Executive order bans re-importation of M1 Garands

Among other curio and relic weapons. In general, to make the curio and relic list a firearm has to be over fifty years old and derive its value from its historical relevance. By far, the most common weapon imported under this provision has been the M1 Garand.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/08/29/obama-announces-new-gun-control-measures-targets-military-surplus-imports/

 

Not news...

The Obama administration has been blocking South Korea from selling it's old surplus weapons for a few years now. FYI - it was not aimed at the M-1 Garand, but the M-1 Carbine(of which the Koreans were trying to get rid of 600,000): The sale of some 85,000 SK Garands was approved around early 2012(don't know if any were actually sold though), however, the ban on SK M-1 Carbines has been ongoing since about 2010.

Still, it's a bunch of anti-gun BS - intended more to get the Dems votes than to actually protect anybody from gun violence.

 

No, this is new - as of 29 August. He has been specifically blocking the South Korean imports, but many other WWII and earlier firearms have been coming in from around the world. Now, no imports of any kind will be allowed in under curio and relic status.

This pretty much puts the ODCMP out of business. http://www.odcmp.com/sales.htm

 

Rumor has it that a bunch of ROK M1 Garands and M1 Carbines are going to be imported to Canada in about two months from now. One of the distributors mentioned this on their website and posted several articles on the largest Canadian firearms forum. I wonder if this has to do with the import ban put in place over the last few weeks? There's also supposed to be some M1911A1s and Browning HiPowers inbound (don't know where these are coming from, but they're "1940s-vintage military surplus").

Assuming the prices aren't ridiculous I think I'll pick up one of each. While this is complete BS for those south of the border, at least we Canadians are finally going to have a chance to own these. The going rate is about $900 for a Carbine and $1500 for a Garand, and I certainly hope that these are priced appropriately given their 'well-used' condition!

 

With the American market shut down, you may be the beneficiary, Alan. In the USA, it will be a bit like Cuban cigars -- those who can afford them will still manage to get theirs.

 

I hope this shipment materializes. I already have a Garand and a Carbine, but they were both refurbed after they saw combat. From what I can tell for photos, it looks like the ROK examples were kept in essentially the same condition they were in when the war ended (with all the associated dings, scrapes and scratches). I can only imagine the history on these -- likely used in the Pacific War, refurbed to see service in the Korean War (where they all likely saw some form of combat) and sitting in arsenals for decades awaiting another DPRK invasion that never materialized. I buy these for the history, not just to shoot.

Given the condition (do a google images search if you don't know what I mean), I won't be plopping down the going rate for these It seems that the importer understands that these are far from being in 'mint condition' and will not be demanding sky-high prices for them. If the prices are reasonable (I think <$900 would be very fair), that's another bonus.

To my knowledge the last big import of Garands to Canada came from Denmark in the 1990s. IIRC these were selling for between $300 and $400 a piece. There might have been a smaller shipment from Greece around that time as well. Sadly a lot of Garands are being 'rebuilt' by their owners (reparkerized, new Boyd's stocks, etc). They're OK as shooters, but I see essentially no collector value in these. On top of that a lot are having new Criterion barrels installed. Sure, they look good and shoot great, but the history was all destroyed. These 'eye candy' Garands are really driving up the prices, and there are few newly imported 'battle-worn' examples to balance it out. I bought my M1D 'Sniper' Garand (albeit without the scope, flash hider and cheekpad) in 2010, just before the market went sky-high. In fact, I paid less than the going rate for a 'normal' Garand now.

Luckily you guys in the 'States have a larger stock than we do. All-matching, non 'mix-master' Garands are very difficult to find up here.

 

On second thought, here's what I mean about the condition (note the two being dragged by the butt in the background, with the muzzles grinding on the floor):