Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Any M1 Garand Experts on the Fire? What do I have...

I just picked up a M1 Garand and I know very little about them. I know it was made by Springfield and that the stock looks to be original. I do not know what all the other numbers and proof marks mean though. Any info on the rifle and its value would be appreciated. I tried to take pictures of all the markings I could see.

September 1941 receiver, Danish barrel.

Mix of rebuild parts common on CMP rifles. Look on the barrel behind the front sight for any import company stamps on the barrel.

It's a safe bet that nothing, or next to nothing on the rifle is "original" to the receiver, which is very common for GI rebuilds.

With the Danish barrel, it's "probably" a CMP return sale from about 6-8 years ago.

Without the throat erosion and barrel wear gauges to get the readings, it's a shooter if the bore is decent.

Value: I'd expect to start selling around $600 - 650, about what a Rack Grade CMP rifle would probably bring in my area.

JMHO

Lots of ww II rifles were left in Europe and given to different countries. Yours was given to the Danes and barreled by them. VAR are known for accuracy. The cut out in the pistol grip area is a Danish thing too.

Thanks! So basically it's a shooter and not a collector at all, correct?

I'm far from an expert, but if you really want to learn about your M1 go here.
http://forums.thecmp.org/forumdisplay.php?f=7

From what I see you have a somewhat typical mixmaster M1.... WWII Springfield receiver (September 1941), stock, op rod, bolt and hammer in a Winchester trigger housing. Not sure of the barrel but maybe a post-war (1957) Danish rebarrel?

*Man, ya gotta be fast here, ya got several good replies before I could type it out! Nice rifle, shoot and enjoy it.

Hard to say without trying to sell it, I know guys that would buy it for the serial number, if the over all metal to metal wear isn't too much.

As pointed out, the Danish barrels have a good rep for accuracy, but the bore has to be evaluated for wear.

Yep and the barrel I believe was made in 1957.

Most of you parts are Springfield from the SA stamp, I like the Danish barrel marks. Part of your trigger assembly is Winchester WPA marking. Your stock and receiver are marked with your receivers serial. It is a Springfield stock I do not know if they stamped serials on the stock originally or if that was done later.

Most were arsenal refinished at some time, very hard to find an all matching M1. If you ever saw a military armorer work they could care less about markings, they just want a good functioning rifle.

They are just so much fun to shoot, a collector rifle would just collect dust anyway.

The Winchester trigger group is one of the better ones.

These Garands come into CMP and they get torn down.First thing stocks go in one pile, metal in another.. Each part is inspected for wear and if it is within specs it goes into a bin.Then they are re-assembled without regard to S?N's.

The one you have is better than average for a field grade CMP Garand.It could even maybe be a select.

Not sure who told you this but your info is incorrect .Also a Field grade and a Select grade are not even in the same ballpark

Just from appearances, and not knowing the throat erosion or muzzle wear, it looks like a high end "field grade" or a "service grade" to me.

As someone mentioned go to ODCMP.com and check out the Garand forum and also check out the "sales" page for the Garand grading criteria.

When you can, let a youngster shoot it and wait for their "did I break it?" look on their face when the clip ejects

I saw an M1 recently and it was stamped AUSTRALIA

What you have is what often refered to, as others have said, a "danish" garand. End of WWII, danes didn't have any guns so uncle sam provided them to them, some were lend lease, some were purchased by the danes. The lend lease guns came back through c.m.p., the purchased guns could not be sold here intact, so parts kits were sold here, the recievers ended up in canada.
At the end of the war the winchester equipment to make garands ended up in italy, and beretta made them, so there is a beretta garand. They also made parts stuff for the danes.
A V.A.R. barrel is considered a very good barrel. I doubt very much if it is shot out. They are valued because the danes took good care of them, and were in use in some ceremonial units into the 90's as i remember.
The serial number was put on there by the danes to keep the wood with the reciever. There was a little round medallion in the pistol grip. They also sold bayonets for them here that had the crown symbol.
You have a mixture of parts, but what i saw would indicate it was pretty complete. The low serial number gives it cache cause it for sure saw service in WWII. A lot of people, like me, puts a value on that.
CMP as far as i know did not tear them apart and mic the various parts for wear etc.
But the military armorers in the field sure did.
I would buy one of the reference books by ruth or canfield if you wanted to go further, to see if the parts by production match the serial number.
Nice find. It is NOT a 600dollar rifle. Even tho the wood has the serial number on it, and the round hole, it still has a cartouche meaning probably unsanded.
I saw a couple of junk garands at cabella last week, over 2000 for each of them, silly but there it is. They ain't making them any more. I haven't priced them lately but that reciever along could easily be in the 600plus range.
google garand collectors association, membership is reasonable, and the quarterly magazine is first rate. Plus you get acess to some well known people for questions etc.

I might add at the time the danish garands were hitting, they were also selling danish m2ball ammo, in the bandoliers in the clip by the case. Match grade ammo. I have a supply of it but really hate to shoot it up. And the wood, like the reciever but bearing a cartouche has a real value too. That rear sight looks like original to the time frame of the reciever, later ones were lockbar. I did not look up the serial on the op rod for date, but the low serial would have had a uncut op rod, they later started making them with the cut, and went back and ground the cut on the earlier ones. It just isn't right for the age of the reciever as it is now.

That sight appears to be the T105E1 replacement. It would have came with the spanner adjustable when issued in '41.

From Mike Venturino:
"Almost all M1 Garands that saw combat in WWII wore a sight which collectors now call the “locking bar” type. It came into use late in 1942. Prior to that sight’s adoption, M1s carried rear sights adjusted by means of a spanner wrench. Towards the end of WWII an improved rear sight designated T105E1 was developed but according to Bruce N. Canfield’s book Complete Guide To The M1 Garand And M1 Carbine, it is unlikely if any Garands issued during WWII wore them. However, after the war, M1s turned in for refurbishing were retro-fitted with T105E1 sights."

Thank you guys very much for the info! Have a Merry Christmas everyone!

I have collected and built Garands for years so have a very good grasp on value. If the barrel measurements are good its easily a $750-$800 rifle on te secondary market. If barrel is worn its more in the $650-$700 range

The op rod by part number is a post war rebuild rod and the stock is also a post war Springfield Armory rebuild with it's open bottom box SA over N. The original cartouche was below the elevation pinion. SA over GHS in a box with the ordnance flaming bomb next to it. There would have been a small flaming bomb on the bottom of the pistol grip. The Danish cut out removed this. The op rod catch is of the very early type without the acceleration bump. Those VAR barrels are some of the best and with that late date it is probably in very good condition. By the parts mix it appears this rifle has been rebuilt with spare parts furnished by the US long after the war. Those D35382 SA op-rods didn't go into production until 1946. HTH

The CMP pricing sets prices on the secondary market. With Field grades priced at $630 and Service grades at $730, you have your base price. The WWII receiver will easily add $100 to those prices. The VAR barrel would add another $50. Stick a Danish coin on the pistol grip and you will have a $800-$900 rifle, depending on barrel wear.

The Danes are famous for cleaning their rifles. The finish is thin on almost all of their returns. I think they considered steel wool a proper item to have in a cleaning kit.