Lots of M1 Garands at Amoskeag Auction coming up.

[Maxrobot]

I thought .22RF Remington Nylon 66s were going for more nowadays. They have a Mohawk Brown one starting at only $140. Ten years ago they were going for $495 all the way to $1,199.
I used to google to get estimates on the guns in my collection and I kept notes.

 

[me109g4]

Did you happen to look at the Krags?

Sorry l did not,, i know absolutely nothing about them.

 

[JoseyWales]

Quick question, when does this auction start? Their explanation is ambiguous. Does it start or end at 9am on 8/24?

 

[Mountain]

I thought .22RF Remington Nylon 66s were going for more nowadays. They have a Mohawk Brown one starting at only $140. Ten years ago they were going for $495 all the way to $1,199.
I used to google to get estimates on the guns in my collection and I kept notes.

Looks like they are now selling in the $200's on Gunbroker. All the listings at ~$400 plus are just sitting there.

 

[Rockrivr1]

Quick question, when does this auction start? Their explanation is ambiguous. Does it start or end at 9am on 8/24?

View attachment 911375

I think it starts at 9am with the first lot and it goes from there. It’s a full day as they auction off one piece at a time.

 

[PatMcD]

P.S. Firing the AR-15 was not as much fun. It was also disconcerting to hear the recoil spring rattle and resonate even when wearing earplugs and ear phone. Plus you couldn't use a traditional sling in shooting.

" ....couldn't use a traditional sling...."?

 

[Rockrivr1]

On lot 74 if anyone is watching!

 

[gerrycaruso]

Went with my son this morning because he wanted #15. There were only about a dozen people there which surprised me but one of them really wanted that rifle. It went for more than the expected high and the auction house gets another 20%. No bargain.

 

[Rockrivr1]

Had my eye, and bid, on one item but it started going up. I’ve been eyeing the damn thing for two weeks and bid up. No bargain but got it for going rate. Though the 20% will hurt. Stupid auctions. You get caught up.

 

[BigGreen2000]

Awesome that you were able to do that with your dad and great shooting by both of you. My dad taught me to shoot well and would take me shooting in my younger days. Miss him...

My match prepped Garands will all shoot 5-shot groups under 1.5" at 100 yards, some closer to an inch. Others I'm very happy to get 3", LOL. That fill the sight and re-drill trick is still commonly in use for vintage matches, whether M1 or other milsurp rifles with peep rear sights.

I agree that different M1's can have different 'personalities'. For me, it's more about the barrel condition, overall mechanical condition, and fitment of the stock rather than type of wood. I've learned probably most of the ins and outs for CMP legal 'as issued' match prep and once that's done, the M1's shoot similarly. A thorough fitting of the stock, new op rod spring, and good lube job goes a long way.

What’s your match-prep protocol?

 

[BigGreen2000]

Skimming through the catalog, I saw at least 5 Krags, plus a carbine made by cutting down a rifle. (Philippine scout?)
4 of them start at 425, one starts at 350.
Lots 582, 587, 585, 2046 I noted. I scribbled notes as I went through the listings mostly to get a handle on current prices. My dad sold our professionally reblued Krag when I was away.
Interestingly, there is a Remington Moisin nagant starting at 425, and a Finnish capture Westinghouse made M-N.

Those are decent prices for Krags

 

[gerrycaruso]

There's another one in November. The 23rd & 24th. Buy yourself a Christmas present.

 

[Rockrivr1]

There's another one in November. The 23rd & 24th. Buy yourself a Christmas present.

Dude! You’re killing me. I’m not looking.

 

[Maxrobot]

" ....couldn't use a traditional sling...."?

The AR-15 / M-16 upper sling swivel being attached to the barrel (as opposed to being fixed to a rifle stock) means that if a sling was used in the traditional way the barrel would no longer be "free floating" and in fact, may be bent out of alignment. When introduced, the Army did not recommend using the sling as a firing aid.

