Blue Sky M1
My friend sold me the M1 for $300, looked up the ser# it was made in 1943. where do you look for signs of wear and where is a good place to find parts,barrels stocks,ect. Thanks for all the info.
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Excellent book on the M1 rifle available from www.fulton-armory.com
it will show you pictures of where to look for trouble. In addition,
you need gauges:
1. Bore gauge
2. Chamber gauge
3. Gas cyl. gauge
4. Gas piston gauge
5. Headspace gauge
Part of firearms ownership is the enjoyment of getting it accomplished yourself. Get the book/tools. I'd rather do it myself, or if I felt the work would be beyond the scope of my ability, send it off to Fulton Armory for a TI
Bringing the M1/M14 type rifle down to the "corner gunsmith" is not an option I would consider. Best, Joe0 -
Head space the rifle to make sure it is safe to shoot. Take the rifle down and look at all the parts to see if you can find any excess wear on any of them. Lube the rifle correctley and take it out and shoot it! CMP has a very good take down manual for your rifle on line listed under Garand Tech Info. These are good solid old rifles and you will enjoy shooting it.
http://www.odcmp.com
Good, luck
Emmett0 -
Scott, good advice by previous posts, but you didnt specify if this is an M1 Garand or M1 Carbine. Which? 0 -
It's a M1 Garand. 0 -
Having been associated with the selling of M1 Garands for a few years, this is my take on the "Blue Sky" marked pieces:
These were rifles deemed to be "unsuitable" for service by the Korean Military and were sold as such. Most were cosmetically touched up and had badly worn parts replaced, before being exported to the US for commercial sales. Having had the opportunity to inspect and gauge a few dozen of these, my associates have found that GENERALLY the barrels gauge close to or well over the max. specs for military use Garands. Many will have muzzle wear over 6 and many will have throat erosion of well over 5 (thousandths). I've personally seen quite a few that have muzzles that will swallow a .30-06 round to the crimp. This is not to say that ALL are like this. One other point, with the Blue Sky stamp they ALL have lost any collector value. I know of some unscrupulous dealers that will remove the rather light stamping and reparkerize the barrels or at least touch them up - many use hot, used motor oil to get that effect. If you are unable to do so, have your piece checked out for excessive wear and safe functioning before you shoot it. What you paid is right about where that piece should sell.0 -
I'm with 32 Magnum.
At some point, the Korean Army armorers ran out of spare parts for their M1 rifles & carbines. Under orders to keep the rifles in service, many repairs that we would regard as UNSAFE were done to some rifles; e.g., a broken bolt lug would be welded back on the bolt.
At this point, what you need is a "technical inspection" by a service trained armorer (as opposed to a general gunsmith). There are so many special tools & gauges, as well as EXPERIENCE, that I don't think you can do the job yourself. Expect to spend $60-100 for the inspection. Anyone who can't describe the special tools he uses, & what he plans to do, probably isn't qualified to do the job for you.
Neal0 -
Even though the rifle may be worn it may shoot great, shot it first and if you can't get on target then start renewing it. The point is that you purchased the rifle for the right price, the receiver and stock are worth what you paid the rifle if thoes two parts are in good condition.
Good luck
Emmett0 -
Emmet is absolutely correct, at least from my standpoint. But do get the piece checked out before you shoot it and use M2 Ball or equivalent. I've seen quite a few "worn" Garands that have been pretty much ruined by shooting the wrong ammo - you don't know what went thru it before you acquired it. 0
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