garand availability, value

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dakotasin

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i made it to the range today for a hi-power match. one of the guys that was shooting there brought 3 m-1 carbines and 2 garands and put them up for sale. i already have a carbine, but not a garand, so...

garand 1 appears to be in new condition, and the wood is new (not sure how old the wood is, but it is not original to the gun and is flawless). apparently this is/was a danish gun, and was built in 1944(?). it was re-barrelled with a danish barrel in 1960, and really not touched since then. ask price is $600.

garand 2 is in good condition. it was built in 1945(?) and re-barrelled in 1965. the bore and internals are in great shape, but there is minor pitting under the action its not readily visible, but it is there. the function of the rifle is not impeded in any way, and were it not for the pitting i doubt many people would think the gun was anything less than perfect. the wood is original to the gun, and has some marks on it. nothing too awful bad, but it is certainly not perfect. ask price is $500.

both guns are by springfield armory.

i know absolutely nothing about garands. in fact, today was the first time i ever even touched one.

are these guns at these prices pass or play? if play, which would you choose? my purposes for the garand are 'just because'. i am likely to shoot it on occasion - i'm not a collector, just an accumulator.

i don't recall exact serial numbers... the danish one started with a 2, and the 'regular' one started w/ a 3. both of them had a similiar amount of numbers, though i couldn't tell you if it was 6 or 7 diigits long.

thanks for any help.
 
Sounds like #1 is the better rifle. $600 doesn't sound like a bad price.

I presume you've heard of the offerings from the Civilian Marksmanship Program.

www.thecmp.org
 
They both sound like pretty good deals to me. The Danish barrels are supposed to be outstanding shooters when they're in good shape. If he has CMP paperwork on these rifles then that would be even better since it would rule out welded receivers.

What was he asking for the carbines?
 
dakotasin,

While they sound nice, you need to check the bore and measure the degree of muzzle wear. Take a M2 ball round and insert the bullet end into the muzzle. If you have 1/4" of bullet showing between the muzzle and case mouth, it is excellent, 3/16" is a good bore, and anything less than that, pass on it.

Don (proud owner of 3 Garands)
 
Both prices are fair, though from a collector point, the one with the original wood may be worth a bit more, even though it shows some use. When you look at rifles at the CMP, the $500 range typically has either good wood and mediocre metal, good metal and mediocre wood, or average wood and metal. The $600 range gets you a bit better of both, or decent metal and a new manufactured stock. The parts won't all be correct to the rifle, but they will be in good shape. For $500 or $600 they both sound like a decent deal. If you like them for how they look, and the one with the new manufacture stock looks better, you may want to go for it. Either rifle sounds like a decent option though. As USSR stated, there are a lot of M1s that look good but have the barrels shot out. See how much of an M2 ball round sticks out when placed bullet first into the muzzle. Also, as others have said, see if these were bought from the CMP. If so you know they are legit and were sold in good functioning condition. There are some M1's out there that had the receivers cut in half. Then a few shops decided to weld them back together. Some operate well, some don't, but the structural integrity of all of them is suspect at best. They really should be designated as a wall piece and not a rifle you would fire. The CMP never sold any welded M1s so knowing it came from them relieves that fear.
 
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thanks for the help, fellas! i'll get a closer look at them and probably get one if they're still there.

az - the carbines were all priced at $600 and were in great shape. obviously old and used, but well taken care of and not likely to have ever been in too harsh of conditions.
 
I have a Danish Garand (the stock at least), how do I verify if the barrel is as well? Thanks!
 
No such thing as a Danish Garand. You may have a USGI Garand that was loaned to the Danes then returned to the US Army.
"Sometimes" the Danish returns will have a "sight in" sticker in the barrel channel of the stock or a medallion on the pistol grip of the stock. If the Danish replaced the barrel it will be marked VAR
 
#1 sounds like a pretty good deal, with the previously mentioned caveats about bore/muzzle condition. I have a Danish barrel on one of my CMP rifles and it's an excellent shooter.
 
In my neck of the woods, Garands don't really go for under $900 unless they are junk. I paid $1100 for mine!
Click to expand...

The CMP sells Service Grade Garands every day for $595 which have a good barrel and are serviceable in every way. I recently received a HRA Service Grade with a TE of 2 and a MW of 1. The only thing keeping it from being an $1100 Correct Grade was the bolt, oprod, and trigger group. I swapped parts with a guy who had what I needed and needed what I had, so I have a near mint correct rifle for about $630.

