M1 Garand - Restore, Revere or Reload?

[MadHatterPDC]

My first M1 Garand was bought as an FTF, it is a January 1945 Springfield, 3379xxx. Most of the parts are date correct and mfg correct, except for the bolt, which is a Winchester. The only other anomalies are the op-rod is a D-35382 SA, which doesn't seem associated with a specific date, and the stock seems field-worn, but no visible cartouches. Obviously the rifle was rebuilt at some point in its life.

Now, when I bought the rifle... I bought the rifle, not the story, which the seller claimed that he brought this rifle back with him from Germany. It didn't matter because the price was so low and the condition was so good I would have been a fool to not purchase it (including 200 rounds of Lake City '65 M72). I knew the seller well enough that he story was feasible, but he has since passed away. At the time I didn't realize the value of a genuine GI bring-back rifle and the requirements for proving it.

Before bastardizing the rifle with Midway parts and Fulton upgrades, I wanted to fully vet the history of this particular rifle before shooting the value out of it. I started with Scott Duff's Serial Numbers book and date coded as many parts as I could. I then contacted the CMP to see if they had any record of this serial number (they did not, but warned that their records are not complete).

So now, my question is, are there any other references or resources that I can access that might confirm if this is a CMP rifle, a genuine bring-back, or something else?

What would you do? Restore it with a replacement stock and parts as necessary? Clean it, Oil it and Revere it from the front row of the safe? Or Reload with upgraded parts? Since I never intend to sell the rifle, is it worth it to seek and swap matching date coded parts?

BTW, I've fired about 100 rounds, the rifle functions perfectly and shoots 2 MOA for this 4 MOA shooter (a slight exaggeration, but you know what I mean).

 

[vellnueve]

All of the above.

BTW, the Garand needs no upgrades, I'm not sure why you feel the need to install new parts in it.

 

[mac1911]

If it works what needs needs to be replaced? Buy a new stock if you want keep the old one. Retain all or any parts you may change out. If you are worried about value just do not alter the gun that is not easily returned to unaltered. He may have returned from germany with it but when? I only own 2 Garands as of now both CMP. Im sure as data grows on the internet and interest stays high for these guns you may find out more someday. I still think a web site with serial number data for parts exchange would be cool....

I have a SA 2340XXX wit ha winchester bolt # 346XXX and a HR trigger group 788XXX
do a little search and find someone has a HR Garand with a SA bolt that is a match to yours.

 

[Pilgrim]

might confirm if this is a CMP rifle, a genuine bring-back, or something else?

CMP rifles are bringbacks. It's a pretty safe bet that most of the M1's saw action, or at least were used in training for that action. They were most likely not left laying around waiting for CMP to buy them.

The vast majority of mis matched guns were done that way by military armorers who took apart a bunch of guns, put the like parts in piles and reassembled guns using the best parts from each pile. A mismatched gun is everybit as authentic as a matched one as far as history goes.

Clean it, oil it and use it. If a part breaks, replace it with whatever part you can get, just like the .mil did. If you try and find all the proper 'brand' parts, you'll soon go broke and will never get your money back should you try to sell it.

They are tough and they're history. Use it and revere it.