Garands are amazing. I picked one up through the Civilian Marksmanship Program, an International Harvester with 1950s features. Using the 30-06 does limit where it can be fired here in this most populous state where guns are not smiled upon by officialdom.
The old school American rifle at the top of my list is the M1 Carbine. It looks like a mini-Garand. I have one in like new condition made by IBM, another made by Winchester. Original WW2 as issued, with flat bolts, no bayonet lugs, all parts correctly marked from the same manufacturer or whomever they subcontracted with at the time. These are not rebuilt junk retrieved after service in the Korean Army or elsewhere. I doubt these ever left the states. Even the stock markings are clear.
Unfortunately, these semi autos are now illegal to own in NJ. They were included in a group 'assault rifle' ban passed by a Republican governor and legislature two decades ago because most have the bayonet mount and are capable of taking 30 round banana clips. They used a formula to determine what was an assault rifle.
Mine, being untouched WW2 issue, do not have the bayonet mount, and the weight of a 30 round magazine will often cause it to drop after a round or two: WW2 production standards, when the 15 round magazine was standard and none were full auto until very late in the war, when the heavier M2 was developed.
Makes no difference. Illegal by definition. Jail time illegal. A state trooper was caught with one and lost his job, his pension, and received suspended jail time. At the same time the much more deadly SKS, AK 47 semi-auto, AR15, and a bunch of other weapons without the magic of the M1 carbine are perfectly legal. Politics. A clear inequity because NJ politicians don't want to be seen as 'soft on guns'. They will not touch the issue, privately conceding that it's a stupid law.
I have to keep my 'war babies' at a friends house in another state. Can you believe this crap?
