Got my dream gun today! One of the best days of my life. (M1 Garand)

[DW357]

Hornady Vintage Match 7.62x54R 174 Grain Boat Tail Hollow Point Ammunition.
Match grade stuff for when you really want to see what she will do.

Sellier & Bellot 30-06 Springfield (M1 Garand) Ammo 150 Gr FMJ.
More affordable range fodder.

All can be ordered from the comfort of your own home and delivered right to your door. They had a few other options as well. Just go to Target Sports USA and type "Garand" into the search box.

7.62x54r in a Garand?...

And the PPU ammo I linked above is 6 cents per round cheaper plus a 50 cal ammo can!

 

[Mountain]

Yep, Greek. That's a really nice example of a Greek return- excellent condition. Very cool that you have a name on the sling. Lately, CMP has had some Greek and Turk returns. The Greeks were reported to be in much better shape overall and yours is a perfect example.

In contrast, here's an example of recent CMP Turkish returns:

Gas cylinder finish completely worn off, a lot of bluing gone from the barrel. Receiver has a turd brown rusty patina and some small pits. Op rod and sights worn way beyond service limits. The lower band was so loose it was banging a ring around the barrel. It had higher muzzle wear than throat wear- probably from steel sectional cleaning rod abuse. The Turk stocks were often in bad shape, so CMP replaced them with the above hackberry stock that has a spray-on finish that didn't fill all the pores. It looked much worse under the furniture. No matter to me- this was an organ donor for a match rifle and the receiver and bolt were AOK for that.

So... You got a good one!

 

[Stape]

My favorite part of milsurps is collecting all of the correct accessories. Bayonet, sling, oiler, cleaning kit and so on. Its just as much fun as tracking down the rifle to me.

 

[tuna]

Congrats!

 

[dhuze]

where are you located. i have some assorted HXP 20ish rounds i could donate to your first outing. Then just come to OCSA oct 14th they have ammo
ONLY 2 LEFT 2018 OCSA Pembroke ma NEXT Oct 14 M1 Garand Clinic and Vintage Match

now your stock has been refinished and sanded ....looks nice i like the color.

On the rear receiver behind sight what is stamped there?
As far as what oil was used on the stocks. 1950s was more than likely BLO or Tung Oil.
the 1965 weapons command over haul manual for garsnds states for wood finish and preservatio n
specs MIL-F-13088 and or TT-L-215
China wood oil (tung) or raw linseed oil.

Looks to me like 0-65 or 0-66. OP, what is electro penciled there?

 

[enbloc]

OP. "slide" is called Operating Rod or "Op-rod" for short. Nomenclature is important when sourcing parts or asking others questions.
Not picking on you, just gently "Guiding". Let me know if you could use a few enblocs...

 

[76Too]

*wrings hands* (diabolical laughter)

We've been expecting you!

Welcome to the addiction...you only have 6 more receivers to get before you have to start collecting off shoots and specific serial number ranges.

Most importantly...come out and shoot it! The guys at OCSA (Pembroke, MA CMP matches that run monthly during the spring, summer and fall) run very helpful clinics on shooting and will be worth every penny of the $13 match entry fee and $27 for ammo. So $40 for 2-3 hours of fun and learning your rifle and it's better than a movie. Plus, you get to heckle Franko if you want.

I'm not sure what your location is, but I'd be happy to trade you HXP for your Remington ammo. I'll even offer to take you to my range for a few hours if you want and run you through some basics.

Word to the wise...SAVE ALL YOUR BRASS. I'm really glad I did. When you start reloading a few years down the road, you'll be glad you have it.

 

[enbloc]

You might find this useful too.
CMP Garand Guide for the M1 Rifle.
More in-depth than the "little booklet" you get from the CMP...

http://thecmp.org/wp-content/uploads/M1GarandGuide.pdf

 

[Eric H]

This fellow's enthusiasm for his M1, or whatever his latest acquisition tends to be, is contagious. That's definitely what we need around here!

I feel like he could buy an old Raven Arms or Jennings saturday night special, write up a post, and I'd almost want to go out and buy one. Are you sure you're not a car salesman?