Don
 
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What everyone else said re the CMP.

IME, VAR barrel in good shape = excellent shooter!
 
If they are not rewelds, I'd think about either one of them - but I'd pay closer attention to the first one. Any idea how they shoot?

To me, the bad thing about buying an M1 from about anywhere other than the CMP (or some relatively high dollar places) is that you have to have a bit of knowledge about them if there are any problems with the gun. One of the best things about the CMP is that they will stand behind the guns they send out. They will be at their description, or better - not worse. If you have problems with it, their CS is very good. I think that is something to think about. You may be able to fix any problems easily, but then again, maybe you won't.

If you do get either one, make sure you post pics, and give a range report.

FWIW, you can get a Service Grade for $595 + 23 bucks in shipping.

the wood is original to the gun,
Click to expand...

Maybe you (he) meant that the wood is correct for the gun? I'd very much doubt that it was original to that gun. With a quick glance at one of my books, the cartouche needs to be an SA/NFR for it to be original to the gun. (I might be wrong on that, but I don't think I am.) Even if it has that, there is no guarantee that specific stock was on that specific gun when it left SA.

I have a Danish Garand (the stock at least), how do I verify if the barrel is as well? Thanks!
Click to expand...

Here is a link with some info on Danish barrels.
 
FWIW, you can get a Service Grade for $595 + 23 bucks in shipping.
Click to expand...
Both the guns you describe sound like a good deal because the "service grade" guns are about the same price and are very beat up. People will tell you they are ok but most of them have the finish gone and the wood dark, oily, and banged up...


HB
 
The Danish barrels are supposed to be outstanding shooters when they're in good shape.

I have a Field Grade with a VAR barrel that measure 2 at each end. I handpicked it at the CMP North Store. It is the best shooting M1 I have and shoots 2" or less at 100 yards with service ammo. I'm sure I could cut that in half if I work at a reload for the gun.

If he has CMP paperwork on these rifles then that would be even better since it would rule out welded receivers.


This is true. A reweld is pretty easy to spot though if you remove the bolt.
 
Both the guns you describe sound like a good deal because the "service grade" guns are about the same price and are very beat up. People will tell you they are ok but most of them have the finish gone and the wood dark, oily, and banged up...
Click to expand...

The rifles below were all CMP service grades. It's not hard at all to clean up a stock. I think that the CMP is a great source for these old rifles.

M1GarandHRA.jpg
M1I.jpg
03A3II.jpg
M1CarbineII.jpg
 
the "service grade" guns are about the same price and are very beat up.
Click to expand...

So uh, what is your definition of "very beat up"? CZguy's sure don't look beat up to me, and yet they are all Service Grades.

If those are "very beat up" then I'd love to see what you would call a beautiful rifle.

No offense, but how many Service Grades have you laid your eyes on? How many of those have been cleaned up, even if it was only a couple hours worth?
 
+1 on hand-picked field grade Garands at the CMP!!

Mine has a Danish stock, I'll look for the barrel marking tonight! It soots like a m f r, by the way...
 
Just because it has the sight in sticker does not mean its a Danish Stock.The sticker could be in a USGI stock.
Some of the Danish stocks had the metal medallion on pistol grip. Another way to identify them they could be Beech stocks. They have "fish scales" and in my opinion are some of the ugliest wood stocks
 
So uh, what is your definition of "very beat up"? CZguy's sure don't look beat up to me, and yet they are all Service Grades.

If those are "very beat up" then I'd love to see what you would call a beautiful rifle.

No offense, but how many Service Grades have you laid your eyes on? How many of those have been cleaned up, even if it was only a couple hours worth?
Click to expand...

Id say I've seen about 200. I've visited both stores in Camp Perry and Anniston personally as well. However, I've never seen one cleaned up in person. Some are way better than others and with work I'm sure they'd look ok to great depending on your time spent. If you want a garand, get a garand but remember they are WWII surplus which would be the draw for me. However, don't expect a mueseum piece if you order one at random. I own a yugo sks that came with a beater stock but with alot of time and some linseed oil, it came out quite nice and is an accurate shooter out to 200 to 300 yards

HB
 
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