Getting my M-1 back together… 🙂
Here is a picture of the throat ( now I DID clean it before the pic) but effectively no wear at all!
My gunsmith called me this morning to say he’d completed the reassembly, so I decided to take a couple of hours off to celebrate my ability to actually shoot a gun!
(I know what I don’t know how to do, and getting all the ‘fiddley bits’ back together without screwing it up and/or screwing up either the wood or something else pointed me to my gunsmith to do it.)
Here is a picture of the rifle as originally received from CMP… It was clean and 99% on the metal, but the stock had been beaten around over the years in armories. It shot good (2 MOA at 100 yards) and I decided it deserved to have a good looking stock to go with the original metal. After a number of calls/recommendations/back and forth, I went with Phillip McFerrin the Gun Stock Doc down in Alabama. All I can say is WOW!!! He did a super job on the furniture, and didn’t touch the cartouches at all!
OBTW, you DO get funny looks when you show up at the range in a coat and tie to shoot… And I had no spotting scope, so I shot 5 shots cold (with the 3 o’clock flyer called) offhand then walked down and took a look. I was high, so went back and reset and then shot the next five and got them all in the black.
Of note- no sling, off hand, so this is NOT a reflection of how well the rifle shoots, but how badly I shot it…
But enough about that, look at that stock! It is beautiful, and it IS the original stock! No more dings, dents, paint… 🙂 And my gunsmith told me I’ll probably be accused of putting a ‘fake’ stock on the rifle!!! I told him I’ll just send them to him as a reference 🙂
Here is a closer pic of the butt stock! Smooth as a baby’s butt 🙂
Here’s a picture of the action and you can see how good the metal and parkerizing is!
Here is a picture of the action from the side- almost NO damage to the action/parkerizing!
Here is a picture of the throat ( now I DID clean it before the pic) but effectively no wear at all!
The only dings are on the front sight, barrel end from where it was stacked in the rack(s) in various armories, but still… and look at the wood on that fore stock!
And finally a picture of the pieces/parts I’ve picked up thanks to friends looking for ‘stuff’ for me! The bayonet is a correct 1951 bayonet in the original sheath, and the web belt is a pre-war clip pouch belt with 1911 mag pouch and correct first aid kit. Without the folks in the shooting community who freely gave of their time and expertise, I would have never been able to enjoy this rifle nor put these pieces together to pass down to my grandson!
Thanks Folks!
Sweet!
Where did you originally get the rifle from?
Very nice! I am really impressed!
It is very beautiful.
drjim- I got it from CMP in Anniston, AL. It is a ‘new’ 1953 Harrington Richardson Arms, all true/correct and we literally had to scrape the cosmoline out of it!
Keads- Thanks!
Supi- Thanks!
That is absolutely beautiful. I can’t imagine how much the refinish cost, but it was worth every penny.
Most excellent, and a beautiful restore job done on it. Now when you gonna bring it out here to shoot? (I has spotting scope!)
Sweet shootin’ iron you got there 🙂
Sweet
Ah, yes, the CMP. I keep meaning to join, but the only place I can shoot that caliber is about 60 miles from here…..:-(
That’s a pretty Garand.
Makes me miss the NM M1 Garand I had to sell when I was laid off in ’03.
Pretty work. I’ve got one that shoots ok and looks like your before pictures. Makes me think about some smithing, can you confess how much it was?
Gorgeous!
One of these days, when I live in a free country, a CMP Garand is on my list.
Phil charged me $225 to clean/repair and refinish the stock. I spent $100 with my gunsmith to do the teardown (e.g. remove all metal from the furniture) and reassemble. So the total I’ve spent on this rifle is $650 (buy) plus $335 in other work.
And Phil turned the stock around in 2 weeks!
Me- Yeah we do need to get together.
Yours is much prettier than mine. The wood on mine is pretty beat up too with a couple of deep dings. Some friends suggested replacing all the wood but I finally decided to keep it as-is. Mine shoots surprisingly well too. I can get a 5″ spread at 100yds off a rest. It could have been better if my eyes were a bit better. 🙁
Nice piece! I’ve got one that has barely been fired but looks like it just came from the Chosin Res.! Shoots great though and my granddaughter of 14 years would rather shoot it than anything else I’ve got! She can even field strip it and clean it. One of the penalties she has to pay for getting it all dirty!
Crucis- Phil can do a LOT with a dinged up stock… Mine had dents/dings/paint on it and now it doesn’t…
Ev- I met an old gent at Quantico that had HIS rifle he carried at Chosin… quite a story, and he could STILL shoot that sucker! He just had a bit of trouble getting up and down off the ground…
Sweet is a supreme understatement.
DROOL!
Anniston you say, most old Home Station for the Chem Corps…aww found memories of Pehlem Range and CDIF.
Oh, nice rifle by the way, she is a buety.
ADM/WSF- Thanks 🙂
CS- you’re right, I’d forgotten that!
The gas cylinder plug.
With, or without valve?
Skul
(being a late model, I suspect “with”)