Airsoft M1C Garand Sniper Rifle Part 1

The M1C was a sniper variant of the M1 Garand, while probably none saw action during WW2 they were used by both the Army and Marine Corps in the Korean War.

The Scope was a military version of the rugged and proven 2.5x Lyman Alaskan, designated “Telescope M82” (or M81 depending on the reticule). Mounts were supplied by Griffin & Howe. The full M1C package consisted of the M1 Garand, M82/81 Scope + Mount, T4 Cheek Pad and M2 Flash Hider. At a length of approx. 46 inches and weighing nearly 5,5kg it was quite a hefty package!

The scope is offset to the left to allow loading the eight round en bloc clip. Because of this the Cheek Pad is an integral part of the M1C setup. It is used to compensate for the offset scope position and brings the eye in line with the scope. Felt pads inside could be used adjust the thickness.

The M2 Flash Hider was a bit of a mixed bag, it did not reduce smoke but it did reduce the muzzle flash by 90% at 100 yards (according to ordnance studies) however they tended to degrade accuracy if they came even slightly loose. From what I read it was not unusual to use the M1C without it.

The M1C Garand and the Springfield/Unertl were the principal Marine Crops sniper rifles during the Korean War. The latter being effective up to 1000 yards. Even though the M1C was only being effective up to 600 yards in combat situations it was generally well regarded and quite a few snipers prefered the semi-automatic M1C over the bolt-action Springfield.

There were a lot of accuracy problems early on that lead to a very high rejection rate. One of the most awkward things was that the installation of the scope base was done before heat treating the receiver (+ this being done not by Springfield but at the factory of the manufacturer of the mount)?!? After everything was completed the rifles were tested for accuracy… and many failed. Someone really had money to burn 😉 Though over time most of the issues were worked out and the ones that got in the field were generally good and well liked by the Marines.

I always fancied on for airsoft but back in the days I could not find affordable mounts and scopes. The scarce originals are too expensive and valuable, so the project laid dormant for several years and I more or less forgot about it. Enter 2017…  “BAP45” made a comment here about repro stuff… I started looking… my wallet is now empty XD

The Scope I ended up buying is a Hi-Lux William Malcolm M82G2, a high quality reproduction of the M82 scope  (it actually has better lenses than the original scopes). Mount is reproduction from an unknown manufacturer that I got of eBay.

Still need to buy a rubber eyepiece for the scope, even repros seem to be scare so I may end up making one from scratch using rubber tubing as a stop gap.

OK, here we go! Base rifle is a G&G M1 Garand. Step 1: Tapping screw threads for the mount base

First I took everything apart

Next, drilling a hole, I was really worried I might mess this up… 😮

On to the thread

Do this three times… finished!

There are two more holes for the pins in the base, but I didn’t bother drilling the receiver for those. I simply put small pieces of wood which I painted to look like metal in those.

Click here for Part 2

And check out this footage of a M1C in action

~ by m1pencil on April 15, 2017.