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Just picked this one up, absolutely beautiful wood on this thing and the cartouche is very distinct. Matching HRA receiver and barrel, I did a quick look and saw that the trigger group and OP rod is SA.
Here's a quick vid I shot of it: http://youtu.be/rFY4Pd2w95o
Beautiful rifle!
Very nice HRA and video. Hope you get time to tear it down and take some good still close-up photos.
Harlan, I will be doing that, a great project for a rainy/snowy day here in St. Louis, Missouri.
The rest of what's left of my little family are from Columbia, and the teeny town of Campbell, MO and I remember the weather being particularly nasty around Christmas when we visited when I was a little kid. (BRRR!)
My mom lives near me here in TX where we usually have one or two light snows (that don't stick) per year, and my only other relatives left are my three cousins in Columbia. They own a large crane and heavy equipment company called Schultz Crane Service that my uncle and aunt left to them and the weather gets so bad they can't work, so they push snow to make a little money.
I gets HOT here in the summer, but I'll take the heat to have warm winters! :)
I've gotten some nice HRA Garands at CMP in the same condition as yours. Apart from some light handling marks in the stocks the metal is 100% like new. Almost like a correct grade for a service grade price. These HRA's and 5.8 mil SA's were graded by the GCA guys during our convention (that I wish I had attended ) and I think many were graded lower then they really were. I'm told CMP will grade that way than grade higher than it should be. They won't disappoint many customers that way for sure.
I lived at Whiteman AFB for 4 years. I loved the snow when i was a little boy.
Hi Dave, over on the CMP forum another guy put up pics of his HRA Service Grade, in great condition too, deeply stamped cartouches appear to be rather common on these 1950s era HRA, which is kind of cool.
Regarding that SA op rod. If the finish wear matches the rest of the rifle, then it may be original. Here is how you can check.
Examine the face on the back side of the op rod hooks. This surface normally impacts the receiver when the rifle cycles, right under the barrel. It is a travel stop for the Op-Rod. Because of this impact, the surface finish starts to wear on the op rod fairly quickly. It also leaves a similar imprint on the receiver face, although the finish on the receiver seems to hold up better for some reason. Examine the two wear patterns carefully--op rod and receiver. If they are mirror images to each other, and the overall finish wear is consistent with them having been together from the beginning, then it is a good indication that the op rod is original.