Where can I find out about my Garand? *pics added*

Wrong Way

Wrong Way

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I bought the thing a few years back, took it out of the grease, shot a box of ammo and haven't touched it since. (It was at a friends place) Anyway, how do I find out if I have one of the rarer ones? I've googled my ass off, and can't seem to find a definitive answer.

Thanks for any help!

Ryan
 
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Wrong Way said:
I bought the thing a few years back, took it out of the grease, shot a box of ammo and haven't touched it since. (It was at a friends place) Anyway, how do I find out if I have one of the rarer ones? I've googled my ass off, and can't seem to find a definitive answer.

Thanks for any help!

Ryan
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Here's a website listing the serial number ranges for the M1 Garand. Check your own M1's S/N and see when it was made. It also gives you the range of serial numbers within which yours falls :)

http://www.jouster.com/serial/assigned.html
 
The more parts that your rifle has that are correct for when it was built the more "desired" it gets. If it has a mix of all 5 manufacturers it goes down.
SA Garands are the most plentiful for obvious reasons. There are more desirable versions like gas traps or sniper variants. I recommend Scott A.
Duffs books. Theyre are the best source of info right down to part revision numbers. There are lots of Garand nuts on CGN including me. If the idea of
selling gets into your head, ive already got the idea of buying. If you have any specific questions about your rifle i'll be glad to try and answer them.

Heres a link to a company (in your province) that i got Duffs books from a few weeks ago.
http://www.denner.ca/books/ go to M for M1 and look for his name. I recommend getting the
$12.00 data sheet book as well as the WW2 and Post WW2 books. Since your rifle could have
parts in it from the 40s to the 50s, all 3 books will cover 95% of those decades.
 
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Thats the thing....I'd definitely consider selling (I never really liked the gun to start with...sorry!), but I have NO idea where to begin to establish a value....hence this post.

Here's what I do know (in sporting rifle terms :) )

Surface rust on the cocking handle, (Buddy had it in his basement), One small dent in the forestock. Rifling looks strong, gun functioned perfectly for the 20 rounds I shot it after removeing 18 lbs of waxy grease from it. The wood appears to be walnut, and the parkerizing is green....(I thought it was grey?). In NRA terms, I would call the gun 80-90%, and I'm pretty picky....others may call it higher. What should I be looking for on the gun?

Oh yeah...and whats a "gas trap"?

Thanks for all the help guys....It's appreciated.
 
If its a complete shooter in average condition, you can start at $450.00 w/o knowing anything about it. If it has original vintage wood, correct barrel date and maker for the serial range in better than average cond. We'll call it 650.00. If it has ALL SA parts correct for the build date, Perfect wood as well as fit and finish. Maybe push a 1000.00.... maybe. Depends on the market. The 1st thing you want to do is take it apart to verify SA part numbers. The parts that are normally stamped w/ a number are:
receiver
bolt
barrel
trigger housing
hammer
safety
op rod
some trigger guards
stock (certain stamps narrow the date range as well)
The rest you have to do by shape,pattern, letters, machine marks etc.

A gas trap is the original production version of the Garand up to the low 30,000 serial range.
almost all of them were retrofitted w/ gas port type systems making a gas trap very rare.
 
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Of course, Garands are like enfields in one respect. They are both military rifles, and as such were intended to be in operating condition at all times. Parts were replaced to keep them that way. NOBODY had future collectors in mind As the first line in the British Skill at arms handbook says,
"Your weapon is given you to kill the enemy"
Nothing in there about original matching parts.

The green coloured parkerizing is the result of it being stored in cosmoline.
 
If you have SA marked on a part it is Springfield Armory, WRA for Winchester, IH for International Harvester, PB is Italian and a crown is Danish. Get the age of your receiver (from the web site and serial number) and check the barrel for a SA mark and date in two digits. If the barrel matches the receiver date, your value +. If the barrel does not match value -.

But generally, armourers put a part on from any bin when they worked on the rifle, so it is possible to have IH or WRA parts on your gun.
 
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OK......
Rec:SA 3052###
Trigger group: D28290-12-SA
Hammer: 046008-7 SA
Cocking handle: 6535382 SA
Barrel: SA6535448

Am I missing anything?

Ryan
 
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Ok, sound like it was rebarrelled in Nov 64. I haven't checked the other drawing numbers yet, but it looks like you may have a "mix master" on your hands. Most likely went through it's last rebuild in 64. The hand guards are replacements as well. Like I told you, the nice thing is it has that greenish tinge, that most collectors seem to like.
 
Wrong Way said:
OK......
Rec:SA 3052###
Trigger group: D28290-12-SA
Hammer: 046008-7 SA
Cocking handle: 6535382 SA
Barrel: SA6535448

Am I missing anything?

Ryan
Click to expand...

Numbers on the bolt
check for stamps on the stock like a large square box w/ letters and
a P in a circle.
 
Wrong Way said:
One more thing........and I cant find any reference. The bolt is black, where the rest of the gun is green, and marked 6528287 HRA..and has a "horseshoe" underneath..any ideas?
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Yes, the bolt used in the 1964 rebuild was made by Harrington & Richardson Arms. Likely from the Korean War era.

When they rebuilt these, hundreds of M1's were stripped to the bare receiver, refinished, gauged, and re-assembled with random parts from the bin that met the spec and gauged properly. They were designed with parts interchangeability in mind.

The VAST majority of all M1 garands out there have been rebuilt like yours. It's nothing to be concerned about, though some people make a hobby of trying to rebuild their garand to "as-issued when new" condition with all correct parts with correct drawing numbers (ie, version numbers). this gets expensive fast and aside from the fun of it, is pointless.
 
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