OK my turn to say no disrepect intended but......

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marcus_bc said:
I started to build my Garand from parts picked up on the EE.
I picked up a Boyds 3 piece Garand stock (split order, double shipping charges thanks to US paranoia).
Altogether roughly so far it's about $1500.00+ for mostly NOS parts. Once you start, you might as well finish it. In for a penny, in for a pound (foolish?). There'll be a few more dollars spent if I wish to have it parkerized. I can see where asking prices are around $2000.00
Steve 1987 is right - you'll never recoup or make extra money going this route but I think he's wrong in saying that the JRA is "not much better" – they are better than the one I’ve almost finished building! I'm judging this by the JRA Springfield 1903-4a that I have. It's lovely and looks like it just came out of the Springfield Armoury in 1903.

If I could go back in time, I would not bother doing my own build again. Instead I would spend the same amount of $$ and buy from James River Armory (not affiliated in any way).

What value on satisfaction in building one up by yourself? Nada, just scraped knuckles and pinched blood blistered fingers.
Just my .02 cents

Gatehouse: "There are thousands and thousands of them in Canada". Really?
36 hamon: "I've had this one for 30 years NEVER fired it!" Why not?
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Hey Marcus_bc,

Well, I can understand the satisfaction of your doing it yourself - I guess when it comes to comparing to JRA's it will all depend on the craftsman. My opinion is that the JRA reproduction will probably not hold much more value than a project build from USGI parts though.

From reading the replies here, it seems that the values and mentalities on Canadian market differ greatly. To me most milsurps are either nice original or near original examples, or shooter grade. I suppose a nicely restored occasional shooter might fall somewhere in between? I understand nice original Garands are getting a lot tougher to find.

-Steve
 
36 hamon said:
there is basically a refurbished garand on EE the fella is asking 1900.00 for ...are they really worth that much!!! would that make my unfired 1955 absolutely mint springfield worth 3000.00???? ive had this one for 30 years NEVER fired it ..it still has the cosmo in some places ...christ whats am M1D minty going for ..maybe i should sell all my stuff and retire...
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PM me if you sell your stuff.
 
Building/assembling a Garand requires a good investment in tools, gauges and knowledge, so it really isn't a worthwhile project on a one time basis. As a minimum you will need an action wrench, barrel blocks, a heavy duty vice/shop press to secure the barrel blocks, a set of headspace gauges, a bolt stripping/assembly tool, a pull through finishing reamer and some means of verifying correct barrel indexing. A dial angle finder and a rear handguard installation tool are also desirable. Some of these can be improvised (in extremis you could even use a large crescent wrench with and extension handle as a receiver wrench), but the proper tools, such as the barrel/receiver indexing fixtures from Badger Ordnance, make it a lot easier and minimize the risks of error and damage. The best info sources on this are the Kuhnhausen Shop Manual on the M1 and M14 and the Garand Assembly Guide by Kulek.

Home parkerizing is not hard to do, but you will need a suitable air compressor to blast/prep the metal and a non-reactive vessel for the parkerizing solution as well as a source for the parkerizing chemical. For a long time my favourite parkerizing vessel has been an electrically heated ceramic crock pot which will get the solution up to temp and will allow you to parkerize every part of a Garand except for the barrel and operating rod.

Restoring/assembling a Garand is a fun and rewarding project, but you need to do quite a few to get your payback from the investment in tools and equipment. If one does this properly with quality components and tooling and proper knowledge the end result will be as good or better than anything done at a military arsenal or by a commercial maker/vendor.
 
This is why I was happy to pay 1800 for one of the JRA Garands from wanstalls, at least I know what I was getting. Yeah might not have the resale value, but aside from the fact I'm never selling it, I'm sure I could recoup my costs within a day on the EE.
 
Jon. said:
This is why I was happy to pay 1800 for one of the JRA Garands from wanstalls, at least I know what I was getting. Yeah might not have the resale value, but aside from the fact I'm never selling it, I'm sure I could recoup my costs within a day on the EE.
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this is why I really didn't worry overmuch about the cost. did it sting a bit..yes, but it's an entirely recoverable expense if one needed to. not to mention the restorations will climb in value over time, just at a different value scale vs original examples....but the value will climb nonetheless.

lets just say that I'm not losing a minute of sleep over what it cost to put one in my safe....although I was worried she was lonely so I got a JRA 1903A4 to keep her company ! ;)

1903A4_sm_zpsab81ee8d.jpg
 
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Many people see anything Refurbished, Reblued, Chromed, Gold Inlay, Engraved, Commemoratives, etc in the same
category as Mitchell's Mausers - Overpriced Bottom Feeder Junk. Snakes Belly in the Wagon Rut for Collectability - Very Low on the Scale!

