airbornetrooper
Active Member
I enjoy collecting historical firearms, but I also enjoy researching the history of the firearms themselves. Usually this is not possible. The history of individual weapons (or whole shipments) tends to wash away with the sands of time. There are notable exceptions, Finnish Mosin-Nagants with stock discs, hang tags, and Civil Guard District numbers come to mind, but these can be a dead end often as well. The most difficult task to accomplish from a historian's perspective is to establish a connection between a piece of history and the individual whom used it.
My historical blathering aside, this M1 Garand was made by International Harvester Corporation (IHC). For those that are not Garand collectors, International Harvester produced M1 Garands in the 1950's after demand rose because of the Korean War. International Harvester was an odd choice for Garand production, possessing no prior firearms manufacturing experience. The historical consensus for their selection seems to be that they simply were not in the northeastern United States. Fears of Soviet nuclear strikes caused a rethinking of traditional firearms sources due to their close proximity (Springfield Arsenal and Winchester were less than 75 miles apart). Without writing an article, International Harvester encountered repeated hurdles and setbacks during their production. Whether or not they were truly "inferior" rifles is open to debate, but a large percentage of them ended overseas as foreign aid (Turkey and Greece being major recipients).
This is where we pick the story of this particular rifle. It came in with the first shipment of Turkish Garands (supposedly from the Turkish Navy) several years ago. This particular rifle retains all original IHC marked parts. For the historians like myself, it also included something even more interesting. Inside the buttstock was a note in Turkish detailing the sector, presumably near a border area, where the rifle saw service. The note reads (translated by a friend of mine who speaks better Turkish than myself):
"Dear fellow soldier, you are in the easiest unit of the regiment and this is a quiet place. Make yourself at home and if you want to eat come through the rear of the building Karsyakali Grandpa. Dont worry about your stay."
Additionally, the rifle has a Turkish a modified Mauser bayonet with it. The Turks, if nothing else, were incredibly resourceful and reused bayonets multiple times. It is possible to find a Turkish model 1890 bayonet that was altered in 1935 to fit their standardized production Mauser, that was then modified again to fit their M1 Garands. This involved slight modifications to the pommel and either a spacer being fitted to the ring or the ring being snapped and reformed with a smaller diameter. This well-worn example exhibits the former process.
Enjoy.
My historical blathering aside, this M1 Garand was made by International Harvester Corporation (IHC). For those that are not Garand collectors, International Harvester produced M1 Garands in the 1950's after demand rose because of the Korean War. International Harvester was an odd choice for Garand production, possessing no prior firearms manufacturing experience. The historical consensus for their selection seems to be that they simply were not in the northeastern United States. Fears of Soviet nuclear strikes caused a rethinking of traditional firearms sources due to their close proximity (Springfield Arsenal and Winchester were less than 75 miles apart). Without writing an article, International Harvester encountered repeated hurdles and setbacks during their production. Whether or not they were truly "inferior" rifles is open to debate, but a large percentage of them ended overseas as foreign aid (Turkey and Greece being major recipients).
This is where we pick the story of this particular rifle. It came in with the first shipment of Turkish Garands (supposedly from the Turkish Navy) several years ago. This particular rifle retains all original IHC marked parts. For the historians like myself, it also included something even more interesting. Inside the buttstock was a note in Turkish detailing the sector, presumably near a border area, where the rifle saw service. The note reads (translated by a friend of mine who speaks better Turkish than myself):
"Dear fellow soldier, you are in the easiest unit of the regiment and this is a quiet place. Make yourself at home and if you want to eat come through the rear of the building Karsyakali Grandpa. Dont worry about your stay."
Additionally, the rifle has a Turkish a modified Mauser bayonet with it. The Turks, if nothing else, were incredibly resourceful and reused bayonets multiple times. It is possible to find a Turkish model 1890 bayonet that was altered in 1935 to fit their standardized production Mauser, that was then modified again to fit their M1 Garands. This involved slight modifications to the pommel and either a spacer being fitted to the ring or the ring being snapped and reformed with a smaller diameter. This well-worn example exhibits the former process.
Enjoy.
