M1 Garand (Springfield Armory)

[Clausewitz]

Gents,

yesterday I received this (deactivated) M1 Garand, now I would like to hear some opinions about...

Because of the serial number, I would say it has been produced sometimes around October 1953, am I right? What do you think, original 50s phosphating? Is there any possibility to check, if the Garand "matches"? It´s pretty easy with German weapons, but U.S. ones...? Thanks for your help in advance.

[Clausewitz]

...the details

[Clausewitz]

There is a "AA4711"-marking at the stock, which means that?

[bigschuss]

Hello. Nice rifle. From the pics, it looks to me like this is not the original finish. It looks a little too shiney. My first impression is that it looks like the Greek black finish. Again, maybe this is just the pics? One way to tell for sure is to pull back the op rod and have a look at the throat of the barrel. If it looks nice and shiney and silver ("in the white") then the barrel and receiver combo have probably not been refinished. If the throat is dark, it has been refinished

The barrel seems to match the receiver, and the bolt, op rod, and the stock are all correct as well.

The trigger guard is not correct. Yours is for an earlier war time rifle.

The A.A. marck could be almost anything. It could be a rack number. It could be a unit number. Or is could be a cartouche from one of the arsenals these rifles were sent to for a "Clean and Repair." One such arsenal was the Augusta Arsenal. They used a cartouche on the right side of the stock that was AA 1204. Whether the 4 digits changed over time I don't know? But this is a possibility.

Hope this helps. Enjoy that rifle!

Blair

[Clausewitz]

Hello Blair,

many thanks for your explanations, they helped a lot. I tried to make a pic of the barrel-throat, it´s soiled but even so it looks in the white to me. What do you think? Don´t be confused about the weld point inside of the chamber, this is because of the German kind of deactivation...

You mentioned "Greek black finsish", did the Greeks receive M1 from the U.S. and did they refinish them ?

Furthermore you wrote about the trigger guard. "Yours is for an earlier war time rifle" An earlier from which war? WW2 or Korean War? Could this be made in the arsenal or would it be better to replace this part with a "period matching" one? How should a right trigger guard for my M1 look like?

Many questions, I know...

[Suber]

This SA is post WWII to be sure. The barrel date is indeed 10/53 and your serial number on the reciever is most likely 50's. It does appear that you have some different number parts on this rifle, but they appear to be SA. It is a nice example of a 50's Garand.

[Clausewitz]

It does appear that you have some different number parts on this rifle...

What's the meaning of this? This parts are "not matching"?

[Suber]

It is my understanding that nearly ALL U.S. produced rifles in the .30 class were assembled with different lot numbered parts. It is not the same as German production where every piece of the rifle was stamped to match. On the U.S. weapons they went down the line and the armorer would grab a trigger guard, or a floor plate and put it on the rifle out of a bin of parts, respective to each step of course. They were of many different makes and numbers mixed in the bin. A part, is a part type approach.

[geopop71]

Garand

I see nothing wrong with the trigger guard, late war post, war are all stamped, early war were milled with a hole in the rear. The early one is the only one that would hold a winter trigger device. Yours is a late war stamping
as I see it. Correct for that rifle.
geopop

[geopop71]

Early M1 Trigger guard

This is an early type SA trigger guard, 1943 rifle. Note the hole at the rear.
geopop

[bigschuss]

It is my understanding that nearly ALL U.S. produced rifles in the .30 class were assembled with different lot numbered parts. It is not the same as German production where every piece of the rifle was stamped to match. On the U.S. weapons they went down the line and the armorer would grab a trigger guard, or a floor plate and put it on the rifle out of a bin of parts, respective to each step of course. They were of many different makes and numbers mixed in the bin. A part, is a part type approach.

Yes. When a collector refers to an all matching k98, it means that rifle is the same as the day it left the factory. Each part down to the last screw (sometimes) is numbered to match the receiver.

An "all matching" Garand is somewhat misleading. I think many collectors use the term "correct" in place of "all matching." A Garand may be 100% correct for the receiver, and that's about as close as you're going to get to "all matching."

Clauswitz, boy it's tough to tell from that pic if the barrel is in the white??? If it is nice, shiney steel...then, yes.

Yes, the Greeks received Garands after the war. They are all now coming back to the U.S., where they are being sold to civilians through the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) (www.odcmp.com). And yes, more often than not, although not always, the Greeks refinished them in a kind of hideous black finish. It tends to be kind of slick and shiney looking. And all the parts will be covered in this stuff.

I mis-typed earlier. I should've said "Trigger Housing" not "trigger guard." The trigger guard you have is for a Garand made any time roughly from 1943 until the end of the war. You can tell by looking at the number on the side...12 SA.

You already have a correct stock, op rod, bolt and barrel. If you decide to swap out the trigger housing for a correct one, you'll need to find one that has "6528290 SA" on the side. If you really want to go nuts you can also be sure you have the correct trigger, safety, hammer, trigger guard, and the internals (follower, follower arm, follower rod, bullet guide).

I'll be happy to help if you have more questions.

Best,
Blair

[bigschuss]

I see nothing wrong with the trigger guard, late war post, war are all stamped, early war were milled with a hole in the rear. The early one is the only one that would hold a winter trigger device. Yours is a late war stamping
as I see it. Correct for that rifle.
geopop

Absolutely. I mis-typed ealier. The trigger guard is fine. The trigger housing is what I meant to refer to.

[Clausewitz]

First of all, thank you to everyone that helped here...

I´ll try to find a complete and correct trigger housing for my M1. If one of you has one to sell, tell me! These kind of parts are free here.

Moreover I´ll try to find a complete "stock filling". Which parts where storaged inside the Garand stock? Of course a cleaning kit, but which one? Is the one on the picture below right? What about this ominous multitool?

[geopop71]

SA Garand

clausewitz:
As far as the "junk in the trunk" goes, I think the cleaning kit shown on your pic is the correct one for the period. It seems to have one too many rod's, I only remember three rod's. Also, it was contained in a canvas pouch that just fit in the hole. The handle was inserted in the other hole. Also there should be a tiny grease tub to fit in there. The grease should be the dark one and not the early war yellow grease. The combo tool could be the one pictured as well.
There were several types made and the later one was like the one you have pictured. I don't think they changed them after that.
The early kit's were at first a metal tube with oiler at one end and a compartment for a brush and string pull through at the other. Then later on when metal was so scarce, they made the same tube out of clear plastic, it worked just as well. The very early combo tool was a long fold up type with no chamber brush, but a slotted piece for a patch on the end.
Will you be able to get a grease tub over there? Hope this helps.
geopop

[bigschuss]

Here in the US these Garand parts can be found at any gun show. A 12 SA trigger housing would be a pretty easy item to find. The trick is to find one that has the same finish as the rest of your rifle. If you're not worried about finding one that is the same finish, than any old 12 SA will do....I'm guessing about $25 to $45 depending on finish. While I hesitate to recommend Ebay, Ebay has Garand parts all the time.

Best,
Blair