III. Firearm Information by Type
D. Rifles
2. Models and Manufacturers
b. Self-Loading Rifles
132. M-1 Garand
4. How to Get an M-1 Garand through the DCM Program
Combat Arms
2869 Grove Way
Castro Valley, California 94546-6709
Telephone (415) 538-6544
BBS Phone: (415) 537-1777
HOW TO GET AN M1 GARAND THROUGH THE DCM PROGRAM
The following material is based on my experience and
knowledge of the Department of Civilian Marksmanship (DCM)
program, articles in The American Rifleman and the obtaining
of a genuine U.S. military M1 Garand directly from the U.S.
Army for just $165.00. This information is current as of
February, 1990.
QUALIFICATIONS TO GET A RIFLE THROUGH THE DCM PROGRAM
1. You must be a U.S. citizen.
2. You must be 18 years of age or older.
3. You must be a member in good standing in a DCM-enrolled
club or state association. Around here I suggest joining
the Chabot Gun Club or the California Rifle & Pistol
Association (if you live in the Oakland/Hayward/Fremont
area) or the San Jose Zouaves Rifle Club (if you live in
the San Jose/South Bay area.).
4. You must have participated in highpower rifle competition
and fired at least 120 rounds in not less than two (2)
approved matches.
WHAT TO DO ABOUT SHOOTING IN THE MATCHES
1. Join a DCM-affiliated Rifle Club if you are not already
a member. Details are available at the Chabot Rifle
range located in Anthony Chabot Regional Park/Castro
Valley or the Santa Clara Field Sports Park located off
Metcalf Road in South San Jose.
2. Next, call the DCM-affiliated Rifle Club and make a
reservation to shoot in the next DCM match. If you do
not have a "highpowered" rifle, see if you can reserve
one of the club's "loaners" at this time. What's a
highpowered rifle, you ask? Well, it's one that fires a
centerfire cartridge, such as .222, .223, 7mm, even .30
M1 Carbine, .308, .30-`06, etc. The rifle may be a bolt
action model or semiautomatic. If it is semiautomatic,
bring a couple of magazines. The weapon must be capable
of holding 5 rounds with none in the chamber.
3. Smart folks either have their spouse/roommate pack them
a bag lunch. You'll be there until about noon if you are
in relay one or two and until about 3:00 p.m. if you are
in relay #3 or relay #4 and hunger pains make shooting
tough!
4. At about 7:45 AM on the day of the match, show up at
the 200 yard range.
5. In the first of the four shooting events in the match,
you will be required to shoot 22 rounds slow fire from
the standing position with no sling. The first two
rounds are the sighting-in rounds and may be fired from
any position. You have 22 minutes (1 minute per round)
to fire the 22 rounds. The targets are always at 200
yards. I suggest you get your weapon sighted in at
at one of the local gun range's 200 yard target. Practice
shooting from an unsupported position. That means you can
use a sling but no sandbag! Also, no scope is permitted on
the weapon. If your weapon is magazine fed, you load an
empty magazine and manually put one round in the chamber
of the weapon (or position the round through the ejection
port and sit it in the magazine), close the bolt and
discharge the cartridge. This manual loading procedure
seems to me to be geared towards equalizing an advantage
over the bolt action weapons. Yes, it is a pain in the neck,
but those are the rules and even the pros follow them
and many of those shooters are using M1A's, etc.
6. After every shot, the target will be pulled down and
marked. The value of the shot will be indicated to you
by the position of an orange disk set on the perimeter
of the target. See the illustration below. For example,
if the orange disk appears in the upper right corner of
the target, your shot went somewhere in the 7 ring.
When the target comes up, look for the position of the
orange disk (for the value) and a white (if shot was in
the black area) or black (if shot was outside the black
area) disk to tell you the position of the shot. In our
example of the 7 ring shot, you would be looking for a
white disk somewhere outside the black target to tell
you where you hit in the seven ring. If the orange disk
is at the M position (12 o'clock), your shot was
outside the 5 ring and worth zero points. Therefore M
stands for "missed." Each shot for the record (which
excludes the two sighting shots) is worth 10 points.
Therefore the highest possible score for the offhand
standing position is 20 shots x 10 points = 200 points.
After all 22 rounds are fired (and remember that the
first two were sighting shots and worth no point value
in your actual score), you prepare for the sitting
position.
