M1 Garand / M1A / M-14 Thread

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Biggsly

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The best part about the M1 Garand that I snagged at the Wanenmacher show this weekend:

i738.photobucket.com_albums_xx29_Perplexed0_Milsurps_DSC_0114w.jpg


Hint: look at the first two lines of the heel stamp. "Gap letter" is what it's called, and it's an uncommon variant of the least common M1 manufacturer. I'd been looking for well over a year for one of these, so I'm stoked :)

A few more pics of this rifle...

i738.photobucket.com_albums_xx29_Perplexed0_Milsurps_DSC_0109w.jpg


i738.photobucket.com_albums_xx29_Perplexed0_Milsurps_DSC_0106w.jpg


And here's one of an interesting repair done on this stock; when the first run of IHC stocks came out, the factory discovered that the stocks were much too tight around the butt plate, so installation of the plates caused the stocks to crack in this area. Rather than scrap all the stocks made to date, the factory sent them back to the manufacturer to be repaired with wood inserts. These usually consisted of "half moon" pieces of woods along the sides, and sometimes top and bottom repairs; once done, the stocks were resubmitted for inspection and found to meet USGI specs. This stock has the inserts on both sides and top, and is an interesting bit of the IHC M1 Garand history.

i738.photobucket.com_albums_xx29_Perplexed0_Milsurps_DSC_0113w.jpg

That is a very nice find.
 

Perplexed

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That is a very nice find.

Thanks, I'm still pumped about getting it for a fair price. Most of the IHC's I've seen were priced such that I was convinced the internals were gold-plated!

Nice rifle! I'm still on the hunt for an IHC (of any variety).

Thanks - did you go to the Wanenmacher show? I saw two other IHC's, both postage stamps. I don't recall the prices though, as I found this gap letter first, and that's all I had on my mind all weekend. Talk about biting one's nails: "Is it still there? Is he willing to negotiate?" :wink2:
 

coolhandluke

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It's not a rifle, but figured someone might appreciate photos of the latest Garand related item that I picked up. I ran across the trading card in the photos below on an online auction. It was produced in 1939 by O-Pee-Chee as a part of the Fighting Forces series. It looks like there was also an American release of this same series of cards under The World in Arms title by GUM Inc. There's not much information out there about these cards, but I did find the following description on another auction site that had a partial set listed: "Scarce 1939 V276 O-Pee-Chee "Fighting Forces". While the fronts resemble Gum Incorporated's R173 "World In Arms" edition, a review of the backs reveals this selection is something very special. The title and clearly Printed in Canada" copy uncovers this 48-card set made for the Canadian market. Single examples rarely appear for sale resulting in assembling a complete set extremely difficult."

Notice that the rifles on the card are the early gas traps with slant cut op rods, flush nut sights, and grooved lower bands.

i181.photobucket.com_albums_x97_mach_won_GarandCard004E.jpg


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i181.photobucket.com_albums_x97_mach_won_GarandCard013E.jpg
 
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