Hello! New here, Question on possible M1 purchase.

[EarlB]

Hello everyone. I'm new here (or rather it's been years since I was around)

Anyways...I'm trying to make my mind up about whether to purchase this M1(Springfield Armory, January '42 Birth date, S#436610). I'm wanting to find a nice early war M1 with its original barrel. I don't mind a trip or two to an arsenal, just would like to start with an original barrelled receiver gun. I used to have all the books but long ago sold them.

I think this January '41 Garand has definitely been thru a rebuild - (probably refinished), original bolt (2SA), original 3SA oprod was cut, trigger housing (12 SA) was replaced - but the barrell, it is 3 months later than the gun being an April '42 barrell. Would it have been unheard of in early '42 for a receiver to not be mated to a barrell for 3 months?

The gun is a papered DCM gun shipping from there in December 2006. It hasn't been (I don't think) messed with since. So if it isn't the original barrell, when it was rebuilt somehow it would have had to be mated to a barrell made only 3 months after the gun.

So what do you guys think - original barrell? It has a TE of less than 2 and passes the bullet test on the muzzle end very easily.

Thanks,
Earl

Information

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[Bill Hollinger]

Nice looking rifle Earl and welcome aboard....or back. A barrel dated three months after? Not unheard of however rather unlikely.

[The Wizard]

Close enough for government work!

[Joe W]

I asked this question of Bob Seijas a while ago and this was his reply :
" Amazing how many (receivers) were sent back because of things like "rear sight notches not milled" or "clip latch hole not drilled." Then there were things like the fact that 20% of all rifles failed firing tests until 1943. That's one out of every five. These recycled receivers were returned from repair from two weeks to three months. You can't go by serial numbers without a large fudge factor. Scott Duff's serial number tables are rough estimates of the average rifle..... they are not gospel, something he will not only admit, but insist on. Don't fool with that gun unless you have proof positive,"

Dave McClain followed up with " There was an average scrap rate on receivers of about 6-7 % per month during WW2. If the serial number was already applied, it was general practice not to re-use the serial number. That along with what Bob Seijas explained, makes it impossible to determine the exact day, week or even month a rifle was assembled from any published chart. The only thing you know is that the rifle could not have been assembled before the barrel date. Keep in mind that most months average 30 days so a barrel date alone could be off a month at assembly if it was marked on Nov. 1 versus Nov. 30.
SA also stored a small percentage of receivers on a "Contingency Reserve" and from hands-on-data, it's very obvious those receivers were replaced by new ones from time to time and older ones were assembled. It's not unusual for these contingency reserve receivers to be out of sequence by 6 months or more by barrel date and upgraded parts."

So, could your barrel be original to that receiver ?? It sure could.

[Wulf]

I'd buy it if the price was reasonable. That is a nice looking rifle.

[Dr342]

Ive always liked early Garands, especially 6-digits.

[Shotshooter]

It talks to me ,and it tells me that all of its parts groups have been together as one for along time. It could be all original in my opinion. Buy it!

[Joe W]

It talks to me ,and it tells me that all of its parts groups have been together as one for along time. It could be all original in my opinion. Buy it!

It tells me that it has a cut op rod, post war rear sights, mid 43 to mid 1944 trigger housing, long fork follower rod, late war poppet valve gas cylinder lock screw and a few other things that indicate that it is not only not "original" but also not correct. Still a very nice DCM sales rifle with what, most likely, is the original barrel, which is what the original poster "EarlB" is interested in. I agree with "Wulf", "if the price is reasonable", buy it.