04/07/2020
An interesting Marine Corps documented M1 Garand.
In 1964, Marine infantrymen would go to boot camp, learn to shoot, and qualify with an M14. Upon arrival to the School of Infantry’s Infantry Training Regiments, they would be issued M1 Garands as a tremendous surplus of .30-06 ammunition existed.
This particular rifle belonged to Camp Lejeune’s 1st Infantry Training Regiment, and was overhauled by 2nd Force Service Regiment’s Ordnance Maintenance Company in December of 1964. From the looks of it, this rifle received a new barrel, and was put away as stock. The barrel on this rifle is incredibly crisp, while the rest shows the wear one would expect from years of new Marine grunts carrying it as they learned basic infantry skills.
In 1965, the Marines would begin phasing out the M1 Garand from the Infantry Training Regiments, and kicked off a massive overhaul program that can be evidenced by “O-6x” electropencil markings on Garand receivers. While O-6x Garands are easy to definitively identify as Marine Corps, those that predated them such as this rifle are exceedingly rare. This rifle’s past of being used to train Marine trigger pullers on their way to Vietnam definitely enriches its history.
