One to Watch - Authentic Gas Trap on Gunbroker

[Johnny Peppers]

a person on Jouster stated this gas trap was missing the lock bar rear sight, another on the CMP forum stated that the follower was wrong and also the lock bar rear sight was missing too !

The locking bar rear sight wasn't used until somewhere near the 500,000 serial number range. Up until that time the flush nut rear sight was used as is pictured on the rifle. The follower was changed from the early type to the later type around serial number 44,000 serial number range. Those two items are correct as shown.

[RCS]

gas trap serial number 46195 was sold in 2000, then resold two more times, the data sheet was just about the same as s/n 46097 except the revision 2 bolt had a C11 heat lot

[Calif-Steve]

That particular rifle hasn't seen one day of combat. I saw combat in RVN and rifles got beat up quick. I have a hard believing the story. Sorry, but I am being honest. If the rifle was stolen early on and sent home, I would be a believer. But that rifle hasn't seen one day of combat.

[Mark in Rochester]

I think it is possible

Guadalcanal
Battle-stained Amer. infantryman with weapon after a bloody battle for a 1,500-ft. peak euphemistically called the Grassy Knoll.
Location: Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands
Date taken: 1943
Photographer: Ralph Morse

[Bob Seijas]

A lot of guns in a unit didn't get used very hard -- the Colonel's driver, the Supply Sergeant, the Company Clerk, the Cooks, to name a few. This one was at least used, as witness the clip-tap dimples in the stock.

[Calif-Steve]

Bob; No smart-a$$ intended by me. I just don't believe this rifle jumped in combat. It went somewhere, for sure, but into combat, "NO". Troops hardly have the time to clean a weapon when moving in combat. My life depended on my M16 running right, do you really think a Gas trap was trusted and then carried into combat when no one else had a Gas Trap? Hidden in a duffle bag and packed away? Likely. I ate 1 meal a day when on operations in RVN, was sick and beat all of the time. The Colonels Driver?, you have seen too much Hollywood. This was a jump unit, jeeps?, into a C-47 you mean? The rifle is the real deal, the rifle stands on its own merits. But the story seems too contrived to be real. I wish I could have talked to that vet. My Uncle was at Bastone and I did talk to him about it. Just my $.02.

[Rick B]

This rifle looks worn to me. Remember it didn't stay in service for 70 years like most you see today that are worn thin. This fella used it for one battle from what I read and I see a worn gas cylinder and other parts. I am betting my bottom dollar he oiled the crap out of it from what I see on the wood so you do not see the beating the stock took to well and he may have cleaned the stock for all we know.

Arguing that this rifle should look completely tethered and torn is ridiculous. Even in war some guys took care of their weapons out of habit. Rick B

[Calif-Steve]

I'm not arguing anything. Problem is the rifle looks very good to me. Wished I owned it. The rifle stands on its own merits. A keeper, for sure. The "story" attched to it seems contrived, again, to me.

[krag1896]

Steve-Calif. and the other doubters out there: The rifle as well as the story are 100% legit. How do I know? Because I am very familiar with everybody envolved with the rifle, the vet, and the story. We all lived within 5 miles of each other in the Hampton Roads area. The veteran was a friend of mine and a member in our local VFW, the collector who first bought the rifle after the newspaper article in 1990 came out was a well know local businessman, and the gentleman now selling the rifle is a friend and local retired businessman and also a high end martial arms collector. The veteran was a very modest man, highly decorated, and not one to tell tales. He had no idea in the world the rifle he carried at the Battle of the Bulge was anything other than an ordinary M1 Garand. When the collector mentioned in the ad contacted him and offered him in 1990 money what was equal to the price of a new car, any car, he decided after much thought to sell the rifle. When the collector passed away from cancer in 2006 the person now selling the rifle paid his widow what again is equivalent to a new car. So when I read the forum posts, especially on the CMP forum it about made me sick to my stomach about i.e. the rifle being fake, the vet getting cheated, rifle wasn't used in combat etc. etc. I knew these things to be absolutely false and felt the need to post on this forum. I sincerely hope this very important M1, the hero that carried it in WWII memory, and the nice gentleman now selling it doesn't get muddied up in all the false rhetoric.

[Calif-Steve]

My uncle was at the Bulge in the Airborne at Bastone. Good guy, for sure. Sorry I never met the vet, sounds like I would have liked him.