Finally My 1st Garand

[oldfoneguy]

Hello all well I've finally taken the plunge and got myself an M1 Garand to play with. I'm not unfamiliar with the platform as I've had an M1A since the early 80's. The stars and planets have finally aligned and yesterday I got myself a big boy. Only 35 years late! Now for the details,

CMP Service Grade.
5.4 million serial puts receiver to early 1955, 11/54 dated barrel, ME gauges at 1-, TE gauges at 2 +. Bolt and op rod match serial, trigger group is all over WWII. Replacement CMP stock. This was originally purchased from CMP in 2007 and looks like it hasn't been shot since. Clean shiny bore, tight lockup, dying to get it to the range!

Without having used it yet my questions are minimal.
What bayonet is correct for that time period?
What sling is correct again for '55?
What history would this peacetime rifle have?
Did these come with a CMP certificate in 2007? One didn't come with it.
Didn't come with a Plano case, did they ship that way back then?

My objective was to get a shooter. I didn't want a really used up rifle that patterns just because it has a service history. Equally I didn't want a rebuilt rifle whose only history is its serial number. So I ended up with one that to me has no real history that I know of unless someone here has better info.

Will add more pics once I have them.

Information

Warning: This is a relatively older thread This discussion is older than 360 days. Some information contained in it may no longer be current.

[Bob Womack]

Congratulations! Your criteria were the same as mine. I wanted one that would function well and had some life left so I ended up with a mid-50s one. I wanted to see what it looked like to peer down the iron sights of an M1 and try to hit something. Of course, I did muck it up by switching in a milled trigger guard rather than a stamped one, just for history's sake. You can see mine over HERE.

Enjoy your rifle!

Bob

[oldfoneguy]

Thanks Bob. Hey nice Wood on yours. Did it come that way or have you massaged it slightly? My stock is new but it's stained the dark brown I guess to make it look older. I'm considering a light sanding to take away some of the darkness and bring out some grain. It's dry as a bone seemingly never having been oiled. I'd like to lighten it up before some BLO. Or are these CMP stocks grainless cheap stuff that's not worth bothering with?

[browningautorifle]

What bayonet is correct for that time period?
What sling is correct again for '55?
What history would this peacetime rifle have?

Simple suggestions, as they aren't firm answers. The bayonets in vogue by then were the M5 but the M1 was still around and so would the cut down 1905E5 type. The sling was canvas by then with the big slider but the flat sliders and 1907 leather might still be carried in Armory stores... US QM shelves are large and filled sometimes. As for it's service, could be none. Could have sat in the grease until now. Very nice catch...nice rifle.

---------- Post added at 07:05 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:04 AM ----------

Or are these CMP stocks grainless cheap stuff that's not worth bothering with?

Your stock is walnut and should lighten up with some turpentine and oils. Nothing wrong with it.

[oldfoneguy]

Thanks twice Jim. Oddly enough I already have the green canvas sling that I was using with the M1A which I knew was incorrect this whole time. However the actual M1 leather sling has a great reputation for offhand shooting. I guess correctness isn't really necessary with a history less rifle. I had heard the stocks were walnut but conformation from you is good enough for me.

[Bob Womack]

My rifle arrived with a really beat up original stock that fit loosely. I could tell there would probably be accuracy issues. My lovely wife had the nice looking new stock with the walnut figuring fitting for me. You asked about bayonet - browning autorifle is right, there aren't any fixed answers. I wanted a bayonet and found a great deal on an original Imperial M5, which came out in 1953. The Army and Marines used whatever was on hand, so you could use several different ones.

Sling? My wife commissioned a nice M1907 leather sling for me at my request and that's what the rifle wears but frankly, by the time my rifle came along most were slung with the web sling. I have this one set to carry and use in a hasty sling configuration. I can't imagine stopping, un-rigging the leather strap and rigging it as a proper marksmanship sling every time and have NEVER seen a pic of a soldier in the field with the M1907 rigged as a marksman sling, so hasty sling it is.


Not me. Ear protection?

However, I took a rifle marksmanship course where they taught proper use of the web sling for marksmanship and it re-rigs pretty quickly. Were I to get serious with my M1 I'd probably trade it back to a web sling.

In 2007 the CMP would have shipped the rifle in the cardboard box you have. Mine is in the attic but the foam is probably mush by now from the heat. Frankly, my AR15 came in a decent rifle case and I typically use it or a bag to carry the rifle. You could buy one of the nice CMP cases, though.

All the best,

Bob

[oldfoneguy]

I'm not going to be shoulder carrying it much Bob. From the truck to the range and back again so setting it up as a shooting sling won't be a problem. However I always use the hasity sling like that with my hunting rifles. Thanks for the heads up on the box I kind of figured that because there's so much of the rifles info written on one end.

BTW the barrel specs came from the hand written CMP tag that was still on the front sling swivel. That being there is one of the things that lead me to believe that it hadn't been used since received.

[Singer B]

A. Don't sand the stock and definitely follow browningautorifle's advice if you want to lighten the color.

B. If the stock is dry, apply small coats of raw linseed oil to rehydrate ot and bring it back to where it should be

My M1 is also a post-war (1956, 5.9 sn) from CMP. It also came with the darker wood which was replaced during a refurb at the Mount Ranier arsenal (it is stamped "MR" on the left side). It was also extremely dry and in need of attention. Once the RLO was applied and after a few coats over a few days, she turned out to be a real beauty. Congrats and enjoy the "ping"!

[oldfoneguy]

The rubdown with turpentine went well but apparently only so much stain is going to come out of the wood. Considering it was stained 15 years ago it's pretty set into the wood. Once it dries I'll have to knock it down with steel wool before the first oil coat anyway so that may lighten it up a little more.
Having no experience with these rifles it struck me as strange that the very end of the op rod is the gas piston. On an M1A there is a self contained gas piston that pushes on the op rod in that system. Obviously that is something that was improved on.

[Bob Seijas]

The M14/M1A uses the White gas system patented in the 1930s. It had a less violent recoil and was easier on the parts. Garand was well aware of it but rejected it because the early versions were temperature sensitive whereas his direct system always worked.