My grandsons drivin' and shootin' on D-Day

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Stikpusher
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Re: My grandsons drivin' and shootin' on D-Day

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John, let me know when you’re able to go, and I’ll show you the close shooting spot. It’s actually probably more like 3 miles from housing, but not far at all. :wink:
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keavdog
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Re: My grandsons drivin' and shootin' on D-Day

Post by keavdog »

Will do - I drove out Rainbow Valley Rd for a bit and saw some great bike trails and some places I thought would be good for shooting but want to be sure.
Thanks,
John

Ain't no reason to hang my head, I could wake up in the mornin' dead.
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Gary Brantley
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Re: My grandsons drivin' and shootin' on D-Day

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keavdog wrote: Fri Jun 09, 2023 7:20 pm Living in San Diego, CA up until last year - shooting was a bit difficult. You have to drive 1 -2 hours to BLM land so my kids didn't get exposed to shooting until they were in their teens. Went out to a range with a super qualified instructor and they got to shoot all the guns, mine and his, and heard the same lessons dad said over and over -helpful. Turned out my daughter was the one who got into it. When I purchased my Springfield M1A we went out to the range and put 80 rounds through it - 40 a piece. She wanted to keep shooting but me, the old man :whiteflag: my shoulder was done. Shooting and teaching the kids about guns and discipline as a great right of passage and a very responsible thing to do so right on my friend. :shoutout:
Now here in Arizona - I heard gun shots one night and asked Stik if he heard them - the answer was yes, folks go shooting about a mile from the house. I haven't found the spot, but looking forward to getting the guns out and doing a bit of plinking.
Thanks, John! I want my grandchildren to be able to enjoy owning and shooting my guns after I'm gone. And they do have to be taught how to be responsible gun-owners, and I think there's a point when they're old enough to understand both the techniques for good shooting and the serious responsibility that comes with it. I'm just doing my part to get them started on that. :grin:

I once had a neighbor, a classmate of my Mom, who was a great gunsmith. One of his sons was a record-holding shooter in high school. My neighbor, Gene Salach and his Dutch-born wife Trus, were both NRA life-members and fixtures at the Camp Perry shooting matches each year. Their son, Michael, went to the Naval Academy and served as a P-3 Orion pilot. He represented the Navy in service matches and even post-service, continued to compete in fleet matches. Gene had a gun-safe with 8 or 9 "trophy" M1 Garands Michael won as prizes. But Gene also had a couple Springfield NM M1As. I got to shoot them on a couple occasions and found them great fun. You are a fortunate man to own one of those rifles! :bow:

It's cool that your daughter enjoyed that shooting! I love hearing stories like that, and hope you get a lot more opportunities to share that with her now, with your relocation to Arizona. It sounds like Carlos can help with that! Good on both you guys! :shoutout:

A Springfield M1A is one 7.62x51 MBR missing in my collection. I have FALs and a CETME/G3-type, but never spent the coin for an M1A, although wanting for years. I did manage to fill that gap somewhat by buying a Beretta BM-59 rifle a couple years ago. It's basically a modified M1 Garand, created by Beretta for the Italian Army in 1959, as NATO began standardizing the 7.62x51 round. The originals were select-fire, with a 20-round magazine. Mine is semi-auto only, and built by James River Armory with their receiver and mostly all Beretta parts otherwise. I fell in love with all the "tiger striping" on the original furniture! Here's a look at it:

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Last edited by Gary Brantley on Sun Jun 11, 2023 9:52 am, edited 1 time in total.
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LyleW
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Re: My grandsons drivin' and shootin' on D-Day

Post by LyleW »

a beautiful rifle!
To make each build less crappy than the last one. Or, put another way, "Better than the last one, not as good as the next one!"..
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Gary Brantley
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Re: My grandsons drivin' and shootin' on D-Day

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LyleW wrote: Sat Jun 10, 2023 6:58 am a beautiful rifle!
Thanks, Lyle! She is a looker all right! :grin:

I really like the early "automatic' rifles that began appearing in WWII. I guess I'll never spend the bucks required to own a German G43, or Soviet SVT, let alone an FG-42, the "holy grail" rifle of that type for many. :wink:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FG_42

I did manage a photo of my M1 Garand (1944 Springfield), the BM-59, my FN49 (8mm Mauser) and Swedish AG-42(6.5 Swede) back around Thanksgiving. I thought the group, along with seasonal decorations, made a nice "holiday' display.