 

[Maxrobot]

What’s your match-prep protocol?

A combination of glass bedding, brass shims and lead weights in the buttstock compartment plus trigger shoe. . National Match parts in some places. I still have our two leather mitts and the heavy leather sling my dad used. I mostly used the green canvas GI M1 sling. I have yellow tinted and green tinted shooting glasses. Also leather army boots for ankle support.

 

[BigGreen2000]

A combination of glass bedding, brass shims and lead weights in the buttstock compartment plus trigger shoe. . National Match parts in some places. I still have out two leather mitts and the heavy leather sling my dad used. I mostly used the green canvas GI M1 sling. I have yellow tinted and green tinted shooting glasses. Also leather army boots for ankle support.

What level of accuracy do you get? I'm trying to guage how well me and my Garand perform. I haven't shot in a meet, yet. My setup is a CMP 5 mil S.A. Garand, MFG 1954 with a 1955 S.A. barrel, other parts mostly correct. I did all the "CMP match legal" work like free-float the handguard, peen over the gas cylinder, etc. 2 MOA with Lake City NM ammo and about the same with my hand-loads.

 

[PatMcD]

The AR-15 / M-16 upper sling swivel being attached to the barrel (as opposed to being fixed to a rifle stock) means that if a sling was used in the traditional way the barrel would no longer be "free floating" and in fact, may be bent out of alignment. When introduced, the Army did not recommend using the sling as a firing aid.

It actually can be used very effectively with a sling, however the shooter needs to be very aware of maintaining consistent tension, shot to shot, to avoid "bending" into an inconsistency.
Of course, we all use floating tubes to eliminate that issue these days.

 

[me109g4]

Having examining some of those Garands there were some pretty good ones in excellent condition. If l was in the market there were two that really got my attention, and both went for reasonable $$.

 

[Rockrivr1]

There was a very nice Springfield Armory 1898 Krag that I bid on. I think it was the best one in the lot of them. Unfortunately so did many others. They bid that thing up over $1200.

I found a Krag afterwards in the action way down at the end of the auction that I bid on and won. Much cheaper than the first one I bid on.

 

[Maxrobot]

What level of accuracy do you get? I'm trying to guage how well me and my Garand perform. I haven't shot in a meet, yet. My setup is a CMP 5 mil S.A. Garand, MFG 1954 with a 1955 S.A. barrel, other parts mostly correct. I did all the "CMP match legal" work like free-float the handguard, peen over the gas cylinder, etc. 2 MOA with Lake City NM ammo and about the same with my hand-loads.

My Dad qualified Distinguished expert with an M1 in the National Match Course. I recall that at 100 yards the prone shooting bullseye is/was 3 inches (MR-3?) and I recall it had two rings in it. Note- that was not bench rest shooting. I qualified Expert. I still have my shooting jacket.

 

[T-Unit]

I think these c&r guns value will fall off a cliff at some point.
People who value garands, whether because their dad/grand dad carried one or just b/c they’re ww2 fanboys are dying off.

Thing about the C&R guns is they're not making most of them anymore. If I could go back in time and tell a 21 year old me to buy a Nagant revolver for $150, I would, but those are all gone now and the asking prices are north of $400 and nobody buys them at that price so they just sit.

Where prices will crash is something like the Mosin rifles because once the cheap ammo supply dries up, people are looking at being stuck with what is a pretty terrible bolt action rifle that will cost a buck a round to feed. Same thing happened to the Tokarev, when the cheap ammo was all blasted thru people sold them.

I give it 10 years and we'll be seeing Mosins selling at Carcano prices.

Same cycle happens with classic cars.
The 40s-50’s bomer mobiles aren’t nostalgic to most of today’s buyers, who are GenX and want the cars they had when young.

I remember years ago listening to local talk radio and the host was doing the typical Boomer moaning and groaning about how people are taking advantage of the antique license plates using them on 90s Honda Civics and evading the inspection sticker requirement and only having to pay $5 for the registration.

