The Guns Of Miltech

Guns Magazine, Jan, 2001 by Cameron Hopkins

Take a close look at these Garands, M1 Carbines and other fine weapons. You may not be able to tell them from expensive, collector's-grade rifles -- until you get to the price tag!

Immediately following World War I, the Ordinance Department of the U. S. Army settled upon the notion of a semiautomatic rifle to replace the rugged but slow Springfield 1903A3. The Marines sneered at the idea of a self-loading rifle, saying it would be too unreliable for combat. Underterred, the Army hired two firearms experts,

J.D. Pedersen and John C. Garand, to design, a the new rifle. Pedersen jumped out front with first design, a delayed blowback rifle with a peculiar toggle mechanism to increase the inertia of the bolt. Due to the eccentricity of the design there was still residual breech pressure while the fired case was in the chamber causing difficult extraction.

Pedersen "solved" this problem, by applying a wax coating to the ammunition. Everything worked when the ammo was well-lubed with the wax, but functioning came to a halt with untreated cases. Interestingly the same problem (of cases sticking to the chamber due to residual gas pressure) was solved on future designs, like the HK G3 with a fluted chamber.

The Army realized the folly of being dependent on specially treated ammo, so the Ordinance Dept. passed on Pedersen's idea. That left Garand in the driver's seat and the rest, as they say, is history.

Garand's legendary M1 rifle, the rifle Gen. George S. Patton termed the "best battle implement ever devised," was a gas operated semiautomatic design firing eight rounds from an en bloc clip.

The reason for the unique clip, infamous for causing "M1 thumb," was because the Ordinance Dept. had prohibited Garand from using a detachable magazine, which was deemed unreliable. The Army also wanted GIs to hunker down as low as possible when firing from prone, something hindered by a detachable box magazine.

The M1 Garand was adopted in 1936 by the Army. The stubborn Marines wanted no part of the new-fangled self-loader and stuck with their Springfields, a circumstance they quickly sought to rectify after the fierce fighting in the Pacific when the Garand's superior firepower proved its worth.

When World II broke out, only 40,000 Mls had been produced; by the time the Enola Gay flew over Hiroshima, over 3.5 million Garands had been produced. By the time the Korean War was over and production of the Garand ceased with the introduction of the M14, a total of over 6 million Garands had been made.

Today's Garand

Today the Garand is viewed as a nostalgic sort of throwback a quaint and unusual rifle with a lot of military romance, an image that was recently enhanced by Saving Private Ryan. A decent "shooter" can be easily obtained at any gun show in the $400 to $600 ballpark. A minty specimen with all matching numbers fetches in the $800 to $1,000 range. A pristine "in the Cosmoline" example easily jumps into the same price range as a good used pickup.

The Miltech Garand

That's too bad, because a lot of shooters would love to have a cherry Garand, but most guys aren't willing to pay collector prices. Wouldn't it be great if you could take a "beater" Garand and get it restored to "in the Cosmoline" condition?

It would indeed be great, and that is precisely what a small California company offers -- restoration of select military rifles to "as issued" condition. Miltech Inc. specializes in the Garand, as well as other classic military rifles such as the '03A3, Mauser K98, 1917 Enfield, M1 Carbine and their piece de resistance, the 1941 Johnson rifle.

Company president Ed Silva grew up, as did many kids in the late '40s and early '50s, with a fascination for military weapons. "Militaria was big in our lives. One of our hobbies was military weapons and the goal, the dream, was to find an original in the crate," Silva recalled.

He and his father were both avid shooters, but it wasn't until the mid-'60s that Silva finally found his dream, a mint Garand in the crate. "I paid $70 for mine, but Dad paid $80 because the guy said he would take off the Cosmoline for an extra 10 bucks," Silva said. "But you just don't find mint Garands any more. They've all gone to the collectors."

Ground-Up Restoration

And so it came to be that, 20 years ago, Silva decided to relive his childhood dream by creating a company that specialized in restoring Garands to mint condition. Perhaps "restore" is not quite the right term. Given the extensive work that goes into a Miltech rifle, "remanufacture" is probably a more apt description.

"People think they're just getting a refinish, a $99 Earl Scheib paint job. Well, that's not what we do," Silva said. Using original GI-manufactured receivers, Silva's crew completely rebuilds the Garand including a new match-grade barrel and a new walnut stock. The finished rifle is Parkerized with original GI-spec manganese phosphate.

A typical M1 comes into the Miltech operation with a dinged up stock and rusty, pitted metal. The bore is often pitted and the gas piston is usually corroded. The sear has seen better days and the op rod may be out-of-true.