Blue Sky Garand, please help Garand experts!

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Doc Holliday

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Hello, first time poster, long term lurker.

I have always wanted a M1 Garand since I was a kid. I have an opportunity to trade a Sig P228 for a Springfield M1 which according to the serial number on the receiver was made in April of 1944. However the Garand is a Blue Sky import. Were any of these rewelds? It looks from the pics like it is in good shape though. I am not a collector hung up on whether it is a complete rifle or what "grade" it is, I just want a shooter that doesn't look bad. I know about the CMP route but I am not interested in doing that at the time, plus since we are a one income family it could be a while before I had the money to get one. So what I am basically asking is, are the Blue Sky models all crap, or do I have a pretty good chance of getting what I want?
 
I've never heard that the Blue Sky Garands were rewelds.

They were brought back to the U.S. in the late 1980s or early 1990s and sold in department stores with sporting goods deptartments.
I bought mine at a Woolworths. I wish I'd bought a few more.

I was shooting NRA High Power matches then and wanted a semi-auto to shoot instead of the 1917 Enfield I was using up till then.
I used the Blue Sky Garand, a Springfield made in 1943, till I bought an M1A.
Two matches a month for a while and a good deal of practice. I broke one part, the firing pin, after extensive dry firiing. The stock looks like 10 miles of bad road, but the rifle shoots very well at least out to 200 yards. That was the distance of the matches I shot. I started reloading for rifles with the M1. I used 147 grain pulled bullets, H4895 powder and U.S. military Lake City cases. Good accurate loads that worked the rifle were easy to develop.

I hunted a little with mine too, but missed the only deer I shot at with it. Not the M1s fault.
 
None of the Blue Sky Korean re-imports had welded receivers.

Welded receivers were commercial "put together" rifles made up from rifles that were scraped as unsafe.
The Korean military didn't do that.

The Korean re-imports condition ranged from very nice to badly worn but still usable.
The condition can't be judged by how the parkerized finish looks.
Since these were routinely refinished by the Koreans, you'll see badly worn rifles that LOOK great.
I saw some Blue Sky M1 rifles and M1 Carbines that had been bead blasted and re-parkerized so many times, the stamps on the receiver heel were getting faint.
 
Glad to hear they were not rewelds. One less thing to worry about.

Well the fellow has told me that a 30.06 bullet will not drop all the way to case at the muzzle so that sounds a little promising. I will get it throughly checked by a smith though with the proper gauges.

So does it sound like a decent trade?
 
Had one once with a dark ratty barrel. Sent it in to an outfit that
converted it with a new barrel and cut down op rod into a Tanker
type Garand. A little bit of muzzle flash, but turned out into a nice
handy rifle. Most rewelds that I have seen don't have the manufacter
name on them and you can actually see the rough grind marks of extra
metal left from the weld. The imports at that time were stamped with
the company's name on the barrel. I have never seen a Bluesky that
was a rewelds that were cut to destroy the actions were they could not
be used. I have seen a couple of rewelds this year appear, and they are
being used by their owners.:confused: I perfer not to even be around
their being fired, and wonder about if they have been heat treated:confused:
 
The only danger of Blue Sky rifles, other than being shot out - some are - is the import stamping. Some of the Blue Sky import stamps are so deep that they make the barrel unsafe. Common? No, not common, but it has happened so check just in case.

Ash
 
Mine bought in the mid 80's was a POC. It was ugly both metal and wood and believe it or not the inside of the wood looked even worse. The but plate was worn near smooth except where it appeared to have been used to hammer tent pegs or some such.

It did go bang when the trigger was pulled, but one did not bother to pull the trigger after the seventh round fired allowed the clip and remaining round to be ejected.

Accuracy was an unknown word mainly because the gas cylinder and the cuts for it on the barrel were both wallowed out so that the gas cyclinder and therefor front sights cort of flopped around as they would. Because of dried up lube and carbon this fault was not vissable at the point of purchase and came as a surprise groups with Winchester produced M2 Ball for the Dominican Republic ran from 5 to 8 inches at 100 yards deprnding on whether or not I wedged the gas cylinder in place with wooden match sticks (don't laugh it is what I had.)

Many internal parts were worn or pitted.

Like a total idiot I had gotten the garand bug and traded away a RUger 9/.357 convertable Blackhawk AND a Colt .22 conversion unit for the M1911series.

As I bought this THING from a store front gunstore locally run by folks in my own gun club I took it back to them and complained mightily. As they had sold my Blackhawk at the same show and had recognized my Conversion unit for its true value and loked it away for keepsies they offered me a M1903A3 (Remington) and some cash. Turned out to be a good deal as we actually needed cash and the Springfield turned out MOA groups with the same G.O.B. ammo.

Notice my experience was out weighed by the other posters, but keep it in mind and thouroughly check out that Blue Sky before taking it home.

-Bob Hollingsworth
 
Sounds like a CMP rackgrade. My service grade Springer has a 1/4 inch of bullet between the barrel and the case. My field grade Springer has a little more than 1/8 inch of bullet showing between the barrel and case.

Can you get $595.00 out of your Sig? Thats what a Springer or H&R service grade go for from the CMP. You will never loose $ buying from the CMP.
 
Doc,

I'd not buy a Blue Sky M1 sight unseen...

Make sure the bore is bright... SHARP lands all the way to the muzzle. An M2 round (USGI, Korean or Greek HXP ONLY... NOT just any old 30-06 round, which can give very misleading results.) will show at least 1/8" of copper (Anything less than 1/8" is hosed. 3/16" to 1/4" is much better) between the brass and muzzle.

Best,
Swampy

Garands forever
 
The Koreans got 'em for 3 bucks, beat them like savage dogs for 30 odd years (steel bore brushes??? or so I've heard), and sold them back at 150.00 a pop.

