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The Ministry of National Defense plans to sell more than 100,000 aging U.S. combat rifles to American gun enthusiasts, ministry officials said Thursday.
The plan is part of the ministry's programs to boost its defense budget, they said.
About 86,000 M1 Garand rifles and 22,000 M1 carbine rifles will be sold to gun collectors in the United States, as the U.S. government has approved the sale. The rifles were originally given to South Korea as part of a U.S. aid program in the 1950s, according to officials.
The total value of the firearms for sale exceeds $120 million.
The rifles were used by U.S. troops in the Korean and Vietnam wars before being donated to the South Korean military.
They have been mothballed for years in military warehouses, but were occasionally used in drills by reserve soldiers.
The M1s were made first in 1926 and used in World War II and the Vietnam War.
The carbines were first produced in 1941 and used during the 1950-1953 Korean War.
Korea will sell outdated M1 and carbine rifles used during the Korean War and the Vietnam War to the U.S. gun enthusiasts. They have long lost their value as firearms, except that reserve forces sometime use them.
The Defense Ministry's "green" logistics planning division said it decided to sell about 87,000 M1 and some 35,000 carbine rifles to the U.S. by the end of the year. "Importers are very interested in them as many Americans want to buy them as curios for their collections."
The ministry estimated their expected sale prices at US$220 per M1 and more than $140 per carbine. Korea could earn more than $20 million from the first shipment of those rifles. In fact, the old M1 or carbine rifle is traded at more than $1,000 in some cases in the U.S., a military officer said.
The Army and the Navy will get rid of all their stockpiles of M1s, but the ministry expects to keep earning dollars as it still keeps about 640,000 carbines for the reserve forces, which could also be disposed of as the reserve forces' equipment will be modernized by 2020.
The ministry's logistics planning division concluded that there is no legal problem selling the guns although a considerable amount of them were given by the U.S. to Korea as aid supplies.
M1s were made first in the U.S. in 1926, and many were used later in World War II and the Vietnam War. Carbines were manufactured first in 1941 and introduced to Korea in 1948, many given to soldiers during the Korean War.
In other news, a whole country has just pissed off the Brady Campaign.
This has been one of those gonna happen, but never does things for the last 5 years.
I think the problem, the US gave Korea the rifles, and so are not going to buy them back, and too they are still government owned, so it has stopped any companies from stepping in. Then Korea is looking to make money, in the whole deal, but supposedly none of the guns are really in great condition, so aren't willing to ship them over, and get nothing out of the deal.
According to the M1 collectors club , you shouldn't hold your breath for this.
S.Korea to sell M1 Garand/Carbines to U.S. gun collectors