Nice looking M1! Like others have said, definitely save your brass, because not before too long you'll be looking into reloading for it! You can get clips for it pretty darn cheap too, like $10 or less for 6. If you think you love it now, just wait until you shoot it and smack some steel plates!

 

[PaulR]

Great thread, need to bookmark it.

 

[fitter]

Correct. Be careful with any commercial 30.06--overpressure can bend op rod, damage receiver, etc.

Either buy m2 ball as noted above or get an adjustable gas plug that will allow you to safely shoot commercial ammo.

Congrats and watch out--garands tend to multiply

+1 on the ported gas plug. Swap it out and shoot anything you want. If you shoot any as issued matches reinstall the original gas plug and shoot m2ball or equivalent. Check out the CMP website, there is a ton of info on M1's. Make sure you totally strip it down, clean off any remaining cosmoline and lubricate before firing. Enjoy

 

[rwl1955]

Where did you purchase the M1?

 

[Permanent Waves]

Very nice! I celebrated this year's Fourth of July by buying one myself. The serial number was in the 3,000,000's. Still has the original barrel and is not shot out. It is a honor to own one. Enjoy!

 

[DW357]

Where did you purchase the M1?

I would assume the CMP but not sure. @MassachussettsMosinNagant?

 

[Nikos]

I heard that about M1s back from Turkey, not too well taken care of. I have a Greek M1 that was brought back, it has cosmoline on the steel, and the stock is very good! I never held one in this good of condition. It shows very little use, no scratches on the steel. I wonder if it was only factory fired?
There is no love lost between us Greeks and the Turks. “The Turks couldn’t guard a Turkish whore house.”

 

[TFLeader]

2 questions I have for you folks and M1 experts are.

1. Do you use Raw Lindseed oil on your stock? I heard this is what was reccomended in the field manual by the Military and what most people use on vintage fire arms and especially the Garand.

2. My Barrel is dated 1951, the serial number on the reciever correlates to 1952. How can I determine weather those two parts are original matching? I think it'd be neat to find when each part was made and try to find the lineage of it.

Go to: USRifleCAL30M1.com

Put in your serial number and them "click on create components list", it will create a list of all the original part numbers.

Nice gun!

 

[Nikos]

Purchase from odcmp.org.

 

[mac1911]

This fellow's enthusiasm for his M1, or whatever his latest acquisition tends to be, is contagious. That's definitely what we need around here!

I feel like he could buy an old Raven Arms or Jennings saturday night special, write up a post, and I'd almost want to go out and buy one. Are you sure you're not a car salesman?

Nice looking M1! Like others have said, definitely save your brass, because not before too long you'll be looking into reloading for it! You can get clips for it pretty darn cheap too, like $10 or less for 6. If you think you love it now, just wait until you shoot it and smack some steel plates!

how do you not love a jennings,,,,,when it stops working it makes a good hammer

 

[mac1911]

+1 on the ported gas plug. Swap it out and shoot anything you want. If you shoot any as issued matches reinstall the original gas plug and shoot m2ball or equivalent. Check out the CMP website, there is a ton of info on M1's. Make sure you totally strip it down, clean off any remaining cosmoline and lubricate before firing. Enjoy

im not sure why you would need a ported plug? Where can you buy 30-06 ammo thats cheaper than the M2 ball being put out buy S&B and PPU ? Its just does not make senses to me?

 

[mac1911]

Yep, Greek. That's a really nice example of a Greek return- excellent condition. Very cool that you have a name on the sling. Lately, CMP has had some Greek and Turk returns. The Greeks were reported to be in much better shape overall and yours is a perfect example.

In contrast, here's an example of recent CMP Turkish returns:

Gas cylinder finish completely worn off, a lot of bluing gone from the barrel. Receiver has a turd brown rusty patina and some small pits. Op rod and sights worn way beyond service limits. The lower band was so loose it was banging a ring around the barrel. It had higher muzzle wear than throat wear- probably from steel sectional cleaning rod abuse. The Turk stocks were often in bad shape, so CMP replaced them with the above hackberry stock that has a spray-on finish that didn't fill all the pores. It looked much worse under the furniture. No matter to me- this was an organ donor for a match rifle and the receiver and bolt were AOK for that.

