Home Forums Gear Free Classifieds Need Help on Mint Unfired 1941 Garand Sniper

If someone knows how to make them appear on the page please let me know how as I have forgotten how to do it.

Also, if there is a member here that can post this on Sniper Central or similar you have my permission as I apparantly cannot for some reason due to not enough posts (if that makes sense?)

I do not know how much this adds or detracts from the mystery here as I simply want to try to locate the origin if at all possible. I have had many PM's and I may consider selling or trading if the right deal came along, but for now my interest is providing some type of provenance other than what is stated above.

Marcopolo50

Ironically I did some research and that particular plant switched over from civilian to military production in 1942 and continued through 1945 on Torrence Ave in Chicago. I am not sure if they produced anything other than vehicles but it would not surprise me as the Rock Island IL arsenal was in full swing as was the Joliet Ammunition and Arsenal Plant (JAAP). I can remember as a youth many of the military members of JAAP coming to town in the late 50's and early 60's as my uncle had a poultry house business and provided eggs and chickens for them.

Pics of ruger1v's Sprinfield

I worked at a GM plant that made tanks for Korean war, of course I wasn't there then. The plant was built by the US gov't, bought later by GM. One of my favorite stories is about Guide Lamp Divison of GM, in Indiana that made the steel stamped .45, the Liberator. Those things are high priced today, even though they made a million of them.

Pics of your gun are up.

Mark

Hmmm. Drool..Drool...

Thanks Mark

Jim says I can give out the information on the original owner. His name was Bill Swallow and originally started with Ford Motors out east in Virginia and later in Edison, NJ at the Edgewater Assembly Plant. When Bill was given the position of Plant Manager for the Chicago Assembly Plant it was at that time in the 1950's that the General gifted the gun to Bill as he had something to do with special projects with regard to supporting the WWII efforts of Ford Motor Co.

According to Jim, Bill was an avid trapshooter and they became friends. Jim set several records including the world record for highest seven year average score in the late 1960's and early 1970's. (get a copy of the 1976 Field&Stream and see the Federal Cartridge ad). Sometime during the 1960's Bill decided to retire an move to AZ. He presented Jim with the gun during that time period as a memento of their friendship. It was in cosmoline for over 30 years and sometime around 2004 or 2005 Jim took the gun to a local gunsmith that had a military background as an armorer. It was that gunsmith that revealed to Jim that he had a very rare and valuable sniper rifle. Jim had all the components in a box and not being a collector had no idea that removing the cosmoline, etc would effect the value. He simply wanted to put the gun on display. Bill had long passed away by that time and Jim tried in vain in 2007 to try and track the history of the gun. He does not subscribe to any modern day means such as internet, etc. He sold me the bulk of his collection of rare Remington and Winchester rifles over the years and wanted me to have this gun with the hopes that I could trace its history. I am trying my best.....................

Mine is: SA D7312555-1 53

OK guys, I shared the letter from a Garand expert in which he stated " This 'M1D' Sniper has an original Military 'SA 6-52' marked and dated 'M1D' sniper barrel assembly", so should that not mean it would have the "555" designation?

I was set to try and tackle removal of the rear hand guard and went on line to see how "simple" this was. I was not in World War 2, Korea, or Viet Nam so I had no cause to handle or disassemble one of these fine rifles. Here is what I found on line and once I got to the part about "hammer and vice", I kind of lost interest in the quest.

http://www.trfindley.com/pghgrm.html

Anytime I see "hammer, crescent wrench, vice and block of wood" in the same sentence as "for proper removal", it better be for a pit bull on the back of some kid rather than this fine piece of weaponry.

Just pull the op-rod back, it could be on the side of the barrel.

I'm sure it's a dandy, but unfired is a term people who collect military rifles that are 70 years old try not to throw around too much.


TE of a 2, usually denotes it is not an unfired barrel, a TE of 0 or .5 would be the norm for an unfired barrel. My 1954 SA Greek return M1 has a TE of 1.5, it's not unfired I can assure you.

Mike

I am contemplating taking it to Tulsa along with several of my rare Remington Rimfire Smoothbores. I am sure there is someone that can tell me what I have and most likely will get some idea of the value by simply displaying it. My fellow Ruger collectors have a huge display there and perhaps that may be the way to go. I just am hesitant to do much handling of it as Jim always wore his gloves when he handled anything but his favorite Model 12 shotguns.

List it on GB you will soon find out what it is worth,

If you can e-mail the pictures of the gun and the description, I can forward the information to Mike Venturino, who is writing a book on World War II weapons. He is a student of that era and quite knowledgeable. He also has resources available that most people don't to help determine what you have.

Shrapnel

Will do. I just got my M1 Garand Owners Guide by Scott Duff and looking to see how comfortable I would be with removing any of the components for better identification. I wish there were a way of locating the barrel ID without removing the handguard.

If I were in your position with a rifle that is possibly a very valuable one, I would work with one of the "known" experts to try to establish provenance and value. Scott Duff is one of those and would probably be my first pick. I'd probably pay him for an appraisal. Other folk that might be able to help fill in the blanks on the provenance are Jim Adell and the CMP, who both have records of Garand production. Letters from either of the three would go a long way to establishing provenance.

Here's a story for you. I was offered a Garand that was possibly a Type 1 NM rifle. It had most of the earmarks of an original Type 1, but because it was from an estate, and the history and paperwork was non-existent, no one was interested in purchasing a "might be" rifle. I bought it, then contacted the CMP who happened to have the records on this particular rifle, and confirmed that it was purchased at the Nationals by a shooter that lived near me in the correct time frame. They sent a letter summarizing the provenance, and the value of the rifle at least tripled on the spot.

Who did the appraisal that you posted?

You have to look at the prices realized on like rifles at the major auction houses.
That is the ONLY accurate reflection of value. In this economy rare "wall hangers" have taken a beating;
Rock Island Auction Co. has an auction coming up soon with a lot of rare military rifles in it. A phone call and buying a catlog might be well worth the 50 bucks.

Here ya go:

http://rockislandauction.com/viewitem/aid/55/lid/3752

That link goes to an M1C. totally different animal...and wears a much more expensive M82 scope...

Here's a Documented "D" from the same auction...

http://rockislandauction.com/viewitem/aid/55/lid/3802

I would take it over to the GB "Ask the Experts" forum and ask Mark Christian. He is a garand expert....