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A little story:
Back around late January or early February, a buddy of mine called me. He said he got a call from the CMP about an order he'd put in months prior for a Springfield M1 Garand in service grade to use as a parts gun for a BM59 project he's undertaking. He said CMP called stating they were unable to fulfill his order, but offered him a service grade Winchester instead, which the CMP hasn't had for regular sale in a few years. As he already had a very beautiful Winnie M1, he asked if I wanted the offer instead. While I don't consider myself a Garand collector per se, the Winchesters tend to be very prized by collectors and I would have loved to bring it home and give it a place in my safe next to Springfield and Harrington & Richardson siblings. Very reluctantly, I had to turn him down, as I had other stuff in the pipe and knew my wife would kick my ass if I dropped $700 or $800 on another CMP purchase.
A few days later, I told my wife about the offer in passing. She pretended to listen intently, and kinda rolled her eyes, as she tends to do whenever I talk about guns. A few weeks later, I mentioned it to my brother and he stated he's take my buddy up on the offer. I called him back, but alas, he'd already parted with the rifle.
Fast forward to last Sunday when my family and I had a celebration at my house for both my mother and my birthday, which are about two weeks apart. I thought we'd finished the giving of gifts and I was full with cake and coffee when my brother said he had to go out to his car for a second. I saw him come back in with a foliage green CMP hard gun case. All I was thinking was "How'd he get a hold my gun case?" assuming it was the CMP case I already had. He brought it in, laid it down, and I saw it had a Happy Birthday tag on it from my wife.
I popped the lock to find a beautiful Winchester M1, serial of 2.4M, manufactured in the first half of June 1944. It was rebarreled by the Danish in 1966, and the birch stock in great shape with crisp lines and edges.
Apparently my wife was listening more intently than I thought. She made arrangements (I knew pushing her to get her own LTC was a good idea...) to pick it up and have my brother hold it until my birthday. I can't thank her enough. This will be an heirloom I hope to pass onto my own kids someday.
Pics:
At the dinner table, next to the cake:
At home on the workbench:
Nice, clear heel stamp:
Square P stock acceptance stamp, indicating it was put on at the Red River Army Depot:
Danish VAR barrel, dated November 1966:
Springfield Op Rod:
Springfield trigger group; stamped guard:
Harrington & Richardson bolt:
Underside of the pistol grip, which appears to be a drawing number "136":
Any comments appreciated...
Back around late January or early February, a buddy of mine called me. He said he got a call from the CMP about an order he'd put in months prior for a Springfield M1 Garand in service grade to use as a parts gun for a BM59 project he's undertaking. He said CMP called stating they were unable to fulfill his order, but offered him a service grade Winchester instead, which the CMP hasn't had for regular sale in a few years. As he already had a very beautiful Winnie M1, he asked if I wanted the offer instead. While I don't consider myself a Garand collector per se, the Winchesters tend to be very prized by collectors and I would have loved to bring it home and give it a place in my safe next to Springfield and Harrington & Richardson siblings. Very reluctantly, I had to turn him down, as I had other stuff in the pipe and knew my wife would kick my ass if I dropped $700 or $800 on another CMP purchase.
A few days later, I told my wife about the offer in passing. She pretended to listen intently, and kinda rolled her eyes, as she tends to do whenever I talk about guns. A few weeks later, I mentioned it to my brother and he stated he's take my buddy up on the offer. I called him back, but alas, he'd already parted with the rifle.
Fast forward to last Sunday when my family and I had a celebration at my house for both my mother and my birthday, which are about two weeks apart. I thought we'd finished the giving of gifts and I was full with cake and coffee when my brother said he had to go out to his car for a second. I saw him come back in with a foliage green CMP hard gun case. All I was thinking was "How'd he get a hold my gun case?" assuming it was the CMP case I already had. He brought it in, laid it down, and I saw it had a Happy Birthday tag on it from my wife.
I popped the lock to find a beautiful Winchester M1, serial of 2.4M, manufactured in the first half of June 1944. It was rebarreled by the Danish in 1966, and the birch stock in great shape with crisp lines and edges.
Apparently my wife was listening more intently than I thought. She made arrangements (I knew pushing her to get her own LTC was a good idea...) to pick it up and have my brother hold it until my birthday. I can't thank her enough. This will be an heirloom I hope to pass onto my own kids someday.
Pics:
At the dinner table, next to the cake:
At home on the workbench:
Nice, clear heel stamp:
Square P stock acceptance stamp, indicating it was put on at the Red River Army Depot:
Danish VAR barrel, dated November 1966:
Springfield Op Rod:
Springfield trigger group; stamped guard:
Harrington & Richardson bolt:
Underside of the pistol grip, which appears to be a drawing number "136":
Any comments appreciated...
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