M1 Garand Question

[Tryptic]

Hello, well I'll get to the point, I just acquired and M1 Garand, its a Beretta Model. These are the serial numbers that I can see on various parts of the rifle.

BERETTA-ARMI
ROMA-ITALIA

B.M.R D.6528291

(right below a little crown)
FKF Nr PB 9149

(on the ejector)
D-28287 BMB 913

D35382 6 SA

(on the stock)
PB 9149
The stock is weird, its got a little flap on the end that when you open it, it looks like a couple of shotgun shells go in there, but I imagine its for ammo. There is a bayonette aswell its got the same little crown with HTK under it. and then on the blade itself it says 1942. U. (then an onion lookin thing) S.

Can someone tell me what this rifle might be worth, also excuse my Serial numbers, I'm not sure as to what part of the rifle they are on.

Thanks.

[MolonLabe416]

The "U onion thing S" is a US ordnance stamp. The "onion thing" is an Ordnance bomb. It's the insiqnia of the Ordnance Corp.

Most of the other parts are Beretta. PB is also a Beretta mark.

These are fine rifles, though I can't comment on value. You might check over at www.battlerifles.com in the M1 Garand section.

[cplane]

Do you think the hole in the stock, Might be where the cleaning kit would store?

[Tryptic]

Actually I was told that thats where they kept first aid stuff like a single gauss bandage and stuff...

[Steve in PA]

The holes in the butt are where you kept the cleaning kit, oiler, cleaning patches, etc. No bandages or ammo.

[Barry in IN]

It sounds to me like you have a Beretta-made Danish rifle.
Congratulations!
I love M1s, and the Danish M1s are usually in great shape.

In the 50's, Denmark got a bunch of "war surplus" M1s from the U.S., and bought a lot of new ones from Italy- made by Beretta and Breda.
The CMP (replaced the DCM) has been selling "Danish" M1s for a couple of years now.

The serial number on U.S. M1s is on the receiver, between the rear sight and the stock. On the Beretta-made guns, any I've seen have the s/n in the same place, but with larger stamp size, and they've all started with "PB".

The "D" numbers you mention are drawing numbers. When the M1 was in the final stages of design, literally still on the drawing board, each part or component's drawing was assigned a number. The first digit will be "A" through (I think) "D". The size of the sheet of paper used in the drawing determines the letter, with "A" the smallest, and "D" the largest.
On very early rifles, any part large enough to have a number on it, got one.
Parts as small as rear sight covers got stamped with a number (a "B" number, in that case). As time went on, they stopped numbering smaller parts. Then they stopped stamping the next size bigger, and so on. This continued until most numbered parts were "D" parts, being the largest, and only the larger ones of those.

The B.M.R. stamp is on Breda-made parts. Anything with "PB" is, of course Beretta. I've heard people swear B.M.B. is Beretta, and others swear it's Breda.
Whatever. It's all good stuff.

FWIW, the Beretta M1 machinery was mostly the same machinery that Winchester used during WWII. After the war, Italy wanted to re-arm, and the U.S. gov't had all that equipment laying around, so they sent a few tons over.
I find it interesting that Winchester's M1s were some of the rougher-finished examples, while Beretta, with the same tooling, made some of the nicest. Of course, Beretta worked during peacetime.

The clues to your rifle being made for the Danish is the crown and "FKF" stamp. One source I have says that all rifles that Beretta made for Denmark got the "FKF" marking. The crown supposedly means "by royal authority", and the FKF is somehow connected to Denmark's King Frederik IX.
I don't know about all that, but of the admittedly few Italian/Danish M1 I've seen, they were all marked that way.

I think this stuff is still being sorted out, and will be for a long time. We are still doing it with U.S.-made M1s, and we have a lot more info available. Of course, that may be part of the trouble!

I suggest you have a look, and ask around at the CSP M1/M14 forum www.jouster.com They are the most M-1 knowledgeable people I know of. There's a reference section there also, with a ton of info.

[444]

This is what goes into those little holes in the stock:
http://www.civilianmarksmanship.com/accessoryhtml/acccleaning.html

The stock isn't a little weird: Every US military rifle in the 20th and 21st century (so far) has got a little flap on the end that when you open it, it looks like a couple of shotgun shells go in there. The 1903, 1903A3, 1917, M14, M1, and M16 all have a trapdoor in the butt to hold your clenaing gear.

[Tamara]

The stock isn't a little weird: Every US military rifle in the 20th and 21st century (so far) has got a little flap on the end that when you open it, it looks like a couple of shotgun shells go in there. The 1903, 1903A3, 1917, M14, M1, and M16 all have a trapdoor in the butt to hold your clenaing gear.

You just know I had to run and double-check my Krag. Yup. It does, too. :cool:

[Ledbetter]

I always thought those holes in the stock were for your after-battle cigars. :rolleyes: