JustC and the Garand
Just C, Capt. Kirk pulled the plug on your post before we even got into the serious details. As Neal told you the "as issued" status of that Garand is now dead. A correct stock for this rifle would cost in excess of $300 for a peice of wood with a correct stamp on it. the seller should have told you the full serial number. Springfield made about 250,000 rifles in 1941 and there were lots of parts changes during that run. This is why I told you to ask, he's just blowing smoke by telling you the date it was manufactured. With the serial number Neal or I can tell you the month it was produced and much more.
Let me say up front that I am now very skeptical of this rifle. It would have to be almost toally correct from this point on to be worth the money asked.
First off, forget about not wanting to disassemble this guys rifle. YOU MUST take it apart to check to see if it correct. If he refuses just walk out as a rip off is coming! Have him take it apart himself if he wants to, but you need to get a look inside. That is vital!
Okay, here we go. Pull back the operating rod until it locks the action open. Just forward of the reciever on the right side you will now see an exposed section of the barrel. Look at the number printed there. ALL Springfields are stamped with the date the barrel was made.
Without knowing the exact serial number I can't tell you the date that should be on the barrel but if the rifle was made in 1941 it should not be much beyond Febuary 1942. Production was everything at that time and these rifles were not laying around, they were assembled and shipped ASAP. If the barrel is not dated correctly the game is over right then and there as finding a correctly dated early WWII barrel is tough and expensive.
Take a look at the rear sight. On the right side there should be a flat bar along the drum. This is the lock bar which kept the drum from moving. ALL WWII Garands had these. If there is no lock bar the sight was replaced during rebuild and it will cost you about $100 to get a new sight. Look at the bolt. It should have number stamped on it reading D28287-2SA. Every M1 in your range had this bolt number.
Close the action and remove the trigger group. Look at the numbers on the left side. The number should be either D28290-2SA or -5SA. There are various marking on the safety and trigger but if the housing is wrong it is all wrong. The trigger gaurd should be the heavy milled type with a hole on the rear. Pull the action out of the stock and look at the operating rod. There are three possible number combinations: D35383-1SA, -2SA, or -3SA. These are expensive components and hard to get. Look near the point where the rod and the gas cylinder meet. Is there a small round cut in this area? If there is it is not too big a deal IF the rod marking are correct. If the rod is not cut you have just made a collector happy but you should not shoot this rifle. These un cut rods can break.
There is so much more to look at that it would take another page to go through it all. As I said at the beggining, I felt that $800 just seemed too low for an original rifle. BE CAREFUL, you can get burned.
Mark T. Christian
Let me say up front that I am now very skeptical of this rifle. It would have to be almost toally correct from this point on to be worth the money asked.
First off, forget about not wanting to disassemble this guys rifle. YOU MUST take it apart to check to see if it correct. If he refuses just walk out as a rip off is coming! Have him take it apart himself if he wants to, but you need to get a look inside. That is vital!
Okay, here we go. Pull back the operating rod until it locks the action open. Just forward of the reciever on the right side you will now see an exposed section of the barrel. Look at the number printed there. ALL Springfields are stamped with the date the barrel was made.
Without knowing the exact serial number I can't tell you the date that should be on the barrel but if the rifle was made in 1941 it should not be much beyond Febuary 1942. Production was everything at that time and these rifles were not laying around, they were assembled and shipped ASAP. If the barrel is not dated correctly the game is over right then and there as finding a correctly dated early WWII barrel is tough and expensive.
Take a look at the rear sight. On the right side there should be a flat bar along the drum. This is the lock bar which kept the drum from moving. ALL WWII Garands had these. If there is no lock bar the sight was replaced during rebuild and it will cost you about $100 to get a new sight. Look at the bolt. It should have number stamped on it reading D28287-2SA. Every M1 in your range had this bolt number.
Close the action and remove the trigger group. Look at the numbers on the left side. The number should be either D28290-2SA or -5SA. There are various marking on the safety and trigger but if the housing is wrong it is all wrong. The trigger gaurd should be the heavy milled type with a hole on the rear. Pull the action out of the stock and look at the operating rod. There are three possible number combinations: D35383-1SA, -2SA, or -3SA. These are expensive components and hard to get. Look near the point where the rod and the gas cylinder meet. Is there a small round cut in this area? If there is it is not too big a deal IF the rod marking are correct. If the rod is not cut you have just made a collector happy but you should not shoot this rifle. These un cut rods can break.
There is so much more to look at that it would take another page to go through it all. As I said at the beggining, I felt that $800 just seemed too low for an original rifle. BE CAREFUL, you can get burned.
Mark T. Christian
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Thank you very much Mark. After discussing this with both yourself and Neal, I am feeling much more educated as I prepare to set up a time to look at this gun. I havn't met the guy yet, he was given my number by a friend who told me the rifle was beautiful. The friend has 3 of his own so I HOPED he knew what he was talking about. In any case, the help you two have given me has made this an even playing field and I will walk away if everything is not right. I will be trying to take a look before weeks end and will give a hollar when I can describe all markings and their locations.
what do you mean that if there is no cut in the op rod that it will make a collector very happy? Is this good or bad even though it should not be fired?
Thanks again.
A great rifle with a junk scope,....is junk.0
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