Danish FKF M1 Garand with welded on scope mounts?
- Thread starter ricohman
- Start date
I picked up this FKF IR railed Danish Beretta at the Maynards auction this summer and had a friend pick it up and store it
until I could get to the city and retrieve it. Now it’s in my hands and I can’t believe my good fortune. It’s mint.
Not “minty”, it’s brand new, unused, literally “off the rack”.
Anyone who knows anything about its provenance feel free to chime in.
until I could get to the city and retrieve it. Now it’s in my hands and I can’t believe my good fortune. It’s mint.
Not “minty”, it’s brand new, unused, literally “off the rack”.
Anyone who knows anything about its provenance feel free to chime in.
Attachments
Most likely came in from Denmark to Lever Arms in the late 90s/early 10s. That's a Danish army targeting sticker in the stock channel. It has a wartime USGI rear sight, and probably a combination of parts from various makers. What are the barrel and bolt markings? The original bolt would be marked PB with the rifle s/n. The original stock would be marked PB with the rifle s/n on the side of the butt beside the buttplate. Beretta made rifles originally had PB stamped on most parts. The Danes also added the rifle s/n on the bottom of the stock.
In the early 70s, Lever Arms received a shipment of several hundred M1 Garands and M1 Carbines. They were a mixed batch of rifles that came in from several European nations.
We cherry picked the pallets for the rifles that had "NM" stamps on the operating rods. Mr Lever was kind enough to allow me this opportunity because I had worked for him previously to this and did some contract work for him, when time allowed.
There were a lot of rifles from UK, France, Denmark and Norway in that shipment. They ranged from Fair to Excellent. I don't remember any of the rifles having Italian markings.
There were a couple M1 D and M1 C rifles in the mix, without mounts or scopes. There were also a couple of rifles with the welded on mounts, that were in excellent condition.
We didn't want anything to do with the rifles with D&T receivers, they were hard to resell. We didn't even look at the rifles with the welded on brackets. I seem to remember, some of the Norwegian rifles had similar welded on brackets. Not sure, that was close to half a century ago and we were in a hurry.
I do remember Alan saying that he would sell us those rifles for half of what we were paying for the NMs. They've always been a hard sell.
Hey Purple, I’m response to your questions, the barrel & bolt are both marked SA (Springfield Armory) and the stock serial number does match the receiver. I had to rub the bolt # with aluminum foil to bring it out, it is very faint. I understand that when these rifles came to Canada the bolts had been removed for transit and could not be rematched with their respective rifles? 
Attachments
maple_leaf_eh
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Normally a Danish VAR barrel is worth hanging on to. The mid-Korea Springfield date makes me think the Danes put in an order for more M1 parts, and this is what they got. Do not lose sight of the fact that Denmark has had a rough go with bigger and more bellicose neighbours for centuries (or they were the bigger one to someone else). Putting up a stiff fight against any invader is always a good policy, especially when the Jutland Peninsula doesn't leave much room for tactical withdrawls.
The shipments to Lever had the bolt removed. My friend spent a lot of time with headspace gauges fitting bolts from the bolt box to the individual rifles.
The initial shipments to Denmark were in the 1950-51 timeframe and many of the rifles were post-war rebuilds from US Army stocks. The Danes later purchased the newly made Breda and Beretta Garands from Italy in the 1954-55 timeframe.
The initial shipments to Denmark were in the 1950-51 timeframe and many of the rifles were post-war rebuilds from US Army stocks. The Danes later purchased the newly made Breda and Beretta Garands from Italy in the 1954-55 timeframe.
I help Allen do the garands and bought a few
The bracket guns were mostly brand new
Most of them were broken down for parts kits, as no one wanted them on this side
I have about a dozen new Beretta, Breda guns that are consecutive numbered from doing the job
The bracket guns were mostly brand new
Most of them were broken down for parts kits, as no one wanted them on this side
I have about a dozen new Beretta, Breda guns that are consecutive numbered from doing the job
Back in the day I picked up a SA Garand from Lever. I do recall passing on what looked like brand new Berettas and Bredas to get the SA. All of this basically on a whim with no knowledge. Thanks for confirming that Allan Lever did actually have new Garands. I was starting to doubt my memory. I’m trying to remember what paper Lever Arms advertised the Garands in. Was in the Vancouver Sun or the Old Gunrunner?
- Location
- Newmarket,Ontario
I am just wondering why NM on the Operating Rod was so important?
"NM" means national match. These were op rods that were made for a tighter fit for improved accuracy on match rifles. The op rod fit is one of the biggest bug-bears for accuracy on a Garand. NM op rods were made by Springfield Armory and Remington in the later years of the Garand era. Some of them also made their way onto regular service rifles in the repair/overhaul process
maple_leaf_eh
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
HERESY!!! Shut your mouth, err fingers. JC Garand delivered a perfect rifle from serial #0001 onwards. Any complaints about reliablity are the result of an untrained user who has not drank from the cup of accepted wisdom. Back to the woodshed you uneducated heathen, and don't come out until you apologize. ((( smirk, snort and chortle )))
I'm sometimes mystified at how accurate a properly set up Garand can be. The rifle has a fairly slender barrel with a lot of metal in motion around it. There are a list of tweaks to be done to bring out the best in a Garand - mostly involving a tighter fit in some places and a looser fit in others.
The M1903 Springfield barrel almost looks massive in comparison and they are more easily set up and kept in tune for consistent accuracy.
The M1903 Springfield barrel almost looks massive in comparison and they are more easily set up and kept in tune for consistent accuracy.
These rifles are rather scarce variants.
In the days when the M-14 was the preferred rifle for US National Match shooting, there were experiments with adding a lug on the rear of the receiver to allow the rifles to be assembled with screws, rather than the clamping system. Notwithstanding that this work was done professionally and officially, there was a problem with fracturing resulting from the welding. I suspect that while these rifles are collectible, they might not be the best choice for shooting. The heat treatment of the receivers will have been altered, perhaps permanently and irreversibly.
In the days when the M-14 was the preferred rifle for US National Match shooting, there were experiments with adding a lug on the rear of the receiver to allow the rifles to be assembled with screws, rather than the clamping system. Notwithstanding that this work was done professionally and officially, there was a problem with fracturing resulting from the welding. I suspect that while these rifles are collectible, they might not be the best choice for shooting. The heat treatment of the receivers will have been altered, perhaps permanently and irreversibly.
Would annealing the receiver and re heat treating it not restore it? (asked because I really have no idea)