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My CETME/G3 hybrid, a Spanish CETME with HK G3 furniture:

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LyleW
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Re: My grandsons drivin' and shootin' on D-Day

Post by LyleW »

Great collection., There are only a few that i covet. . . a Colt 1911, m1 carbine and thompson mg. Of course, a .50 cal M2 in a B-17 top turrett setup would be nice. At my age, not likely to happen. I did see an M1 carbine pellet fifle for around 180 bucks, though.
To make each build less crappy than the last one. Or, put another way, "Better than the last one, not as good as the next one!"..
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keavdog
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Re: My grandsons drivin' and shootin' on D-Day

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Beautiful stock! And nice collection. I got my M1A around 2012 when guns and ammo were flying off the shelves and you couldn't find .22LR. This was my only option - a Loaded M1A with a synth stock. I may get the walnut stock some day but this one is growing on me.

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Thanks,
John

Ain't no reason to hang my head, I could wake up in the mornin' dead.
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Stikpusher
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Re: My grandsons drivin' and shootin' on D-Day

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Gary, that BM-59 is beautiful! I learned to shoot a real rifle (bigger than .22LR) on a Golden State Armory M-59. On a 9 year old boy, that’s quite a kick, even from a bench rest. Yours looks very sweet!
John, I’d say save that synthetic stock on the M-1A, and perhaps have have it tuned up for greater accuracy. That is a truly a sweet shooting rifle.
"Surely I have made my meaning plain? I intend to avenge myself upon you, Admiral. I have deprived your ship of power, and when I swing 'round, I intend to deprive you of your life."

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Gary Brantley
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Re: My grandsons drivin' and shootin' on D-Day

Post by Gary Brantley »

LyleW wrote: Sat Jun 10, 2023 9:53 am Great collection., There are only a few that i covet. . . a Colt 1911, m1 carbine and thompson mg. Of course, a .50 cal M2 in a B-17 top turrett setup would be nice. At my age, not likely to happen. I did see an M1 carbine pellet fifle for around 180 bucks, though.
Thanks, Lyle! I thought that group looked good together; I guess I was in a festive mood. :grin:

The M1 carbine is one I'd like to add. My Dad carried one in Europe, 1944-'45. I can remember when the Sears catalog had 'em, both genuine GI surplus and brand new Universal brand models. I believe they were around $75 back then, circa mid-to late '60s. That's probably about when all the surplus .30 carbine ammo was burned up too! :wink: That pellet rifle sounds interesting. :hmm:

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keavdog wrote: Sat Jun 10, 2023 10:53 am Beautiful stock! And nice collection. I got my M1A around 2012 when guns and ammo were flying off the shelves and you couldn't find .22LR. This was my only option - a Loaded M1A with a synth stock. I may get the walnut stock some day but this one is growing on me.

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Thanks, John! I bought the BM59 from a man on the FAL Files marketplace. I was smitten when I saw that stock! :grin:
I love that M1A dude! The black synthetic stock looks really purposeful and business-like. I bet it's a helluva shooter too! :bow:
Walnut might look better to most, but that synthetic stock is way more "weather friendly" and consistent. I second Carlos' suggestion to keep it and perhaps have it bedded by a good rifle-smith for even better accuracy. :wink:
Stikpusher wrote: Sat Jun 10, 2023 10:37 pm Gary, that BM-59 is beautiful! I learned to shoot a real rifle (bigger than .22LR) on a Golden State Armory M-59. On a 9 year old boy, that’s quite a kick, even from a bench rest. Yours looks very sweet!
John, I’d say save that synthetic stock on the M-1A, and perhaps have have it tuned up for greater accuracy. That is a truly a sweet shooting rifle.
Thanks, Stik! That is so cool that you got your early shooting done on that M-59! I imagine that 9 year-old got quite a kick out of it, figuratively and literally! I'd bet those rifles aren't that common; what's the story behind that one? Family member or friend, it's cool that you had the opportunity to shoot it. My BM59 is in great condition and is really striking in person, but I would not like to have to carry it for long or far; it's a heavy old booger! :lol:
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