Let's hope it goes through and comes to fruition. I'd love to get a US marked Ithaca - just because. I don't care if it's been abused like most issue guns. That just means it has some history. My favorite Garands are the ones I have to put an extra half patch on the cleaning rod - they weren't sitting back in the States, they were used.BTW. Did everyone notice the NDAA authorized the transfer to and sale by CMP something like 10K 1911s?
I doubt the future CMP 1911's will be anywhere near the value of my $600 CMP M1 Garand!
I hope not, too. But we'll likely be surprised. M1 Carbines just don't do anything for me. I'd buy one if I could get it for, say, $300-375, but they typically sell on the CMP auction site for a grand:
http://cmpauction.thecmp.org/catalog.asp?catid=363&n=M1-Carbine
I'm guessing the 1911's, if they ever hit the CMP "store" will go for over $750 and will sell out immediately - and lots more on the auction site. The good old days are long over. My first CMP purchase was a "iron only" Garand which turned out to be a 5 Million series IHC - for $275, in the early-mid 90s.
If NSW is going for the Glock, good on them. I don't love them, but they are a reliable tool.
I am starting to come around that pistols are best procured at unit level and unit dollars. From a select set of approved firearms . Simplify.
...I am starting to come around that pistols are best procured at unit level and unit dollars. From a select set of approved firearms . Simplify.
Modern service pistols - like a Glock, Sig, M&P, are from what I have seen, all repayable and serviceable at a small unit level. Rarely do parts wear out on these firearms. And armorer skills are easily taught hands on with basic tools and with instructional videos.
...Why we don't contract laundry, cleaning, and meal services onboard all but the smallest ships is beyond me....
Rarely do I see any failures or wear with stock pistols from a major name brand.
Firing pin from Glock is a $30 dollar part. Surely a junior enlisted sailor with supervision can be taught to service this entire pistol over a weekend.
Iron only?
My service-grade M1 is a mash of parts but the receiver is 4 million range. $600 and shoots like a tack. I've learned more about marksmanship from shooting this thing.
John MCCain is rightly giving the army a hard time over modular handgun program which strangely is approaching billion dollar program. For a supposedly commercial off-the-shelf item.
I am starting to come around that pistols are best procured at unit level and unit dollars. From a select set of approved firearms . Simplify.
Right up until the moment you see Seaman Timmy rocking his "crackerjacks" swaggering down the sidewalk in Perth with an Australian hottie on each arm…and unable to pay for a drink in any bar in town. Just saying...And enlisted uniforms? Probably the most un-inspiring and least professional I can imagine in all the services.
Probably getting cranky in my old age, but this hit me the wrong way. Absent NSW, is "Navy culture" the same as "Every Marine a Rifleman"? No. Nor is it the same as "Rangers Lead The Way", "Knees in the breeze/blood on the risers" or a long list of other "cultures". But it IS "haze gray and underway" for months at a time, endless 14-hour days of the intricate flight deck ballet, the cultures of Destroyermen and The Silent Service, "We Can Build and We Can Fight", yadda yadda yadda.As for the lack of warrior culture in the United States navy - it's an issue that we have discussed before in other threads.
I have an M1 .30 Carbine made in 1943 by National Postal Meter (barrel by Underwood). Still haven't fired it yet - been meaning to get it to a range soon.I hope not, too. But we'll likely be surprised. M1 Carbines just don't do anything for me. I'd buy one if I could get it for, say, $300-375, but they typically sell on the CMP auction site for a grand:
http://cmpauction.thecmp.org/catalog.asp?catid=363&n=M1-Carbine
We are talking about sailors, soldiers and Marines and not a gun owner caring for his own personal weapon. You just can't get around the logistical nightmare it would be for the military, it goes against one of our core philophies of stadardization. It ain't going to happen on a large scale, period.
Because it is a warship and there are serious issues about having civilians aboard but for the limited instances they are now?
Probably getting cranky in my old age, but this hit me the wrong way. Absent NSW, is "Navy culture" the same as "Every Marine a Rifleman"? No. Nor is it the same as "Rangers Lead The Way", "Knees in the breeze/blood on the risers" or a long list of other "cultures". But it IS "haze gray and underway" for months at a time, endless 14-hour days of the intricate flight deck ballet, the cultures of Destroyermen and The Silent Service, "We Can Build and We Can Fight", yadda yadda yadda.
The Navy has its own brand of "warrior culture(s)" in spades…and no lack of opportunity to "play with cool hardware, have a shot at glory and see history made, and brag about it". Just my $.02.