Seeking advice on that first handgun or next weapon purchase? Ask AW!

[A4sForever]

I was at the local pawn shop the other day and found a M1 Garand that was in pretty good condition. It looked a little dirty and wore out but it was shootable. He said all he really knew about it's history was that it was rebarreled in 1944. He is asking $700 for it and I was planing on putting some money down on it this afternoon but i wanted to ask you guys if you thought it was a good buy.

Not a bad price if it's in good shape -- check for "import" markings, i.e., is it back from ROK of something like that ... ??? If so -- it could be shot-out as many/most are relegated to parts lockers.

The barrel condition is a big deal even if it was "rebarreled" in 1944 -- or is that the original barrel (check the serial # versus the barrel date) -- as most were "rebarreled"after the war in depot level rebuilds. In any case, there should be no pitting, clear, sharp rifling, etc. .. all the usual suspects. Any way he'll let you "test fire" it for functionality ... ??? Probably not, but you can ask if you're on good terms w/ 'em ...

 

[Zissou]

Generally, you cant go wrong with an M1.

But I wouldnt take anything the guy says at face value. Not to say he's FOS but how could he know what happened to it 60 years ago?

Redux and A-4's make smart points.

If you can get down from 700, you will be in business.

I'd look at it as a project gun. With that receiver, you can make a really nice modern gun if youre willing to be patient and drop some coin over time.

 

[fox2102]

He was asking $800 for it. The wood is in good condition for a 60 year old rifle. I was running short on time so i didnt really get a chance to give it a good look over. I dont really know how he knows about the barrel. Maybe the guy who he bought it from told him or maybe he checked the serial number. I believe it's a springfield but i'll double check. We do alot of buisness with the guy so he may let me test fire it. The metal looks wore and dirty but there is no rust that i can see.

The rifle looks a little more worn than this one but i think it might just need a good cleaning
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=105112659

 

[FlyinRock]

He was asking $800 for it. The wood is in good condition for a 60 year old rifle. I was running short on time so i didnt really get a chance to give it a good look over. I dont really know how he knows about the barrel. Maybe the guy who he bought it from told him or maybe he checked the serial number. I believe it's a springfield but i'll double check. We do alot of buisness with the guy so he may let me test fire it. The metal looks wore and dirty but there is no rust that i can see.

The rifle looks a little more worn than this one but i think it might just need a good cleaning
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=105112659

The question that comes to mind is, what is your intended use for it? I shot thousands of rounds thru the M-1 in match competition in addition to it being my basic issue weapon in the USMC in the 50's.
Keep in mind you need a lot of en bloc clips for it to be more than a single shot rifle.
I love them and even placed 2nd in a state match at 1000 yds with iron sights with one in 1959 - Camp Matthews near SDiego.

 

[gotta_fly]

If you want an M-1 and are concerned with quality, you can also check out the civilian marksmanship program (google it as CMP). If you register with a historic group such as the M-1 collection club or something like that, for around $20, you're eligible to purchase old U.S. and Greek surplus M-1s. You can spend as little as ~$450 and up significantly higher, but you are guaranteed a certain level of quality/ condition.

 

[fox2102]

Well I am mainly buying this rifle for this historic value. I love WW2 weapons and this is the 1st original grand i've come across. However I would still like to shoot it. I'd even probably use it in competition if i acctually knew where some competitions were. I just want to make sure i'm not over paying

 

[invertedflyer]

The question that comes to mind is, what is your intended use for it? I shot thousands of rounds thru the M-1 in match competition in addition to it being my basic issue weapon in the USMC in the 50's.
Keep in mind you need a lot of en bloc clips for it to be more than a single shot rifle.
I love them and even placed 2nd in a state match at 1000 yds with iron sights with one in 1959 - Camp Matthews near SDiego.

Now theres a piece of history there. Its now a local park, state land I think. We actually did a conditioning hike there with the OSO once.

@OP ... CMP Garands are often pieces of history and they will be guaranteed a certain level of throat erosion on the barrell. Definitely worth looking into, I knew very few people that have ordered theirs and come back disapointed.

