Just picked up 1 of 13,243 5 million gap letter IHC's

[live4therut]

Hi folks pretty happy about my newest aqusition of a 5 million gap letter IHC. Definetly not the rarest IHC variation, 4th out of the 6 variations and at 13,243 made its so far my rarest.
Here she is along with her other post WWII sisters

1954 HRA, 1954 gap letter IHC, 1954 postage stamp IHC, 1941 receivered SA M1D built in 1952.

Cheers

 

[36 hamon]

very nice indeed!!

 

[purple]

IHC built 13,234 gap letter M1s on Springfield made receivers numbered 5198034 to 5213034. IHC also built approx 5000 M1s on HRA made receivers in the 5213035 to 5217### range. These were used to wind up IHC contract production in late 1955/early 1956 and are among the last US made Garands. About 6-8 yrs ago P&S was selling 1950s vintage M1s made by all of Springfield, IHC and HRA. I was fortunate to find both a gap-letter Springfield and an ultra-rare HRA/IHC from this lot.

I'd be interested in knowing the heat treat number on the lower right side of your receiver. It should be one of Z11A, Z11B or Z12B - all Springfield numbers.

 

[joe n]

Wow! Nice work! Thanks for showing!!

 

[live4therut]

My bad the dislexia was kicking in 13,234 not 13,243, thanks for pointing that out. Purple that's great to hear about the HRA/IHC I believe there was only about 5000 of those. As for me sun shines on a dogs ass every one in a while so maybe one day I'll add another IHC variation to the collection.

 

[jbmauser]

Awesome collection! Nice pics too.

 

[purple]

One of the toughest things to locate for an IHC is the proper IHC stock with the 4 character julian date stamped in the barrel channel.

 

[Ackehece]

can someone lust after rifles? if so.... *DROOOL

 

[live4therut]

Yes I know, I've only got one Proper stock

So would that be feb 4 1955?

You are right about the heat lot she's Z11B

 

[purple]

Stock date of 2455 means the 245th day of 1955-roughly sometime in the month of August 1955.

IHC rifles are hard to date precisely by either barrel date or stock date as both stocks and barrels were made and dated by other contractors who supplied them to IHC. These dates are the date of manufacture, not the date of assembly to an IHC receiver. Stocks were made by Overton, and some will show the initials "OR" in addition to the 4 digit date. IHC used barrels made by Line Material Company, marked LMR in connection with the drawing number on the side of the barrel. LMR barrels have an excellent reputation for accuracy and many were used to build up match rifles. I have found them to be great shooters.

The latest dated LMR barrels that I have seen on the IHC rifles produced in late 1955/early 1956 are dated 3-55 or 5-55, well before these rifles were assembled. IHC rifles which were built on IHC made receivers in the first 9 months or so of 1955 will show LMR barrels dated from late 1953 to mid 1954.

There is a book pending on IHC rifles from a well known collector which should better illuminate the story of the IHC Garands. I have had some exchanges with him on both IHC Garands and the M1C sniper rifles, and I consider him to be a real expert on the topic. One thing for sure, IHC produced the fewest Garands among the 4 US makers and they are a very desirable collectors piece.

 

[Andy]

I'll look my Serial# 4683805 over this weekend. I jumped on it when P&S had them for sale.

 

[live4therut]

Stock date of 2455 means the 245th day of 1955-roughly sometime in the month of August 1955.

IHC rifles are hard to date precisely by either barrel date or stock date as both stocks and barrels were made and dated by other contractors who supplied them to IHC. These dates are the date of manufacture, not the date of assembly to an IHC receiver. Stocks were made by Overton, and some will show the initials "OR" in addition to the 4 digit date. IHC used barrels made by Line Material Company, marked LMR in connection with the drawing number on the side of the barrel. LMR barrels have an excellent reputation for accuracy and many were used to build up match rifles. I have found them to be great shooters.

The latest dated LMR barrels that I have seen on the IHC rifles produced in late 1955/early 1956 are dated 3-55 or 5-55, well before these rifles were assembled. IHC rifles which were built on IHC made receivers in the first 9 months or so of 1955 will show LMR barrels dated from late 1953 to mid 1954.

There is a book pending on IHC rifles from a well known collector which should better illuminate the story of the IHC Garands. I have had some exchanges with him on both IHC Garands and the M1C sniper rifles, and I consider him to be a real expert on the topic. One thing for sure, IHC produced the fewest Garands among the 4 US makers and they are a very desirable collectors piece.

Thanks for all the great info, as usual your a wealth of knowledge. Checked my lmr barrel dates and the postage stamp is 4-54 and the gap letter is 4-55

Cheers

 

[purple]

I've learned that the long awaited book on the IHC Garands has gone to press; 480 pages, 16 color pages, and lots of tables to help ID all of the parts, cost $89.95. It is a must have for the serious `tractor Garand` enthusiast. It will only print 2000 copies, one of which will be mine.

 

[jibjedi]

IHC built 13,234 gap letter M1s on Springfield made receivers numbered 5198034 to 5213034. IHC also built approx 5000 M1s on HRA made receivers in the 5213035 to 5217### range. These were used to wind up IHC contract production in late 1955/early 1956 and are among the last US made Garands. About 6-8 yrs ago P&S was selling 1950s vintage M1s made by all of Springfield, IHC and HRA. I was fortunate to find both a gap-letter Springfield and an ultra-rare HRA/IHC from this lot.

I'd be interested in knowing the heat treat number on the lower right side of your receiver. It should be one of Z11A, Z11B or Z12B - all Springfield numbers.

What does the A/B signify? My gap letter IHC doesnt have either ...