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7. In the second of the four shooting events, you will
fire 10 rounds rapid fire from the sitting position
plus two sighting shots. You may use a sling. Each time
the sighting shots are fired, the target is lowered and
the shots recorded and marked with the orange disk and
the white or black disk. After finishing the two
sighting shots the targets are all lowered. You will be
told to load two rounds in one magazine and eight
rounds in another magazine. At Mr. Levesque's command,
you will stand, load and, when all of the target are
raised simultaneously, drop to a sitting position
immediately and fire 10 rounds from the sitting
position in 60 seconds. You have a lot of time, so use
it. Nothing is dumber than to finish this event in 20
or 25 seconds. Use all the time and make every shot an
aimed shot! At the conclusion of the sitting shots, the
targets will be lowered, scored, marked and then
raised. When they reappear, you'll see 10 (assuming
that each of your 10 shots hit the target) little black
and/or white disks in the places where you hit plus a
green slender chalkboard that has written on it the
number of X's, 10's, 9's, 8's, 7's, 6's and 5's you
got. You cannot see the values on the chalkboard or the
little marking disks very well without a spotting scope
or binoculars.
8. The third event requires that you fire 10 rounds rapid
fire from the prone position in 70 seconds. You are
permitted to use a sling. First, of course, you have
the two sighting shots. The target will be lowered
after each sighting shot, recorded and raised. Then,
just like in the sitting event, all targets are
lowered. You will then be told to load one magazine
with two rounds and another magazine with eight rounds.
When all the targets are raised simultaneously, you
have 70 seconds to complete the 10 shots. The targets
are lowered and the shots scored and recorded as was
done in step 7. You now prepare yourself for the last
shooting event.
9. In the fourth and final event, you will fire 10 rounds
(with two sighting rounds first) slow fire from the
prone position (use of a sling is permitted). From the
time you are told to commence firing, you have 12
minutes to fire the two sighting shots plus the 10
record shots. Like in the standing slow fire event, the
weapon must have an empty magazine in it and one round
at a time is loaded and fired. After each shot the
target is lowered, the score recorded and the target
raised.
10. You have now fired 50 rounds for points (for a maximum
possible score of 500 points) plus eight sighting shots
for a total of 58 rounds. Bring about 75 rounds with
you. The concrete floor is hard, so it's a good idea to
also bring a mat or blanket to lay on. If you already
have a shooting jacket, bring it also but don't go buy
one especially for this event.
11. The hardest part for me was understanding the method
they use to indicate to you where you hit the target.
It helps tremendously if you bring a spotting scope or
binoculars. Also, if you have a person spotting for
you, it might help to have them call the shots as they
occur using the numbered rings on the target and an
imaginary clock reference. For example, a shot which
enters the "6 ring" left of center would be called
"6 at 9 o'clock".
12. The first thing that happens when you arrive is that
you get in line and sign up and pay the fee ($10.00).
At 9:00 a.m., relay #1 of the match is held for the
highly qualified and expert guys and gals. About 10:15
a.m. they will be finished and then relay #2 (who
pulled and scored targets for relay #1) gets to shoot
at about 10:30 a.m. When you sign up you'll be told
which relay you'll fire in if you did not make a
reservation by phone with Mr. Levesque. Some shooters
in relays #3 and #4 then leave after signing up at 8:00
a.m. and later return. Since nothing ever goes smoothly
in this world and things change, I suggest that you
stick around the first time you go. The first time you
go to this match, watch the pros shoot in relays #1 and
#2 and see how they do it. It'll help you when it's
your turn. When relay #2 is finished, relay #3 begins
shooting at about noon while relay #4 pulls and scores
targets. Then relay #4 shoots and relay #3 pulls and
scores targets for them. The last of the shooting for
relay #4 occurs about 2:45 p.m.
13. Let's say you are in the second group to shoot (relay
#2), so you'll be pulling targets first. You will go
down to the "pits" at the 200 yard line and mark the
shooter's target as he/she shoots. Do a fair and
helpful job because that person shooting will be the
one who marks your target when you get to shoot! By the
way, if a shot hits the dividing line between two
values (e.g., the 8 ring and the 9 ring), the shooter
is awarded the higher value.
14. After the shooter is finished, you calculate his/her
score and go back up to the firing line, where you
ready yourself for your shooting period.
15. Now you shoot. It is noteworthy that your score does
not matter for the purposes of getting the M1 Garand.
What matters is that you participated in the match. So
don't get all embarrassed. It's tough to shoot offhand
and you should practice if you want your score to be
higher.
16. After you have completed your shooting and target
pulling sessions, you leave and head for home.
THE PAPER WORK AND TIME REQUIRED
1. Sooner or later you will receive a copy of the official
score results in the mail. Don't lose this because you
must send it in to Washington to verify that you
actually participated in the DCM approved match. The
current rules require that you fire 120 rounds in
approved matches. You just did 50 of them. Now you keep
the score report for that 50 and need only 70 more
rounds. That actually means that you have to
participate in a total of three matches for 150 rounds
to qualify to buy the rifle. So, go to two more matches
and get two more score reports.
2. Now gather together photocopies of the following items.
a. Proof of age and U.S. citizenship. Acceptable
items of proof are any one of the following
documents:
1. A copy of your birth certificate.
2. A copy of your DD214.
3. A copy of your voter registration card.
4. A copy of the i.d. section of your U.S.
issued passport.
