[mustang1349]

Just got a new m1 garand in the mail was told by the guy at cabelas that it was made in 1943 is there anyway to tell what Theater it was in during the war

 

[kkkriverrats]

Just got a new m1 garand in the mail was told by the guy at cabelas that it was made in 1943 is there anyway to tell what Theater it was in during the war

With the serial number you can confirm the date of manf. I don't know of any way to tell where it was used.

 

[MG08]

well, we could be smart asses and tell you to look for sand or dirt in it, but no, there is not any reliable way to know where a particular rifle was used or where it has been unless somebody has a particular piece of information like a photo, journal, shipping information etc. The usual books have plenty of information on what original rifles were marked as, and when serial numbers were made. The rifles were given to a number of governments around the world, so a rifle may have been in storage during WWII, brought out for Korea, given to the Koreans, sold or brought back .... There is no way to really know . Or given to the British (I have one of those ) or the gemans, Norwegians, Danish, Italians .....

 

[frazer42]

Chances are each individual piece of that rifle has been somewhere different. Hell, some of that rifle might be Danish or Italian. Or it's a mint vet steal with typeII lockbar rear sight and unmodified op-rod, non-poppet plug, narrow sight, slim wrist keeper. Either way, they are fun to shoot. J

 

[mustang1349]

I didn't figure there was a way seeing how there was no sand or dirt. Lol. if there was a way figured someone on here would know

 

[GWR1]

frazer42 SEZ: "Chances are each individual piece of that rifle has been somewhere different. Hell, some of that rifle might be Danish or Italian. Or it's a mint vet steal with typeII lockbar rear sight and unmodified op-rod, non-poppet plug, narrow sight, slim wrist keeper. Either way, they are fun to shoot. J"

Yep, that's right! Each Garand has 72 pieces, made by 4 different companies and one can take an hour figuring out the details of each piece. One's SO will be tickled to death you have something to keep you so harmlessly occupied in the basement for so long. Of course, this is why we have the Garand Collector's Association. $25/year gets you four quarterly magazines full of so much information you'll never be able to soak it all up! GCA = http://thegca.org/



Carry On!
Gary
><>

 

[Outdoordave]

Best to start with checking to see if the barrel is original to the receiver. I have the DOM for the various manufacturers serial #s. If the pads on the barrel are chrome or the date on the barrel is post war its been rebuilt. I love my Garands! Anything I can do to help just let me know.

 

[GWR1]

Also, I've heard about finding identifying ID on a slip of paper under the butt-plate or in the cleaning kit hole, or even carved into hidden areas of the wood (even paint or wood-burned) -- good luck on that! I've had no luck with these 7 times out of 8. At least with your serial number you might be able to tell where it wasn't, depending on date of manufacture.

Carry On!
Gary
><>

 

[amish-bob]

I had a rifle once that had a piece of paper in the butt that said something like only a dope forgets the dope on his rifle sights. Kill Japs! And it had the rifle serial number and clicks for elev. and windage. I wish I'd have kept that one.....I used to have a pic of that paper but that was a couple computers ago...

 

[MikeS75]

Send me the serial number and I can check the SRS paperwork. That’s the closest thing you will get for a unit hit or history of the rifle. Other than that would be a search of the Archives which can be very very time consuming. The Garand section of the SRS books is quite extensive

 

[MikeS75]

Also forgot to mention along with the serial number the manufacturer would be needed as well since there are some duplicates out there

 

[Armorer]

True what has already been said here. Back in the 60's M1 rifles were imported from England that had been given to the British by our government then placed in storage and never used. These are very desirable as they were unused and had all original parts. A friend of mine bought one for $79.95 (equal to almost $600.00 in todays money) but still a bargain. I have owned five M1s over the years and none had all original parts. Two came from the CMP back when they would sell you all the metal parts but not the wood for a pretty good price. One appears to have the original barrel one might be as the receiver was made in 1953 and the barrel in 1954. One was an HRA with original barrel but not most other parts. One of mine may have been a British surplus but received hard use and maybe a replacement barrel as it was a "Marlin" barrel. Other than that it had the original type rear sight pinion (no locking bar) and the caped front sight screw and a serial number in the 400,000 range. Most of the ones I have seen have barrels from the 1950s regardless of when the the receivers were made.There are lists on line that tell you when the various parts were made. Parts are never dated (except for the barrel) you have to go by the part number. Some parts never have the number but the barrel, bolt, trigger housing, op rod and a few other parts will have a number. Some parts like the bolt, barrel, op rod, trigger housing and small parts will have the initials of the maker. Stocks will have the arsenal acceptance stamp and these will vary depending on the maker and date the rifle was made. Unfortunately most stocks got switched out during rebuild or in use. Back in about 1968 my Guard unit got 135 M1 rifles to replace the M1 Carbines we were using at the time. Most of them had been rebuilt and refinished . At least half had birch wood parts and chrome plated barrel chambers. Many had been reparkerized. Some looked like they had never been used with original stocks and barrels. I wish I could have bought one of those. As was said they are a great rifle and having been rebuilt in my opinion just adds to the history of the gun.

 

[MikeS75]

Depending on what the serial number is on your M1 and if it is an SA the Marlin barrel could be original to your rifle. They were used on the 2.4- 3 million SA built M1’s. If I recall the ones that are Blued are WWII replacement barrels and the later ones were parked. Either way they are a piece of history and fun to shoot.

 

[Armorer]

The Marlin barrel was on a rifle in the 464xxx range and was blued. I replaced it with a SA barrel but kept the Marlin barrel and later used it on rebuild of rifle 2994133 as the barrel was not in bad condition. Marlin barrels do not have the traditional markings of an M1 barrel (on the right side) but are marked only on the top and the word "Marlin" looks like a double stamp and is rather crude for a U.S. Ordnance item.