Should I buy this rifle? (M-1 Garand)

[MikePGS]

At the local general store today I saw an ad for a M-1 Garand Rifle. According to the flyer it includes an original bayonet, 1 web ammo belt which was also original, a bandolier, a combo tool, and a couple of hundred rounds of ammo. The asking price? 130 dollars. From what little i know about this rifle and from teh brief search i did on gunbroker, this sounds like an exceptional deal. I am yet to see the rifle (i saw the flyer about ten minutes ago) but providing that its in good condition, is this as good of a deal as i think it is, or are there some cheap reproduction models floating around? If it is a good deal, what should i look at to tell whether or not its buy worthy? Thanks in advance.

 

[mustanger98]

First, be sure it's a current ad. I've been looking at Garands for a long time and I only own one at the moment; hoping to change that sometime soon. Prices have been steadily going up since the 1990's... actually since before that.

That said, if the ad's current, go for it. $130 is cheap for a parts kit now. Just the bayonet, if it's one of the old ones... pre-1950's... it alone with bring the $130. The ammo belt... depending on whether it's original or repro, it'll bring $20 and up.

If the receiver's not USGI, you can get a stripped gov't receiver from CMP pretty reasonably priced and put the parts on it.

 

[MikePGS]

I frequent the store quite a bit and this is the first time i've seen the ad. I look at the board each time i go in and it hasn't been there before.

 

[SoCalShooter]

For 130 bucks is sounds like a deal. I would have to look at it though.

Questions to ask:

1. Is this the orignal furnature
2. Ask what the throat gauge number is
3. Ask about who the manufacturer of the reciever is
4. Ask what is the muzzle wear on the rifle
5. Is it all USGI parts or a mix match of aftermarket and other foreign parts.
6. Ask to see if the action functions smoothly

It is very possible this could be a great deal but it is probably a shot out barrel and other parts may be heavily warn down. 130 now could cost you another 300 to 400 to get it into shooting condition depending on the parts you want to use.

If you dont get the throat or muzzle gauge number, you might want to ask the seller if they would allow you to take it to a gun smith to have the weapon checked.

 

[bluedsteel]

Remember, if it sounds too good to be true...






bluedsteel

 

[SoCalShooter]

It is also possible that the seller is not aware of the real value of the rifle or just needs to get rid of it. You should also make sure that they OWN (paper work) the rifle or find out if it was a hand me down, you do not want to be recieving stolen goods.

 

[nwilliams]

$130!

hmmm....I'd be suspicious of such a deal but I'd check it out anyway, you could end up with a gun worth many times that much. With all those extras it sounds like the deal of the century.

I would be careful though.
Either the seller knows something about this rifle that he/she doesn't want others to know, perhaps they are being very very generous, or they are too bright and didn't check the value of what they are selling.

Maybe they meant $1030 or $1300 and forgot to add a zero to the add

 

[MikePGS]

oh my god... i am the dumbest human being on the planet... i just reread the ad (I took a picture of it on my phone) and saw that this is an ad for ACCESORIES for an M-1. Please forgive me, i'll now hang my head in shame and go sit in the corner :S

 

[SoCalShooter]

Thats ok, you atleast came to the right place to ask about it.

 

[MikePGS]

Thank you for the help regardless. Sorry to waste anyones time.

 

[mustanger98]

As I said, just an original bayonet can carry an asking price of $130. Figure in that it's a couple of hundred rounds of ammo, a bandoleer, a cartridge belt and combo tool... all for that price, and $130's looking real good. But you gotta have a M1 Garand to make it worth having.