burma. He served as a MP/security soldier for air bases they were building to bomb the Japanese forces in China and mainland Asia. He was injured in a typhoon, when the building he was in collapsed and crushed him. He had a lot of reconstructive surgery to one of his legs and didn't walk for over a year.

His main issued rifle was a M1 Garand. Though he didn't want to carry it as he found it too heavy. He wasn't a large man. I posted a funny story in another thread about him trying to get out of carrying the Garand. What did smaller soldiers do?

My Papa (my mother's father) Served in the Marine Corps during WW2. He was on many of the islands but saw the bulk of combat on Peleliu, where he was involved in the beach landings. He has some pics from the battle which I unfortunately do not have at this time. He spoke very little of his time in the Marines and only ever told me two main stories. The first was that he was part of the body burial teams after the battle and had to bury many many Japanese soldiers. The second story was how they would get strafed by the Japanese planes. They had concrete bunkers to hide in, but one time the bunker was way over packed. He was the last one to get to it, so he could only stick his head and shoulders in. He joked that "the Japanese were going to shoot my butt off".

The only other thing my Papa would talk about is that he was issued a 1903 Springfield rifle. He had a fondness of that rifle

A few years back I decided I wanted to buy a Garand and a 1903 to add to my collection. Something to kind of honor their service. Unfortunately both had passed away before I came up with this idea.

I bought a M1 Garand about a year ago. It a mid 1950s model that has been factory refurbished and has a new stock from the CMP. 1903s have been hard to come by the last few years unless you want to spend a bunch of money. Luckily last week I arranged a trade with a local friend and was able to pick up a 1931 year 1903 Springfield that is in excellent shape. It has a High Standard 11-44 barrel and Im assuming a refurbished stock as it has very little wear on it.

Now once we get some decent weather here in Phoenix Ill take these old war horses out and run them through their paces.

View attachment 1006454M1 by chase, on Flickr

View attachment 1006455M1 by chase, on Flickr

View attachment 100645620210617_154942 by chase, on Flickr

If you are interested, our local gun shop up here in Kingman Az , has Korean War vintage bandoliers of ammo for your 1903. I think it is LC 53 in strippers.

Congratulations on such nice finds.

 

[Jim Watson]

Lake City ball was all noncorrosive by 1952, AP by 1953.

 

[AlexanderA]

.....was able to pick up a 1931 year 1903 Springfield that is in excellent shape. It has a High Standard 11-44 barrel and I'm assuming a refurbished stock

It looks like the rear sight was changed (probably at the time it was rebarreled). The original rear sight base had lightening scallops along the sides. These were eliminated in the WW2 Remington production, starting in 1942. Yours has the late cylindrical rear sight base.

The stock looks like it has a crack at the comb. And you're right that it's a replacement stock. Look for a "K" (for Keystone) stamped in the cutoff recess. A stock with that much figure in the butt probably would not have passed a prewar inspection. They were looking for straight-grained wood for the full length.

The sling is not set up correctly. (The brass hook should be toward the outside.) https://thecmp.org/1907-sling-installation/

 

[lemaymiami]

For Nightlord... my Dad was Engineers, 1942 to 1970... started as an enlisted volunteer (the way so many young men did back then) but became an officer and turned it into a career... Those engineers had so many different jobs and situations that whatever they were issued might not have been what they actually carried in the way of personal arms - if they had a weapon with them at all on some jobs...

There's some great footage of Engineers at the Remagen bridge in Germany towards the end of WWII, working as hard as they could to repair the bridge while the other side was trying to destroy it... Pretty sure most of the casualties when that bridge finally dropped were Engineers as well.. Amazing young men then - and I'm sure today's Engineers aren't much different ...

 

[Riomouse911]

Those rifles are a very nice tribute to your family members who sacrificed so much for us all.

I have three relatives who served in WWII, but all admitted that they did not see the brutal service in combat so many others did.

My Mother’s Father served in the USMC as a 2nd Lt. He was deployed to Kodiak Island (as he put it), “To repel the Japanese invasion of the Alaskan mainland that never came.” He spent the entire war there, fortunately never being redeployed to a more violent assignment.

My Wife’s Grandfather signed up for the Army Air Corps, but ended up as a lead ferry pilot bringing airplanes from the factories to the coasts to be sent overseas. If I remember right, I think it was primarily Grumman Wildcat, Hellcat and Avenger aircraft he flew West, as these were built in New York but often fought in the Pacific. He often flew West coast-built planes back to New York, then back again. As the war went on he told me that most of his crew were female WASP pilots, as the males were sent to fight.

