Australian M1 Garand

[emmagee1917]

I bought one when they came out. Love to shoot M1s , so pick up a NIB one and save the old warhorses . Yeh , that worked out. As I was out shooting it the first time , it was acting up a little on functioning , but was shooting good groups where it should. I don't remember what the problem was, but it seemed minor and I figured it would smooth out when broken in. Then it happened. Don't know what , exactly , but somehow a large jet of hot gas and burning powder shot up out of the action , bounced off the underside of my hat brim leaving a black scorch mark , and hit me square in the face. It was moving so fast some whipped around my safety glasses and smoked my eyes. The glasses were black and my forehead , nose and cheek areas were black and felt on fire ( powder was prob'ly still burning ). I packed up , drove to the gunshop , walked in , tossed the rifle on the counter , and told the owner I wanted a cash refund. One look at my still unwashed face , and he did so.
On the plus side , he contacted the other 5 people he'd sold these to and had them brought back and returned the whole lot to Century.
Chris

[gulliver62]

Rare...maybe in the sense that there were a lot fewer than the SA rifles. Valuable.....no at least not to me.
It's the same in any field of collecting.