Spring GCA Journal

[Bob Seijas]

The Spring issue is in final assembly, although it's still a couple of weeks from going to the printer. There are some really interesting articles besides the two early Winchesters mentioned previously... Marty Morgan has written a good one on some of the unusual M1's found in the Philippine returns. Another I like is on an odd flash hider that could have been a USMC project. You still have time to subscribe if you aren't yet a GCA member
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[Tommiep54]

Thanks Bob! Looking forward to it!

Tom

[Doco overboard]

Thanks for the prompt and reminder! Just ponied up for two great places in about as much time as it has taken to type this.

[ROCK]

Another I like is on an odd flash hider that could have been a USMC project.

Very interesting flash hider. Prototype and early grenade launchers is another area yet to be explored.

[Bob Seijas]

Interesting indeed. The author (Steve Norton) speculates that it might have been developed because the thinner profile of the bell allowed the regular sights to be used, whereas the standard hider bell was high enough to interfere.
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[Bob Seijas]

I was discussing it with Steve Norton, he elaborated with info not in the article, including a quote from Dick Culver, the archetype Marine:

"A cone flash hider designated the M2 was adopted in early 1945 [but] unfortunately fit so loosely that it often degraded the accuracy of the rifle. The Marine Corps developed their own for the Marine version of the M1C, the USMC M1952. The USMC hider was made from a grenade launcher that allowed the user to tighten the bell onto the muzzle by hand utilizing a coarsely threaded bell that screwed into the locking base. Hand tightening the bell actually helped to stabilize the gas cylinder when the hider was tightened down."

Steve added, "My flash hider is threaded at the end and can be tightened down on the muzzle. I think this a fascinating trait never discussed before, a threaded cone you can tighten. The Marines also had a lot of the M3 Grease Guns which is what the cone is from."
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[Bob Seijas]

When the M1C was having such terrible accuracy problems (as many as 200 rifles in rehab for failing the tests) SA was desperate to identify the cause. One suspect was the flash hider because Ordnance insisted that the rifles be test-fired with it on. Tests were conducted to get to the bottom of it once and for all (at Aberdeen IIRC). The results showed that the hider influenced accuracy from negative to positive depending on how tight it fit. A really tight one actually improved accuracy, while a loose one damaged it. So the Marines were on the right track with a hider that could be tightened by turning the bell.

[RCS]

We had three M1D rifles in my company (HRA with SA barrels, M84 scopes) they were never fired with flash hiders

[Bob Seijas]

Most people think the "hider" somehow stifles the flash, but all it does is reduce the amount of flash that comes back to the shooter's eyes. The fireball is the same, just elongated and focused to the front.