My Great Uncle came to the US from Scotland as a 13 year old in 1912. In December of 1941 he went to the recruitment office and signed up at 42 years old and was accepted in the Army. (He told me he said to the recruiters, “Someone has to type the forms” when they asked why he was there.) He was a stateside private working as a clerk until wars end I. 1945... where he mustered out and went to work for Las Vegas PD as a patrolman until 1965.

Again, you have assembled a fitting tribute! Let us know how they shoot for you when the temps drop out of the triple digits .

Stay safe.

 

[herrwalther]

I don't know of any family member of mine that served in WW2. Long line of farmer deferments. I broke a long tradition in enlisting myself. I have had the fortune of meeting several WW2 soldiers. One of the most memorable was James Burt that received the Medal of Honor for his role in the Battle of Aachen. It is one thing to read about heroism in a medal citation. It is another entirely to hear it from the man himself over some whiskey, soldier to soldier. I cherish the stories told from such a war.

 

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

My maternal grandfather never served. My paternal grandfather (never met him, alas) was a Marine 1896-1902, so a Lee Navy would commemorate him.

 

[dh1633pm]

Both look like they are in excellent condition. Great way to honor ones service.

 

[chicharrones]

My grandfathers that were in WWII weren't combat troops, so they didn't tell me anything about weaponry.

One had some physical problems, but had construction experience, which would explain why he was a Seabee in the Pacific theater.

The other was in the Civilian Pilot Training Program before the US was in the war. He ended up flying C-87s with the USAAF in the China-Burma-India theater. Once his tour was up, he returned to the US as a USAAF flight instructor for 2 and 4 engined aircraft.

The year before my pilot grandpa passed, he told me his stories of being in Asia and we went page by page through his old flight log.

 

[theotherwaldo]

My Mother's father served in the trenches in the First World War, along with his twin brother. Both got a whiff of the mustard gas and survived. Both died in 1939 from unrelated causes.
Mother's foster father was an Army officer's cook in a training camp stateside.
Dad's family was a bunch of 4-F hillbillies and never served.
Dad joined the Marines, became a DI that taught hand-to-hand combat, then became a forward observer that went ashore at Inchon attached to an Army unit. After the unit got far enough inland and the weather closed in, Dad served as a sniper by default.
He purely loved the Garand.
I keep one in his memory.
Dad never really came all of the way home.
He always stayed in some kind of trouble until the day he died.

 

[CapnMac]

These things can be deep. One grandfather was NG for WWI and was Texas State Guard for WWII. The other grandfather was a snipe in the USN. My grandmother's brother was lost over Ploesti; over her 5 sisters: WREN, WAC, WM, and WASP.

 

[wiscoaster]

Both my grandfathers were young immigrant lads in between wars, so they didn't serve. My dad served in WW II in both theaters. I once asked him what rifle he carried (hoping to generate a conversation about my M1 Garand). He replied, "Oh, just a regular rifle". And didn't seem interested in extending the conversation on that topic. So, I still have no idea what he carried. And he's since passed, so I guess I'll never know. Still, it helps to remember him whenever I shoot any of my U.S. military rifles.

View attachment 1007138

 

[AlexanderA]

My late father-in-law started the war in the North African Theater, where he was a motorcycle courier. He was issued a Thompson, but swapped it for an M1 Garand, because the Thompson wasn't good at longer ranges. In Tunisia, on the motorcycle, he hit an oil slick on the road and was badly injured. While recuperating in a hospital in Alexandria, Egypt, he was recruited by the OSS and trained for air drops. (This was because of his language knowledge.) Then he spent the next year in occupied Greece and Albania, as part of a liaison team fighting with local guerillas. That service earned him a Silver Star.

 

[KsSkaEnthusiast]

It is amazing some of the stories that come from those times. My grandfathers uncle was a pilot and was shot down over Germany. I'm quite hazy on the details but he survived as a POW before returning home completely changed. Never really lived a fulfilling life after what he had seen and gone through from what I heard.