5. Proof of U.S. naturalization.
b. Proof of participation in the DCM match.
1. Send a photocopy of the bulletins you
received showing your score. Do not send the
original, in case things go astray and you
have to re-submit your paperwork. Remember
that you need score reports from three
matches.
2. Also acceptable for proof of highpower rifle
marksmanship activity are any one of the
following instead of item 2b1:
i. A highpower rifle classification card
issued by the NRA.
ii. A certificate of completion of Small
Arms Firing School for Rifle.
iii. Proof of Distinguished Rifleman status.
iv. Certified instructor cards for rifle
(silhouette is not acceptable).
3. Please note that military qualification
records, hunter safety cards, Federal
Firearms Licenses, etc. are not acceptable.
c. Proof of current membership in a DCM enrolled club
that is in good standing or in a state rifle
association.
1. This is a copy of your current Gun Club membership
card, a letter from the Secretary of your gun club
stating you are a member in good standing, etc. Out
of date membership is invalid.
3. Write a letter requesting the purchase of a DCM M1
Garand to:
Director of Civilian Marksmanship
Department of the Army
20 Massachusetts Avenue, N. W.
Pulaski Building - Room 1205
Washington, DC 20314-0100
Enclose the photocopies detailed in item #2 above. The
current Director is Colonel M.S. Gilchrist.
4. Now the waiting begins. When the DCM gets your letter
and photocopies, they'll review the documentation for
correctness and, if you have sent all the required
material, the DCM will mail you a "Purchase Firearm
Packet" to complete. They normally ship that to you
within a week of receiving your initial letter. The
package includes a statement of intended use,
fingerprint cards, and a request for disclosure of
prior purchases under the program. You can only get one
(1) M1 Garand under this program in your lifetime! If
you have already purchased an M1 rifle from the Army,
you may not purchase another. You must also certify
that the purchase is for personal use and not for
resale or other disposition.
5. Go to your local police or sheriff office and get
fingerprinted using the fingerprint cards that the DCM
mailed you in the Purchase Firearm Packet. No other
fingerprint card is acceptable. The law enforcement
agency charges a fee for this, usually around $10.00.
6. Mail all of the completed forms and fingerprint cards
back to the DCM office. Also enclose a self addressed
stamped postcard. DCM will complete the postcard and
send it to you, thereby letting you know they received
the package. When the DCM office has made a
determination that all forms are correctly prepared,
they will send the fingerprint cards and DD Form 1518
(Background Investigation) to the National Agency Check
and Investigative Center (NACIC) for a background
check. This process with NACIC can take up to six
months because it is low priority, not because you're a
bad guy! When the DCM finally hears from NACIC that you
are cleared, then the DCM, within about two weeks of
receiving the NACIC clearance, sends an "approval of
purchase request data" to Rock Island Arsenal in
Illinois. This is the government Rock Island Arsenal,
not the commercial one. Rock Island will check their
records to ascertain that you haven't already gotten an
M1 Garand through the program and will then mail you an
invoice for $165.00 and the necessary instructions. Do
not send money until you are requested to do so! From
the time DCM sends the form to Rock Island Arsenal
until you get the invoice from Rock Island is about two
months.
7. When you finally get the invoice for $165.00 from Rock
Island Arsenal, follow their instructions to the
letter! When Rock Island receives your money order
(preferred) or check they will, within about a two
month period, send shipping instructions to Anniston
Army Depot in Anniston, Alabama.
8. Once Anniston Army Depot gets the approval from Rock
Island Arsenal to ship, Anniston will process the order
and ship you an M1 Garand via U.S. Mail (not UPS - this
is the U.S. Army doing the shipping and they use the
U.S. Post Office).
9. From the time you shoot at the last of the three DCM
matches until the postman delivers your M1 Garand
typically takes 11 to 14 months, so don't get antsy and
start bothering DCM. It's a waste of your time and
theirs too.
10. Now that you are going to get one, what is an M1
Garand? It is a 9.5 pound, wooden stocked,
semiautomatic, gas operated, shoulder fired rifle that
shoots a .30-`06 cartridge from an 8 round clip. It was
developed in the late 1930s, designed by John Garand
and used in WWII and Korea by U.S. forces. The basic
design was later modified and became the M-14 in .308
with a 20 round magazine. No, you can't easily covert
an M1 to an M-14. The M1 Garand is still used by third
world countries. The rifle is used by some shooters in
the National Matches at Camp Perry in Ohio and is
capable of accurately shooting 1,000 yard targets.
Commercially, the M1 Garand at guns shops around the
country today are surplus weapons made in the United
States, exported to Korea and re-imported back into the
United States as surplus rifles.Match grade versions of
the M1 Garand can be created from these surplus rifles
upon request. If you decide to order one, please come
by the shop or call in using your credit card.