M1 question

[DaveA]

have the opportunity to aquire a M1 with a good bore for a decent price. a friend owns it and has had it for several years now.

upon inspection tonight it seems to have been "parted" together ie. H&R reciever, SA barrel, and WRA bolt.

on the stock i can only locate the "P" cartouche on the grip and the forward handguard is a bit darker than the rest of the stock.

is this indicative of a factory rebuilt rifle or perhaps a rifle that someone has pieced together themselves?

 

[JP]

Perfectly normal, Arsenals rebuild rifles to shoot not for collectors. If everything matched than I would say someone pieced it together.

 

[The Wizard]

Among M1 collectors there is a famous picture taken on a Pacific island during World War 2 of an ordnance person repairing battlefield pick-ups. He didn't much care if a Winchester bolt went into a Springfield reciever as long as it worked. No disrespect to the Canadian military but you must remember that the United States during the period 1941 - 1969 (yes some NG units still had M1's in 1969) put a lot more men in uniform. A lot of M1's got "used up" and had to be "rebuilt". And as JP said they were to be shoot not collected!

 

[sunray]

"...Perfectly normal..." And then some. It's commonly called a 'mixmaster'. Perfectly serviceable rifles. Nearly all 'correct' M1 Rifles were made that way by somebody with lots of time and money.
"...He didn't much care if..." Neither did the Weapons Techs in the assorted U.S.(and everywhere else) arsenals.
"...a good bore for a decent price..." That's the thing to worry about.

 

[Ganderite]

It just shows that the rifle is a real veteran. It has a history. It has been used as intended.

There is a great article written by Ernie Pyle on how field workshops took battlefield rifles and refurbed them to make them servicable. I wish i could find it.

This is why the military insist on "mil-spec" parts.

 

[DaveA]

thanks for the replies folks, much appreciated; talking to owner at work today and he informed me that the previous owner (who inherited it from his late father) had been told that this rifle had seen service in Vietnam, i was sceptical of this claim of course but now after reading your replies and doing a little reading am not so sure this claim can be discounted.

is there any way of researching this rifles service history?

i think for 300 bones that the rifle, trigger lock, 4 clips, 30 rounds and aftermarket manual is too good a deal to pass on so add me to the M1 owners club effective...NOW

thanks again , dave

 

[mmattockx]

$300 is not a decent price, it is a STEAL at current market levels. I bought a decent condition one with two stocks for $800 shipped and was pretty happy with that price. I would have drove a long ways to pick one up for $300...

Mark

 

[DaveA]

$300 is not a decent price, it is a STEAL at current market levels. I bought a decent condition one with two stocks for $800 shipped and was pretty happy with that price. I would have drove a long ways to pick one up for $300...

Mark

friend is aware of potential value, i told him that i could not give him an est 400-700$ for this gun and he is happy to see it go to apreciative hands, maybe a case of labatt or molson will be included with payment

 

[5440fight]

friend is aware of potential value, i told him that i could not give him an est 400-700$ for this gun and he is happy to see it go to apreciative hands, maybe a case of labatt or molson will be included with payment

Ah beer, or as my brother calls them; man-flowers.

Good deal for both of you, he knows it goes to a good home.

 

[John Sukey]

Same thing happened with Lee Enfields. Reach into the parts bin and pick up the next part, no matter who made it, as long as it fits, and reissue the rifle.