 

[22250Rem]

My paternal grandfathers era was WW 1 and he served in the Canadian Army. Canadian Machine Gun Corps to be exact. He passed when I was about 10 and I've done some research on his service record through a Canadian government web site. He was in France from the summer of 1917 right up until the end of the war; with most of the time being spent in the trenches. Which means he would have seen an awful lot of Lee-Enfield No. 1, Mark 3's and probably not too many of the Ross rifles Canada was using earlier in that conflict. I picked up that model Lee-Enfield back in the 90's and enjoyed it a lot. Always felt a connection to those because of their WW 1 service to Canada coupled with my grandfathers service. Over the last few years I've been thinning out the gun collection in my retirement and I put that rifle into the local auctioneers place in the fall of 2019.... I've regretted it ever since. I miss that rifle; it was imported in the early 1990's from Australia and had been completely rebuilt and re-barreled by them on a 1917 BSA receiver. At least I still have lots of photos of it so I can reminisce about another one of those that I'm kicking myself for selling.. .. ...

 

[GunnyUSMC]

I only have one great uncle, on my Dad’s side, that served in WWII as a Marine in the island hopping campaign. He never made it home. I did find an old photo of a relative in a WWI uniform. The writing on the back of the photo was in my Grandmother’s handwriting, but the name and date were not clear enough to make out.
I had two uncles on my mother’s side that served in the Navy. One was killed stateside in an accident on a loading dock.
I had an uncle on my mother’s side that was in the Korean War. He was an MP in the Army. He never talked about the war, but had a distaste for Mariners. When I visited my grandmother, after I became a Marine, I went to my uncle’s bar. He started on how he hated the Marine Corps and said that all they did there was make movies. The conversation became heated and family members had to step in before things got really ugly. That uncle died about 12 years later, I don’t remember us ever saying another word to each other since the argument.
Your rifles look nice. It appears that you’re M1 Garand has a Hackberry stock. You can refinish it to make it look like walnut. Here’s a link to a topic that will tell you how to do it.
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/cmp-hackberry-garand-stock.836844/

 

[Rojack]

I'm obviously older than the previous posters whose grandfathers served in WW2, since my paternal grandfather served in the Army in WW1. His service ended when was gassed by the Germans, which caused him serious lung problems the rest of his life. I don't know what rifle he carried, although odds are it was an American Enfield since more of those were issued than 1903 Springfields. Since he was a regular infantryman, his sidearm was probably a Model 1917 revolver since it is my understanding that 1911s were issued mostly to officers (and some artillerymen?), Sgt York to the contrary notwithstanding. Alas, I don't own either a .30-06 Enfield or M1917 revolver.

 

[lemaymiami]

I do know a bit about my Dad's background... He was a Depression era kid who graduated high school early so he could go to work and support his mom (my grandmother who passed away when I was in basic training, 1968..). His first job was on a river boat (he grew up near Memphis) then he moved through a succession of jobs, mechanic, pest control, etc before finally landing a job working for Pan Am as a job supervisor building airstrips in South America and Africa - before the war... This was a time when a few Americans would have a big crew of native workers, a few heavy construction machines - but mostly hand laborers. Anything that broke down had to be fixed with no parts coming so you really needed to be skilled with keeping stuff working...

As a result when he volunteered for the service in 1942 - he was exactly what the Corps of Engineers were looking for... and eventually he made it a career... I was born in Germany after the war - as a direct result... wish he were still around..

 

[Speedo66]

My immigrant maternal grandfather was infantry in WWI, got gassed, and eventually died of lung cancer. No doubt his 3 pack a day habit didn't help.

As a very young child I asked him what he did in the war, he told me he shot bears.

My father served as armored infantry in some of the nastier European combat zones in WWII, earned a bronze star. My mother said right after the war he suffered some from what they then called "battle fatigue", but I saw no evidence as a child. He was not a fan of shooting, and wouldn't talk much about his war experiences.

He did say, when I asked about his rifle preferences, that he didn't like Carbines because of their short range and comparative lack of power compared to M-1's, and "grease guns" jammed too much. He was a pretty big guy, the weight differences probably wouldn't have mattered to him.

I wish I would have formally interviewed him and gotten more information about his experiences before he passed away.

 

[Grumpy_old_Fart]

my maternal grandfather served in ww1, my paternal in ww2. I have a portrait of my grandfather with a 1917 enfield that he hunted with that had been sporterized or "bubba'd" . The photo was taken in the late 60s at Montgomery Wards. He had rebarreled the rifle to 25-06, and it was the first rifle I ever saw with a muzzle compensator. He was only 5 feet tall, and he could carry that rifle about anywhere. We never talked about his war experiences, and though he died in 1993, I didnt get a chance to dig into it with him. He was 93. My paternal grandfather died before I was born.

 

[WVsig]

Not a rifle but I bought a CMP 1911 so I could gift it to my father in law who served as a Marine in Vietnam. That United States Property rollmark meant a lot to him.