decisions decisions

guys wanting some advice
ive seen a nice m1 carbine ww2 dated for sale (general motors 1943)
was wondering if i should buy it or hold out for a garand?
and if i did buy it would i be ok to use it at most or all events?

Hold out for an M1 Rifle, considering the fact that at the beginning of the conflict, each Rifle Company was issued 133 Rifles and 35 Carbines. Unless you're portraying a senior NCO or officer, or personnel assigned to special duty, such as Platoon Radioman, .30 cal Gunner, etc., you won't get much use out of a Carbine if you want to be accurate.

Also, be careful when buying Carbines. The barrels are dated, but a WW2 barrel isn't necessarily indicative of a WW2 weapon. It depends on the price at the end of the day. If you want it for the collection, I'd be more than happy to appraise it, but from a re-enacting point of view, you won't get as much
mileage out of it as you would an M1 Rifle.

Cheers,
Ben.

cheers ben sent you a PM

Ben is spot on with his advice mate.

Carbines are nice yes but id really only have one for my collection. There are too many groups running around with carbines and thompsons which is all wrong!

Save for a M1 and you cvan't ever go wrong in any imprsssion you do (except early war lol)

hello nige, have you tried xmilitaria re-garands? even sof are doin em for £425. or if you would like something that does a bit more than have the slide work, then a hudson is the way foreward, after playing with mr costino,s tool, oooh er missus, i can heartily recomend a hudson.

riz

rizla wrote:hello nige, have you tried xmilitaria re-garands? even sof are doin em for £425. or if you would like something that does a bit more than have the slide work, then a hudson is the way foreward, after playing with mr costino,s tool, oooh er missus, i can heartily recomend a hudson.

riz

I'm inclined to 2nd that. With the benefit of hindsight I should have bought a Hudson, more action and things to do with it as opposed to the post WW2 de-act.

I might be tempted to get a Hudson, but I am really torn between that and an original de-ac. Yes the Hudson does more things, but there is something to be said for owning an original weapon that has seen some real action!!! God, I don't know what to do myself now....
Who would you get the Hudson from, and what licenses would you need?

Cheers
Richard

Camel1815 wrote:I might be tempted to get a Hudson, but I am really torn between that and an original de-ac. Yes the Hudson does more things, but there is something to be said for owning an original weapon that has seen some real action!!! God, I don't know what to do myself now....
Who would you get the Hudson from, and what licenses would you need?

Cheers
Richard

No licence needed and you buy direct off the internet, it's a toy!

Anyone in particular Murph, or just take your pick?

Only couple of places do them- Google Hudson M1 garand!

you can buy direct, from japan, tokyo central hobbies, or a guy in london www.modelguns.co.uk and no licence is required.
yep its nice to own a little piece of history, especially a ww2 dated garand, but its no guarantee its seen action. and unless your chucking over a grand at one, only the cocking handle moves.at least a hudson cocks, dry fires and strips like a live garand.you can even buy replacement parts for em.
after owning a new spec, the novelty soon wears off after you pull back the cocking handle and well, not a lot happens,cant strip it, and a wartime example will fetch £500- £550.
you cant beat the clunk ker-clunk sound of cocking a garand, old spec or hudson.
if cash wasnt an issue-
1-old-spec
2-hudson
3-new-spec, war time springfield
4-new spec post war
i personally couldnt justify the £1000+ of an old spec, as i have a firearms ticket, if i was spending 1k it would have to be a live firer.
£575 is the price of a hudson from model guns, and is comparable to a wartime springfield.
so it really comes down to budget, if you can justify the 1k + go for an old spec.
if you only want to spend 5-6 hundred, you have to think lump of steel and wood or lifelike toy.
my personal opinion on new spec war-time v,s new spec post war is save £100-£150 and go for the post war.
at the end of the day, which garand do you pick up and have a play with when you are at an event? an old spec or new spec?

rizla (dremel)touretti

Having had a live firing Garand on shot gun certificate I begrudge paying silly money for a lump of wood and metal that doesnt even load a round. At least a Hudson loads , cocks, dry fires, and can demonstate for living history displays how the weapon functioned. Plus you can change the woodwork on them and put original on instead. The other bonus is that is a very realistic toy, but it makes it even easier for taking abroad, although a de-ac cert will make taking a de-ac overseas relatively easy.

If it was me...well I would buy a Hudson...

Right, Hudson it is then!!! Cheers for the advice. And apologies to Nigel for hijacking his topic.

Cheers
Richard.

no worries mate just been looking at model guns the garands are 575quid plus 33quid postage

Yeah I know. I now just have to convince the missus that I need one. Unfortunately I have just ordered some Napoleonic stuff which she doesn't know about!!!!

when i bought stuff i used to get it deliveredto my local plumb center, then tell the missus "this old thing, ive had it for ages"

riz

Done that already, I think she has cottoned on to it!!

We all do that!!!! And no doubt all our missus speak to each other and know about it!!!

Johnny_Costino wrote:Having had a live firing Garand on shot gun certificate I begrudge paying silly money for a lump of wood and metal that doesnt even load a round. At least a Hudson loads , cocks, dry fires, and can demonstate for living history displays how the weapon functioned. Plus you can change the woodwork on them and put original on instead. The other bonus is that is a very realistic toy, but it makes it even easier for taking abroad, although a de-ac cert will make taking a de-ac overseas relatively easy.

If it was me...well I would buy a Hudson...

How easy was it to change the woodwork Paul?

Very easy!!!!

Johnny_Costino wrote:Very easy!!!!

Might be looking into this then...did you source it form the States?

Murph, you can get original furniture for M1 Rifles down at Beltring. I think the cheapest I saw last year was £35! It depends what you're looking for really though, of course. If you want a stock with original cartouches, proof-stamping with serifs and other goodies, then you're going to pay for that, but is there any point in putting collector's grade woodwork on a repro rifle?

Cheers,
Ben.

BenM wrote:Murph, you can get original furniture for M1 Rifles down at Beltring. I think the cheapest I saw last year was £35! It depends what you're looking for really though, of course. If you want a stock with original cartouches, proof-stamping with serifs and other goodies, then you're going to pay for that, but is there any point in putting collector's grade woodwork on a repro rifle?

Cheers,
Ben.

Exactly, it's a prop!

murph wrote:

Johnny_Costino wrote:Very easy!!!!

Might be looking into this then...did you source it form the States?

No- I bought it from a guy on the WW2 forum, plus you gave me the butt-plate. Nice chap that you are....
The other advantage is that it will chamber any 30.06 round, not just the ones that come with it..