IH Garand

[porsche]

i have been ferreting out no longer wanted military rifles and came across this one which i bought. (i am a little challenged digital camera-wise, but my wife said she'll photo some of these rifles and download pics to this column). this is an IH Garand, made in 1953. it has a springfield barrell (which may be original to the gun due to the location of the proof on the barrel). but calling originality into question is a winchester trigger guard. also, the stock (walnut) , which is as beautifully figured as a nice sporting weapon (go figure), is a springfield from 1942 based on the very clear cartouches. on the port side. wood is excellent as is all metal. the owner had it for many years and there are no import marks. likely i over paid, but not by too much. any comments will be appreciated.

 

[johnnyonthespot]

garands rule.

heres my new one...

springfield 1955 5.8xx-xxx w/original barrel, das cartouches, circle-P

there are a cple HRA parts on it (trigger assembly, bolt)... which make me wonder but man what a beauty...

I like even more than I thought I would...

 

[rellascout]

I picked this up in a trade last weekend.

It is a collector grade HRA sold by CMP in 2000. Shown here with my IBM Carbine

 

[Moser]

I too picked up a 53 IHC Garand a few months ago, mine has an LMR marked barrel. they are very sweet shooting rifles

 

[10X]

An IHC Garand should have an LMR marked barrel to be the original one from the factory. Sounds like your rifle was rebuilt. No problem, most were. If it shoots well and works well, use it and enjoy.

 

[rellascout]

Exactly. Don't sweat it if it looks good and shoots well enjoy.

 

[Slamfire]

Whatever price you paid was well worth it.

The IHC Garand is the rarest of all US made Garands. The Danish Beretta Garands are the rarest (ignoring sniper rifles, etc), but because Americans like to buy American products, these will not command as high a premium as a Win or IHC.

You would have to ask a real Garand collector, but there was a lot of part swapping between the 50's contractor's. An HRA can have a springfield barrel and be correct, a late model SA can have an IHC windage knob and be correct, it might be possible that a SA barrel is OK on a IHC.

So many all correct, untouched rifles have come out of the CMP that former dogma about "what is correct" and the reference books that presented this, a lot of this has now been shown to be obsolete and incorrect.

If you can get a replacement IHC trigger guard, op rod, and stock, the value of your rifle will be worth a lot more than what you paid for it.

 

[johnnyonthespot]

Replace parts?

Slamfire... does that mean that the 1955 springfield I have that seems immaculate could be a correct grade even though it has two HRA parts?

I was told it was a "correct grade" and its a beauty but there are some mismatched parts...

what would you guys recommend... should I look for replacement parts to make it an all springfield ?

or should I leave it as is/was????

 

[porsche]

slamfire. you are correct re the parts. at the start up of IH's efforts, it had trouble with the process-tractors to guns. it bought all barrels and stocks throughout the process, i believe. in the very begining, springfield supplied some barrels, but not too many. i am not an expert; i am not even knowledgable, but i have been reading. i learned, if the source is reliable, that one way to tell if the springfield barrel was original is the location of the proof mark. i know most WWII rifles were rebulit due to heavy use. likely most Korean war also. this one is late manufacture, but that doesnt mean it is not rebuilt. the use of a l142 springfield stock would so indicate at least that is not original. and the winchester trigger assembly? who knows. being curious i thought i would post this. if only theu could talk...

 

[johnnyonthespot]

well judging by how those old Intntl Hrvstr Trucks ran... I bet the Garands they built werent half bad either...

I used to drive a Dinosaur of an I H dumptruck and that thing was a tank... ran like a top.

I have read that I H garands had their fair share of production problems at first and that the other BIGGER producers of M1s had to help bail them out for awhile...

at any rate... they are definitely more scarce and very collectible...

 

[porsche]

what i read was that with no firearms experience, IH had to bring in springfield personnel to help out and it did acquire parts through out the process. even some of its early receivers were springfield. the government was fearful that east coast manufacturing locations were suceptible to nuclear attack so they wanted to move production inland. thus IH in Indiana.

 

[Vaarok]

IH made M1s, John Deere made sherman tanks. Notice how quality stays consistent across the board?

Sorry, farmer in me talking. A decen IH M1 runs at least eight hundred and more likely over a thousand today on market value.

 

[Nanook]

Well, this is good news. I happen to own an IHC Garand. Of course, the Navy changed it to a .308 so it's probably worth less than an original.

It shoots real well.

 

[P5 Guy]

Springfield made the receivers for IHC too. That is why we have three types the gap, arrow head and square labeled receivers.
I have read in the GCA magazine that IHC had about as much trouble making an acceptable rifle as Winchester did during the war.

 

[brasshat]

actually, according to my father, barrels started out coming from Young Radiator in Racine, Wisconsin. Receivers did start from Springfield, International Harvester did not have the proper grade steel in house, in the beginning, so they had problems with receivers & trigger groups.

It is true that the Government was afraid of espionage, and fooled a lot of people, because they not only were made in Indiana, but Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where Dad was a machinist or a lot of years.

He made parts for the 1940 IH pickup I learned to drive on, as well as the first 30-06 I ever fired. He was due to be laid off after the Korean War, but was called back to help make even more M1 Garrand parts to finish a large group made by 'other' factories, and the parts that were being exchanged frequently, I was told, because they were the last plant to re-tool.

Here's to you, Pop. Dads. Ya gotta Love em.

 

[brasshat]

I should ad, Young Radiator made barrels for Winchester, too.