GARAND WW2
Can anyone give me the poop on M1 GARAND WW2 trigger guards? I'm talking about MILLED trigger guards made by SPRINGFIELD ARMORY for Garands made from NOV 42 thru NOV 45. Was the drawing # C46025 dropped before NOV 42?? I have one TG with C46025-3SA stamped on it. Then I have several with only a single letter stamped on the inside bottom of the "finger hole" What would be the correct trigger guard marking for NOV 42 Garand ?? Thanks in advance, Steve
steve
steve
0
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There are perhaps a dozen variations of SA trigger gaurds, with around 9 in use prior to the end of WWII. The use of the milled trigger gaurd was phased out between June and July of 1944 so there were no M1 Rifles assembled as late as November 1945 with the milled gaurd. Rifles going through rebuild did not automatically have their milled gaurds exchanged for the current stamped gaurds and if servicable the milled gaurd would remain on the rifle through out its life. Unlike the change in rear sights or the operating rod relief cut, the trigger gaurd switch was regaurded simply as a cost cutting measure and was not considered to be a vital conversion for all rifles currently in service.
Your November 1942 rifle would be somewhere in the start of the 1 million serial number range. By this time the drawing numbers found on the milled gaurds had long since been eliminated- this started in around December, 1941. Your rifle would be correct with an unmarked trigger gaurd and the small letter markings you see are simply inspection markings. The drawing number C46025 was used up until serial number 80,000 and phased out in October, 1940. C46025-3SA was used from 320,000 to 425,000 and phased out in December, 1941 as I have already mentioned. Feel free to e-mail me with any other technical M1 Rifle questions as I live for this stuff and scan the forums every night wishing for questions just like yours!
Mark T. Christian0 -
Mr. Christian; Thanks,AGAIN. I appreciate your time to reply. Steve
steve0 -
Mark, you forgot to mention "first in,last out" (parts bins). A -3 guard could be on an original 1942 produced rifle.Of course unmarked may be "correct" ,but the -3 he has isn't necessarily "wrong".If he already has it,use it,spend money on something else.My 2 cents worth.
Have a nice weekend.
Emri0 -
First in- last out in this case is between December, 1941 and November, 1942...11 months. Exactly how big were those parts bins that they held that many trigger gaurds? Seriously, I always allow for a few months lag time...did you notice the words "phased out"? I believe that I used that phrase twice and I am quick to say that there is nothing absolute in the world of M1 Rifles.
emri I have not had the pleasure of reading any of your posts before so you may well know far more about M1 Rifles than I. What I do know is that if a person is doing a firearms restoration of any kind it makes perfect sense to use only the absolute known CORRECT parts in the restoration process. Any time you have to start making excuses or give explainations for a restored firearm- "they all came like that" or "keep in mind the 'first in last out'...11 months is not all that long" or the classic "sure Winchester used SA barrels". Collectors walk away while you are still explaining your rifle's unusual parts configuration to them. upinye you now have two opinions and a choice of what you wish to do for your Garand: keep the -3 or replace it with an un numbred gaurd.
Mark T. Christian0
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