Post by VeeVee on Oct 3, 2008 16:35:54 GMT -5
www.armytimes.com/news/2008/09/ap_m1garand_092108/
Man tracks down M1 rifle used by dad in Korea
The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Sep 23, 2008 9:34:12 EDT
DAVISON TOWNSHIP, Mich. — As gifts go, Jim Richardson’s choice for his father’s 79th birthday was a long shot.
Virgil Richardson hadn’t seen the M1 Garand .30-caliber rifle he carried since his time as a soldier during the Korean War.
But after getting the weapon’s serial number from his father, Jim Richardson tracked the weapon online to a Kentucky gun broker and had it shipped to a Saginaw gun shop a month before Virgil Richardson’s birthday.
The Winchester-manufactured Garand now is tucked away in the den of his father’s Davison Township home.
“I couldn’t even talk when he gave it to me,” Virgil Richardson told The Flint Journal. “It didn’t even have to be the same gun to be important to me.”
About 7 million of the sturdy rifles were produced during the Korean War period. The gun broker didn’t believe the serial number matched, said Jim Richardson, 54, of Saginaw County’s Frankenmuth, about 70 miles northwest of Detroit.
“After the war, the soldiers couldn’t bring the rifles back with them,” Jim Richardson said. “They stayed in Korea (until the 1980s), when they were able to be imported back to the United States.”
A Davison Township gun expert equates the difficulty in finding the same rifle to “hitting the lottery.”
“I’ve heard stories about people who used those guns during the war and wanted to get another one, but someone finding the exact serial number, it’s just extraordinary — just phenomenal,” Matt Webb said.
Jim Richardson won’t say exactly how much he spent, but some collectors have paid as much as $3,000.
Virgil Richardson served from 1951-53 as an Army radio operator in the 25th Infantry Division. But when he speaks of the war, the General Motors Corp. retiree often mentions the rifle’s accuracy and dependability, as well as his own marksmanship.
“My sister lives in the country, and it came up that you could shoot a deer right from the deck of her home,” Jim Richardson said. “Dad made a comment that he could hit a silhouette target at 500 yards without a scope. Most people can’t see that far without a scope.”
Virgil Richardson said he’ll wait until his Oct. 26 birthday to shoot the weapon.
“What shocked me the most is how very heavy it is,” he said. “I have trouble now holding it up and aiming it. I guess they were made for 20- and 21-year-olds.”
Man tracks down M1 rifle used by dad in Korea
The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Sep 23, 2008 9:34:12 EDT
DAVISON TOWNSHIP, Mich. — As gifts go, Jim Richardson’s choice for his father’s 79th birthday was a long shot.
Virgil Richardson hadn’t seen the M1 Garand .30-caliber rifle he carried since his time as a soldier during the Korean War.
But after getting the weapon’s serial number from his father, Jim Richardson tracked the weapon online to a Kentucky gun broker and had it shipped to a Saginaw gun shop a month before Virgil Richardson’s birthday.
The Winchester-manufactured Garand now is tucked away in the den of his father’s Davison Township home.
“I couldn’t even talk when he gave it to me,” Virgil Richardson told The Flint Journal. “It didn’t even have to be the same gun to be important to me.”
About 7 million of the sturdy rifles were produced during the Korean War period. The gun broker didn’t believe the serial number matched, said Jim Richardson, 54, of Saginaw County’s Frankenmuth, about 70 miles northwest of Detroit.
“After the war, the soldiers couldn’t bring the rifles back with them,” Jim Richardson said. “They stayed in Korea (until the 1980s), when they were able to be imported back to the United States.”
A Davison Township gun expert equates the difficulty in finding the same rifle to “hitting the lottery.”
“I’ve heard stories about people who used those guns during the war and wanted to get another one, but someone finding the exact serial number, it’s just extraordinary — just phenomenal,” Matt Webb said.
Jim Richardson won’t say exactly how much he spent, but some collectors have paid as much as $3,000.
Virgil Richardson served from 1951-53 as an Army radio operator in the 25th Infantry Division. But when he speaks of the war, the General Motors Corp. retiree often mentions the rifle’s accuracy and dependability, as well as his own marksmanship.
“My sister lives in the country, and it came up that you could shoot a deer right from the deck of her home,” Jim Richardson said. “Dad made a comment that he could hit a silhouette target at 500 yards without a scope. Most people can’t see that far without a scope.”
Virgil Richardson said he’ll wait until his Oct. 26 birthday to shoot the weapon.
“What shocked me the most is how very heavy it is,” he said. “I have trouble now holding it up and aiming it. I guess they were made for 20- and 21-year-olds.”