Win Garand Receiver Weld Question w/pics

[zrunr]

I was looking at a Garand and had some concerns. My concern was based on differences in milling mark patterns, some grinding marks on the latch side and comparing the serial number and brand (Winchester) with the drawing number on stampe on the other half of the receiver near the barrel. A web page stated that my drawing number coincided with a Springfield receiver. I don't know if different companies used the same drawing numbers.

Win 1212xxx drawing number D28291 29

Is this a demilled receiver that was welded together? If so, is it safe to use? If it was welded, the work was very clean. The other parts that I could see on it were SA.

Note the grind marks on the clip side and the apparent change in milling pattens on the op rod side. Is this normal or evidence of the welding?

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.

[RCS]

Your Winchester receiver should NOT have a revision 29. My 1.2 mil has the drawing number and revsion 2. Some photos of the receiver would help too

[Bob Seijas]

Yes, it's welded. I have never heard of one that blew up because of the welding, but some don't function all that well.

[Rick B]

I,m so proud,,,, no one called it a REWELD,,lol. It is refreshing to see this. My uncle has had a Winchester with a SA front for 20 years with no issues until I told him what he had. He has fired hundreds of rounds through it flawlessly and I see no problems with the rifle. Rick B

[zrunr]

I,m so proud,,,, no one called it a REWELD,,lol. It is refreshing to see this. My uncle has had a Winchester with a SA front for 20 years with no issues until I told him what he had. He has fired hundreds of rounds through it flawlessly and I see no problems with the rifle. Rick B

I did some research on this topic that covered the "reweld" issue so I avoided the term. My concern was based on information from the Fulton Arm. website that stated all welded receivers should be used as wall hangers for safety reasons because of the difficulty correctly welding the two halves together because of metalurgic differences between the halves. The page also showed that other 1903 .30-06 barrels were sometimes attached to Garand receivers.

[Rick B]

Yes avoid the barrels for sure as they were silver soldered and this will break down over time. You cannot miss the weld on the barrel. You photos are blurry,,, is that a cut on the barrel forward of the taper?? Rick B

[Ericc]

I,m so proud,,,, no one called it a REWELD,,lol. It is refreshing to see this. .... Rick B

What if the welder took two passes to get it done

Eric

[JGaynor]

At least some large dealers (Kleins - Chicago) were very up front in their ads about some of their M1's being built on welded receivers. In those days (early 60's) the average M1 retailed for about $80~.
Around 1966 or 1967 Kleins got a batch of unmolested M1's and put them on the market for about $125.00 which was pretty high for any milsurp. The rumor mill was that these rifles came out of Canada but i have no confirmation and the one I bought had no Canadian or UK markings. At any rate a new floor was set for M1 prices and the business never looked back.

Regards,
Jim

[zrunr]

Thanks for the comments. I added a link for higher res pictures. I would still like to hear from anyone familiar with these welded receivers. Fulton Armory told me that they have never come across one that they thought was safe and reliable. I also can't find a stamp on all the parts of the barrel not covered by handguards. Is that common or another issue of concern?

[Rick Cummelin]

OK, here's the history on "most" of the welded receivers we see now & again. Back in the late 50s/early 60s, the Gov't destroyed many thousands of totally worn-out m1s by cutting them in two with a torch and then cuttting the barrel in front of the chamber area. All the steel was sold as scrap and some enterprising folks (in California, as the story goes) bought the scrap and decided to build rifles. They built a basic jig to hold the halves, and if the halves matched up, they were welded together and then the welds were machined down to somewhat match the original contours and machining.

The barrel stubs--chamber areas--were drilled out, and a turned down '03A3 Springfield barrel was inserted in the stub and the two were silver-soldered together. A few years ago I turned down one that was offered to me for $200. Just not worth the liability if I sold it, and it didn't have $200 worth of parts in it.

The rifles were mostly WWII vintage and were re-assembled with parts from the aforementioned scrap bins. New wood was installed and the rifles were sold for around $100-150. My Dad bought me one in about 1963 or so (SA s/n 1165624). I fired lots of .06 through it and had headspacing issues requiring a new bolt to "fix" (to this day, I can't say it was safe or unsafe). My 2-groove '03A3 barrel was VERY inaccurate.

Here's the interesting part: To have PROPERLY welded these receivers together, they SHOULD have been totally re-heat treated after welding, but they were not, which explains all the weird shades of grey that usually appear when they are reparkerized. Theis means the welded areas were annealed (made soft) during the welding process. This is NOT a good thing, but so many of them are still out there being shot that their unsafeness may be overblown. That being said, once I discovered mine was a welded receiver (15 years later) it went down the road immediately.

Buying one for shooting COULD be a risk and/or a gamble, depending on your perspective. To me, I wouldn't ever touch one again--simply not worth the risk, IMHO.