Garand historical guardianship

I saw someone post about how converting a Garand to a BM type rifle is savagery. I hear this argument all the time and it reminds me of the non humans who run peta.

peta argues that you should never eat, test, or wear animals. The funny thing is that you will see supporters of peta wearing leather shoes and belts, wearing cosmetics, taking polio vaccinations. You get the idea, they're hypocrites.

In the area of martial arms, you have the same crowd who sticks its ugly head out from time to time. They argue that parkerizing is destroying American History, any conversion to a martial arm is sacrilege. If I cared about worshiping machines, I would agree with them BUT;
- If we say that changing the metal on a martial arm is destroying it, we've established that all such changes are destruction and now can just argue about time to destruction.
- If you parkerize your military arm you are removing about an 1/8th the thickness of human hair and you are destroying it.
- If you convert a military arm to be a carbine or sporter you are destroying it.
- If you SHOOT your military arm you are wearing every part on the rifle and destroying it.
- If you choose to live in a more humid environment, you are destroying your military firearm and should take extreme caution.
- If you oil your stock you are destroying the DNA from our American heroes who carried it.
- If you oil your metal you are destroying it, if you don't you are destroying it.


Once you establish that SOME use of a military firearm is okay, you've set a precedent that usage is okay. It's now a matter of how much usage is allowable. That is to say, we all are destroying this stuff, just some faster than others. If usage of one type is no good, usage of any type is no good. Enjoy sitting there and staring at your firearm under glass.
$swords$

Oh, one more thing, I have a very tough time worshiping anything. I have a very tough time being Catholic and keeping my faith in God but I really do try, I sure as hell don't have any human heroes to worship. This all being said, I cannot even imagine being a member of a cult that would worship metal, machines, memories/history, food, or models of fat dudes.



Sticking to the 10 commandments is hard enough and commandments 1 and 2 clearly say;
1 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me."
2 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My Commandments."

Sooooooo, let's keep it real and remember that these are JUST rifles. These guns are not your first born, your Messiah, your wife, or your world. If you believe otherwise, you could go to hell :)

I will say that I cry when I hear about an original rifle being redone. I have refused to redo stocks on a few super early rifles just like a museum would unless it was in total disrepair and needed to be saved. Knowing the difference in a original and a put together is key for me in this area and I don't mind otherwise.

There were over 6 million made, saving the rare ones is a must and destroying or redoing many of the others is perfectly fine. Rick B

"Sooooooo, let's keep it real and remember that these are JUST rifles. These guns are not your first born, your Messiah, your wife, or your world. If you believe otherwise, you could go to hell "

Whoah...time out. This is in direct conflict with the accepted truths about steel. So you are saying the gods DID NOT leave steel on the battlefield for men to find and worship????
I'm gonna have to have some time to process this.

http://th02.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/..._barbarian.jpg

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Originally Posted by Rick B

I will say that I cry when I hear about an original rifle being redone. I have refused to redo stocks on a few super early rifles just like a museum would unless it was in total disrepair and needed to be saved. Knowing the difference in a original and a put together is key for me in this area and I don't mind otherwise.

There were over 6 million made, saving the rare ones is a must and destroying or redoing many of the others is perfectly fine. Rick B

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Rick, for the sake or argument, would you EVER fire an original and correct Garand?

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Originally Posted by timshufflin

Rick, for the sake or argument, would you EVER fire an original and correct Garand?

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Not if it has very expensive and hard to find parts. My American Eagle for instance, why fire it when I have more Lugers to shoot. Having to fire every weapon I collect is nothing more than having to think I need to be with every woman and none are to be left alone. I have had many weapons in my possession that I have never fire and have no urge too.

I am a firm believer that each thing in this world has its own purpose and to feel everyone has to do as all others do is something to think about.

Now answer me this..... If you have 5 Garands and 3 are super rare and worth $15,000 like the 3 digit WRA sold in my kitchen 3 months ago to a regular guy, do you feel he needs to shoot it or would you shoot it when you have others to shoot? If so can you honestly tell me why other than to take a chance you would fire it :) Rick B

[ If you believe otherwise, you could go to hell]

Brother Tim,
I'll save you a seat.
Jon

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Originally Posted by timshufflin

Rick, for the sake or argument, would you EVER fire an original and correct Garand?

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Not Rick,but....ABSOLUTELY!

Are we focusing too much on the object, or is the rifle a tie in to the real problem at hand?

I, by my nature am a packrat. I believe this is a disorder when unchecked can put your life, liberty and property in danger (aka. Hoarders). M1's draw these types of people together and it can feed off each other. Collecting by its nature is to me a very OCD activity. Always looking for the next great thing, when you have 4 examples of that sitting in your safe...why the need to keep searching? There must be another aspect of your life that is lacking attention, filling it with another rifle will not do it...nor will the next rifle. A viscous cycle.

Every rifle is not historically significant. Not every solider is a hero. The representation is what drives people to preserve them, not necessarily the actual physical rifle. I think the recent rifles being sold in close to new condition in many cases are helping to feed this obsession of preservation. The rifle lasted 60 years nearly untouched, shooting it now would be sacrilegious mindset. I'm shocked to hear people say, "I bought 2 correct grades and stuck them in the safe to not shoot them." My thought is, as a post war common rifle...with a nice collection of near new GI parts...those are the rifles that should be shot and appreciated.

I think there is a bigger underlying issue that is driving the need to spend money on an unused item. I've come to terms with my desire to buy more of the same. In a sense I've matured to the point where shooting them is more fun.

I am confident for every one of my rifles there are 100 sitting in a dark safe...not worth much more.

Roadkingtrax,
I at one time owned well over 20 Garands and over the years have probably owned closer to 50. At this time I own 3 and have moved to other weapons. A nice collection of odds and ends with my best in my old Hunting rifles. I have no obsession as I did years ago. I buy in-part for enjoyment and as much for future profit. I also am smart enough to know to much of a common thing will make you lose money.

One other thing to think about. To judge those who do not shoot their toys is no better than those who judge for shooting them. Who is the better of the two? No one is. Rick B

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Originally Posted by Rick B

One other thing to think about. To judge those who do not shoot their toys is no better than those who judge for shooting them. Who is the better of the two? No one is. Rick B

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This is the circular argument. The Ying-to-the-Yang of the whole deal. See both sides, accept both sides and chose what side is right for each gun you own...I'm sure others do the same.