The M14

[Tom Brennan]

This was at the end of the war, but try telling those jap soldiers the emperor had surrendered. Of course they didn't believe it as they were taught death before surrender for 100s if not 1000s maybe of years over there.

I've read the notion of never surrendering was fairly new, an invention of the early 20th Century intended to make the peasant soldiers of the new modern Japanese conscript armies crueler and more desperate. Evidently the Japanese militarists were unhappy with Japanese soldiers talking with and sharing smokes with Russians captured in the Russo-Japanese War and wanted the soldiers to be unfeeling fanatics. Thus Japanese rankers were treated with fierce cruelty by their superiors and bullshitted with a version of Bushido unlike that of earlier times that stressed a fanatical devotion to the Emperor (an Emperor the Japanese nobles had blithely ignored) and a willingness to blindly obey orders, act with great cruelty to enemies and die in any situation. And since the common people, unlike the nobles and elites, had no folk memory or knowledge of earlier Japanese warfare they were easy to bullshit.

Back in earlier times when fighting in Japan was done by professional warriors running away, surrender and turning coat were quite common. Nobles in Japan were no more noble in action than nobles in Europe or anywhere else in the world.

 

[Pio1980]

There was no honor in the Bushido practiced during that period.

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[John in MA]

Some random thoughts now that I've owned a Springfield M1A for a while:

-John Garand originally wanted to design his gun to use BAR mags and have a shorter gas tube, as well as use a smaller cartridge. So something very M14-like could have been designed by 1930.

-Sudan (Africa) adopted the AR-10 rifle the same year the US adopted the M14. That's how obsolete it was. France was the only major power that used a prewar-style rifle (MAS49) past the mid '60s.

-The M14's gas system is a lot more shooter-friendly than the Garand's. It's a self regulating short stroke piston that bleeds gas at the end of its travel. It won't bend your oprod like a Garand if you use commercial loads.

-There are two types of "rewelds." The ones the term usually applies to are demilled M14 receivers that were pieced back together in the '70s. Unless they were registered as machine guns they're illegal. The other kind of reweld is a recent thing for the boutique collector market. Some companies are making all-new receivers but welding the heels from demilled M14s onto them. So a collector can have a legal gun that has a USGI maker's mark. I've heard mixed reviews.

 

[Mystic]

...even lowly .22 LR (which had been around $20 a brick) was suddenly being hawked for $50-60 a brick, and basically there was none to be had (a situation that hasn`t changed much since then).

In Southern California .22 LR seemed to vanish w/in a week of the SH, then 2-3 other, shootings. And as you've stated, the supply has yet to be replenished.

Dunno if this was price gouging or more likely, irrational panic hoarding causing shortages.

In the case of ammo @ So Cal, methinks it was/is both. many here were also obliged to seek

.38 Spl and .357 Mag have also become scarce and, where/when available, $$.

I think you receive $$ with any sized order of 9mm; we're tripping over that round in these parts.

 

[Pio1980]

In Southern California .22 LR seemed to vanish w/in a week of the SH, then 2-3 other, shootings. And as you've stated, the supply has yet to be replenished.



In the case of ammo @ So Cal, methinks it was/is both. many here were also obliged to seek

.38 Spl and .357 Mag have also become scarce and, where/when available, $$.

I think you receive $$ with any sized order of 9mm; we're tripping over that round in these parts.

I've got more .38/.357 (not that much) than I'll ever use in my Ruger Speed Six as it's my house gun and I don't play with it. Very rarely test shoot it.
.22 LR, it's too bad it's being hoarded and in short supply as a good sporting/training choice with good option for personal and home defense. Contrary to general belief, it's very much a dangerous lethal round.
For pleasure shooting I do prefer precision spring airguns as quiet, economical, and not grossly overqualified for target shooting and plinking.

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[Pio1980]

I carried and shot an M14 in basic and had them issued during my first hitch. Very well made traditional wood/steel construction but somewhat heavy compared to the M16, more sophisticated than the M1. The M1 I remember as simpler and dare I say cruder design wise than the M14.

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[DrumminDaddy]

This thread got me thinking about my M1. Dug it out just to show it off. Haven't had it out to shoot in years. (I need to remedy that). An accurate; sweet shooter. Springfield armory issue. A piece of history that I'm very proud to own. :thmbsp:

 

[grumpy]

The Garand has always been one of my fav long arms. Never was much of a fan of the Mini 14 but they can be fun. Miss my sporterize 98 so dam much...