3.5Mil SG Garand! (56k death)

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strat81

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My service grade arrived last week. Special thanks to CMP for honoring my request for a WWII receiver and nice barrel. Another special thanks to my FedEx guy: he attempted delivery 3 times on the same day and saved me a trip to the depot. We finally met up as he was about to quit for the day, "one last try," according to him. When I opened the door he said, "Expecting a gun?" He knew what it was from the shipping label.

Anyway...
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Even puppies love Garands!

Receiver serial is 3510223 which indicates it was born sometime in Feb. 1945 towards the end of the war. I'm not an expert... isn't that an uncut op rod? It has what I think is a milled trigger guard marked C46025 WRA. The hammer is marked C46008-3SA and the housing is marked D28290-12SA. The safety is marked (from what I could see without disassembly) 6015-4 WRA. Side of the barrel says 3SA 11 44 and under the guards is D35448-34-Y-186-C-1 as well as a small crossed cannons stamp. The stock has both plain sans serif P and Circle P cartouches. No goodies in the buttstock aside from smelly cosmoline.

I disassembled the rifle with the exception of the trigger group and let everything soak in mineral spirits. Disassembled the bolt and soaked it then blasted it with brake cleaner. Reassembling the bolt was a pain since I haven't been blessed with a third hand. The stock wasn't too bad. I cleaned it up with some Formby's Furniture Restorer, hot water, & dish detergent being careful not to harm the cartouches (yes, yes, heresey, I know). Smoothed it down with some steel wool and applied two coats of Formby's Low Gloss Tung Oil. I don't have a rifle cleaning rod yet so I can't say how clean the bore is using patches. But, it looks mirror bright after too passes of a boresnake with some CLP and #9. I got more gunk out of the barrel of my "new" WASR-10 when I cleaned that for the first time compared to the M1.

Before reassembling, everything was degreased with brake cleaner. Spots where the parkerizing was gone got some Birchwood Casey Cold Blue. All parts were coated in CLP, excess wiped off, then reassembled. I picked up some lithium grease and while I was applying it to the rifle, the smell reminded me of my grandfather's old garage. he served in WWII, but pictures show him with a M1903, not a Garand. Still, it was nice to have the memory of him.

Everything loads, extracts, and ejects okay when cycled manually. Don't know when I'll get to shoot it since it's been a busy semester at grad school and the annual audit is going on at work.

CMP rocks my socks! Hopefully they'll get some M1903s sooner than the sales page says.
 
Nice! You sure got your moneys worth with that one.

And yes, that is an un-cut op-rod. You might want to get another op rod if you plan to shoot it and save the un-cut one. Although with a nice WWII barrel/receiver combo like that one I hope you don't shoot it very much.

Is the chamber bright or parkerized?
 
Is the chamber bright or parkerized?
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m1chamber1.jpg

Getting the camera to focus that close with all those parts in the way is a pain. The chamber face (i.e., the area the bolt comes into contact with) is not parkerized. The chamber itself looks dirty which *might* be parkerizing, but it doesn't have the same texture or color as the parkerizing on the exterior of the barrel. I've been told that, given the date on the barrel, and the s/n of the receiver, it might be the original barrel.
 
Sweet! That sure looks like an original barrel/receiver combo. Very nice score.

Uncut op-rods are scarce, which means that guys restoring their M1s, and collectors, will pay big bucks for them!

They are scarce because they were withdrawn from service. They tended to break in the corner where the later relief cut was added. Especially when the M1 was used to fire rifle grenades.
 
Congrats,

Very nice Garand. Strong work you did on the stock, it looks really nice.

Let us know how she shoots.
 
Absolutely, keep the rod. Don't shoot with that rod (it is dangerous), but the rod is worth a lot to a collector.
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The only danger is actually breaking the rod which is hard to find in the unmodified form. They were only prone to cracking when fired with grenades as the early grenade launchers had no gas relief valve like the later launchers. It was easier to make (and modify existing ones) to the "cut" standard than leave them in service and risk breaking at an inoppurtune time.

