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Old March 28, 2013, 10:33 AM   #1
ffs1942
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When was my M1 made?

My "new" CMP SG M1 was made by Springfield Armory and has an SN of 2477396. When was it made? Rifle seems in pretty good shape as service rifles go and due to a Dymo label rack number, I think it ended its military career in the Guard or Reserves when they skipped from the M1 to the M16A1 in the late 60's early 70's.

In what shape would an M1 be if it had seen action at Guadalcanal or the Ardennes, Korea, Little Rock, Watts, etc.?
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Old March 28, 2013, 11:15 AM   #2
tahunua001
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your serial number dates to January 1943. since the battle of Guadalcanal ended in February of that year it is highly unlikely that it saw any action there, also the marines in the south pac theatre were using 1903s all the way up and into 1944 before enough garands were made to become available to everyone, Army had first dibs when it came to the M1.

as for condition, most of the garands you see come through the civilian marksmanship program(CMP) sales dept where they get the garands straight from military storage and they run them through an inspection, fix as needed and sell according to condition. the most common condition that leaves them is 'service grade' where they meet the requirements to be allowed to enter service, they have to have a certain amount of parkerizing left, the wood has to be in decent shape but can still have superficial scratches, dings and other cosmetic blemishes and the barrels can have some wear, but not so much that it would be an unserviceable rifle. they

rack grades are about the condition of the average one you see at a pawn shop where there are no criteria except for it has to be able to fire, they can be in pretty rough shape sometimes.

special grades can have new barrels, and new wood and are excellent shooters but have little historical value left to a collector such as yourself.

correct grades are all gone, these are the rifles that saw little service and are still in much the same shape they left the factories in. a many garands have been through so many refurbishings that it's not uncommon to find a winchester rifle with a springfield trigger group and an H&R barrel. if yours is all springfield parts then it really helps the value out.

I just got a M1 about a month ago from CMP and even though the cartouches have been gouged out(one theory is it was a loaner to the Greek government and they removed US markings), it is 'period correct' wood and all parts are correct to a springfield made M1 from 1944 with the exceptption of a 1952 springfield barrel. I can live with that, I've seen much rougher M1s going for hundreds more than I spent.
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Old March 28, 2013, 11:21 AM   #3
tahunua001
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oops wrong thread.
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Last edited by tahunua001; March 28, 2013 at 02:48 PM.
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Old March 28, 2013, 02:01 PM   #4
CowTowner
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And you thought you had it bad....
My GF WON a CMP M1 from the TSRA in February and we haven't gotten any communication from CMP to confirm even receipt of the notice TSRA sent them. (Texas State Rifle Assoc.)
The gun was picked out and set aside last year by CMP.
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Old March 29, 2013, 02:02 AM   #5
Ignition Override
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ffs1942:
Many people out there have the large book with Garand component serial numbers and the date ranges etc.
My "gun guru" has "the" book but he is often out of town and very busy/difficult to reach when home. He traced my SA action to the very end of their last production run in '55, the year I was born.

CowTowner:
Even though you realize this, many other people might not realize how overwhelmed CMP staff are nowadays.

Yesterday I held on their phone and progressed from "Your are #9" to "You...#2" after one hour, fifteen minutes (1:15).
My finger barely grazed the phone when adjusting a company uniform emblem, and accidentally disconnected. That was frustrating.

Last edited by Ignition Override; March 29, 2013 at 02:09 AM.
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Old March 30, 2013, 05:05 PM   #6
Orlando
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If you absolutly have to contact CMP the best way is e-mail. They will get back with you in a day or two
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