Should i buy a garand

And even if it's a used collectible with all GI parts, it won't hurt to take it out to the range. I mean, these rifles were made for combat. But before we get into the choices of Garands available today, a brief overview about the rifle might be helpful. The M1 Garand derives its name from its inventor, a Canadian named Jean Cantius Garand, who was born on January 1, , in Quebec and eventually emigrated to the United States, where he became a naturalized citizen and anglicized his first name to John.

It was Gen. Douglas MacArthur who brought young Garand to Springfield Armory , where he subsequently developed the Model 1 rifle hence "M1" —a "gas operated, clip fed, semi-automatic shoulder weapon," to quote from the Army's field training manual. Designed to replace the Springfield A3 bolt action, the popularity of Garand's rifle would become so great that it became synonymous with the inventor's surname.

Chambered for the standard. This also locked the bolt open. The rifle was then quickly reloaded by pressing a new loaded clip straight down into the receiver with the thumb, while keeping the bolt pressed back with the fleshy part of the hand. Once the clip was fully inserted, the hand was quickly lifted, permitting the spring-driven bolt to slam home, chambering a round on the way.

However, care had to be taken to make sure the thumb was raised out of the receiver, lest the shooter end up with a blood-blacked thumbnail, which was colloquially known as an "M1 thumb. This stamped anchor does not signify a rare Garand issued to the U. Navy but rather one that had seen service in the Danish Navy.

If you're buying an M1 as a collectible, these are the sorts of things to know before you invest. The 'circle P ' proof stamp on many Garands is usually worn off because it was stamped on a portion of the stock that was handled often. The majority of Garands had a spanner nut to lock the rear sight, but this 'locking bar ' rear sight is correct for the author's earlier era Garand.

Many of these sights were replaced by spanner-nut versions by the end of the war. The parts number suffix SA signifies it was made by Springfield Armory. Ideally, all parts should have an SA stamping, but parts were changed on most Garands.

The Garand was officially adopted by the U. Army in It was a timely move, because five years later we entered World War II. Springfield was the original producer, but with war imminent, in Winchester was also contracted to make the M1. Although numerous minor changes were incorporated throughout the Garand's existence, one of the most notable occurred in , when the original gas trap system was changed to a gas port. In addition, rifles produced by both Springfield and Winchester initially featured a thick milled trigger guard with a hole in the rear portion of the guard to enable a steel cleaning rod or similar object to be passed through it to facilitate pulling the guard back and up, in order to lift it out of the barrel and receiver group for disassembly.

However, in Springfield Armory adopted a stamped steel trigger guard as a cost-savings measure. Winchester, though, retained the milled guard during its entire production run of , rifles, which ended in By comparison, Springfield Armory produced slightly more than 3. Also during World War II, but before we entered that conflict, a number of "lend-lease" Garands were shipped to our allies, most notably Great Britain. British guns are often marked with a red band painted on the fore-end.

However, few Garands were issued to British troops, and of the few authenticated British lend lease guns I have seen, all appeared to have their original issue parts. Many postwar Garands were exported as "surplus" guns and have been returned to the U. It should be noted that after the Armistice, approximately 4 million Garands—easily two-thirds of the total production—were reconditioned by Springfield Armory.

Parts were replaced, guns were re-Parkerized and often rebarreled. Thus, the chances of finding an "as-issued" Garand today is extremely rare, although many collectors are buying original G.

While this isn't exactly a devious practice, it is becoming an expensive one, as original parts are becoming harder to find and therefore more costly. CMP no longer ships to Puerto Rico.

Click here for ordering information. Click here to read Important State or Locality Requirements. Cosmetic condition will be good to very good. May have some visible pitting, frosting, or other minor cosmetic deformity on the metal parts.

Manufacturer selection guarantees only that the receiver was produced by the manufacturer listed. The barrel, receiver, and other parts may have been produced by other manufacturers; and may also be of commercial origin with original, re-parkerized, or other commercial finish.

Rack Grade Rifles. Most of these rifles have been refinished or rebuilt at least once while in military service and will likely have some parts from other manufacturers. Rifle wear will be exhibited by worn and mixed colors of the finish; there may be some minor pitting on the metal parts; wood will be basically sound but may be well used with minor hairline cracks, poor fit, and many digs, scratches and gouges; wood may not match in color, type of wood or condition.

