September 1941 - Lend Lease M1 Rifle

[garand123]

Before I begin, I owe our good friend Jim a huge thank you for giving me the opportunity to own this gem. A year later and I'm still loving it!

This particular example is 1 of about 38,000 which was sent to the English during the lend lease program before the United States entered the war. It is manufactured in September of 1941 and for this reason, displays a number of early "obsolete" parts which were quickly replaced on later examples. It is my understanding that the vast majority of M1 Rifles which were manufactured at this time were lost in the jungles of the Pacific Theater so the lend leased rifles are often considered to be the closest thing we have today to snap shots of M1 production during late 1941 to early 1942.

For the most part, I'll let the pictures do the talking, but there are a few interesting characteristics worth noting. First is the early GHS cartouched stock. These were used from late 1940 to mid 1942, but what I personally like about this example is that it is a long channel. We believe the transition from long to short channel was made around s/n 400,000 but that is just a rough approximation. Perhaps some of the senior members here on the forum have more definitive info at their finger tips?

Carrying on, the next few interesting bits are the short pinion flush nut rear sight assembly, with checkered elevation knob (which pre-dates lock bar sights). The half rounded firing pin in the 2 SA bolt, the uncut 3SA operating rod, grooved rear hand guard clip, narrow base gas cylinder with front sight seal intact and early trigger guard with drawing numbers.

Finally I'll note that this rifle does not have any red paint on the hand guard, but is easily recognized as a lend lease when the operating rod has been pulled back. Here you'll find a slew of British markings.

So without further delay, here are some photos.

- Chris

Information

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[RCS]

Nice example of a pre war M1 Rifle, I have data sheets on s/n 329128 and 328259 and both rifle stocks also have the small crossed cannon stamp while my data sheet on 328891 shows a large crossed cannon stamp. All have the SA 8-41 barrel date too.

[Bob Seijas]

$79.95 in 1959 or $89.95 for near mint selection.

[Charlie303]

That's a really great looking rifle, thanks for posting.

According to Bruce Canfield, the lease-lend M1s only got proofed and Brit stamped when they were shipped back to USA in the 1960s. But he doesn't say why. Maybe some rule about exporting firearms.

[Bob Seijas]

English law, any guns exported from Britain had to be proofed. Interarms bought the Lend Lease M1s in 1957/8 and they were proofed in 1958/9. First US sales were early '59 at the prices I quoted. Just finished an article for the GCA Journal on them, slotted it for the Summer or Fall issue depending on space available.

[RCS]

Some of the best Lend Lease M1 rifles came from Klein's Sporting Goods in Chicago. I knew Milt Klein and bought a Lend Lease M1 directly from him (I still have this rifle too) . Klein got out of the retail business shortly after the Kennedy/Oswald tragedy as the Carcano was purchased by mail order from Kleins.

[Bob Seijas]

Did it still have the red paint when you bought it, Robert, or was it already cleaned off?

[garand123]

Here's something I didn't initially notice until I started photographing the rifle. It appears to have the faintest impression of the BNP w/ crown on the bolt and receiver. At first I didn't clue into what the "smudges" were until I flipped through Garands in the King's Service .

[browningautorifle]

Here's something I didn't initially notice until I started photographing the rifle.

Yes, it took years before I knew what those impressions were. It took until I came to this forum and started investigating...the bolt and barrel ring are so hard that it destroyed the dies and flattened them out so after a time of stamping they barely showed. As Bob was saying they moved the stamps forward later and then discontinued this practice as it was so destructive and barely serviceable. I was always glad this rifle didn't have the markings between the rings on the gas cylinder.

By the way, it should still have the full round firing pin in it...the half round came later. I made sure the full round was in it because I didn't fire it like that...

[RCS]

It is not common to find any 1940 dated barrel with British proofs. The barrel in my photo is in excellent condition and S-A 8-40 dated and with London proofs. Also found a data sheet among the GCA data sheets that shows SA s/n 7860 stated to be a direct conversion from gas trap to gas port and also with a S-A 8-40 barrel with London proofs.