Canfield's Corner (Older Content)

It’s been a while since I posted anything on this blog but reviewing the galley proofs for the new Garand book, filming for the TV show and general work stuff have taken a lot of my time. I will comment at some point on the current hysteria in the national media over “assault weapons,” high-cap magazines, etc. but want to wait to see what occurs with the pending legislation. In the meantime, I thought I’d try to answer a question that seems to be the subject of a lot of confusion and incorrect assertions. The question is “Was the M1903A3...

I have always found it interesting, if not amusing, when a particular topic elicits a lot of controversy on an internet forum discussion site. It is appalling how some of the respondents can really get nasty and call someone with an opposing point of view all sorts of ugly names. None of these people would say anything remotely like that to the other guy’s face which, of course, is nothing but cowardice…but I digress. That is another discussion for another time. Another contentious ’03-related topic that pops up from time to time is the question as to what type of...

We recently discussed how the upper-end of the value market for M1941 Johnson rifles was affected by the three examples that sold at auction for sums over, or almost, $9,000 each. In previous columns here, I stated that among the hottest martial collectibles today are Johnson rifles and M1A1 carbines. This recent auction validated my prediction about Johnson rifles. Recent listings on a dealer’s on-line catalog have echoed the same regarding M1A1 carbines.Scott Duff recently advertised four original M1A1 carbines. All were genuine weapons in nice condition but none were anything exceptionally special (i.e., with an identified provenance or factory-new...

One saying I’m fond of is, “make new mistakes” which is another way of saying “learn from your mistakes.” None of us are immune to making mistakes and I certainly have made more than my fair share along the way. Below are several common mistakes made by some fledging (and sometimes not so fledgling) collectors: Acquiring a group of guns with no discernable theme.There is a difference between a collection and a bunch of guns. Of course, there is nothing wrong with owning a number of unrelated guns but I believe that in order to be fairly categorized as a...

From time to time, I still try to pop in and visit some of the Internet firearm/collector-related forums to see what is going on. Not surprisingly, interest in U.S. martial arms continues to be strong. As we have discussed here before, the M1 Garand is among the most popular collecting genres as well as being a favorite among many shooters (casual and serious). The availability of M1s via the CMP is a prime catalyst for the continued popularity of the weapon and I see no sign of this abating anytime soon. Back in “the good old days,” the CMP did...