These rifles may have some foreign parts and wood may be Walnut, Birch, Beech or other variety. The overall appearance and condition of the rack grade will generally be rougher than any other grade. Fair condition. Manufacturer selection only guarantees the receiver was produced by the manufacturer listed. The barrel and the other parts may have been produced by other manufacturers. Field Grade Rifles: Cosmetic condition will be fair to good, showing moderate to significant cosmetic wear.

May have moderate visible pitting, frosting, or other cosmetic deformity on the metal parts; both above and below the wood line. New production, commercial stock sets may be used, and will likely exhibit noticeable signs of wear and prior use.

Bores will be generally bright and serviceable, but may feature noticeable imperfections pitting, frosting, etc. The exterior circumference of the barrel crown may be nicked, dented, or dinged, but such deformity will not extend into the bore.

A reasonable allowance for gauge tolerances will be afforded. Service Grade Rifles will show less wear and a better cosmetic appearance than a Field or Rack Grade. New production, commercial stock sets may be used, and will likely exhibit signs of wear and prior use.

Bores will be bright, and free of any major defect that would be visible to the naked eye. This rifle consists of a new production stock and handguard set with CMP cartouche, a new production barrel and new web sling.

Receiver and most other parts are refinished USGI, but some parts may be new manufacture. Receiver may have pitting as seen in the picture below. See item for details. Correct Grade Rifles are similar to the Service Grade above , but will show less wear and use. The stock and handguards will be of walnut and correct for the rifle but will have some dings, dents, scratches and marring of the wood finish.

The rifle bore will be very good with no significant defects and with a throat erosion of less than 4 and a muzzle wear of 2 or less. Very good to excellent condition. This grade is rare and is only available occasionally in limited quantities. Because of the scarcity of these rifles, they will only be sold on the CMP auction site at cmpauction.

The has been used by hunters for generations, and most M1s are accurate enough to get the job done at normal hunting distances.

For hunting or competition, this might be a good option. This is one of them. The only real question is, What are you waiting for? The opposite was the case with my dad. That gun is likely one of the guns obama kept from coming home. Rifles from CMP are gauged before being released for sale. Used guns rarely have no such reassuring documentation. I worked for 13 years in gun repair for a small family dealership. Most M1s brought to us for repair exhibited excessive headspace.

Other parts wear also, especially the operating rod. If the retaining tabs at the extreme upper rear wear out of spec, the rod can dismount spontaneously on firing. Very serious safety problem. New rods have not been made for decades. Finding a good used one is a time-consuming and costly task. And they can wear in a hurry, stretch, or fracture suddenly: the steel alloys used in M1 receivers cannot be re-tempered after cutting and rewelding.

Some surplus operators were really good at grinding and refinishing a reweld, and close inspection is needed to detect the changes. Rebarreling to 7. You may get an out-of-battery ignition, which usually wrecks the rifle and can kill the shooter.

Military ammunition is loaded to produce a specific port pressure; if you substitute different powder, primers, cases, or bullets the relationship is altered and the new load may be unsafe.

Nice article, I have two myself. One is real nice shoots great. The other needs a bit of work but the price was right.

Got both of them at Rockislandauction. The CMP refurb facility in Anniston, Alabama 80 miles South of me generally has many on the floor, in rack grade quality for sale. You can pick one up the same day you tour the showroom floor. There is a limit on how many an individual can purchase in a 12 month period.

I believe it is 5 per year. I own 2. Not for sale! One of their requirements is a copy of your DD Garand Collectors Association. So, there is a process. If you decide to drive to pick one up, be sure and login online before hand and have all your documentation with you or sent already to them. I added the Unimak rail—it replaces the upper handguard perfectly without any drilling or other mods to the rifle. Added a Scout type scope with Mildot reticule.

This provides adequate eye relief and allows easily loading the 8 round en block clip into the rifle. It is a tad heavy—around 11 pounds. Lots of support needed.

Old school joy shooting it. Privi Partisan grain rounds loaded for the M1 work very well in the rifle. Me too, the first was DCM and I also put the forward mount rail. Understand that some matches allow! Heavier, but no longer can see rear and front sights with tri focals. My father in law and I each bought rifles from CMP several years ago. The year Indiana opened high power rifles legal to deer hunt with I harvested a nice 8pointer opening morning with the Garand.

It is a great memory of mine.