Garand Question

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BOBKATT

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I've been looking for a Garand for a while but I find that theyre too expensive for me at the moment.

A guy at my work says he has one in beautiful shape that he's looking to sell but he refinished the stock on.

What I'm wondering is if anyone knows how this affects the value/price on the gun. the blueing is original and he said it is in excellent condition.
 
Define excellent. Do the bullet test on the muzzle. Test drive it at the range. Who made it? Does it have one the verboten Century recievers? How much is he asking? How badly do you want one?

All told any decent Garand under 700-900 bucks is probably an okay deal. You can head well North of there for a matching one if only the wood is refinished. You can head well South of there if it is a mix-master Frankensteined mongrel with a pine stock.
 
codenamepaul said:
Define excellent. Do the bullet test on the muzzle. Test drive it at the range. Who made it? Does it have one the verboten Century recievers? How much is he asking? How badly do you want one?

All told any decent Garand under 700-900 bucks is probably an okay deal. You can head well North of there for a matching one if only the wood is refinished. You can head well South of there if it is a mix-master Frankensteined mongrel with a pine stock.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the input. I know it's a pretty vague question, but I don't have a lot of details. The stock is the original. It is a springfield. When he says the blueing is excellent he wasn't able to put it into percentage but he mentioned that it was the best that he's seen outside of true collectors grade guns.
 
A Garand can range from a $300 Blue Sky import to a $80,000 gas trap.

More info. needed.
 
Can you find out who was the manufacturer of the gun and the serial number - or the serial number range?

This might give you a better idea of whether the gun has already been refinished once already (meaning the originality has already been affected)

Springfield Armory, Winchester, Harrington and Richardson - and Internatioal Harvester all made Garands. From everything I have read pretty much all Garands that were built during WW2 would have gone thru a rebuild process at some point along the line. A lot of the Garands built during the Korean War era never even saw combat - and are generally in much better shape than the WW2 era guns. I just recently got two Korean War era "Correct" grade Garands from CMP - they are both in excellent shape and the parkerizing (as far as I know all Garands were parkerized - not blued) - is in excellent shape.

The cheapest Garand listed on the CMP site at the moment are "Rack" grade Springfields for $445.00 - these would be pretty beat up and I bet the barrels would be getting close to shot out (no bullet showing when inserted into muzzle)

There is a buttload of information available on the internet on Garands - I would check out the CMP forums (www.odcmp.com) and ask questions there if you are looking for some very good info - there are guys there who live eat and breath Garands.

For whatever it is worth (this is a generality) - there are very few WW2 era guns that are left in original condition - and the WW2 era ones are the real collectibles. You can get Korean War era Garands that are all original - but they are not as collectible as the WW2 era guns.
 
calsdad said:
Can you find out who was the manufacturer of the gun and the serial number - or the serial number range?

This might give you a better idea of whether the gun has already been refinished once already (meaning the originality has already been affected)

Springfield Armory, Winchester, Harrington and Richardson - and Internatioal Harvester all made Garands. From everything I have read pretty much all Garands that were built during WW2 would have gone thru a rebuild process at some point along the line. A lot of the Garands built during the Korean War era never even saw combat - and are generally in much better shape than the WW2 era guns. I just recently got two Korean War era "Correct" grade Garands from CMP - they are both in excellent shape and the parkerizing (as far as I know all Garands were parkerized - not blued) - is in excellent shape.

The cheapest Garand listed on the CMP site at the moment are "Rack" grade Springfields for $445.00 - these would be pretty beat up and I bet the barrels would be getting close to shot out (no bullet showing when inserted into muzzle)

There is a buttload of information available on the internet on Garands - I would check out the CMP forums (www.odcmp.com) and ask questions there if you are looking for some very good info - there are guys there who live eat and breath Garands.

For whatever it is worth (this is a generality) - there are very few WW2 era guns that are left in original condition - and the WW2 era ones are the real collectibles. You can get Korean War era Garands that are all original - but they are not as collectible as the WW2 era guns.
Click to expand...

