The Classic M1 Garand: An Ongoing Legacy For Shooters And Collectors [Paperback]

Jim Thompson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2001

The only full-power, semiautomatic standard infantry rifle in existence during World War II, the M1 Garand remains the most popular high-powered target semiautomatic in the world - and arguably the most rugged and durable. This sequel to The Complete M1 Garand is an up-to-date guide to admiring, shooting and collecting this World War II legacy well into the 21st century. Part One examines its tactical, developmental and industrial history; takes a realistic look at the rifle's perceived "flaws"; and presents savvy advice on buying parts and parts kits for the M1 in today's marketplace. Plus, in response to overwhelming demand, this book incorporates information detailing the M1's World War II and postwar delivery chronology, to be used as a general guideline when restoring an M1. The second half of the book, dedicated to the enjoyment and maintenance of the M1, addresses some common questions about the rifle and offers detailed instruction on some expert procedures for maintaining and smoothing this wartime classic.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jim Thompson is an internationally published firearms writer, photographer and consultant with more than three decades of experience as a serious collector and shooter. His dedication to precise historical research combined with his practical, empirical insight has yielded significant contributions to the fields of military history and weapons development.

Product Details

• Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: Paladin Press (July 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 158160260X
• ISBN-13: 978-1581602609
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #527,200 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best and the easiest to read and understand, August 2, 2002

By 

J.W. Thompson (Springfield, Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Classic M1 Garand: An Ongoing Legacy For Shooters And Collectors (Paperback)

These are the best of the M1 books, the easiest to read and
understand, with the detail laid out in a way that anybody can
understand. And the guns he shows look like the real thing.

The notes on the gun confiscation movement and local politics bring this World War II veteran rifle into modern context, and make it very obvious what the motiviations of the antigunners really are.

Scholarly without being pretentious, I found myself absorbing techniques and information without even noticing it.
And I did most of his maintenance stuff, and it all worked. With the trouble shooting information in Thompson's other book, THE COMPLETE M1 GARAND, the books have saved me thousands of dollars and lots of hours.

He goes beyond other researchers, who seem to dig up all their stuff at the armories, the factories, and from dry delivery records, and who pay no attention to the reports of veterans and actual units in the field. This makes his work very practical. He also puts holes in some of the "stand operating b.s." and lies of the past, which someone out there is surely going to find troubling, but what he says, I found out, works, makes sense, and is the truth. He has spent a lot of time getting this stuff from gunsmiths and armorers, and a lot of it I had heard previously but discarded because it wasn't in the dry books of other authors. It seems he is right on virtually every score, and much of the "official" stuff is smokescreen. My gunsmith (who built M1's during World War II, and wound up carrying one in Korea) loves the M1, and says Thompson obviously listened to "the right guys"... He also affirms Thompson's data and analysis of the gas traps and their performance, and that everything else in the book is obviously the way it really was.

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Save money, trouble, aggravations, July 24, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Classic M1 Garand: An Ongoing Legacy For Shooters And Collectors (Paperback)

The COMPLETE M1 GARAND and THE CLASSIC M1 GARAND are a pair of the most practical and straightforward firearms books I have ever read or seen. Most important, they saved me money, trouble, and thumbs. This writer does not fool around! Rather than elaborate charts of which 99% are useless to the typical gunnie, this guy gets to the meat, and in a hurry. And yet, the material is easy to handle.

He even covers and shows fake and real and rare and common parts, the way they ACTUALLY look, instead of all fancified and restored. I had lots of trouble with other books, where the parts arrays were new or better-than-new, and didn't seem even similar to mine.

I invested, I think, %45.00 in these books. Dollarwise, I have saved maybe $2000 or more, and a lot of problems. This guy knows the gun, knows the market, knows the parts, and tells you what you need to know, in practical, plain English, not mumbo-jumbo garbage.

I got all the M1 books. This one is the easiest to use, and makes more sense than all the others together.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars rifles and reality, May 25, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Classic M1 Garand: An Ongoing Legacy For Shooters And Collectors (Paperback)

Most firearms writing is bland and dull, and shows almost total ignorance of both the infantryman and conditions in the countries where the weapons are used and/or produced. This writer puts hardware in a real contexts that make sense, thumbs his literary nose at half-baked conspiracy theories and fools who muddle in the dark, and does hard research with the materials themselves. He obviously loves his family, his country, his friends, and the M1 Garand... But he is hardnosed about reality, from top to bottom, and uses the photos and the facts better than I have ever seen in gun books.
The trigger job I tried, and it worked, and it was easy. The maintenance suggestions improved my shooting and reduced wear on my rifle. And this was measurable. I think a lot of gun writers never shoot. This man does. And he is very careful, urges you to be the same.
I have both his M1 books and his Machine Gun book. He is thorough, without being tedious, and there are lines in here that will make the reader laugh. And cry, perhaps.
His barrel tests are practical, and I decided to try the products he tested in .308. He tells the Italian M1 story better than anyone. And the photos he uses look like the REAL articles, not white-filled and polished parts which never resemble anything one can actually use or get.
Thompson is a worker with a bent toward humor and scholarship.
I especially like how he presented, "with many grains of salt", the serial number/date charts that so many collectors treat with way too much reverence.
His books are not the most scholarly in the field, though his research is better than average, far better than in most "smallish" M1 volumes. They are, however, the best and the most practical, and the best written and easiest to use and understand, in the entire field. This stuff is inspirational, but still "lunch bucket"...
If Thompson ranges wide, he does so to illustrate points which have escaped others, and which are startlingly relevant. This is particularly wise in the case of the Garand, which was in its time the most respected and one of the most ubiquitous rifles in the world. His factual and well-documented rifle
procedures are worth the price, all by themselves.