The Last M1 Rifle.....

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Swampy

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M1 Shooters and Collectors,

Today marks a notable day in history.....

Fifty years ago Today, May 17th 1957, 10:43 AM at Springfield Armory in Spfld Mass, M1 rifle production Officially ceased as the "Official Last M1 Rifle" came off the assembly line. This was M1 rifle Serial # 6084405, now on display in the Springfield Armory Museum.

Inventor of the M1 rifle, Mr. John C. Garand, who had retired from the Armory in 1953 after 35 years of meritorious service, attended the ceremony, as did several "big shots" from the Pentagon.

While it is well known that a fair number of rifles exist with serials higher than the one chosen as the "last" M1, it is also well known that rifles were not always assembled in serial number order. Receivers were stockpiled and pulled out for assembly in random lots. Also, numerous rifles were were later made into National Match rifles from stockpiled parts and receivers.

In any event..... 50 years ago today, official production ceased on,
"The Greatest Battle Implement Ever Devised**.

**Quote: Gen. George S. Patton, Jr. Feb. 1945

Best to all,
Swampy

Garands forever
 
I recently found out my hometown produced M1's during the Korean War. Selling raffle tickets for the FNRA, (SA M1A, OA AR-15, SA M1 and SA '03 :D) an old guy stopped by and told me about working in the International Harvester plant after high school. Paid to test fire the guns!

Combined with the LST ships, P-47 aircraft and 95% of the .45 acp ammo used in WWII my town produced, I bet the Nazis hated our little southern Indiana paradise.
 
DSC02220.jpg
 
thanks for reminding me. il go to the armory museum this weekend. one of the few perks to living in MA
 
Last M1:(

Couple more years and some genious would decide the US Military needed plastic furniture instead of walnut and birch:barf:

I won't bring up the caliber debate:neener:
 
Makes me sad... I didn't know enough to pick one up while they were affordable.
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The CMP still has them. They're not accepting new orders at the moment, I think, on USGIs, but there are still some in warehouses and several counties' returned weapons.

They'll offer more soon enough, though I don't know how much longer they will last.

Mike
 
According to CMP it will be October of this year, and they haven't announced the price... makes me think that they will be at a premium - perhaps the last available lot.
 
Well then, I think they definitely need to do a 50th anniversary run of new rifles. Anyone else?
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If the M1 Garand was manufactured today, using the methods employed when it was in production 50-65 years ago, it would cost more than most of us could afford. I would estimate the costs would be $2000+ per unit

The primary reason for this has to do with the manufacturing philosophy employed for the M1--lots of guaging and inspection between process steps for each part. This adds a HUGE labor overhead to the manufacture of the rifle, and was driven by the limited machine tool capabilities of the 1930's technology.

That Springfield and it's commercial counterparts were able to make so many, so good, and so fast is a study in brute force manufacturing capability
 
If the M1 Garand was manufactured today, using the methods employed when it was in production 50-65 years ago, it would cost more than most of us could afford. I would estimate the costs would be $2000+ per unit

The primary reason for this has to do with the manufacturing philosophy employed for the M1--lots of guaging and inspection between process steps for each part. This adds a HUGE labor overhead to the manufacture of the rifle, and was driven by the limited machine tool capabilities of the 1930's technology.

That Springfield and it's commercial counterparts were able to make so many, so good, and so fast is a study in brute force manufacturing capability
Click to expand...

My .02 - the $2000 figure would have to assume private industry doing the manufacturing. The fully loaded labor rates at Army depots would probably make that figure double if the Government were manufacturing the M1 nowadays. That, along with workmanship and quality issues permeating stuff coming out the Government depots would make a Government manufactured rifle undesirable.
 
Only six+ million were made?
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Actually, just a hair over 5-1/2 million total production from all manufacturers.
There were some serial number blocks that were not utilized.

Best to all,
Swampy

Garands forever
 
Actually.... I'm a bit surprised that nobody has noticed the exact timing of my original header post.

Best,
Swampy

Garands forever
 
Several years ago when I ordered my Garand from CMP your only choice was service grade or rack grade, and they picked the manufacturer. I inserted a note with my order, asking, pretty please, if I could have a late model Springfield.

I was pleasantly surprised when they shipped my a pristine 5.9 Million Springfield. I did some research, and can interpolate that this rifle left the factory during the second quarter of 1956. Since I was born in May of 1956 this was really cool.

Additionally, I shave every day with a Gillette Super-Speed razor that is also date coded to the second quarter of 1956.

Both the rifle and the razor still work as designed, I just wish some days that I still did! :eek:
 
The CMP still has them. They're not accepting new orders at the moment, I think, on USGIs, but there are still some in warehouses and several counties' returned weapons.

They'll offer more soon enough, though I don't know how much longer they will last.

Mike
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CMP had posted some info that they may be releasing some in October. One can only hope it pans out...

The problem is the sales limits they established- it sucks going to gunshows and seeing tables of guns, complete with fresh CMP papers, when the site says sold out.
 
CMP had posted some info that they may be releasing some in October. One can only hope it pans out...
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Here is the info. from the CMP, posted 4/13/07. Since they don't have them yet and it will be 4-6 months to get them ready, it may be 2008 before they are available.

As I have reported previously, CMP is almost completely out of what we called "USGI Garands" and will probably never receive any more. Any rifles we may get in the future will be returns from overseas and we may or may not know the country of origin. We are also almost completely done with the Inspection / Repair and sale of all the Garands returned from Greece and Denmark. I expect that within the next 30 days (as we fill existing backorders) we will be sold out of all grades of Garands. We have more orders than rifles.

Now for the good news - this is not the end of the road, just a hiccup. We have good reason to believe that we may receive another shipment of Garands sometime this year. Keep in mind that there is no way to predict condition and that it will take anywhere from 4-6 months to get any of these ready for sale - so we can't make any promises about these either.
 
Actually.... I'm a bit surprised that nobody has noticed the exact timing of my original header post.
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Good timing Swampy

Fifty years ago Today, May 17th 1957, 10:43 AM at Springfield Armory in Spfld Mass, M1 rifle production Officially ceased as the "Official Last M1 Rifle" came off the assembly line.
Click to expand...


9:43 AM CDT where I am would be 10:43 AM EDT in Springfield, Mass.


Today, 09:43 AM #1
Swampy
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Join Date: 04-01-03
Location: SouthWest MO
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