Customer Reviews

Complete M1 Garand

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The COMPLETE M1 GARAND does an effective job of guiding the reader through identification and recognition of it's idiosincracies relative to each particular contractor. The presentation, while dry, is certainly adequate for the novice owner or collector. An interesting feature is the use of an older field manual, (from Baretta), and a match conditioning manual, both copied verbatim. The majority of Thompson's contribution is information about various contractors, the variations in these models, timelines, and common pitfalls of M1 ownership. Photography is fair, but appears to be photocopies of original photographs; blurred, slightly fuzzy, and dark. Very difficult to see detail. The captions are not of much help, although with the more blatent examples, they are entirely adequate. To put a review into two words...entirely adequate.

From the introductory pages, through to the list of resources, "The Classic M1 Garand" held my complete interest. Beginning with Jim Thompson's moving dedication to his friend, this book is written straight from the heart.
As a newcomer to the world of classic rifles and firearms,a female neophyte, I was happily surprised that the information within was compiled in an efficient way. The descriptions of various types of guns and their proper care and preservation, is explained in finite detail. Mr. Thompson leaves no stone unturned covering the past 60or so years in the life of this beautiful treasure. The accompanying photographs of the author field testing his rifles, and photos of various guns and accessories are well described and captioned.
War (and Peace) stories are spun through tbe context of the book.I love Jim Thompson's personalized style of writing, I seemed to flow with him from one chapter to the next eager to learn more. Definately an excellent choice for the gun collector and the merely curious as well. I highly recommend it. Thank You.

Thompson's M1 work is not complete without his latest book, THE CLASSIC M1 GARAND... But the two are a formidable and exciting package. His insightful handling of issues and clever debunking of a lot of widely-held bogus conspiracy theories is as sharp as his examination of the anti-gun lobby, and his new tome gives some insight into what the man is about. He also sheds some light on peripheral but all-important American issues, which seem to totally elude most firearms writers. The first three chapters are particularly enlightening... His new "Great Guns" books, out about 2002-2003, promise to be entertaining and enlightening, just like these two missives. Thompson explores threads others can't even find, and presents rather dry technical material--essential to his kind of work--in a manner which can make even the clumsiest oaf laugh from time to time.

JUST THE THING FOR OLD GUYS TO USE WHEN TAKING APART A GARAND & PUTTING
SAME BACK TOGETHER.

"Garanditus" is a dreadful malady, contracted by the unsuspecting interested in either shooting or World War II collecting. The consequences are terrible: drained financial resources, incessant internet searches for M1s, parts, and attendant paraphernalia. You find yourself attending meetings, standing, and reciting the familiar phrase, "Hello, my name is B--- and I am a Garandoholic."

Along the way, to really appreciate this hobby (whether shooting or collecting), it is required that you build up a library and along side of Duff, Canfield, and the others are the books by Jim Thompson. None of the books written by *any* authors, by themselves, will provide a complete and total compendium of knowledge about Mr. J. C. Garand's wonderful rifle. All of them do provide essential information, making the practitioner more appreciative of the M1.

Some of the other reviewers have objected to Mr. Thompson's rants about gang bangers, the criminal element, gun confiscation, Arizona local government, etc. are a bit tiresome. I do not share that view. On the contrary, I found Mr. Duff's books to be chocked full of facts and history, but a bit dry and too much a relation of the history of the Springfield armory. Consequently, Mr. Thompson's opinions provided interesting counterpoint. I value *both* the books that I have by Duff and Thompson as valuable components in a necessary reference library.

To be sure, Mr. Thompson does provide a great deal of his personal knowledge to his works and does so in a very literate manner. I mean, a gun book whose author uses the words "calumny" and "denouement"?

The only reason I gave it a 4 is because I wish it were longer.

Hi, I am very satisfied with this product. Researching the M1 Garand is very challenging and the more I learn, the more I find out I do not know. Hon Dennis Freeman

After reading the reviews of this book, I was looking forward to a practical, yet interesting read to help me understand the M1 Garand better. I was disappointed on several levels. Here are a few of the reasons I didnt care for this book, and below this list you will find why I recommend Scott Duffs "The M1 Garand: OWNER'S GUIDE"

1. The format in which the book present information is relatively random, with no coherent logic apparent. Instead it seemed like random thoughts and examples of various M1's. His dialogue throughout the book is perhaps geared toward someone already familiar with the ins and outs of the M1, and he is providing some random information that perhaps is helpful to them (but not to the new collector).

