Garand 2 gun

[Jgun]

This would be fun with a G.




http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2014/04/foghorn/shooting-m1-garand-carbine-competition/

[timshufflin]

We have several here who use the G for this, at least one does very well. Steve Fisher (spelling) has a .308 G with an Ultimak and Aimpoint (I think that's what's on it) and commonly places in the top two or three.

[Jgun]

Hoping to try it myself this year. I test fit a small Doctor type red dot on mine last night, and found that the sight was actually too low. It actually looked (sight not zeroed) as though it would exactly cowitness the irons. That looked too "busy" to me. I'd probably put the sight on a riser if I go that route, so that the irons don't obstruct the window of the mini red dot. I think the Aimpoint sits higher, so might work better.

[timshufflin]

The main guy I spoke of, wanted the sights to co witness. That seems to be a big deal.

[Jgun]

Not claiming to have "the" answer here, but from setting up red dots on AR's, I find that Im OK when the irons are visible in the window of the red dot, but not exactly in the center, where the irons can cause me to take longer to aquire the target. I find that for me, a low cowitness is OK, like the member with the aimpont comp in the picture thread . He states that he has a low co witness of the irons, in the aimpont. I have found that works. With the AR's I have sometimes mounted the primary magnified tube optic in the conventional location, with a mini red dot canted at a 45 degree angle to the right side. I'm righty, so I just tilt the gun to use the red dot for the close stuff (most of the shots) and tilt it back vertical to use the magnified optic for the (few) long shots. I may try that layout on my G. The beauty of that setup is that there is nothing to obstruct the reticles of each optic so I can aquire the target as fast as possible (for me). The Eotechs have a very large window which helps with rapid sight aquisition, but I think it would look really horrendouse mounted in the scout configuration on a G.

[HerkyBird]

I've been wanting to take a carbine class and get into to 2-gun with my Mini G. I have no experience doing this, but think he could've done better if he found some other way to reload vs across his body with the left hand.

[Jgun]

I've shot some matches, all with guns that had box mags, so the enblocs are going to take some time for me to figure out what works best for me. Aside from the fact that the enblocs seem to require more effort to load, there is the matter of them not ejecting untill empty. With the box mags you can reload on the run, whereever/whenever is convenient, by just dropping the mag, empty or not. You can also setup your reloads so you don't need to reload in the middle of a target array, just by timing your reloads. I haven't figured out any way that you're going to be able to do that with the enblocs. I was thinking that you might be able to utilize one of those Holebrook setups to give some flexibility, but I'm still not 100% sure how they function. Shooting against time, on the run, can be a lot of fun, as long as you're lucky enough to be squaded with a good crowd.

[HerkyBird]

I've shot some matches, all with guns that had box mags, so the enblocs are going to take some time for me to figure out what works best for me. Aside from the fact that the enblocs seem to require more effort to load, there is the matter of them not ejecting untill empty. With the box mags you can reload on the run, whereever/whenever is convenient, by just dropping the mag, empty or not. You can also setup your reloads so you don't need to reload in the middle of a target array, just by timing your reloads. I haven't figured out any way that you're going to be able to do that with the enblocs. I was thinking that you might be able to utilize one of those Holebrook setups to give some flexibility, but I'm still not 100% sure how they function. Shooting against time, on the run, can be a lot of fun, as long as you're lucky enough to be squaded with a good crowd.

I bet it's a blast. There's no way to get around do e of the limitations of the en bloc, but I've been practicing speedy reloads utilizing a stock pouch. It seems to work pretty well. I'm very inconsistent and I need to practice a lot more, but when I hit it right, it's fairly quick. The weak link is quickly opening the pouch and removing the en bloc with any consistency.

[Jgun]

From my experience with the other guns, I think that you want some type of mag pouch setup, probably on a waist belt. Understand, shooting matches is not real world, so an open topped pouch with the enbloc presented in the proper orientation for a quick grab is what you're looking for in the matches (that I've shot). I understand that there are other, more real world focused matches, where you would need a pouch with a flap to retain the clip during strenuous activity, but for my stuff, thats not needed. I made a call to Blade tech, I've used their Kydex pouches to shoot Saiga shotgun matches and they are excellent. I'm waiting to see if they can offer me something like that for the enblocs. I see that Jerry at Olongapo has a nice belt setup, I'm just not sure if it will be ideal for fast reloads. I think that you'll find that your reloads are faster once you get a better setup than the stock pouch. This is just conjecture because I've not tried the stock pouches, but I don't think You want to have to reach over the gun to the right side to retrieve the mag. With an enbloc presented on your weak hand side, you just reach down and have it in your hand as soon as the old one ejects. It's really about having fun, but we're always trying to find a way to go faster. (and make all our hits).