I doubt anyone has been killed much less severely injured by a broken oprod through the "uncut" corner.
 
Very nice!! I am going to be putting my order in soon, hopefully the next week or so. Curious though, how did you request a WWII? That has been the one thing holding me back is I would want a WWII receiver.
 
Very nice!! I am going to be putting my order in soon, hopefully the next week or so. Curious though, how did you request a WWII? That has been the one thing holding me back is I would want a WWII receiver.
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Stick a Post-it note to your order form.
 
That's very nice wood for a CMP rifle, as was said. I wish my Dane looked that nice.

Heck, I wish my Springfield Armory M1A's stock looked that nice.

Mike
 
Thank you all for the nice comments and compliments. I'll scope out a new op rod rather than wear that one out. I have no intentions of selling it (the gun or the op rod). The wood is very nice, but the pictures hide many of the blemishes. None of the wood was cracked, and the stock shows two P rearsenal cartouches. No major damage aside from nicks, dents, and scratches that are to be expected with a 62 year old gun. And when I say I poured hot water on the stock, I mean BOILING hot. The wife would kill me if I use her iron.


Curious though, how did you request a WWII? That has been the one thing holding me back is I would want a WWII receiver.
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+1 to the sticky note. I requested a "WWII receiver with as nice of a barrel as possible." Orest Michaels, COO of the CMP, has said not to ask for "a good shooter" since they have no way of gauging that. Mine is Feb 1945 so it's the tail end of the war. Many people are requesting HIGH serial numbers in hopes of getting a rifle that hasn't been through two wars, and is relatively complete/correct.


GREAT PUP!! How old? does he do tricks?
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She is almost 8 months old (miniature schnauzer). No tricks unless you count chewing on my socks a trick.


For those not in the know, the CMP has announced a new batch of Garands. However there are two batches that are coming out. The first (what I got) are actually mix-master parts-bin mongrels they put together using the spare parts they have laying around. Over at the CMP forum, many of us have gotten some really nice rifles. I haven't heard mention of any lousy examples in this batch. Most are getting Service Grades. IMHO, it's worth the extra hundred dollars for the better barrel and finish. Wood is not a criteria for grading. The second batch of Garands are from the US Army that are send-backs from Greece, IIRC. CMP has not even opened these yet.

CMP also has the new CMP "Special Grade" which feature a brand new barrel and stock and are legal for CMP/JCG matches.

And for more info on op rods: http://www.scott-duff.com/oprods.htm
 
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Special thanks to CMP for honoring my request for a WWII receiver and nice barrel.
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I'm pretty much ignorant about M1's, and I'm about to order a Service Grade. What's the deal about a WWII receiver? Nostalgia? (not that that's not a good reason) Thanks.
 
I'm neither witch nor Wiccan or an astrologer--but since you shared your new rifle's serial with us, I'll tell you--it has a VERY strong numerology stamped on it--it will bring you luck!





(take it at face value, or ponder a bit)
 
What's the deal about a WWII receiver?
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Yup, nostalgia. Some guys request HIGH numbers with hopes their in better condition.

but since you shared your new rifle's serial with us, I'll tell you--it has a VERY strong numerology stamped on it--it will bring you luck!
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??? Fill me in!
 
I personally, wouldn't see a lot of point in having a pristine rifle--besides, you're paying the same amount, why not get a gun with some character to it?
 
Congratulations. That is a nice looking rifle.

I just got an M1 rifle for my shooting collection myself. Got mine from a fellow that collects M1 rifles, as he was thinning out his collection. Got to choose from several, and chose a later model Springfield, made in 1955.

My rifle has a like new bore and nice, all Springfield metal. The stock on mine is nothing special, but is all walnut, and looks good enough for my purposes.

A word of warning if this is your first M1 rifle, don't stick any digits into the magwell with the bolt locked back! I made the mistake of pushing on the follower just a bit, out of curiousity. Got my index finger smashed pretty good! An M1 just ain't for smashing thumbs! It will smash any finger you put in the magazine!
 
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