US RIFLE, CALIBER .30, M1, GARAND

United States

A BRIEF OVERALL HISTORY

Designed by Canadian-American, John C. Garand, the M1 rifle was adopted by the United States as the primary service rifle in 1936. It is a semi-automatic rifle that fires the .30-06 cartridge and is loaded with an 8 round en-bloc style clip. It served the United States through WWII and Korea until being replaced in 1959.

MAKE AND SERIAL NUMBER

This rifle was made at Springfield Armory in Springfield, MA. This was the primary federal armory at the time and it produced over 4.5 million M1 Rifles during its production history. Serial number 2019XXX puts production of this receiver in October of 1943.

DEFENSE ACCEPTANCE STAMP

The eagle with 3 stars above is a Department of Defense acceptance stamp and is located on the left side of the stock below the rear of the receiver. This indicated that the rifle had passed all inspections and was accepted in to service. The 3/8" by 3/8" size of this cartouche indicates that the stock was made by Harrington and Richardson in 1953 or 1954.

PROOF MARK

A circle "P" was stamped in to the front of the pistol grip to indicate that that the rifle was proofed. This is when a high pressure round is fired in the rifle to ensure that the chamber/barrel does not fail. The "P" used by Harrington and Richardson during this time did not have serifs.

GAS CYLINDER LOCK

The gas cylinder lock on this rifle is of the original WWII style which is beveled and not hardened. These would later be modified to be more conducive for firing rifle grenades.

OPERATING ROD

The operating rod was made by Winchester during WWII indicated by drawing number D35382-W.R.A. There is a semi-circle notch just above the drawing number that can be seen. This operating rod is what is called "modified". This point was prone to stress fractures when straight. This small cut was a later modification that mitigated this issue.