Locating a garand

[jkelly1229]

Obviously this is a long shot but I want to try before I move.

My grandfather passed probably 15 years ago he was in ww2 brought home his Springfield m1 garand.

Any way to locate this my mom doesn't know who bought it not her thing.

It sounds like I'll be leaving the northeast in the coming months for good and I'd like to track it down and buy it back before I leave.

So I'll start with the easier luck of the 2 did anyone buy a garand in the Holbrook area around 2005 during the summer.

And Obviously when that fails is there a good place to start for this... maybe an old army record attaching the sn to my grandfather. And a couple dealers who specialize in this stuff during that time?


No cool story he was a mechanic for the army. Just want to get a family heirloom

 

[jakeroub]

If you have the SN, it would be a long shot. Without the SN, pretty much impossible.

Also, it is extremely unlikely that he brought home a Garand from his military service. Much more likely that he bought one (just like what he used in the army) from the DCM.

 

[GML]

Can't help you, but best of luck man. Crazier things have happened...

 

[Nick Leduc]

As stated above, having a SN will help.
Try searching any records you family may have. If he was a C&R holder, you may find his acquisitions and dispositions book.
If you end up with a SN, This site has a list where users submit info on rifles. They don't have personal info on the owner, but may have some notes on the rifle if they ever submitted anything.

 

[Picton]

If you have the SN, it would be a long shot. Without the SN, pretty much impossible.

Also, it is extremely unlikely that he brought home a Garand from his military service. Much more likely that he bought one (just like what he used in the army) from the DCM.

This.

No matter what story you'd love to believe, American enlisted soldiers didn't bring their issued service rifles home with them. He bought it someplace else.

 

[jkelly1229]

This.

No matter what story you'd love to believe, American enlisted soldiers didn't bring their issued service rifles home with them. He bought it someplace else.

Then I'm screwed lol

 

[Picton]

Then I'm screwed lol

Nah. I wouldn't say that. Just do what he probably did and get one from the CMP; as long as you think of him when you shoot it, it's done its part.

Incidentally, even if you had the SN, it wouldn't help in tracking it to an individual company unless you had access to the old company property books AND got very, very lucky. And even then, tracing it to one particular soldier? Nope.

 

[E.Stoner]

This.

No matter what story you'd love to believe, American enlisted soldiers didn't bring their issued service rifles home with them. He bought it someplace else.

My grandfather brought back Hitler's Luger. True story.

 

[AFAR/PFAR]

If you end up with a SN, This site has a list where users submit info on rifles. They don't have personal info on the owner, but may have some notes on the rifle if they ever submitted anything.

Good site. I always like checking out the date charts. Neat that my two SAs are ~1.1 million difference in serial number and only 14ish months difference in production. Lot of rifles coming off the assembly line for just that one company in 42 and 43.

 

[mac1911]

Obviously this is a long shot but I want to try before I move.

My grandfather passed probably 15 years ago he was in ww2 brought home his Springfield m1 garand.

Any way to locate this my mom doesn't know who bought it not her thing.

It sounds like I'll be leaving the northeast in the coming months for good and I'd like to track it down and buy it back before I leave.

So I'll start with the easier luck of the 2 did anyone buy a garand in the Holbrook area around 2005 during the summer.

And Obviously when that fails is there a good place to start for this... maybe an old army record attaching the sn to my grandfather. And a couple dealers who specialize in this stuff during that time?


No cool story he was a mechanic for the army. Just want to get a family heirloom

Try to find any and all paper work of his service , gun sales records and such.
My Cousin has our great uncles paper work . I know the serial number of the rifle he was issued during training and his score/log/ qualification book.
I have a 1942 Springfield in the same serial range .
My great uncle told me he had to go through several rifles during his time during the war and at one point was handed M1917 after the truck he was in over turned into a swamp. During his last action through northern Italy he was caring a M1carbine because they where crawling in and out of buildings.
He did bring home several guns but most where commercial hand guns won in poker games. Although he said cigarettes where more valued than old pistols they had little ammo for

so try to find a M1 with a serial number range close to his service days. Maybe do something special like have a rear sight cover laser engraved with his initials ? When you shoot it , remember what he did for this country

 

[AHM]

Obviously this is a long shot but I want to try before I move.