So... You got a good one!

JFC that looks worse than the plastic parade stocks! Toss some rattle can camo on that thing....f***! I would Rino coat that SOB

 

[ToddDubya]

And I would not use raw linseed oil. Use BOILED linseed oil.

It's possible the original application of raw linseed oil is still curing from 1951 .

 

[enbloc]

GURGLE is reporting "Agger" as a Danish name...

 

[Mountain]

JFC that looks worse than the plastic parade stocks! Toss some rattle can camo on that thing....f***! I would Rino coat that SOB

Looks like badly molded faux wood grain, doesn't it? There's a guy on CMP forums who did a very good job re-staining his hackberry stock but it was a LOT of work. Might be a good stock to paint a nice 'Hello Kitty' motif. Lots of complaints over these but seems very solid if just for shooting.

 

[kalash]

Damn, this makes me want to go dig my Garand out of the safe! Haven't shot it in over a year because I ran out of ammo

 

[enbloc]

Lol. Bolt a piece of cast iron pipe to that old stock and use it to practice your buttstroke...

 

[enbloc]

Damn, this makes me want to go dig my Garand out of the safe! Haven't shot it in over a year because I ran out of ammo

Running out of ammo is like running out of sex. It should never happen...

 

[minininjer]

Congrats! Nice looking Garand. I shot my friend’s several years ago and since then, I, too, have been dreaming of one. I might get it through CMP sometime.

 

[Nikos]

I am translating it a “Anngi”. I can’t make out the last letter, is it an i or l?

 

[MassachussettsMosinNagant]

I would assume the CMP but not sure. @MassachussettsMosinNagant?

I actually purchased her from a good friend of my Dads in Westport. He told me a few months ago that he may be going through what he has multiples of or doesn't shoot anymore because he is restoring a classic car and could use the money and I told him the M1 Garand was my dream gun. Then about a week ago he messaged me saying he had one in fantastic shape and I "pulled the trigger" lol. He said he bought her about 15 years ago and that he had a second Garand that wasn't as good of condition but I think was more sentimental to him.

Looks to me like 0-65 or 0-66. OP, what is electro penciled there?

Yes It is a 0-66. Does anyone knows what those numbers mean? Pretty interesting. At first I thought it was marker like a shop or repair man keeping track of something but its etched now that I look.

Yep, Greek. That's a really nice example of a Greek return- excellent condition. Very cool that you have a name on the sling. Lately, CMP has had some Greek and Turk returns. The Greeks were reported to be in much better shape overall and yours is a perfect example.

In contrast, here's an example of recent CMP Turkish returns:

Gas cylinder finish completely worn off, a lot of bluing gone from the barrel. Receiver has a turd brown rusty patina and some small pits. Op rod and sights worn way beyond service limits. The lower band was so loose it was banging a ring around the barrel. It had higher muzzle wear than throat wear- probably from steel sectional cleaning rod abuse. The Turk stocks were often in bad shape, so CMP replaced them with the above hackberry stock that has a spray-on finish that didn't fill all the pores. It looked much worse under the furniture. No matter to me- this was an organ donor for a match rifle and the receiver and bolt were AOK for that.

So... You got a good one!

Wow, thanks for all this useful information! Now I have more of the puzzle pieces put together about the writing on the sling. Does this mean this Garand was given to the Greek Expiditionary force during the Korean war? Or were the Greek returns given to Greece after the war?


Thanks for all the useful insight into the history of this perticular Garand. It's such a joy piecing together the story behind it .

Did you name her yet?

Her name is Arlene.



Thanks for all the congratulatory messages everyone.

 

[dhuze]

Yes It is a 0-66. Does anyone knows what those numbers mean? Pretty interesting. At first I thought it was marker like a shop or repair man keeping track of something but its etched now that I look.

.....................

That means it's a Marine Corp rebuild. It adds a bit more collector value as people like to specialize in variations of M1's as well as the rifles themselves.