 

[fox2102]

I've been looking at this CMP and it looks like a good deal. I will probably end up buying this one from the pawn shop though cause i think i might be able to talk him down more but I plan to buy another one late on.

Also if anyone is from alabama and knows anything about competition shooting in alabama please let me know. I've wanted to get into it but could never really find anything useful on how to get started

Thanks for the info guys

 

[Rocketman]

I'm no Garand expert by any means but I do own 7. Springfields, H&R's, Winchester, International Harvester etc. A couple actually look unfired. One doesn't even have any wear marks on the bolt at all. None of them have been refinished. I shoot all of them but 2. All came from CMP. FANTASTIC weapons. It's much easier to buy from CMP than most people think. All the info is on the their web site plus a good forum as well.

Sales at http://www.odcmp.com/Services/Rifles/sales.htm

Forums at http://www.odcmp.org/new_forum/

It's easy to buy a good shooter for $600 to $800. It's much more complicated to be sure you are getting your moneys worth from a collectors point of view.

You can learn a lot here www.jouster.com (Run by a former Marine Major by the name of Dick Culver. Read some of his sea stories on the site. They are fantastic.) Reams of good info here including SN lookups, stock refinishing yada yada.

Also do yourself a favor and check out the cmp.

I love my AR's, AK's and M1A's etc but there is a special place in my heart for Garands.

PM me for more info if you like.

 

[NozeMan]

I posed this question on GlockTalk as well:

What is everyone going to do when the Greek surplus ammo runs out? There are good deals to be had on CMPs website as far as ammo goes, but it's gotta end sometime! I too am interested in picking up a surplus rifle, but it'd also be nice to have ammo to shoot out of it.

 

[nittany03]

Just got a CMP Garand myself, and I was pleased overall. But judging by your price I'd add to the chorus of people who wouldn't pay $700 for a Garand in that condition. Maybe $500. The only issue I had with mine was that it came with a brand new birch stock (good news) that they had thrown a crappy dark brown pseudo-walnut stain job on before shipping (bad news). So I had to strip it and put a few coats of boiled linseed oil on it. I believe if you order from the CMP, you can specify whether you want new wood on a Service Grade or not. I think it's their way of making a few extra bucks on a rifle which is mechanically sound, but has crappy wood.

 

[nittany03]

I posed this question on GlockTalk as well:

What is everyone going to do when the Greek surplus ammo runs out? There are good deals to be had on CMPs website as far as ammo goes, but it's gotta end sometime! I too am interested in picking up a surplus rifle, but it'd also be nice to have ammo to shoot out of it.

http://www.dillonprecision.com/#/content/p/9/pid/23594/catid/1/RL_550B

 

[NozeMan]

http://www.dillonprecision.com/#/content/p/9/pid/23594/catid/1/RL_550B

I figured I would get a response like that. I know that M1's are supposed to be modified (gas system) before shooting modern commercial stuff. I love that rifle, but it would be kind of a hassle.

 

[fox2102]

Thanks for all the help guys. I think i'm going to try to talk the guy down to $600 and if not I may go with the CMP. I am going to give the rifle a good looking over and if it just needs a good cleaning i'll probably end up buying it. If it's in worse shape than he leads on i'm going with the CMP. However If i dont end up getting a garand from CMP I may look into getting one of those springfield '03s when they get more in stock.

 

[nittany03]

I figured I would get a response like that. I know that M1's are supposed to be modified (gas system) before shooting modern commercial stuff. I love that rifle, but it would be kind of a hassle.

Thought so too, then I realized I could get a progressive reloader which reloads every caliber I own and probably save max $$$ in the process. I'm going to acquire one when the Greek stuff runs out. I'm perilously near that point where if I were to get in any sort of trouble, the media would flip out and call me a lunatic because OMG HE HAS AN ARSENAL AND MAKES HIS OWN AMMO!! HE MUST BE A MILITIA FREAK!!!!!!!111!!!!