M1 Nomenclature

[Bob Seijas]

The whole nomenclature system was changed with the M1 and dropped the year designation used on previous weapons. Burt Kellerstedt won top prize at the Ft. Washington, PA. show with a table that had only one Garand on it -- the rest were all items designated M1, from helmet to mess kit.

Before the GCA proposed standardizing the term "Gas Trap," collectors were all over the place trying to describe the early rifle. Terms in use were Model 1936, ca. 1936, 1936 Type, First Pattern, and several others. In 1992 member Steve Marvin wrote a great article for the Summer Newsletter titled "As Seen From Across The Counter" and used the term "Gas Trap" all through it. This rang a bell with me, so I checked with Art Tuttle to see if he agreed that it was the best description of the early front end, and that "Gas Port Rifle" would then fit for the later type. He thought it was excellent. I then wrote to Steve and suggested he propose standardizing the collector terms Gas Trap and Gas Port in another article. I waited several months and never heard from him, so I did it in 1993 (with full credit to Marvin). EVERYBODY liked the idea, and it became standard from then on.

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