M1-Garand: any good for hunting?

Mr. Friendly

Mr. Friendly

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the Lee Enfield has popular following and it's a good gun for hunting, but what about the M1-Garand? everyone loves it, it costs more then most Lee's and fires a respectable round. does anyone hunt with one?
 
BigUglyMan said:
Too heavy, hard to scope but I love mine all the same...just not as a hunting rifle.
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Agreed ...... there are much better sporting rifles out there. Lighter and much more suited to the application.

Way back when I bought one of those Noinco M14 clones, took it to the range once and then plopped it on the EE w/o ever using it again. WAY TOO heavy. I guess the young "tactical fondlers" think they're great for hunting, but I'm betting they will soon grow out of that stage and get a real hunting rifle like a Stevens 200 topped with a 3x9x50 mildot rig. :)



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For the crazy prices that Garands are going for these days, you can buy a real nice rifle thats made for hunting, though some people just like the idea or maybe fun of using an old milsurp to hunt with.
 
lots of folks down south use them for hunting, but the universal complaint is the weight, and then the fact that they can't use 180's in them- 30-06 with a 180 is a very popular load, and the top end for a garand is about 173 or so- same deal with the m14- the third complaint is the scope offset, and the fact the enbloc clip ejects after the last round- sure, you can "overcome" all these faults except for the weight, but why bother
 
Yep. They are heavy, if you're still hunting. The weight doesn't matter in a blind. They don't take scopes well nor do they need one.
 
Too heavy...

But I used to have a M1. With 150gr SP bullets, H4895 it would shoot well. I was able to hit deer vital size targets at 300 yards with the issue sights, they work great.
 
IMHO, it's a battle rifle, was never intended to hunt anything but Japs, Gerries and whoever else that needed straightening out. Using them for game is like using a 4x4 to go shopping for shoes. It will get the job done but it's mismatched for the role.

A nice Ruger or Savage in the flavor of your choice will do fine.

hb
 
Hey, the nice thing about the garand is that you have 9 shots to drop that griz with, if them 8 don't do it, you can't beat him to death, as they are that fuggin heavy. :D My first Moose hunt was with a garand, after carrying that heavy bastid for upwards 5 miles a day for 5 days.............I went and got an ultra light rifle. :eek: Les
 
If you want a good cheap rifle for starting out hunting (I presume your refering to deer or moose) then Id recommend a savage stevens, something like a 30-06, and spend some good money on nice scope, like a bushnell 3200 3x9-40

savage stevens $329
bushnell 3x9x40 $249

if you want something a little fancier then the stevens, frontier has the savage 110 hunter in 7mm for $399 this comes with the accutrigger.

a saveage stevens for $329 will give you far better accuracy out of box then a norc M305 will.

Ive got a norc M305 on order, it looks like a real fun gun, but its not going to be my hunting rig.
 
I'm mostly fishing for information currently. a LE No4MkI/II is what I hope my 'first' major gun will be. for the time being, I'm going to look at a decent enough .22LR to learn how to shoot on first. I don't think the .22LR will be good enough, but first game I'm thinking of going after will be rabbit as I don't have the $$$ to afford the kit necessary to go into the woods to get anything bigger.

I had a combo gun thread going, because I was thinking of going after some upland game bird as well, but combo's seem to be iffy in the quality unless you drop a lot more then I'm capable of investing.

the Stevens does sound attractive, especially if it's available with a wood stock. :)

on the side, what's the Leupold equivalent to the Elite 3200?
 
Mr. Friendly said:
I'm mostly fishing for information currently. a LE No4MkI/II is what I hope my 'first' major gun will be. for the time being, I'm going to look at a decent enough .22LR to learn how to shoot on first. I don't think the .22LR will be good enough, but first game I'm thinking of going after will be rabbit as I don't have the $$$ to afford the kit necessary to go into the woods to get anything bigger.

A pickup can be expensive, but I have successfully hunted deer with a car, in areas where I didn't have to travel far off the highway before I started hiking. Without a vehicle, yours or a friends, it will be more difficult to get out of the city to areas where the discharge of firearms is legal. One could bowhunt in areas where firearms cannot be used, but even small deer are heavy to transport for long distances on your back.

I had a combo gun thread going, because I was thinking of going after some upland game bird as well, but combo's seem to be iffy in the quality unless you drop a lot more then I'm capable of investing.

the Stevens does sound attractive, especially if it's available with a wood stock. :)

on the side, what's the Leupold equivalent to the Elite 3200?
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It doesn't take much money to hunt larger game. A $150 Lee Enfield sporter, couple boxes of shells, a good knife, a game saw, a pack and some game bags and adequate field clothing is all that is really required to hunt deer, moose or elk. Most people make hunting far more expensive these days than it needs to be. More money spent can provide an easier hunt, or especially easier game retrieval, but it doesn't have to be expensive.

Sorry to burst the bubble, but a Stevens 200 only comes with a plastic stock from the factory. Wood alternatives are available to be fitted if you prefer, at additional cost.

A Leupold equivalent to a Elite 3200 would be a Rifleman or a VX-1. The Leupolds are slightly more expensive than the Bushnells though.
 
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