Thanks a lot, thats some good help. I'm going to ask him tomorrow for the information on the make and serial number and anything else I can find out, then I'll post back and we'll see what we've got here. I'll see if I can get him to snap a couple pictures too.
 
How about buying one for $445 to $600, plus $22.95 shipping?

Real USGI receiver and mostly USGI parts. Only parts that aren't are equivalent spec, may be Italian (Beretta or Breda) or Dutch (VAR).

I know how to hook you up.
 
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Bingo, we have a winner.

Folks, you've got to be STUPID to buy an M1 Garand from any other place than CMP, unless you get a smoking good deal or something they don't have right now, like maybe a Winchester.

You're paying about half price (or less) of what they fetch at gun shows.
 
I got a buddy in NC who restores M1's and other mil rifles, plus he can build one up from a reciever or make one competition ready, rebarrel, restock, etc. He restored a 6 digit SA one for me. It is SWEET! Needs a new stock really and a new barrel if I were to compete. But I like the character of the stock. I might rebarrel it someday, but it is just nice to have next to the No1Mk3 Brit rifle...
 
Sorry I haven't posted back on this, the guy hasn't been at work for a couple of days so I haven't gotten any info on it. Looks like if its not in great condition for a great price then I'm better off going cmp anyway.
 
took a look at the garand today, stock is in beautiful shape but has been refinished, action is smooth, most of the finish has come off of the gun I assume. Problem is that I'm not familiar with parkerizing so I wouldn't know what it should look like. There was about 75% finish on the operating rod which was dark in color and what I thought was blued, but the barrel and reciever and all other parts are a lighter gray-greenish in color. Rifliing looked fairly sharp

It is a springfield armory

Serial number is a seven digit number 310****

any thoughts on value or suggestions on wether I would be better off with cmp?
 
That would be correctly parkerized, sounds like, at least on the barrel/receiver.

Sounds like something worth in the 5-800 range. CMP is getting backlogged on orders so it might be worth it.
 
the sn seems to put the guns delivery date in the fall of '44. could that gun have been used in WWII?
 
vellnueve said:
It's getting hard enough to find serviceable op-rods for that price. The worth of the parts at that price is way more than you might pay for the rifle.
Click to expand...


You didn't see this rifle.


Op-rods can be found for under $100 This one was rusty.

Trigger group had no finish, late Springfield. $50 tops.

Bolt had been wire brushed. Junk.

Barrel was a Blue Sky beyond-shot-out '53 Springfield. Junk.

Refinished, beat-up stock. Junk.




I'm a rifle parts seller on Ebay from way back. Believe me, if I thought I could have gotten more than $300 out of the parts, I would have bought it.
 
BOBKATT said:
took a look at the garand today, stock is in beautiful shape but has been refinished, action is smooth, most of the finish has come off of the gun I assume. Problem is that I'm not familiar with parkerizing so I wouldn't know what it should look like. There was about 75% finish on the operating rod which was dark in color and what I thought was blued, but the barrel and reciever and all other parts are a lighter gray-greenish in color. Rifliing looked fairly sharp It is a springfield armory Serial number is a seven digit number 310**** any thoughts on value or suggestions on wether I would be better off with cmp?
Click to expand...

Here is a table of Garand serial numbers:

http://www.jouster.com/serial/Springfield.html

According to this chart it looks like your serial number charts out to an August 1944 production date. This would mean that your rifle in all likelihood saw service during WW2 - the war still had a full year to go before it was completely over.

Parkerizing would resemble a painted finish but can vary from a very flat to a slight gloss finish. The color can be black, greyish - or greyish green. There are bunch of places that could re-parkerize the rifle for you if the parkerizing is badly worn.

You can even do it yourself - there are kits available. I have read on the Garand forums that wartime production rifles did not necessarily have a matching finish on all parts. So just because the finish does not match - does not mean that is not "right".

