I decided to celebrate the morning of this 4th of July by going out to Knob Creek and shooting my new-to-me M1 Garand. It had a clean bill of health from the gunsmith, and I was itching to put a couple of rounds down the barrel.

As usual, I got there before they opened, and picked out a good spot on the firing line. I put a target out at 100 yards, and put 2 clips of ammunition through it to zero the weapon.

The three shots in the center are my final rounds. I guess the zero is pretty good.

My groups weren’t as good as I would like, but these were the first rounds I’d put through the rifle. With practice, it’ll tighten up.

Here’s a pic of the new addition:

My impressions of the Garand is that it’s a heck of a lot of fun to shoot. It kicks more than an AR or SKS would, but not even close to the impact of a Mosin against my shoulder. It’s a heavy piece, and I can’t imagine walking with one from Normandy to the Elbe.

I would have burned up even more of my M2 Ball on it, but it’s in short supply, so I stopped after two clips. I’ll practice dry fire and stoppage drills with it at home and see if that helps with my groupings.