There truly is something about the M-1 that no other rifle has.
The rifle was designed by John C. Garand, who was born and raised in Quebec(the guys on U.S. forums tend to ignore that). It was made to shoot .30 M1 ammo with its 174.5 grain bullet at 2647fps, not .30 M2 ammo and its 152 grain bullet at 2700fps, later raised to 2800fps to match the ballistics of the .30 AP . However, they really like 165 grain hunting bullets or 168 grain match bullets. Both using IMR4064 powder. Commercial factory 150's will do for plinking. Stay away from the Hornady 'Light Magnums', despite what Hornady says. You do have some clips?
"...more desirable to collectors..." Not really. Your rifle is a wartime production rifle. That is desirable to some U.S. collectors/shooters, but it's just another M-1, up here. It's worth whatever you paid for it. And no you can't sell it to a guy in the States for a profit. Their Federal law won't let it in.
"...think the rear sight has been changed..." Hard to tell if it has been changed without a picture. However, few aftermarket sight makers bother with M-1 sights as the issue sights are very good. There is such a thing as a Match Sight set though. They have a small rear peep and a thinner(.060" wide) front blade. It's unlikely you have match sights though.
Go to .surplusrifle.com(add the W's) and scroll down to the U.S. M1 Garand. There's tons of good info. Note the links on the right.
Suggest you buy a copy of Hatcher's Book of the Garand. Your local gun shop or Amazon. It gives you the entire history of the rifle's developement. General Hatcher was working at the Springfield Armoury when the rifle was being developed and tested. His books are a good read too. The man could write.
Get a copy of Hatcher's Notebook too. Covers all kinds of shooting related stuff. Mostly military rifles, but there's lots of general info too.
