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Rapier,
My old history teacher told me that every squad went foraging for empty Garand clips in the Bastonge perimeter in December 1944. Naturally, clips were everywhere; in snow drifts, on the street, in bunkers, and everywhere else empty clips landed before a GI reloaded his Garand. The clips were wiped off with a rag, checked for damage and then reloaded from machine gun belts.
I asked Mr. Hepp about the Garand empty clip "Ping" advising the enemy to attack. He laughed and said, "The battlefield is a very noisy place. If my M1 went "Ping", neither of my squad member's M1s to my immediate left or right did so, so why would a Kraut, (Or Jap, depending on the "ping" story teller's location) run up to me?"
The Garand Rifle was the LAST time Mannlicher's Clip went into service and off to war. A piece of history, but I believe it was the wrong solution for a much better rifle. Again, I lament it is too bad John Browning was not alive to assist.
Adam
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Adam Helmer
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