My grandfather passed probably 15 years ago he was in ww2 brought home his Springfield m1 garand.

Any way to locate this my mom doesn't know who bought it not her thing.

Make her name all of your grandfather's gun buddies.
Let your fingers do the walking.
Some will still survive, at least in the form of their gun-loving offspring.
Someone will know the answer.

 

[jkelly1229]

Make her name all of your grandfather's gun buddies.
Let your fingers do the walking.
Some will still survive, at least in the form of their gun-loving offspring.
Someone will know the answer.

He wasn't a big shooter either he only had the one.

 

[mac1911]

He wasn't a big shooter either he only had the one.

Not that I think they would but try surrounding gun shops. Or even a FA10 search if you think he sold it that way? Do you have his licensing info?
If he did a FFl transfer the FFL might be willing to call the buyer if he has that info?

 

[jkelly1229]

Not that I think they would but try surrounding gun shops. Or even a FA10 search if you think he sold it that way? Do you have his licensing info?
If he did a FFl transfer the FFL might be willing to call the buyer if he has that info?

He was dead I don't know how it was handled I gotta dig in on my side better

 

[mac1911]

He was dead I don't know how it was handled I gotta dig in on my side better

So the rifle was liquidated by the estate?

 

[jkelly1229]

So the rifle was liquidated by the estate?

Must have been I wasn't into guns at the time either

 

[dhuze]

This.

No matter what story you'd love to believe, American enlisted soldiers didn't bring their issued service rifles home with them. He bought it someplace else.

I hear this story all the time. I've seen "my grandfather brought this home from the war" guns with import stamps on them. I'm sure the original stories were more often than not " this was what I carried in the war" turning into " I brought this home with me". Guns belong to the US Department of Defense and they keep/kept very good track of them.

 

[mac1911]

I only know 1 korean war vet with the 1911 he was issued , somehow during his evacuation after being wounded it ended up shipped home with his personal belongings.

 

[apander]

My grandfather brought back Hitler's Luger. True story.

Did he buy the story or just the Gun.

 

[mac1911]

Must have been I wasn't into guns at the time either

Well hopefully if the gun was legally disposed if through the estate maybe there are some records
In the mean time send in your paper work to the cmp for a M1 garand by the time you round up any info on your end the cmp will be delivering your order.

 

[powerman]

could a soldier bring home another gun. there where lots of casualties and maybe the gun brought home was issued to some one else?

 

[mac1911]

AFAIK , soldiers could bring guns home but not Issued USGi guns, they had to steal those.
Im sure its possible he could have stolen a issued Garand and and stuffed it a box and shipped it home.

 

[Mountain]

I hear this story all the time. I've seen "my grandfather brought this home from the war" guns with import stamps on them. I'm sure the original stories were more often than not " this was what I carried in the war" turning into " I brought this home with me". Guns belong to the US Department of Defense and they keep/kept very good track of them.

Clearly anything with an import stamp would be "just like we carried" not a bring-back. However, bring-backs were pretty common. They had bigger fish to fry in WWII and Vietnam, so it wasn't hard to slip one through the cracks based on firsthand accounts and/or handling the guns from family and close family friends.

 

[AHM]

Guns belong to the US Department of Defense and they keep/kept very good track of them.

I haven't even seen as many movies as most of you guys -
let alone gone into harms way, but...

If the rear echelon troops had any clue in the waning days of WWII
about where we find ourselves now,
a lot more casualties' dropped Garands and 1911s would never have been
logged back in to armorers' inventory by graves registration.

At least some would have made it home crammed into some nook
of repatriated surplus gear and via other high-bandwidth smuggling routes.
(I can believe that nobody was smuggling someone else's
battlefield M1 in a foot locker).

 

[jakeroub]

I recently read a memoir of a salvage diver who was involved in the salvage work at Pearl Harbor (A very good book, by the way). A group (including the author) took some 1911’s out of the Arizona for themselves (that they were supposed to have left in the wreck). They figured that if Uncle San was going to leave them to rot, they might as well take them and it wouldn’t really be stealing. Anyway, one of the guys got caught, court martialed, and sent to Portsmouth (if I remember right). The rest of the dive team was warned that their barracks would be searched the next day, which gave them the chance to ditch the rest of the pistols. My point is- some people did care about stealing government property.