Pre WW II M1 Garand 1940

[FMJMIKE]

I recently picked up a nice old pre WW II M1 Garand. Serial number indicates it was built around October 1940. This is an old CMP rifle that looks pretty good. The upper handguards have cracks in them so I am buying replacements. I wish this rifle could tell me where it has been. It may have been in Pearl Harbor the day WW II started........ Most parts are Springfield Armory except the LMR replacement barrel.

 

[rcmodel]

I certainly would not replace a darn thing on it.

It got those cracks in the wood the hard way I betcha!!
And then escaped an arsenal stock replacement all these years.

Leave it original & a part of living history.

rc

 

[Fremmer]

Or at least keep the original handguards so you can put them back on someday if you (or somebody else) want to.

Cool rifle. Let us know how she shoots!

 

[rcmodel]

Problem with all the great stuff us gun guys like to "take off and keep in case somebody wants to put it back on"?

It always ends up in a box of junk at your estate auction, and sells for pennys per pound to some old geezer who does not have a clue what a rare gun part is.

rc

 

[Slug]

Wow, what a beautiful rifle. Love seeing lower serial numbers like this. You have a gem here. Looks to be in really good condition too.

 

[FMJMIKE]

If you notice the rear receiver is darker than the rest, it is because it has been heat annealed. This was done to increase the strength of the receiver so rifle grenades could be used. The annealing is done by dipping the rear of the receiver in molten lead.

 

[iamkris]

That's a beauty.

I have a 5 digit Garand as well that dates from Sept 39. This one came from the CMP and was rearsenaled at some point. Of all my Garands, this is my favorite because of its age. Garands are common...low serial numbers, by definition, aren't.

 

[W L Johnson]

pre WW II M1 Garand. Serial number indicates it was built around October 1940

Not to be picky but I think you mean "pre US entry into WW-II"

Pearl Harbor the day WW II started.

Over two years after it started.

sorry for being so picky

And by the way, beautiful rifle.

 

[HorseSoldier]

Very nice rifle. One of the saddest things I've seen is CMP South used to have a Garand with a 5-digit S/N (50K range, if I remember right) that had been welded up as a blank-only gun.

 

[DougW]

I would personally leave it alone and do nothing to "improve" it. It is definatly a special rifle, and I agree the cracks got there the hard way. But, I am really into vintage rifles having a group of Enfields, but my one M1 Garand is a D without scope and origional cheek pad. I shoot it as it is, and it does great.