M1 Garand experts..
What parts should have the manufacturer?? Friend of mine is
looking at one and is wondering what he should be looking for as to
it being original.
looking at one and is wondering what he should be looking for as to
it being original.
0
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Springfield parts should be marked SA, Winchester parts would be stamped WRA, Harrington and Richardson parts are stamped HRA and International Harvesters are marked IHC. Not every M1 part is marked. Most small unmarked parts can be identified by their physical characteristics, but takes a trained eye to do that. The parts numbering scheme changed during production and there were a large number of revisions, so that there is no real constant other than the manufactures code.
This is just a sampling of some of the different safeties used during M1 production:
Different markings on post war rear sight elevation pinions:
Even the same manufacturer changed markings during production. These three pinions appear to be from New Haven Clock, but the pinion on the far right has a subtle change in the markings which means it was produced by National Hardware Company. Also notice the changes to the cuts in the top gears of all three of the pinions:
Even the butt stock screws are different:
Here are a few of the different hammers:
Original rifles are rare. Original M1s are so few and far between that chances of actually encountering a genuine original M1 is about equal to hitting the big Powerball lotto.
There were four different manufactures who made over 6 million rifles spread out over a 20 year period and your friend is not even giving us a serial number to work with? Tell him to give us some help with at least that tiny bit of information and the barrel date.0 -
Yeh. What Mark said. one of my M1's (SerNo 3858709) dates it to mid '45. The barrel is stamped 6 45. What I'm alluding to is that it's the revision numbers that determine period correctness of the parts, as matched with the reieiver date.
The stock in question on my firearm has been re-finished. Thusly, I consider it as a 'go-to shooter', not a collectible item. Best, Joe0 -
Mark, have you thought about writing a book? Perhaps when you move South?
I'd buy a 'Coffee table' book just with all your parts pictures[:D]0 -
Wartime Garands often had parts from manufacturers different from the name on the receiver. There were several reasons for this. The first is that during wartime if a manufacturer needed some parts to complete an order they often acquired them from some other manufacturer who had a temporary surplus of that part. Another reason is that if a gun saw combat and had a part that needed to be replaced, it was replaced by an armorer at the front who was not the least bit interested in keeping part labels consistent. And of course if you are talking about a gun that went through a DCM or CMP rebuild parts will likely be mixed. Today if you order a Springfield Garand, or any other brand, from CMP they guarantee only that the receiver will be the brand you ordered. There were also guns brought in through others such as Blue Sky and rebuilt. 0 -
Wow Thanks for sharing the nice photos. 0
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