This M1 Garand is a Springfield Armory rifle, serial 17017xx, which places its receiver in June of 1943 and squarely in wartime production. It is Springfield throughout: SA hammer, SA trigger housing, SA bolt and SA operating rod. The barrel is Springfield marked and dated 11-65, and the right receiver leg is electro-pencilled SA 3-66, the mark Springfield Armory applied to rifles it overhauled, dating the rebuild to March 1966. The two dates sit together exactly as they should: a barrel made in the closing months of 1965 fitted to the rifle when it went through the shop a few months later. The stock carries the circled P proof mark at the pistol grip and the Department of Defense acceptance stamp, the spread eagle beneath three stars that replaced the older inspector cartouches after 1952, marking a stock that came through the post-war system rather than a 1943 original, which is consistent with the overhaul the receiver leg records. The bore is mirror bright and the muzzle gauges 0. The rifle is mechanically excellent and is offered as it is shown.
When a rifle came back through an ordnance facility it was stripped, inspected, worn or superseded parts were replaced, a new barrel was fitted where the old one had gone, the action was tightened, and the rifle was proof fired before being packed away. A muzzle reading of 0 is consistent with little use since this rifle’s 1966 overhaul. The practice of marking the work changed over time. Through the 1940s and 1950s the overhauling facility stamped its initials into the stock, Springfield Armory using sa over the inspector’s initials and Rock Island using ria over theirs. By the middle 1960s the identification moved to the metal, hand etched with an electric pen on the right side of the receiver leg, and each facility had its own code: Letterkenny used lead, Tooele used te, Red River used rra, and Springfield Armory used sa, followed by the month and year. That is the marking this rifle carries.
Specifications
Manufacturer: Springfield Armory
Model: US Rifle, Caliber .30, M1
Caliber: .30-06 Springfield
Serial: 17017xx
Receiver date: June 1943 serial range
Capacity: 8 rounds, en bloc clip
Barrel: Springfield Armory, dated 11-65
Rebuild: Electro-pencilled SA 3-66 on the receiver leg, Springfield Armory, March 1966
Parts: SA hammer, SA trigger housing, SA bolt, SA operating rod
Stock: Circled P proof mark at the pistol grip, Department of Defense acceptance stamp
Bore: Mirror
Muzzle gauge: 0
Mechanical condition: Excellent
