My Garand seems "too nice" for June 1944 production

[chabanais]

I am assuming this rifle was completely re-built/re-furbished. I looked up the serial number which seems to suggest it was built in June of 1944. I bought it as a consignment piece at my local gun dealer.

Any help would be appreciated I tried to take clear photos and I looked and hope I am in the correct forum I haven't visited here for a while:

Last three serial numbers are omitted so the serial number is 3,002,XXX

 

[cyclopsshooter]

It's a CMP parts gun HRA bolt, Springfield receiver, the military wood is a good thing.

 

[chabanais]

That's what I thought. It seems pretty solid. At $900 did I get raped? I'm in California.

 

[cyclopsshooter]

sounds like a fair consignment price, the owner is probably only getting 650 from it. I mighta tried offering 800 cash but I have never dealt with firearms in CA. I wouldnt say you were screwed and you will do pretty good if you hold onto it long enough.

 

[chabanais]

That's kind of what the gun store said. On the consignment pieces they call the owner but Garands sell super fast unless they're badly chopped up.

Thanks for your time. So I shouldn't go off the serial number as far as when the gun was made because it's a parts gun?

Cheers again!

 

[Hacker15E]

I'd have to see more of it to really know, but I think you paid a fair price for what looks to be a nice condition rifle.

Yes, you might have done better with a CMP Service Grade, but I consider $900 a decent "market price" for a non-CMP purchaser...and it looks like that's a pretty nice one.

If you copy down the parts and heat lot numbers of all the parts, you can cross-reference when the parts were made, but beyond that there's no knowing what might be "original" to the rifle outside of the receiver.

What's it say on the right side of the barrel when you pull back the op rod?

The 7-44 at the end of the one in this photo shows a July 1944 barrel date, and if that number on your rifle is close to the month/year of your receiver production (within a month either way), it might be the original barrel.

 

[chabanais]

A few years ago I joined a gun club, became a CMP member and was all set to do it then stuff came up and by the time I was ready my membership expired and I couldn't be bothered to re-do everything again.

The rifle appears to be 99% condition.

The two appear to be 10 years apart.

 

[MJD]

Nice looking rifle, sir. Compared to a CMP service grade, the price is high...but comparing it to buying a Garand that nice on the open market, it's not a losing scenario. I've seen guys pay upward of a grand for pretty beat-up Garands.

Unless you reload, I'd highly recommend getting squared away with the CMP paperwork to buy ammo to feed that beauty. At roughly 53 cents/round, it's about as cheap as you can get without rolling your own.

 

[chabanais]

Great suggestion thank you. I looked at Cabela's and a few other places. I buy from Load X Ammo which is in Santa Rosa, CA and they have 50 rounds for $24.00 which isn't that bad I guess.

I know the California market is messed up.

Appreciate the advice on the CMP!

Plan on shooting it in a few weeks. My normal rifle I like to use is either my Saiga in 7.62 or my Mosin-Nagant.

 

[Hacker15E]

LMR barrels are considered to be very nice. It's not original to the receiver, but depending on how it gauges, it could be a great shooter.

 

[chabanais]

Really appreciate all the feedback. You guys are the best.

 

[cyclopsshooter]

Yes, those LMR barrels are very good! If your receiver dates to 1944, that is the year the rifle was originally built. It looks like the barrel is stamped for 1953.. Look on the stock for a cartouche that might say R.I.A. Looks like your rifle is a nice government arsenal rebuild from 53 that has not been messed with since.. you did good, FWIW Garands in 100% original condition are almost a myth, especially wartime rifles.. they got used, and often rebuilt several times. These early 50s gov rebuilds that came from the CMP in the 60s are about as original as you can get.

And yup, most modern ammo is bad for the garand, pressures are too high, stick tot he military issue ball.

 

[chabanais]

Thanks again.

 

[Gordon_Freeman]

That is definitely a nice rifle. It would sell for $625 at the CMP because it looks like Service Grade condition. You only paid about $275 too much for it. It might be worth it to you if you don't want the mail order luck of the draw from CMP.

 

[minutemen1776]

Definitely a '53 rebuild. That also explains the "chicken & stars" cartouche, as a GAW stock would likely have been original. Assuming the bore and metal are good, $900 isn't bad for a non-CMP purchase. Sure, you could have saved some money going through the CMP, but that's luck of the draw, even with service-grade rifles. You might have paid less, but you could have drawn a rough one. The extra price is often worth it to know exactly what you're getting.

FWIW, I have a 2.9-mil Garand that has a May '44 receiver and what is certainly the original barrel dated 6-44. I had to scour the entire CMP South Store to find a wartime Garand with its original barrel. I found mine and one other from '42 or '43, but its barrel appeared to have already lost its status as "rifled" and looked more like a shotgun. I'm not sure how it avoided being rebarreled, as it also had an ugly Dane stock and had thus been rearsenaled at some point. Anyway, suffice to say that it's difficult to locate Garands with their original barrels, especially if they have earlier receivers. Even mine has some mismatched parts and a later-vintage GI replacement stock.

 

[Slamfire]

The CMP mixes parts to prevent lower grade guns from going out the door "all original" or "all Correct". This keeps those who paid $1000-$1500 for an all original and all correct from complaining about their neighbor paying $650 and getting something that is almost as good.

If you handle the guns on the racks you will see barreled actions with like new receivers and barrels but with different bolt, different op rods, different trigger groups, different stocks. When these rifles are mechanically checked they just swap parts between all correct and all original rifles.

The absolute best rifles are kept all correct and all original, and those are real nice.

Stocks were always a problem for the CMP and they would take like new stocks off Winchester's, IHC, etc, off and stick them under the bench. They then built up all correct rifles with these primo stocks.

If you notice now, they have run out of good original wood and are selling like new all correct late 50's SA rifles in Boyd's stocks.

I understand that the Greeks pulled stocks off when a rifle in service broke its stock.