tenthumbs
06-10-2018, 09:14 PM
Pretty interesting read.:thumbup:
Garand collectors have long known about these, as stored and recorded by Springfield Armory, but as far as we know, nobody’s found one yet. In 1959, Armory officials told the local newspaper that a few cans recently arrived (of which, more later) were the last survivors of the cans the Armory filled in 1947 and 1948 — apart from a few in the collection of the Armory’s museum.
Right after World War II, the Armed Forces went from something like 12 million men, mostly armed with M1 Garands, to a tiny fraction of the size. Logistical problem: trainloads of surplus Garands.
For the first time in a long time, Springfield produced no service rifles in the years immediately after World War II. (Production would resume in a few years, when Korea kicked off). But even when issuing those wartime M1s out as needed, the United States Army had too many rifles to handle. (This problem was just about universal after the war: the victorious nations demobilized most of their forces, and the vanquished no longer had any armies to arm).
Some M1s and other GI weapons went to friendly foreign nations, especially formerly occupied nations rebuilding defense forces from zero. And some small arms came in from the field too beat up to save (they were parted out, or set aside to be parted out). But some new guns and some repaired and inspected guns were not going anywhere. The supply exceeded the demand, and the problem became, how to store them?
http://weaponsman.com/?p=13309
Garand collectors have long known about these, as stored and recorded by Springfield Armory, but as far as we know, nobody’s found one yet. In 1959, Armory officials told the local newspaper that a few cans recently arrived (of which, more later) were the last survivors of the cans the Armory filled in 1947 and 1948 — apart from a few in the collection of the Armory’s museum.
Right after World War II, the Armed Forces went from something like 12 million men, mostly armed with M1 Garands, to a tiny fraction of the size. Logistical problem: trainloads of surplus Garands.
For the first time in a long time, Springfield produced no service rifles in the years immediately after World War II. (Production would resume in a few years, when Korea kicked off). But even when issuing those wartime M1s out as needed, the United States Army had too many rifles to handle. (This problem was just about universal after the war: the victorious nations demobilized most of their forces, and the vanquished no longer had any armies to arm).
Some M1s and other GI weapons went to friendly foreign nations, especially formerly occupied nations rebuilding defense forces from zero. And some small arms came in from the field too beat up to save (they were parted out, or set aside to be parted out). But some new guns and some repaired and inspected guns were not going anywhere. The supply exceeded the demand, and the problem became, how to store them?
http://weaponsman.com/?p=13309