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M1 Garand

2K views 17 replies 10 participants last post by  mtdew 
#1 ·
I went to the Orlando gunshow yesterday & was able to pickup a very good condition H&R M1 Garand with a SA 1-53 barrel that has a mirror bore with very strong rifling. Seems like Christmas came early this year! :cool:
 
#2 ·
Pic(s)? :D
Hope you got a good deal. Is this your first?
I love 'em but can't afford a nice one, or at least don't think most are worth what they are asking, bought a fixer upper in '10 and I'm happy with it.
 
#5 ·
No pics yet, this is my first one & I paid 6 bills for it! All parts marked are HRA internally with the just the barrel marked SA. The wood is very good with the normal cartouches(sp) in place. The top handguard looks like it got in a bayonet or axe fight as it is cut all across the top for some reason. Nothing is cracked or split! I'm happy with it as is & will one day find a replacement handguard if one show up @ the right price!

Pic(s)? :D
Hope you got a good deal. Is this your first?
I love 'em but can't afford a nice one, or at least don't think most are worth what they are asking, bought a fixer upper in '10 and I'm happy with it.
 
#3 · (Edited)
The barrel is likely a replacement, although there were always interoperability tests going on. A lot more H&R Garands survived in really nice shape because they were made much later than most of the Springfields and all of the Winchesters.

If you feel it is in very good shape, it is probably in much better shape than the NRA VG rating. Be careful of your rifling at the muzzle. Get some US GI clips and ammo with the right pressure curve. Do NOT take your barreled action out of the stock often, or dismount the gas cylinder often, except if you shoot corrosive ammo: wear on the wood and clamping mechanism is one of the chief causes of a Garand not shooting well, and a Garand with a loose gas cylinder always shoots poorly.

The best board to visit for info is Culver's Shooting Page, but there are others:
M1 Garand/M14/M1A
FM 23-5
Index of /manuals/tm9100522212
M1 Garand - Nomenclature Main Page
Lane's CSP Tips
M1 Garand Born on Date
M1 Garand Website Links
Rifle Marksmanship with the M1 Garand Rifle (1942)
Assigned  Serial Number Ranges: Production Between Wars
TM 9-1005-222-12 M1 Garand Operator and Organizational Maintenance Manual
 
#6 ·
That sounds like a really good deal. Not being smart, but is it in shootable condition? Most around here at that price are beat to hell and need rebuilt.
If your not in a hurry for the hand gaurd, just watch the shows, I picked up a stripped stock with one ding in it for $25.

I was kidding about the pic, you know someone says it in almost every thread
 
#7 · (Edited)
I have not had a chance to shoot it yet, but there seems to be nothing wrong mechanically or otherwise with the rifle, the seller needed money for something more important than owning the rifle. I had to go to jury selection this morning, so playing with it is out of the question; will post after shooting it what I find out!

After looking up the serial # range, the rifle was made between 1954 & 1956, so with that info, it leads me to believe that the barrel is original SA, not a rebarreled worn out gun! More investigating to come on this rifle!
 
#8 ·
Good grab! Most decent ones I see at shows are TWICE that price. I stick with the CMP. I just wish I lived closer to Anniston or Camp Perry!!!
 
#9 ·
price sounds about right, I saw a Winchester with a SA barrel few weeks back in Ft myers, Fl. the dealer wanted 1K, wood was nice and finish good but it apparrent it was rearsenaled after the Korean War as most were

My Winchester garand was a CMP, a friend shoots competetion there and picked out 4, he had the staff run a bore gauge on the muzzle. like the above post states get a web sling and some en block clips, try and get some original ammo (Post war) greek is good and so is danish and oh course US Surplus , but remember WW2 ammo is corrosive

sprat
 
#10 ·
I have about 700 rnds of LC & Greek brass that is sized, trimmed, de/reprimed w/ WLR primers & highly polished that is waiting for IMR 4895 powder & 150 grn projectiles. Usually I load this for my 1903a3 or the 1919a4's & use a hotter than normal load to run the 1919a4 action or a lesser load for the bolt gun.

Until the best load is found, there are the bandoliers of Greek ammo that I got from Knob Creek over the years, w/ the enbloc clips to do the testing with. Thanks for the good info on getting the necessary items together for some inital testing!
 
#11 ·
I would not try any of the Korean ammo in bandoleers For what it's worth. I had three kablooey split cases in only three clips in my garand. Rest of ammo still in box ten years now. Don,t know what to do with it.
 
#12 ·
I have no Korean 30.06 ammo as I know it to be suspect of possible big problems! The ammo I will use is proven to be okay in the Garand as it is Lake City or Greek in origin with no corrosive properties!
 
#13 ·
one brand of ammo to watch out for is OJP-its Austrian 56 dated
I got ripped once-I was told it was Greek and somebody re packed it in Greek bandoleers and cans
It had many split cases and I had a case rupture with it
just untill recently-I finaly found out that they were Austrian and not Greek-I swore never to get Greek again until now
 
#14 ·
Rest of ammo still in box ten years now. Don,t know what to do with it.
Pull the bullets and use them for reloading? Or pull the bullets, empty 'em out, pop the primers then put them back together and sell them as dummy rounds?
Not much else you can do with it.
 
#15 ·
I had the same issue with that stuff too, I did the same as Coils, reloaded them into good cases. I was surprised that the powder charges were very consistant and so were the bullet weights, that's why I used them for the components and sent the brass to the salvage yard. I had shot a few rounds in a bolt action gun and one of the casings ejected just the shell base, the rest of the casing was still in the chamber. It took a bit to get that mess squared away, I finally had to heat up the chamber area a little bit and finally got it out with a broken shell extractor, and lots of Break Free and PB Blaster plus several trys and much cussing. Luckly it didn't hurt the chamber but it was a bear to get out. Don't shoot it , strip it for componets.
 
#16 ·
I dropped by a small local gunshop yesterday with a friend & found another M1 Garand that was a Springfield. The receiver had been ground on, on the left side to remove some type of markings & the shop owner had replace the barel with a newer one he had. The price was $900.00, so respectfully passed on that deal!
 
#18 ·
I think u got a great deal. Years ago I bought a mix-n-match w/ winchester rec for 500 and thought I did o.k. Then I found out the bbl was bent and had to rebarrel it. But even after all that I wouldnt trade it for anything! I have some reload data for service rifle 30-06 around here someplace if u want it. It replicates issue ammo pressures and vel.
 
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