I think the key thing to look at is the muzzle wear - and the chamber wear. It's hard to figure out what the chamber is like without a set of go - no go gauges. You can figure out muzzle wear with a gauge (available from CMP) - or by taking a 30.06 round and seeing how much of the bullet is still visible when you try to put it into the muzzle. If the muzzle is badly worn - the barrel can be turned down and recrowned to make it better again. I just read a post on the CMP forums where somebody talked about doing this.

In all likelihood the rifle was rebuilt at some point in it's life - so it may not have matching numbers. But if you are curious to find out how "correct" the rifle is - there are charts that list the correct part numbers for the trigger group - and the bolt - and the operating rod, etc. - to see if all the parts match up with the receiver serial number. I believe I have a Garand book hanging around somewhere that lists all these part numbers - if you are interested let me know and I will try to find it and list the appropriate part numbers for your serial number rifle.

From your description you probably can't to too wrong if the rifle is priced in the $500 or so range. Depending on the overall condition - it might fetch much more than that at a local shop. You might want to take a trip down to Four Seasons in Woburn - they have a few Garands in stock (check their used firearms page at www.fsguns.com for a listing and prices). You could compare what they have in stock - with the rifle your friend has , to get an idea of how the pricing compares. Then go look at the CMP pages to see what their prices are like. In my experience a rifle you buy from CMP will fetch at least $100 - $200 more at a gun shop ( over what you paid at CMP)
 
Thanks for the help calsdad, you know your stuff. I like the idea that the gun could have been used in WWII and that has a bit to do with entertaining the idea of buying it. I'm going to take an '06 to the muzzle and do the test that you mentioned to see how good of shape the barrel is in.

Like I said the stock is gorgeous, the guy who refinished it was supposedly a boat builder in Newport RI and it shows. I've refinished a few stocks and I thought I did a decent job but this guy puts me to shame. The reciever and barrel and all other parts that have that grayish greenish color to them are clean and scratch and rust free, they look great too. There is the marking "P" with a circle on it on the front of the grip portion of the stock and the marking is sharp enough that you wouldn't be able to tell that the rifle had been refinished by looking at that.

The only think that I was hesitant about was the OP-rod. It just plain and simple looks like it was blued, and the blueing has worn off quite a bit, this makes the gun look ugly as it is the only part of the gun that doesn't look well taken care of. I would try to purchase one that was in better shape with a good finish that matches the reciever and barrel if I were to buy this gun. That is something that I am going to try to use to lever the price a bit. Next week I'll see how much he is looking to get for it.

Also, this isn't something that I need to have. I'm not a die hard military collector just yet, but if the price is right I could be pursuaded.

Thanks again, and thanks to everyone else who gave your input. I'll keep you posted.
 
BOBKATT said:
Also, this isn't something that I need to have. I'm not a die hard military collector just yet, but if the price is right I could be pursuaded.

Thanks again, and thanks to everyone else who gave your input. I'll keep you posted.
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Blasphemy! You NEED a Garand. Just keep repeating this to yourself: " I need a Garand , I need a Garand, I need a Garand"

If you want to shoot a .30 rifle the 30.06 ammo for the Garand is actually cheaper than .308 at the moment. For 1000 rounds of .308 (7.62x51) - you are looking at $375-$400.00 in todays prices.

You can get a 480 round case of 30.06 from CMP for $134 + $17.00 shipping ($268 + $34.00 shipping for 960 rounds) - so 30.06 is cheaper to shoot at the moment than .308 is - it's probably even cheaper to shoot than .223 given the current prices.

So buy a Garand - and buy a ton of ammo.
 
Alright, this is going to be very anticlimactic, but I didn't buy the Garand. I really wanted to, but I just looked at it and my addiction to buying guns and I decided against it. One day I will for sure. But I really am saving up to get my ass the hell out of this state, and I have to put my gun buying on hold. Thanks guys for all the great info though, I appreciate it.
 
You showed discipline and maturity and made the right choice. I still have 9 years before I leave MA.
 

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