Handling General George S. Patton’s M1 Garand

by
posted on April 10, 2015
** When you buy products through the links on our site, we may earn a commission that supports NRA's mission to protect, preserve and defend the Second Amendment. **
keefe-report.jpg

General George S. Patton had the highest praise for the semi-automatic rifle designed by John C. Garand and adopted by the U.S. Army in 1936. A generation of young Americans literally saved the world from unspeakable evil—one eight-round en bloc clip at a time—with this rifle.

General Patton wrote a letter to Springfield Armory that has given us one of the most memorable gun quotes of all time: “In my opinion, the M1 rifle is the greatest battle implement ever devised.” The other maker of the Garand besides Springfield during World War II was the Winchester Repeating Arms Co., who, thanks to Patton’s high praise, decided to do something about it. Winchester built a Garand specifically for Patton, put a nice piece of walnut on it and had all the metal components chrome-plated. Winchester didn’t have to do this; as a private company, Winchester spent its own money to create a very special presentation rifle for one of the greatest combat generals America has ever produced.


Patton Garand

The problem is that Gen. Patton was never actually presented with the rifle. General Patton was gravely injured in an auto wreck while commanding the 15th Army and overseeing the transition of formerly Nazi Bavaria into a post-war democracy. He died on Dec. 21, 1945, never having seen the rifle. Winchester executives quietly put the gun into the company’s reference collection. That is where it sat until the collection was donated to and then put on display at the Cody Firearms Museum, which is part of the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Wyoming.

The rifle is on display at the Winchester Repeating Arms Co. booth (#2125) at the NRA Annual Meetings & Exhibits in Nashville. The Cody Museum’s Curator Ashley Hlebinsky escorted the rifle to Nashville, and she taped a undefinedsegment with Phil Schreier and Jim Supica for “NRA’s Gun Gurus” presented by Henry Repeating Arms that will air in early 2016. I caught up with Ashley, and you can see the video here (or watch it below). And, yes, I insisted on holding the rifle, white gloves and all. Last year, I paid my respects to General Patton and the other 5,075 Americans interred at the Luxembourg American Cemetery and Memorial while were filming our four-part series on the “Men and Guns of the Battle of the Bulge.” As I put the rifle to my shoulder, and looked through the sights (including a lock bar on the rear) I knew the general would have liked it.

 

 

Latest

Taurus Expedition Rifleman Review 1
Taurus Expedition Rifleman Review 1

Rifleman Review: Taurus Expedition

Taurus entered the bolt-action rifle market with its Expedition, a Remington 700-pattern design that's built to be versatile and affordable.

New For 2025: Charter Arms Pathfinder II

Charter Arms updated one of the oldest models in its lineup with the new Pathfinder II, which features a lightweight 7075 aluminum frame, making it more well-balanced and easier to carry.

Review: Kimber 2K11

The 2011-style pistol was designed to address the capacity limitations of the single-stack M1911 platform, and Kimber's approach to the concept is its 2K11, a competition-ready offering with several notable features.

Favorite Firearms: A High-Flying Hi-Standard “A-D”

Manufactured in New Haven, Conn., in late 1940, this Hi-Standard pistol was shipped as a Model “A,” but a heavier Model “D” barrel was installed later to replace the original, light barrel, leading one American Rifleman reader to call it a Model “A-D.”

Ruger Helps Families In Need Through The Kids & Clays Foundation

In the effort to help tens of thousands of critically ill children and their families across the nation through local Ronald McDonald Houses, Ruger is among some of the industry’s foremost Platinum-level sponsors of The Kids & Clays Foundation.

Unlocking The Future: Smith & Wesson's "No Lock" Revolvers

The future is shaping up to be a good one for fans of Smith & Wesson revolvers. The iconic American company had released 14 new models thus far in 2025 at the time this was written mid-year. And, with one exception, they have all shared a common feature—no internal lock.

Interests



Get the best of American Rifleman delivered to your inbox.