Went shooting this morning

Sam06 · December 21, 2020 17:42

I took out a rifle I have not shot in over 20 years. I even broke out some new ammo.

I was looking in my Gun safe thinking to get rid of a few guns and in the back are 2 rifles that I used to shoot in High Power matches when I was stationed at Ft Polk and when i was a Ranger Instructor. Me and a buddy would go and shoot in the All Army matches at Ft Benning every year when I was stationed at Camp Merrill.

In the early 90's I got a M1, I got it at a gun show in Atlanta and it cost me about 300 bucks if I remember right. It was a CMP gun and was maybe a field grade gun. The M1 was a not too bad but I wanted a match rifle, so I took it to a gunsmith by the name of Glen Nelson. I was going to get it built into a match rifle in 308/7.62. Well Glen was an older guy who had built guns for the Army MMU and he was kind of "set in his ways" I guess would be the way to say it. He took the rifle from me and started tearing it apart, looking at stuff and putting in a pile or throwing it in the trash. I was just stairing at him while he tore my rifle apart. We hadn't talked price or what I wanted. As he was ripping the gun up I was just about to say I wanted it in 7.62 when he looked at me and said "I ain't building it in 7.62" it was like he read my mind............. Then he looked at my uniform( was in BDUs) and saw my CIB and gold stars on my Jump wings. He asked me what I did so I told him and he then asked what I was going to do with the rifle. I told him I usually shot a M1A but I wanted a M1 to shoot in matches too. I figured it would be a better rifle across the board(Standing, seated and prone). Heavy and stable.

He looks at me again and says give a few months. I told him I would check in with him in 2 months. I was at Benning just about every month anyway when we would jump the Ranger Students back in from the desert phase.

So about 3 months go by and I stop in at his shop. He remembers me and brings out the most beautiful M1 I have ever seen. New stock, Heavy Douglas match barrel, match sights(I didn't supply them) it has the old style milled trigger guard(Mine didn't) I would not have known the gun except by the serial number.

My jaw was on the ground. He had bedded the gun with Marine Tech and the trigger was perfect nice take up and then a clean break.

He told me he took the gun out and shot it at 200 yds and he said it shot inside the X ring all 8 rounds once it was sighted in. He said he used some old 174gr match ammo. He also threw in 3 5 round clips, 3 2 rounders and sled for shooting at 600.

Well Old Glen is long gone but his rifle still shoots. It was a blast shooting it again and I could kick myself in the butt for not shooting it more. I was at my range and I was shooting what we call Mexican Match ammo which is M2 ball with the bullet pulled and a 168gr Sierra BTHP match bullet put in it place. I was shooting steel silhouettes from 200 to 700 yards and I was shooting prone. That old girl was putting them right in there. Some young guy was shooting one of these new fangled whiz bang sketonized rifles in 6.5 whatever with a 95 power scope that see's into the future and he was amazed I could hit anything with iron sights let alone out to 600 yards.

Oh yea when I asked what I owed him he looked at me and said how about $250 there Ranger. I couldn't get my money out fast enough.

I was at a High Power match at Ft Polk and a guy was admiring the rifle. He asked me who built it and I told him. Then he asked if he could shoot it at the 600 yard line I said no problem. When he was done shooting it he offered me 1000 bucks for it(this was in 1996 or 7). I damn near took it but I am glad I kept it.

Now I need to get out the M1a and shoot it some.

Went shooting this morning

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