Help with M1 Garand Odd Receiver!?!?

Hi Guys,

I live over in Britain and rarely see M1 Garands come up! I managed to get myself a pretty nice National Match M1. However, after doing some research regarding the receiver heel, I can't find anything!

The receiver heel has a serial number in the 4,000,000 range but no U.S stamps or manufacturers marks. What does this mean? The barrel and op rod are all NM stamped and seem correct, but the receiver is bugging me!

Any help would be great!

Cheers,

Ollie

Sorry, I am away at the moment and do not have better photos.

The first thought is that it is not a USGI receiver

Also Original M1C's were in the 3 million range

More pictures would help

Sounds to me like someone didn't like the US markings on it but left the serial number. Maybe it was a scrubbed receiver that someone took home and then later numbers were put on to try and make it legal? Pic of the serial area will help allot. Rick B.

I'll bet we find the receiver is a civilian make. There's a shiny spot behind the scope mount on the flats there. Maybe a makers mark. Yes, we need close clean pics. Not phone pics.

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../CFD0213-1.jpg

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...FD021310-1.jpg

Gun auction offering Garand with no serial number. Is that legal? - AR15.Com Archive

Centuary arms receiver below

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...1814de98-1.jpghttps://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...AComparo-1.jpg

http://www.fulton-armory.com/%5Cfaqs...s%5CCAI-TI.htm

Well, the bottom pic is obviously a cast receiver. The seam is present. Not a US issue. May be marked on the side though. Looking at the link, it makes me think the one in post 1 is the same. The one in the sandbox, could be anything, probably defaced...but with the typical poor pics, we have NO way to do anything but guess.

Back in the early 1960s many thousands of M1 receivers were salvaged by welding from G.I. de-mil scrap. Many of these had the manufacturers info removed and only the serial number remained. At one time they were the only rifles available.

The one immediately above has a seam visible though and I don't think it's government issue.

sorry its taken such a while but I have only just got home, I hope these pictures can help you tell me exactly what I have here! Thanks for all your help in the mean time! The barrel reads: '30-06 Geneseo. Il.' It also has the NM mark on the barrel too and what looks like a NM sight blade.

Cheers,

Ollie


Attachment 51952Attachment 51953Attachment 51954Attachment 51955Attachment 51956Attachment 51957Attachment 51958Attachment 51959

Someone correct me if I'm wrong but the third picture that you listed appears to show casting imperfections (unless its pitting from rust). All USGI receivers were forged steel and a forging would not have those air bubbles in it. That's more typical of a casting. Geneseo, after a little googling, appears to be connected to Springfield Armory in the state of Illinois. If It were my guess, I'd say that you have an aftermarket cast receiver built up with USGI and NM parts. Are there any other marks on the receiver if you take the gun apart?

After all the speculation here, now I'm wondering if that's a welded back together receiver. The pits described by ct241 are right about where they would be. We'd need to see the other side clearly, and maybe the inside for more signs. The scrubbed heel would sort of figure, and the number looks to have been engraved. All the numbers are perfect, look at the 5's... The whole thing has been re-blued(or parked), bayonet lug polished off, front sight blade slimmed and who knows what? Even the barrel marked look to have been reduced...

Hey guys,

They don't appear to be air bubbles, it appears to just be pitting? I don't know if this makes a difference?

I will strip it and take some more photos shortly! thanks for the replies.

Ollie

Well, that's what welding looks like...we'll soon know once we can see inside. There should still be signs inside. After all enough were re-manufactured after being cut.

My first M1 was a SA Inc, it has a cast receiver (A.D.I) worked and shot very well, I used the GI parts to build a GI barreled receiver I acquired from CMP. In Bruce Canfield's new tome The M1 Garand Rifle, page 625 explains that SAI began using serial numbers starting at 7,000,000, later production 7,100,000. Mention is made that several hundred forged receivers made by Breda is purported, but the rest of production was the cast previously mentioned.

Hope these help!

Still not quite the pics I wanted but they couldn't have cut it through that area. The torch cuts or saw cuts were farther back and then welded again. That would be between the legs vertically. I guess it was just a distressed receiver that someone undertook to completely overhaul. I doubt it was a Genesee casting, because they use an existing number of a WW2 receiver. That wouldn't be kosher...

Where's the rest of the guys here? Just Sarge and I?

7312604...that couldn't be a re-number from S.A.I. could it?

Hi guys,

Some more photos. In the last photo is that some form of makers stamp that looks a bit cloud like? Also, with close inspection (i can't pick it up on the camera) but there appears to be very faint remnants of letters on the heel.

Thanks for all your help!

Ollie

Is it not possible that someone has taken an old USGI receiver and just tried to smarten and clean it up as a shooter? would explain the bayo lug and NM parts?

Yes it would. That's what I was finally eluding to. A receiver that was rough, the polished the sh*t out of it and re-engraved the number. Stamping is near impossible on the hard tail. That would make perfect sense.

It has a scope mount...? Maybe you should show us some more comprehensive pics...?

Here are some that show the whole rifle a bit better

We go deeper and deeper. Now we need close ups of the scope mount, and the shiny spot behind the mount and clip latch. It's in the pic as a square. Very obvious. There's a few others I wish would show up. I think they're just waiting to see how deep I can get myself in here...

Hi Jim,

That 'shiny spot' is just a sticker with Zero notes on.

What do you want to see from the scope mount? shall I take pics of all the numbers on the scope mount?

Cheers,

Ollie

A better close up would be good. The whole scope mount. I'm wondering if it's an M1 D that was re-blued at some point...?