Help! I've got an original WW2 Garand!

[Patrick Chadwick]

No, not a joke. I found a Garand for a price that I will not reveal for fear of endangering my credibility. Let's just say I bought it for the "immediate sale" price about 3 minutes after it appeared on an auction site on a Monday morning. So, dear colleagues, you don't even need to dig around to see which one it was. It was described as having a loading defect, but works fine with original SA clips.

Not all original - NM sights fitted (which I wanted, for a shooter). Barrel looks A1 (not yet gauged).
So what did I do as my first action? - Get info off this site as to how to disassemble, clean and grease it.

Whereupon I discovered the following:

Springfield Arsenal s/n 2024xxx. Receiver also marked D28291-30
This dates to October 1943, according to the available info.

Barrel marking 2 S-A 10-43
OMG, the original barrel!

Bolt D28287 12-SA plus S 0-6 with diamond mark
Looks like the original bolt.

Operating rod D35382 9 SA - no extra letter, such as C or F
Yes, it looks like the original op-rod as well!

And that's the problem. I want a Garand for competitive shooting. I bought it because it was cheap, had a defect that I reckoned I could fix, and had the NM sights. I have also learnt that square-corner op-rods could be dangerous, but are sought after by collectors. I wanted a shooter and appear to have acquired a collector's piece.

So what I need is a later, rounded-corner op-rod - and here in Mauserland such things fall into in the hen's teeth category. And it seems that the "usual suspects" of US parts suppliers all refuse to export gun parts.

Can anyone help me find a parts supplier that is in or will deliver to Germany without making a fuss about it?

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.