I picked up a little sweetheart a day ago. I was in my usual Johnsons Sporting goods in Adrian MI and was just about to leave..I hadnt seen anything that caught my eye and was saying goodbye to my man Smiddy in there when I turned and saw her. A “tanker” model M1 Garand:) I’ve always admired those carbine versions of “the greatest single battle implement ever devised by man.” This little girl is in great shape. At 800$ I figured if I didnt like it I could recoup my money on gunbroker.com as they regularly sell for more. So we went home together.

As you can see its a beauty. Great wood, only a tiny knick or 2. A good even parkerizing job over all the metal. I havent torn her apart yet except to look at the trigger group but so far it looks like all USGI parts. Of course its a parts gun…HIGHLY unlikely you will find an original T-26…unless its in a museum. I ended up with a Springfield Armory (SA) receiver, a SA bolt, SA op rod and a H&R trigger group. I dont know about the gas tube or the barrel. I need to remove the wood and look for a barrel marking just to satisfy my curiosity. The springs are all very strong and feel new. I have another Garand to compare it too. This rifle seems to be a recent build or at least one showing no appreciable use. My old full size shows a ton of use. this tanker feels tight, strong and new. Everything feels perfect and I am quite pleased with her.

Now a bit on the history….very few of these were ever made period…there seems to be some conflicting stories…(lots of argueing)…. anyway with the war in the pacific coming to an end the project was scrapped..From what I gather though there is 1…just 1…original rifle left and its in the Springfield Armory Museum… Well apparently people wanted them as SA made some for awhile and some other companies did kits and then there was Federal Ordnance making one…if their Garands are anything like their 1911′s I would disassemble it and make a windchime out of the parts. What a junkpile my one and only Federal Ordnance was. So lets just save all the fighting and say that if you have one…its probably a copy for civilian use. Many were also in 308 incidently but this one is an ’06.

Anyway, moving forward my excuse for purchasing this rifle was simple…I am going on a hog hunt…I know about as much about hunting as I know about brain surguery. Unless your wearing a man-dress, smell bad, have dirty sandaled feet and are toting an ak-47 screaming “allah achbar” I have no idea how to hunt you. If you have 4 legs or wings I’m lost. This hunt I am told will be in dense weeds and trees. So I wanted a “brushgun”…. Of course I have stuff that will do the trick (DSA Para Fal in 308) but its all “tactical” stuff…and I need a “hunting rifle” LOL:) so there you go…my excuse.

So off to the range Jack the Dog and I went. With 5 enbloc clips of 8 rounds each. 3 clips of Lake City USGI ball ammo from the 70′s and 2 clips of Federal 180 grain softpoint ammo I thought would be good for hog killin’. I do want to say I have been having some eye trouble the last few months and I havent been seeing so good without a scope. This was iron sites and I couldnt see the damn paper plates well enough at 100 to shoot at them:( so I moved forward to 50 yards…I know..not that far but I couldnt see the target well enough to give the rifle a fair accuracy test. Even then I kept getting watery eyed from straining to focus. Anyway as best as I can tell this rifle will shoot very well. If it turns out otherwise later I will update after I get glasses. I have pics with the ball ammo, best, worst and average groups. So at 50 yards double them…The best group was pretty good and I feel that the thing lacking here was me…I do feel like the rifle is capable of 1.5-2 MOA. I really do. I think I short changed her today. The best group was pretty close and the average wasnt bad. I mean really the worst one wasnt THAT bad…with the old ball ammo. I think with better loads and somebody who isnt blind we can tighten those up a bit.

Now the federal 180 soft point was a whole other story…I couldnt hit crap with those…she doesnt like them one bit. I only managed to get 2 rounds to ever hit the paper…and they were pretty far apart. I gave up on that stuff. I’ll find something else for my hog killin’. Maybe too heavy a bullet for the short barrel?? wrong twist?? dont know…I just know theres no more reason to waste that ammo on that rifle.

Anyway you can see the groups and overall I am happy with it. I think it shoots strait and it was flawless in operation so far. Only 40 rounds but its a start. I feel that to make me happy reliability wise I need to see the first 200 rounds go downrange without a hitch and without cleaning…I will then clean a gun but want to see the next 300 go off without an issue as well. I dont care if they all go at once or over 10 trips as long as we get from round 201 to 500 without a failure…thats just my rule to satisfy myself that the weapon is sound and ready for whatever I use it for. Also that I am familiar enough with it to employ it properly. If I cant find a damn good reason for a failure…like operator error or bad ammo or magazine then I get concerned and start looking for a problem with the gun…thats just me though.

Well I guess that pretty well wraps it up…this thing is a beauty and I really like it. I think its a sound, accurate rifle and its a Garand! That in itself is a compliment. I think the shorter look is awesome! More importantly than that though it handles very well, snaps up quickly and on target and is overall a tad bit “handier” than the fullsize. I like carbines more often than not. I think this rifle is a keeper. If you see one priced right and it doesnt say Federal Ordance on it I say go ahead and treat yourself. As always thanks for reading and happy shooting.

By: Cary Kieffer