[HerkyBird]

I'd like to do some of the carbine classes or matches that are a little more "real world." Now, I don't think I'll ever be in any sort of gunfight with my Mini G, but the practical side of it appeals to me.

Also, reloading from the weak side seems really slow to me. It's just not how the Garand is designed to be loaded. I've been using my strong side hand for the reloads. I think if one was to shoot 2 gun with it, they'd need a belt like you're talking about, but on the strong hand side. I guess to make room, you could drop your sidearm down to a thigh rig. Or...I wonder if Olongapo's Grab n Go would work at all

[Jgun]

I haven't done this at the range yet, and I'm not an experienced Garand guy, but when I was running some practice drills at home, I found that I loaded faster from my left (weak side) than from the right. Of course I'm probably conditioned by he other guns that I've done this with, but usually I like to keep my trigger hand in place on the gun, and execute the reload with the off hand. Are you saying that you find it faster to reload with the strong hand and then regrip to shoot?

[HerkyBird]

So far I do. I'll have to try the weak hand and see how it goes. Like you said though, it won't work with the stock pouch. Maybe I should just buy another M1 and send it to Tim for the mag fed mini g conversion. :-)

[Jgun]

138113821383

I'd like to do the same thing, but first I've got to swing the price of another Garand for Tim to do the mag fed mod on.

I can't take credit for this because I got the idea from someone on the SH forum. I still think the Olongapo stuff would be superior to these, but this little cell phone pouch does fit the enbloc very well, and it has molle loops on the back, so you could add them to a belt or a chest rig, or anything else that is molle compatible. I'm probably going to pick up a couple more to try out.

[Jgun]

Someone sent me this youtube video the other day. I see that this guy chooses to use his strong hand to load, just as you are Herkybird. He seeems to have his reloads down pretty well. I do notice that he uses one of those two rd enblocs in order to time his reloads better, and he also seems to need to manually close the action each time, Is there a modification that can be done so that the action doesn't close until you release the op rod (like with the M14), other than using the Holbrook device? I notice that he doesn't need to manually eject the enbloc, so I'm assuming he's not using the Holbrook.

http://youtu.be/JREo8FLjZug

[jeepdeep]

Do people really reload from the weak side, like in the first video? Just seems awkward to use two hands when it can be done with one while maintaining on hand on the rifle for control.

[Jgun]

Jeepdeep, Please excuse my lack of experience showing here. I have yet to get to the range and do any live fire reload drills with my G, but at home, with the bolt locked back/action opened, when I hold the gun in a low ready position with my right (strong) hand, and use my left hand to insert the clip, when I insert the clip fully, it releases the bolt and loads the rd. I see that the shooter in the first video, inserts the clip with the left hand, but his op rod doesn't release when he inserts the clip, and he then uses his strong hand to pull back the op rod and release the bolt. The shooter in the second (youtube) video, inserts the clip with the right hand and then pulls back on the rod with the same hand to release the bolt. Am I to understand that the way my gun releases the bolt as soon as I insert the clip while practicing at home is not how it will function when I'm reloading on the run after the gun ejects a clip and locks back?

[jeepdeep]

The way you describe the function of your rifle is what I am used to and would expect. The op rod releases as soon as the clip is inserted, the key is to make sure your thumb is out of the way. I see in the first video that he is using his strong hand to hold the op rod back while he clears his left hand and then he lets it go into battery. I agree with your earlier post about the second video, he does appear to have a modification that allows the oprod to remain to the rear even with a fully inserted clip.

[Old Guard]

One of the newer double grenade pouches holds 4 garand clips pretty nicely and it has the loops on back..believe i paid $8.00 for it.

[HerkyBird]

How that second guy reloads is how I've been doing it. I just feel discombobulated loading with my weak hand.

[Jgun]

I'm going to have to get out to the range and try reloading both ways. from past experience I'm used to reloading with the weak hand, but the enbloc takes more force to seat than a box mag so I find that I need to drop the G to the low ready to brace it against my body while pressing the clip in with the weak hand. There may be some functional reason that makes reloading with the strong hand preferable, but so far, in dry fire paractice I haven't found that to be the case for me. I may in the future find that the other works better, we will see. I'm just waiting for my Aimpoint to arrive before I make the first trip to the range to try out my G.