I don't have a problem with it, if a person has a 25 yr old car and is still willing to pay for the maintenance to keep that on the road, I give them credit and they should drive it as much as they want without having to deal with emissions nonsense.

You're correct in that what is an antique or classic car to someone in their 60s and 70s is going to be totally different to someone in their 20s and 30s. For me, a Geo is a classic car because when I was a kid I saw them all the time. My grandfather had a hard on for 80s Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera's and he bought at least half a dozen of those, one being a station wagon I have memories of. I wish I could find an 80s station wagon because they don't make wagons like that anymore.

That's the future of classic/antique cars. Boomers can cry all they want, that's all they seem to want to do these days anyway.

 

[dcmdon]

It actually can be used very effectively with a sling, however the shooter needs to be very aware of maintaining consistent tension, shot to shot, to avoid "bending" into an inconsistency.
Of course, we all use floating tubes to eliminate that issue these days.

I have much less experience here than some of the service rifle match shooters. But my experience is that the negative of an AR sling attaching to the barrel is NOTHIN compared to the need to bed any Garand or M14/M1A that is going to see serious target work.

The. A2HBar has a pretty thick barrel and I can shoot mine pretty accurately with my reloads and factory sights.

The first CMP match I went to I showed up with a plastic stocked M1A scout squad. I was totally clueless. Someone took pity on me and let me use their custom M1A match gun.

I was instructed to handle it like fine china. I was told that if it was allowed to fall on the rack or get bumped the wrong way, it would negate hours of fitting work.
Time and experience have taught me that this was an exaggeration. But it is still much much harder to make the traditional guns accurate than it is to make an AR accurate.

Especially for a true match gun. You have been able to get an "invisible" free float tube that accepts A2 hand guards for 30 years. That eliminates any sling forces on the barrel.
The AR is just so easy. If you put a decent stainless barrel in a decent upper with a decent bolt, and feed it decent ammo, it's a 1 moa gun.

With green tips it's a 2-3 moa gun.

 

[Rockrivr1]

Thing about the C&R guns is they're not making most of them anymore. If I could go back in time and tell a 21 year old me to buy a Nagant revolver for $150, I would, but those are all gone now and the asking prices are north of $400 and nobody buys them at that price so they just sit.

Where prices will crash is something like the Mosin rifles because once the cheap ammo supply dries up, people are looking at being stuck with what is a pretty terrible bolt action rifle that will cost a buck a round to feed. Same thing happened to the Tokarev, when the cheap ammo was all blasted thru people sold them.

I give it 10 years and we'll be seeing Mosins selling at Carcano prices.


I remember years ago listening to local talk radio and the host was doing the typical Boomer moaning and groaning about how people are taking advantage of the antique license plates using them on 90s Honda Civics and evading the inspection sticker requirement and only having to pay $5 for the registration.

I don't have a problem with it, if a person has a 25 yr old car and is still willing to pay for the maintenance to keep that on the road, I give them credit and they should drive it as much as they want without having to deal with emissions nonsense.

You're correct in that what is an antique or classic car to someone in their 60s and 70s is going to be totally different to someone in their 20s and 30s. For me, a Geo is a classic car because when I was a kid I saw them all the time. My grandfather had a hard on for 80s Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera's and he bought at least half a dozen of those, one being a station wagon I have memories of. I wish I could find an 80s station wagon because they don't make wagons like that anymore.

That's the future of classic/antique cars. Boomers can cry all they want, that's all they seem to want to do these days anyway.

I was bitten by the Swiss rifle bug long after you could buy on for $125. Paid significantly more when I started looking. Still kick myself for not buying more C&Rs and the golden days of that are long gone.

 

[gerrycaruso]

Never shot a K31 but I have a 1911 that came just before it. It's even more accurate than my Swedish Mausers and has the best trigger of any military rifle I've ever fired. Straight pull is much faster than turn bolt, but never caught on here.