2. The photographs are atrocious. Several of the photographs were bleached out, double imaged, fuzzy, or too dark. Normally I wouldn't care, but in a book which you specifically purchase so that you can learn to examine small parts of a rifle and related maintenance tasks, it was totally unacceptable. I showed it to my wife and she immediately was surprised at how poor the images were.

3. Was hoping to get a clear idea of maintenance protocol. Book was a complete let down in this arena. Rather than clearly demonstrate proper maintenance procedures, author places a photocopied manual from Beretta discussing care and maintenance of the rifle. It wasnt horrible, but near as detailed as it could have been. For example, there was little to no discussion of grease points. He did talk about grease vs. oil, types of grease, but if he got specific about grease points I missed it. No index of course to easily find such a thing.

4. Irritated me that author swears up and down that using an uncut op-rod is dangerous, and says to "study unit histories" to find examples. If its that dangerous to do so, couldn't he have cited at least one example? I tend to think he is a victim of oft repeated statements and is passing it on as fact. Now, has ANYONE ever been hurt by one failing? I HAVE NO IDEA, and would never offer advice to anyone on the topic. However I'm not the purported expert writing a book with nothing to back up my statement.

5. While I thought I would appreciate the "down home" dialogue that other reviewers seemed to like, I found his informality distracting and annoying. For example, he comes off condescending when he talks about the incorrect recollections of an M1 by "some old antique" (referring to an old person). Well personally I had a vet tell me about the M1 he carried in Korea, and while the vets memory may be clouded, I still respect him and would never snub his "M1 knowledge". At one point, in reference to some viewpoint that some people have about the M1 (sorry cant remember the exact example) he says something about it being pure ignorance, and a few other derogatory adjectives I cant recall right now. Bottom line, I thought he came off condescending (despite the fact that he voices his distaste for those who snub the milsurp collectors). In my opinion, it would have been better if he had just stuck to the facts, and cut out the editorializing.

After deciding I was going to return this product (yes I admit I did not read every word, I could tell from a serious look-through that it was not going to work) I ordered Scott Duffs book that I mentioned above. (new copies selling cheaper on Ebay than Amazon). Within 10 minutes of browsing through this book, I knew I had found what I was looking for. The book was laid out in a LOGICAL manner, well designed for a new garand owner. He discusses the history. Enough to give the reader a good background, not so much to bore them to tears. He then discusses maintenance. While he draws from other sources, the line drawings are EXCELLENT, and much better move than blurry black and white photographs! He provides a list that says exactly what materials you need to own to properly clean and maintain M1. He goes into detail about the process. I wish he would have had a picture showing grease points, but he does give you a clear list telling you exactly what needs to be greased. He has complete dis-assembly and assembly directions. He has information for sighting in the rifle, info about this sights and various other parts (including some distinctions between early and late war models, and Winchester vs. SA differences. This book was perfect for what I was looking for. It does not give the reader a detailed guide to determining origin of minor parts but as I recall, he acknowledges that and refers the reader to a different text. This book is not for the person wishing to explore the originality of their rifle and the intricacies of the parts. It is exactly what it says, "an OWNERS GUIDE" but it goes way beyond your typical owners guide, including production dates numbers, etc. An appendix in the back provides helpful resources also.

Do yourself a favor and order Duffs book. Avoid the "Complete M1 Garand." It is not complete, rather it is a compiled collection of other sources mixed with the authors personal observations of the M1 and the world around him.

Very good book for Garand collectors.

Good illustrations and pictorials as well as useful information.

If you collect or are interested in the Garand rifle, this is written for you. Easy to follow and packed with facts and pictures. I refer to my copy regularly. I would buy it again.

This book is almost useless. Poorly written. Why didn't this author hire an editor? The need for editing is "evinced" abundantly throughout. The photos that are there to indicate small details on the weapon parts are so dark and blurry that they are about useless. Reprinted lithographed material is so degraded, the photocopied images are about useless too.