The M1's may make it yet

[VBshooter]

Legislation is in the works to to allow the reimportation of antique and collectible firearms and is focused on the recent denial of M1 rifles that were not allowed to be brought into the country from S Korea.

http://tester.senate.gov/Newsroom/pr_021111_gunbill.cfm

(U.S. SENATE) – Senator Jon Tester’s legislation to allow antique gun re-importation and sales is winning strong bipartisan support as it nears its reintroduction in the Senate.

The House version;
http://rehberg.house.gov/index.cfm?sect ... temid=1604

Montana's Congressman, Denny Rehberg, sponsored legislation to compel the State Department to allow the importation of 857,470 lawful M1 semi automatic rifles into the United States.

Let's hope they are sucessful

[Reverenddel]

[Diomed]

I can't help but think we're suckers for trying to buy back stuff we loaned out...

[KaosDad]

Anyone for a road trip to Ohio?

[PawnQuixote]

[t33j]

I can't help but think we're suckers for trying to buy back stuff we loaned out...

+1

[CowboyT]

I like this idea, mostly on principle, though I agree that we shouldn't be "buying" back our own rifles. Aren't those US property that we let South Korea use in case North Korea ever actually invaded?

One other question. I know they're historical and all, but so are Mosin-Nagants. M1 Garands seem to be about as accurate as good Mosins (and there are plenty of the latter), but they cost way, way more. Is this about collecting to sit in a safe, or is it about actually using one to go hunting and competing with?

[Diomed]

Aren't those US property that we let South Korea use in case North Korea ever actually invaded?

Yes. We sold them a bunch of surplus, and we loaned them a bunch of surplus. They've sold us back a lot of stuff already - if a Garand or carbine didn't come from CMP/DCM, or isn't a bringback, then odds are it's a Korean commercial reimport. That's how warped the market is.

Is this about collecting to sit in a safe, or is it about actually using one to go hunting and competing with?

Yes.

I'm not sure what you're asking. It's not really sensible to compare Mosin prices to Garand prices. One is a simple Victorian rifle made in multiple countries for over half a century, much of it by peasant slave labor. The other is a complicated art deco autoloader that was made in one country for about ten years. There were perhaps an order of magnitude more Mosins made than Garands. Plus, there are restrictions in place on the reimportation of US made defense articles (i.e. rifles) that are not in place for antique foreign made guns, like Mosins, so there's nothing close to a free market in terms of Garands. One can surmise that the sale of surplus rifles on behalf of the government (CMP) has artificially depressed prices, since when CMP runs out, the market price jumps quickly (and is always ~20-30% higher than CMP price even when CMP has stock). The rifle has always been expensive in the public marketplace, they usually ran $70-80 per in the mid '60s when most surplus rifles were in the $10-20/ea. range.

Garands are desirable both for the collecting and the shooting markets. I suppose there's also a reenacting market too.