Is this Garand worth $1,200 ?

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scruffy

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I was just offered an unfired Garand. (Winchester) Serial # 1329180.

Comes with bayonet, manual with Serial number on it .. Bunch of clips .. some ammunition ... apparently (?) original gun case .. (cloth or whatever ??) My eyes lit up when I saw the beautiful old rifle as I dearly love Garands .. But $1,200 is $1,200 .... I have a day or so to make up my mind ... What do you think ???:confused:
 
By unfired, you mean: as new, never shot after manufacture, never rebuilt, never issued? The likelihood of finding any M-1 rifle that is all original, never issued, never rebuilt is EXTREMELY slight; over 95% of all M-1s were refurbished at one time or another. IF it is exactly that, grab it.
 
I'll go back and look at the rifle on Thursday. It still has packing grease .. but if it is refurbished I reckon that it might not be such a hot deal. If I can figure it out - I'll tell the guy to throw it in the river and not to bother me with the gun. Sure is cool looking, though ...
 
If it has it's origianl stock, with proper markings, and all "proper" Winchester parts, with correct drawing numbers and she's in very good or better conditon, then yes, I'd say she's worth $1200. But, if she's a mix-master, $600 would be more like it.

I have an all correct Winchester M1 that was in Danish service, and it some how survied there with out ever being altered in any way, and $1200 would be the starting point, if I was ever to sell it...
 
April 1943 is not a month or year that suggests the American production machine would deliberately take a random rifle off the rack, saying, 'Let's just put this run of the mill rifle aside. No reason, just we're not going to deliver it to our customer. We'll work even harder to make another one just like it to meet our contracts, and do our part for the war effort. Nope, no one will never ever use that one to kill Japanese or Germans.'

Buy the steak not the sizzle. Bruce Canfield who writes for the NRA has a website that articulates gun buyers and gun sellers of the subject of collectibles.

The Danish thoroughly rebuilt and refinished their Garands before putting them into war reserves. My Springfield was a 'new' old rifle when I got it from Alan Lever, but it was half SA, a quarter Beretta and another quarter Breda parts.

Alternatively, you may have been offered a Miltech instant collectible rebuild rifle complete with fancy pine case. Guaranteed to be the same rifle used to kill Japanese and Germans, inspected and refinished to look brand new. Sold in a box, with a letter of authenticity that is as legit as Charmin arsewipe.
 
Garand

I have to agree with Sgt. Striker that if it all matches and is in very
good plus condition w/acc. $1200.00 would'nt be bad.Any mismatched
parts and it is in the $600.00 dollar price range.That being said I highly
doubt it has never been fired.Regards 375rum
 
what would you say a national match springfield garand is worth, seems to be complete and everything matchs...... guy wants $2k for it.

and frankly I am tempted..... is it worth it ?
 
Pull back the charging handle, and look at the chamber end of the barrel on the right side. This is in the slotted area of the wood that the charging handle was originally in, before you pulled it back. Look for a Danish crown stamped into the barrel. If the rifle does have a Danish crown, the seller has some explaining to do!
 
Westicle said:
what would you say a national match springfield garand is worth, seems to be complete and everything matchs...... guy wants $2k for it.

and frankly I am tempted..... is it worth it ?
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The problem with NM Garands is they can be "faked". The first ones came from a certain ser. no. range (I'd have to check the books on that one) and there were other batches made. The only real way to know about a NM is if it had it's CMP papers with it. Having said that, and it seems to be a NM Garand, for $2000 up here, she would have to be in near mint conditon, with a pristin bore (and have the CMP papers), and still I find that a little high.... Myself I don't think I'd pay much more than the $1000 to $1500 for a minty NM Garand. But maybe I'm just getting a little cheap in my old age.... :D

If you're really thinking of buying it, get a book or do some research on the net, and make sure that it least has all the right markings on all the proper parts!!
 
Scruffy,

Was your seller going to the gunshow in Calgary? Just curious as I saw a Garand Winchester being sold as "all matching", "never fired" and "low, low price of $1200" & thought it too much of a co-inky-dink.
 
