I must have been a very good girl last year :-) My Christmas stocking truly runneth over. Since we spent Christmas weekend in Florida with Mom & Dad, we had a second Christmas on New Year's Eve with Mark's family. That's when my even-more-wonderful-than-usual husband trotted out the Big Surprise Gift:
Needless to say, New Year's Day was spent at the range, getting acquainted with Chester.
Ever since I fired Kim's M1 in September, I've been raving about this gun. Until then, I hadn't "got" the rifle thing. I was perfectly satisfied with Maggie (my shotgun) and then delighted with Ivan (my revolver) and didn't think a rifle was at all necessary or even interesting. Well, a combination of sentimentality and exhilaration changed that. I'll assume that the exhilaration part is obvious ;-) and just post this picture and this link of my grandfather to explain the sentimentality:
Of course Chester is not the folding-stock paratrooper version that my grandfather carried, but it is a 1944 M1 .30 carbine and I am now officially a member of the Nation of Riflemen. Thank you, Kim, and extra-special thank you with-sugar-on-top, Mark. I am a happy woman.
Merry Christmas!
Just out of curiosity:
"Of course Chester is not the folding-stock paratrooper version that my grandfather carried"
Why not? I've always liked the look of folding stock rifles.
Anyway, the stock is just a minor thing. The main thing is that you have fun shooting it.
Dutch - Thank you, it was indeed Merry :-)
The "of course" comment was really just noting the difference between my gun and my grandfather's in the pictures. I don't have anything against the folding stock either, except the price (although I saw on Kim's comments that the price doesn't have to be prohibitive after all).
And oh yeah, I'm having fun shooting it!!
Always loved my Carbine. Glad to see others like it too.
Sarco used to have the paratrooper stocks. Don't know if they still do. The link still exists though.
http://www.sarcoinc.com/m1parastk.html
I think Chester is a fine looking specimen. I am curious to know the manufacturer, as I was fortunate to own a "carbine" at one time, but it was an Iver Johnson (non-GI) and somewhat less than reliable. That is when I became interested in the manufacturers. Enjoy, and try some of the sportier ammo available for your Carbine.
Chester is fine, if I do say so myself :-) He's an Inland (General Motors) shoots like a dream.
And yes, the paratrooper stock might be fun. Hmmm....