Friday, September 19, 2008

YouTube Garand 'Clips'

YouTube is great for the variety of information presented. Just searching on the Garand gives you a plethora of video posted by enthusiasts with how-to's. They aren't the authority, these YouTube posters, but they are a great start.


Cleaning the Garand:





Watch you don't ding the crown with the cleaning rod. A rod guide can be helpful, but be careful even with those.

and...



These guys are having some issues shooting blanks, loading 2 and a time, with a 8 round clip. I admire their enthusiasm, but I'm a little concerned with their lacksadasical 'range' safety attitude. At any rate, they have a malfunction loading in a non standard manner (just 2) and do a quick malfunction fix by half field stipping the rifle, quickly restoring functionality. SO they are at least initimately familiar with the piece's operation. And, at least they are using blanks:



and...



Here is a tribute to the 'ping' sound the clip makes when you are out of ammo. They strung together short clips from several war movies.



I don't know about the myth that surround that ping noise. Supposedly, the enemy would bum rush you squad when they heard that, knowing you were out of ammo. I don't see it. If YOU were an enemy soldier would you do that? The guy that ran out has the rest of his squad there to back him up.

Even going up against a lone GI with an entire squad, 8 vs. 1, if you had to run more than 25 yards the GI could conceivably be topped off before you got there. He might have a service pistol with 7 more pistol rounds to dissuade you, and he might have done that OTHER myth regarding the 'ping'... He might have shot a few and tossed a spare, empty, en bloc clip to simulate the sound to draw you up. Either way, you hear lots of talk about the ping myth, but little first hand accounts from WWII or Korean War veterans. Sure if it happened to someone he's most likely toast, but there were bound to be SOME survivors of this situation that could attest to it.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I've never believed the 'ping' myth. The Garand is one of the fastest rifles to reload on the planet, if you've practiced. There wouldn't be much time to rush the soldier who just ran dry before he'd be ready to go again. Also, in the noise of battle, that ping probably can't be heard from very far away.

The other myth also doesn't sound right, since it's the ejection from the rifle that goes 'ping', not the clip landing in the mud. Throwing an empty clip might make a clatter if it hit something hard, but it wouldn't 'ping'.

New Jovian Thunderbolt said...

You could pinch a spare clip between your thumb and receiver like a tiddly winkand get a similar ring.