The Curious Case of South Korea’s M1 Rifle Stockpile

[imntxs554]

South Korean Government wants to sell the M1s to American citizens.

The Curious Case of South Koreas M1 Rifle Stockpile

Information

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[Merle]

I thought the US gave / loaned those rifles (and carbines) to them. Pretty ungrate of them!

[Brian Dick]

Many were purchased by the Korean government as well as given to them via military assistance over many years. Retransfer authorization of purchased curio and relic U.S. military firearms was allowed starting in July 2005 by executive order. Without the State Department retransfer authorization, BATFE Imports Branch would not approve the import permits. President Obummer enacted a ban on ALL retransfer authorizations for C&R military firearms from the U.S. Department of State in September 2013 so we can forget about any of them being brought back home until he's out of office. If we get a Clinton government, it'll only be an extension of the same poor policy. Maybe worse.

[imntxs554]

I can only hope we can get these back.....SOON !!! I can't believe what we have now and allowed to purchase especially here in Texas that these M1s can't be seen other than a Collectable piece of American History. We all still have to fill a form and go through a background check. What's the Problem !!!

[Aragorn243]

It has always been my understanding that the vast majority of these are on loan only and owned by the US government and should be returned and sold through the CMP. The US government should be the one sitting on the gold mine.

[AFJon]

It has always been my understanding that the vast majority of these are on loan only and owned by the US government and should be returned and sold through the CMP. The US government should be the one sitting on the gold mine.

If the rifles went through the CMP they'd be the ones sitting on a gold mine....but if the former CEO (Orest Michaels) of the CMP assessment of their condition is correct they won't be worth much as the condition leaves a lot to be desired.

[Aragorn243]

Where did you see a report on their condition? That would be an interesting read. Even so, $400-$500 each wouldn't be unreasonable.

[AFJon]

Where did you see a report on their condition? That would be an interesting read. Even so, $400-$500 each wouldn't be unreasonable.

I found the old section (CMP has removed it from view on their site)

Somewhere in the 195 pages should be his comment about the Korean Garand's....
Ask Orest - CMP Forums

[Brian Dick]

I was involved in helping a lady who works the retransfers at Dept. of State make an assessment of carbine values by condition back in 2010. I think the conditions of both the carbines and rifles runs the full spectrum from poor to excellent. She used my rough valuations in a congressional hearing back then and the mood of members of congress was agreeable to the reimportation. The events in CT in 2012 and then the failure of the administration to pass it's list of new laws in 2013 is what caused the executive order as written in September 2013. Just another poke in the eye of the gun trade. I think that the majority were purchased by the South Korean government as a big importer in the USA was already working a deal to purchase and import the vast majority of them. If they were from the military assistance program, I think CMP would have already brought them in or be doing so as we speak. It's all politics guys as much as we hate it and aren't supposed to talk of it on this forum. The fact remains that until we get a leadership change in the USA that is friendly to our cause, it simply ain't going to happen. I also heard that the current administration has already sent someone from Army Ordnance to supervise destruction of the weapons that are still owned by the U.S. Government but whether or not this is taking place is anyone's guess. There was a vendor of Korean origin at Knob Creek a couple of years ago with a truck load of carbine wood and some other parts so it makes one wonder.

[Bob Womack]

Thanks for the info.

Bob