Lets face it, it's only Original Once. The above mentioned processes are about as far away from it as you get.
 
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Coyote Ugly said:
Many people see anything Refurbished, Reblued, Chromed, Gold Inlay, Engraved, Commemoratives, etc in the same
category as Mitchell's Mausers - Overpriced Bottom Feeder Junk. Snakes Belly in the Wagon Rut for Collectability - Very Low on the Scale!

Lets face it, it's only Original Once. The above mentioned processes are about as far away from it as you get.
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So unless I can find a numbers matching original I shouldn't own a nice M1 for fear of shame ?

Quite pleased with my bottom feeder junk. I'll just find other losers like myself to enjoy this sport/hobby with while the elite collectors laugh at us from their lofty perches lol
 
Folks need to remember that the vast majority of military rifles were repaired and/or rebuilt at least once while in service so it is very tough to locate a piece with original finish and all original parts. This is especially the case with US small arms, incl the M1903 Springfields, M1 Garands, M1 Carbines, M1917 Enfields and M1911 Colts. Original pieces are out there, but unless you get very lucky, they can only be had at a very high premium.
 
When Garands were returned to a US arsenal for rebuild/re-conditioning the only parts that were kept together, provided that they were servicable, were the receiver, barrel, bolt and op rod. Everything else went for re-finishing as nec, then into the parts bins where they were drawn on to re-assemble the refurbished rifle with no regard to manufacture. Parts were made to be completely interchangable among the 4 US Garand makers- Springfield Armory, Winchester, International Harvester, and Harrington & Richardson. Breda and Beretta parts are also totally interchangeable. This is why you see a jumble of parts on both US arsenal and Danish rebuilds.

Various parts were also superseded by improved revisions as manufacture continued-rear sight knobs, gas cylinders, op rods, lower bands, trigger housings, gas plugs, etc. Again a reason why one encounters most rifles with a mix of parts.
 
purple said:
When Garands were returned to a US arsenal for rebuild/re-conditioning the only parts that were kept together, provided that they were servicable, were the receiver, barrel, bolt and op rod. Everything else went for re-finishing as nec, then into the parts bins where they were drawn on to re-assemble the refurbished rifle with no regard to manufacture. Parts were made to be completely interchangable among the 4 US Garand makers- Springfield Armory, Winchester, International Harvester, and Harrington & Richardson. Breda and Beretta parts are also totally interchangeable. This is why you see a jumble of parts on both US arsenal and Danish rebuilds.

Various parts were also superseded by improved revisions as manufacture continued-rear sight knobs, gas cylinders, op rods, lower bands, trigger housings, gas plugs, etc. Again a reason why one encounters most rifles with a mix of parts.
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Hi purple,

I agree that many U.S. firearms were the subjects of legitimate arsenal re-builds. Finding factory correct examples can require patience, determination and cash in hand for when they come along but some nice factory correct examples still exist, and are traded amongst milsurp collectors from time to time.

To me a legitimate arsenal re-built Garand still holds a lot more historical and collector value than those built in a garage. I completely understand why people re-build Garands, from either having the enjoyment of building one yourself from a beater or to create a nice shooter from surplus parts.

The question is what value to these re-built Garands have? Is it possible to piece together a Garand and reparkerize it and recover the costs? I notice many on the EE lately, so I guess we will just have to wait and see if they sell. I agree they are a better option for shooters than a collectors grade example, but I think they will eventually lower in price as we see more of them on the market, unless the USGI craze continues to rise in which case maybe I will eat my words this time?

-Steve
 
36 hamon said:
just a matter of time before i saw you eh!! have a great New Years my friend ...
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Same to you good buddy! Drinks are free here tonight if you feel like dropping by! (Ya, fat chance of you dropping by here, with all that drunken pussy out there for you to chase and catch!)

BTW, I have first dibs on any Garands you decide to dump!!!!!
 
I talked to Scott Duff today about Garands that sell on his website in the U.S.. He just sold an M1 Garand for $4,395.00. I am very fortunate to have one just like it in my lockup. The original, not made from parts Garands, are now worth a lot of money. To take a look at this rifle (lots of pics) Google Scott Duff: Collectible M1 Garands. He emailed me this morning and said he got what the posted price was. I guess it's time to start looking at our old Milsurps.
 
ahh buddy im heading the other way tonight and all the ladies are married .....my garands lol ya seems there a line up for them...
 
light infantry ..i hope you brought beer with that chair your gonna have a looooong wait lol...but you can see them anytime you want
 
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