Canadian Army training with US M1 Garand, post second world war

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x westie

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I recently bought a training booklet titled "Canadian Army Manual Of Training"

"Rifle"
Calibre 30 M1

It is dated 1953, about the time the Korean War was ending, was the M1 being considered as a replacement for the No.4 rifle,.it is a very detailed book,.numbering some 80 pages, showing a Canadian troopie in his battledress , webbing, puttees with trouser weights,with well pressed battledress trousers, and double soled boots,.he is a very well turned out Lance Corporal,..posing in various firing positions,with the M1 Garand ,

Hope some of your CGN guys who perhaps served in the army in the 50's can touch base on this for me,..looking forward to your replies
 
At that time we were about to align ourselves with the US equipment. However, change was in the wind. The Korean war held up the switch, and after the war, there was a steering committee set up to choose a new rifle and caliber for NATO and the Commonwealth. The FN FAL was chosen, however the US backed out and made their own rifle, the M14.

The BARs and M1s were mostly relegated to RCAF duties until disposed of in the 60s/early 70s.
 
Dominion Arsenal Quebec (DAQ) made Enbloc clips for the Garand w/DAQ headstamp.
(I had a bunch before I sold all of my Garand stuff).

Suspect they also made ammunition for it too...
 
I knew a guy who was in RCAF back in 56 or 57 when the suez canal incent came up. He was allowed to shoot one 8rd clip in a M1 Garand and that completed his training.
 
Not much seemed to have changed,..even in the post war Armed Forces,..inadequate personal weapon training..many of the Canadians
sent to defend Hong Kong were not properly trained with their weapons...they had to learn on the job,.the hard way..when the Japs attacked
 
I agree, i loved shooting the FN, though we did find it cumbersome 10 of us with our FN's and C2 jammed in a APC,..I actually find the Garand much more pleasant to shoot, mainly cause the FN had a nasty habit of brusing your cheek bone from its buttstock
 
If you were getting beaten up by your FN C1, then you had the wrong butt length on your rifle. That's why they came with various lengths of pull from (S) short to (XL) extra long. The one that fit me was (N) normal.

This was a tradition carried on from the days of the No. 4 .303 Lee-Enfield, and for the same reason - shooter comfort.
 
IIRC the first brigade destined to go to Korea trained on US weapons then switched back to .303" arms when it was decided to attach them to the Commonwealth Division. There was also a manual published for the BAR plus the Model 1919A4 of course.
I heard horror stories about the nasty recoil of the C1 but when I got to shoot one I found it had less perceived recoil than a No4.
 
The sensation I recall from the thousands of 7.62x51mm rds I fired in C1's and C2's was one of "clink, clank, clunk ...", as the action operated, especially when locking open after the last round. The feel of the recoil was different as the bolt didn't go back into battery, telling you it was time to reload.

I find it less noticeable in the Garand, but then you have the "Ping!" of the clip being ejected telling you the same thing.
 
Sharps '63 said:
The sensation I recall from the thousands of 7.62x51mm rds I fired in C1's and C2's was one of "clink, clank, clunk ...", as the action operated, especially when locking open after the last round. The feel of the recoil was different as the bolt didn't go back into battery, telling you it was time to reload.

I find it less noticeable in the Garand, but then you have the "Ping!" of the clip being ejected telling you the same thing.
Click to expand...

My Dad used the C1A1 in BOTC in the late 1980's and he tells me that my Vz.58's operation reminds him of the FN, in terms of the "THUNK, THUNK, THUNK" of the bolt mass cycling and eventually locking open after the last shot. Never having fired a FAL of any kind (sadly, damn the Liberals) I wouldn't know.
 
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