Bullwhip,

No, the seller wasn't in Calgary. (Although I was !) I saw about a half a dozen Garands there .. one being a rebuilt (1952) which had not been shot since and was about $1,000. The rest were something like $650/$750 and up ... There was one expert there (he said that he was) .. and I did try to ask him a few questions but he bitterly commented on how everyone was stupid and then started to berate some kids close by ... 'they don't buy things so shouldn't be here !!!' .. so I quickly lost interest in anything he had to say. I did get a personal message this morning from a chap who is from B.C. He just sold a Danish (except for receiver) totally rebuilt Winchester Garand to someone for a grand. It is in pristine condition .. and since all the stuff that accompanied it are the exact things this gun has with it .. and it was supposed to come out of Vancouver .. it sounds exactly like it must be the same rifle !!! Amazing and what a small world !!!
 
I spoke to the guy who has this $1200 Garand. It turns out that it hasnt been fired since its been worked on.Theyv'e done some smithing to it but he didnt elaborate. All the lumber is new, not vintage at all. He said it was one of the Garands that "they" had started to refurbish in 2002. He didnt say who had started the work (did someone do refurbs on a mass scale back then?) I forgot to ask him if it had been rebarrelled (doh). The bayonet is a 1960s issue danish m5a1. The canvas case is an unpadded reproduction. If this rifle is a Winchester thats been refurbed by the danish would there be a crown on it somwhere?.Seems to me that this rifle IS too good to be true, but still a good rifle. I also asked the guy if he could E-mail me some pics or if they had a website to visit. Nope they dont even have digital camera! OMG.
 
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Ah, the famous "they" - cousin to "him"

WW2GURU said:
I spoke to the guy who has this $1200 Garand. It turns out that it hasn't been fired since its been worked on. They've done some smithing to it but he didn't elaborate. All the lumber is new, not vintage at all.
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If the armourer was Bubba and his highly educated half-brother Billy Rae, then walk away holding onto your wallet feeling lucky. All replacement wood takes 50% off his asking price. It is not original. Period. And don't accept any songs. There are stamps ("cartouches") that read like a book to put a delivery bracket to the right wood.
WW2GURU said:
He said it was one of the Garands that "they" had started to refurbish in 2002. He didnt say who had started the work (did someone do refurbs on a mass scale back then?) I forgot to ask him if it had been rebarrelled (doh).
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As I reread his quotes to you, I think this rifle was a barreled receiver that had new commercial wood attached. Anyone could have done it. The Danes sold their war reserves by the container load in the mid to late '90's. Alan Lever in Vancouver moved thousands through his doors. By 2000 they were gone - completely. I saved the page from Gunrunner offering Garands at $150 each, 4 for $500.

As I wrote in an earlier post, many of these guns were reparkerized and fully inspected before going into the grease. The armourers fitted parts that met specification; not parts that all had the same country of origin. If it is a Danish rifle (and there were virtually no earlier imports) it could resemble a brand new never fired gun. Except for the cross mixing of parts.
WW2GURU said:
The bayonet is a 1960s issue danish M5A1. The canvas case is an unpadded reproduction. If this rifle is a Winchester that's been refurbed by the Danish would there be a crown on it somewhere?
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The Danish receivers ordered from Beretta and Breda have a Crown over FKF over PB or BMB and serial number. The only place a Danish crown would turn up is on a VAR arsenal barrel with a mid '50's date. Not shabby barrels as they go, but not one made for Winchester in WWII. The USGI rifles loaned to Danmark was not marked with crowns.
WW2GURU said:
Seems to me that this rifle IS too good to be true, but still a good rifle. I also asked the guy if he could E-mail me some pics or if they had a website to visit. Nope they dont even have digital camera! OMG.
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Live and learn. He's trying to sell a rifle to someone with a bigger knowledge base. Guess who is winning?
 
The Garand is sold ..

I was given first chance on that $1,200 Garand and am most grateful to the owner. I did pass on it .. (although I must admit that I loved it !!! ) and the owner asked #2 on the list .. who bought it immediately ... Good for him ... he loves nice guns. :)
 
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