Mine needed to be re-barreled and gassed, but came in (an apparently) original matched stock. I later had it re-parked after my house burned down when I was in college ( NOT the fault tof the Koreans).

The bottom line is, bank on AT LEAST spending 2-300 on it some time soon.
I've had mine for 16 years--it's an early '44 not far from where your prospect is (264****). It's my first M-1 and still my favorite rifle.

If I were you, find a way to go CMP--you'll know what your getting that way.
 
Well since I am new here, I don't really know who the Garand experts are but thanks to everyone that has posted so far.

Neo:
The deal is a trade, a Sig P228 9mm for the M1.
 
I have seen Sig 226 and 228 pistols trade for $300-$375 in value.
The Garand is worth that in standard condition now.
If it still has the original barrel it will probably need to be replaced, that will cost you about $250.00 or a bit more depending on the barrel you choose.

The offer is fair, it all depends on how much additional money you want to drop on the Garand.
Just remember a Garand with a good barrel and in overall good shape is worth $750.00 or better retail value.HTH
 
Oh--in that case I am no expert and wouldn't pretend to be.
I know just enough to be a danger to myself and others.

And I don't know know anyone here on THR on a face-to-face basis, but there are a few people who really know the M-1 from what I've read here and based on what I know; at least four of them have responded to this thread directly. Garand people are very cultish, but usually flat-honest on what they know or don't know; we are (as a group) always seeking more converts to the faith.

Short answer; if the Sig is worth <400.00 GOOD TRADE LIKELY. If the Sig is worth 5-600??? Flip a coin. Just my opinion.

Sigs are good pistols that hold their value, too.

A hard trade.
 
Any chance you can sell the Sig privately and put the money towards a CMP M-1 Garand?

Most Blue Sky M-1's I've seen have been pretty rough when compared to the CMP Service Grade rifles.

If you sold the Sig for cash for $450 to $500 you'll be most of the way towards a CMP gun.

Go to www.odcmp.com for more info.
 
I'm not one of the Garand experts. I do have a Blue Sky Garand however, done up on a 1942 SA reciever.

If you search the intertron, you'll find that most of the negative anecdotes related to Blue Sky import marks being so deeply struck that they screwed up the barrel are associated with the M1 Carbines, not the M1 Rifles. Mine shoots very well, and I'd say it was a good purchase at about the price point you'd be trading for.

Number one to look out for would be an egg shaped muzzle opening, bore condition, etc. A new barrel is going to be more expensive than the next most common problems, which will be worn springs followed by a need for a replacement stock. (Note: Don't buy a Boyd's, or a Boyd's from Cabellas, because you'll still need a replacement stock even though they've sent you a giant oversized Flintstones Bam Bam club to work with.)
 
LOL.
I can deal with the oversize Flintstone bam-bam club, I little woodworking never hurt anyone more than a few stiches and some cauterizing couldn't take care of.

It is that god awful, open grain. young walnut look I can't abide to.
 
While digging all my guns out of storage and cleaning them, I was horrified to discover that my minty "Springfield" Garand was actually a Blue Sky import. I had never noticed the tiny stamping on the barrel before, and finally saw it while wiping it down with an oily patch.

I performed the bullet test on the muzzle and it's sort of a loose fit, but at least the bullet doesn't rattle sideways. What a shame. This rifle looks unissued inside and out. While inspecting it more closely this time around I noticed that the receiver markings are sort of faded a little from the refinishing process. I never noticed that before either.

Anyway, I bought it years ago without really knowing what I should have been looking for. I have a very pretty close range blaster instead of a long range blaster, it seems. :banghead:

Oh well, when the Mexican Army is scaling my fence I'll still be able to hit them. :D
 
I wouldn't give up on that gun based purely on the bullet test. Did you use military M2 ball or just a 30-06 round you had laying around? (just curious) If it was me I'd take that baby out and put her on some sandbags and see how she groups!
 
I used a GI dummy and a Talon remanufactured round. Both dropped down to the case mouth and spun easily in the muzzle. I'm not sure if I felt any side play. I haven't taken it out and shot it yet, but intend to this summer.

I went into that gun show ignorant of the fine points, and only saw a minty looking Garand mounted in a piece of firewood. I figured it was a commercial Springfield Armory job that the dealer had switched stocks on in order to get a special hunk of wood for something else, and then sold the put-together at a reduced price. Whatever the Koreans did to this rifle was first class, as it looks practically unissued inside and out. I replaced the stock and spent a week on it with the boiled linseed oil to get that perfect semi-gloss finish that shows all the grain.

It's quite a step up from my previous Garand, a National Ordnance reweld with a tool gouge in the chamber. It would only reliably extract GI brass which is thicker than typical commercial brass. I sold that one to an old friend who knew exactly what he was getting. He wanted it "just to have a Garand". :D
 
I have owned several Blue Sky import Garands (all of which were Springfields) all in good to very good condition. At worse one barrel was replaced with a brand new Springfield Armory barrel. That rifle will shoot moa all day. As far as rewelds I have never ever seen a reweld from this importer. There were many BM-59's that came in cut in half.
 
My Blue Sky M1 was stammped so deep that it would keyhole at 50yds.!!

Now it is a tack driver, but only after I sent it to Springfield Armoury for a rebuild. Krieger mid weight bbl, Nat Match front/rear sights, 3.75lb trigger, bedded action in a new stock, Nat Match op rod , and the whole thing aligned and reparked. It is now a 308.

Springfield Armoury doesn't do Garands anymore.

Total cost:
M1 $300
Rebuild $800
Having a REALLY accurate M1 Garand.................. Priceless!

Oneshooter
Livin in Texas
 
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