H&R M1 Garand

[ma96782]

I have never had a Winchester.

Since you reminded me about my Winchester. Both of mine showed the ugliest tooling marks (but don't they all?).

I bought my first Winchester Garand from a private seller while in Hawaii. I later sold it (before the move to WA). It was a lend-lease rifle. That M1 Winchester rifle had come back from the UK. Milled trigger guard, old style rear sight and: the broad arrow mark, along with the painted stripe handguard and other British proof/acceptance marks. I sold it due to.....I had too many rifles. And I didn't get a premium for it. HA, Ha, ha.....Rrrrright. How can anyone have too many Garands? And, what did I know about "collecting"? I even removed the painted stripe. Anyway, it was the ugliest of the bunch and I figured that they'd be easy to find again.

WRONG, WRONG, WRONG.

This is my second Winchester Garand. Yeah......I've posted the pictures before. The day that the truck arrived was like Christmas and it wasn't even close to Dec, 25th.....














I purchased a "Service Grade" rifle. Due to the bent frt sight I contacted CMP and they were really good about getting me a replacement. Thumbs Up to the folks at CMP.

Aloha, Mark

 

[ron]

Nice M1 Winchester you got there @ma96782 . I too have regret selling M1 rifles. But I really kick
myself for selling several M1 carbines. Who would of known those little Carbine Rifles would be worth so much.

 

[CLT65]

Nice M1 Winchester you got there @ma96782 . I too have regret selling M1 rifles. But I really kick
myself for selling several M1 carbines. Who would of known those little Carbine Rifles would be worth so much.

Isn't that true?! My one and only carbine I bought at a garage sale in the late '80s for $120, and my uncle (a gun guy) told me I paid way too much, as carbines were cheap and plentiful and he'd never pay more than $75 for one.

Over the next decade or so I had the chance to buy others, but didn't. Prices were rising, $150, $200, and remembering what my uncle had said always kept me from buying them.

 

[gmerkt]

Also look out for rewelds!! I would look for CMP or DCM rifles.

This is important. But unless it was a crappy job, hard for neophytes to determine, usually. On many, you need to remove the action from the stock to see it. Which some sellers may be reluctant to allow you to do. Yes, try for DCM or CMP sourced rifles, mostly impossible to tell unless you can get the paperwork along with it. But they are around; when I sold off a lot of my stuff, the papers went with the rifles and for the seller, it's a plus as well because buyers will pay more for such combinations.

Since you reminded me about my Winchester. Both of mine showed the ugliest tooling marks (but don't they all?).

Winchesters are the worst made of the bunch, in general. I've owned a few and looked at many more. My favorites are high number Springfield Armory, made after the Korean War when there was no hurry. But lots of other buyers want WW2 stuff for the history.

But I really kick
myself for selling several M1 carbines. Who would of known those little Carbine Rifles would be worth so much.

Amen to this, brother. I've had my M1 Carbine days, long in the past. Never was much impressed with them. I bought my first one in the 1960's when they were plentiful and cheap. At that time, there weren't many M1 Rifles around for sale and they cost good money. And this scarcity is what brought about the minor tide of welded scrap receivers. Configured as M1 Rifles, but also weird spin-offs like bogus "Tanker" Garands, would-be BM-59 look-alikes and so on. I didn't get my first M1 Rifle until about 1985, from the old DCM. Which was an HRA. At the time, they were cycling through ROTC turn-ins and it was one of those.

Someone told me years ago, there were two things that started a fire under M1 Carbine prices. (1) Band of Brothers, and (2) Saving Private Ryan.

In my reduced battery of firearms, I've kept two M1 Rifles, an early WW2 SA rebuilt with new bbl. at Letterkenny Army Depot in the 1960's, it's near new cond. since rebuild. Also an SA 4.24M which is a CMP Special in .308. I have a third one, an SA 4.32M, sitting in a pawn shop for sale on consignment.

 

[CLT65]

My "first" M1 Garand was a screw-up. I bought it from a local guy who had tinkered as a gunsmith long before. I don't know if he had done the work on it or someone else, but it was a bit of an abomination.

I was young and dumb, didn't know what to look for. I don't remember what I paid him for it, but when I got home I looked it over closely and realized how much it had been "sporterized". The stock was extensively modified and the metal had a high-polish blue. The rear of the receiver had been milled flat and an aftermarket sight installed. The last straw for me was when I took it apart and found a weld under the top of that part of the receiver, like it had been broken and rewelded.

The seller took it back and refunded my money, but wasn't happy about it. He made a big point of telling me that it was a perfectly good rifle with nothing wrong with it. I didn't buy my first CMP M1 for probably another 10 years.

 

[CLT65]

Well darn it all, anyhow. Threads like this are just terrible, terrible for my self control. It got me thinking about M1s and how good of a deal the CMP is, and how I happen to have a little extra money right now.

I just put together a packet, stopped by the bank for a notary, and sent off an order for another one.

 

[Aero Denezol]

Well darn it all, anyhow. Threads like this are just terrible, terrible for my self control. It got me thinking about M1s and how good of a deal the CMP is, and how I happen to have a little extra money right now.

I just put together a packet, stopped by the bank for a notary, and sent off an order for another one.

The CMP is the best deal going in firearms, IMO. The notary thing is a PITA but (I believe) if you have ordered within the last two years they waive this requirement.

According to the serial number between 1955-56 maunufactured dates

Almost all of those 1955-1957 were H&R or International Harvesters. The last go around I asked for an IHR/H&R and I even included a little donation to grease the wheels. I was disappointed to get another Springfield, although it was a 1956, which I guess is something of a rarity.

 

[CLT65]

I have a "tractor gun" (International Harvester). Well, not really. I have the remains of one that a guy gave me at a gun show- just a receiver cut in two.

My other M1s are Springfield and H&R. It has been quite a while since I last ordered one, about eight years I think. The last one I bought came right to the door.

 

[Alexr4920]

The rifle features a 24" barrel, walnut stock, adjustable peep sights, internal 8 round magazine, and rotating bolt. The M1 Garand is a . 30 caliber semi-automatic rifle that was the standard U.S..

 

[titsonritz]

It's an M1, if you don't have one, get it! The first time mine went "ping", I had to change my pants.

What about the first it crushed your thumb?

 

[solv3nt]

What about the first it crushed your thumb?

Haven't had that problem yet