H&R M1 Garand Cutaway

[BradMacc82]

I’ll have to check in the morning, I want to say your guess is pretty close - but we have a few Garands in inventory right now and I may be thinking of a different one - odd how the mind can remember things like that.

 

[ted76]

Alan at the Gun Rack in Burtonsville had a 200 or 300 % scale M1 Garand cutaway on display in his shop before he closed up the shop at the end 2013.

 

[BradMacc82]

Comparing this one to pics of the ones in the NRA museum and Smithsonian, it’s definitely different from the’40s era cutaways I’ve seen.

Maybe it was done during the Korean War period(?), for whatever reasons and purposes, I can’t really say.

Definitely one of those times where you wish the guns could talk and tell their story for themselves.

 

[BradMacc82]

I’ll have to check in the morning, I want to say your guess is pretty close - but we have a few Garands in inventory right now and I may be thinking of a different one - odd how the mind can remember things like that.

Doco - surprisingly close, 47282**

 

[mawkie]

I can easily see it as a tool for training new hires for a Garand assembly line. So definitely not ruling it out as a H&R produced item as it does look to be built to a high standard.

 

[TheOriginalMexicanBob]

Cutaways such as that were usually made from rejected parts.

 

[BradMacc82]

Cutaways such as that were usually made from rejected parts.

If I have free time today, I'm going to go after the parts and run them, see what lots/dates I can get. Without completely breaking the rifle down.

 

[mawkie]

Just so I'm clear, I meant high standard to refer to the quality of the assembly and cutaway machining / workmanship. I would expect parts that failed QC would be put to good use, only makes sense. That's what the French did for classroom instruction MAS 36s. They were never meant to be fired so chambers, headspace, etc were all over the place.

 

[BradMacc82]

Just so I'm clear, I meant high standard to refer to the quality of the assembly and cutaway machining / workmanship. I would expect parts that failed QC would be put to good use, only makes sense. That's what the French did for classroom instruction MAS 36s. They were never meant to be fired so chambers, headspace, etc were all over the place.

I had an idea that's what you guys meant, but you have my inquisitive nature piqued - so if I have the time (and balls) to dig into it, I'd like to see for myself. The bolt and receiver are easy enough to trace, the stamping on the barrel is really light on the 2nd digit of the year, but should be enough to pin down.

 

[lazarus]

Comparing this one to pics of the ones in the NRA museum and Smithsonian, it’s definitely different from the’40s era cutaways I’ve seen.

Maybe it was done during the Korean War period(?), for whatever reasons and purposes, I can’t really say.

Definitely one of those times where you wish the guns could talk and tell their story for themselves.

H&R and IHA were all post WWII manufacture. 1952-1954 (55?) were the manufacture dates for all of them if I remember right. Korean War time order to bulk up how many we had. So no surprise it looks different than WWII cutaways.

I’ve got an IHA Garand in my safe.

*edit* 1956 was the end of manufacture with about 470k H&Rs made. Almost all of them post Korea war as the order was late 1952 for 100k originally.

 

[BradMacc82]

Receiver - 1953, USRifle30CALm1 puts the range simply as between January to December of 1953
Bolt - is a Springfield, stamping puts it in between June to October of 1945
Barrel - stamping indicates February of 1964, Springfield Armory

Seems the stampings tell a different story than what the consignor was told. That's a shame.

Still, it's a well done cutaway. And while it's looking like it may not be a Factory done piece as it was implied to the consignor when he bought it, it's still a great piece for the hard-core M1 Garand collector to add to their collection.

 

[lazarus]

Receiver - 1953, USRifle30CALm1 puts the range simply as between January to December of 1953
Bolt - is a Springfield, stamping puts it in between June to October of 1945
Barrel - stamping indicates February of 1964, Springfield Armory

Seems the stampings tell a different story than what the consignor was told. That's a shame.

Still, it's a well done cutaway. And while it's looking like it may not be a Factory done piece as it was implied to the consignor when he bought it, it's still a great piece for the hard-core M1 Garand collector to add to their collection.

That barrel date would make me think it likely was not factory assembled as a cutaway.

Of course my rifle is not a factory cut away, but IIRC off the top of my head, my International Harvester is dated around 1953 as well (maybe it is 1956? Now I need to go check the safe later today), the bolt and barrel are both Springfield and IIRC late 1945 for the bolt, 1946 for the barrel. Which stacks up as being "original" as H&R and IHA both got a ton of spares from Springfield and some others that had never been assembled into rifles.

 

[calicojack]

Thanks for sharing; I have read about these and seen pics on the Internet but never in person. The cutaways are so well done so it seems to me it has to have been factory/depot made to be a classroom aide from day one. If a hobbyist did that work; well that would be remarkable.