HRA M1 Garand Barrel Question

JH1951

JH1951

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I took a HRA M1 Garand in on a trade recently. It was a CMP sold piece, as evidenced by the stock being clearly marked "CMP" and manufactured by Boyds and dated October 2012. It is a nice piece overall with no pitting above or below the wood line, and generally excellent shape.
I do know that most of the M1's have been through arsenal rebuilds (I also have a really nice Springfield LEAD rebuild), so was not overly concerned with where most of the parts were from as long as they were GI. I did a quick look-over before cementing the deal, and saw that the barrel was marked HRA, and the chamber was still in the white, so I guessed that it was a fairly good Garand. Happy as a pig in mud with the deal....
I got it home and cleaned her up a bit and took some pictures. Well, looking at the pictures I can see something I did not see before (try to always have glasses with you if you need them!) that is to me a bit odd. This would not have been a deal breaker, but I wish to know what is up.
To the point: The receiver is in the range of H&R production 1953 ~ 1954 (4,761,2XX) The barrel is marked "HRA" with a series of numbers as usual, but take a look at the attached picture. It seems to have been 'over-stamped', or struck twice for whatever reason. It appears that the date is "55" with the last 5 struck over a 4, and many of the other numbers seem struck over as well.
Can any Garand Folks give me an explanation of perhaps what I have here? I am not familiar with anything beyond the "HRA" and date, so anything beyond that will be of interest to me (the other numbers, the peened "P", etc.....
I have not gone to any of the Garand forums because the expertise here at S&W is so far reaching that I'm confident that the answer is here!
Please give me your thoughts.

Thank You!!
Pictures attached.

IMG_1454.jpg

IMG_1472.jpg

IMG_1473.jpg
 
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You might check over on CMP. You'll get a ton of
info over there.
 
Someone, not HRA, over stamped the original barrel markings, likely trying to fake a HRA barrel, looks hand stamped to me. Good news is it looks like it was a GI barrel, just not a HRA one, the P/punch mark is showing it was fired with a proof round after install, not necessarily on that receiver.
 
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With a serial number in the 4.7miion range it should have a barrel date around 5-54. Yours looks to have a 5-54 barrel date partially overstamping the original 5-54 date.
Make no bones about it, this is a desirable serial number range for a H&R.
To me it looks like a second stamp was applied over the first with the same information as the first.
HRA 6535448 5-54 RS 32

An HRA serial 5511500 marked HRA 6535448 9-54 RS 38, original to the gun, having a different RS code.

In my opinion, it is original to the gun. At the time it was made, H&R was trying to get the production started, and used a lot of parts from World War II production, but this barrel is an HRA. The rifle is not in the range of LMR barrels, however many H&R'S were made with LMR barrels at a later date. Imgur: The magic of the Internet
 
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Where's Father Laurence and Tony Orlando,
when ya need em...:D
 
In regard to this HRA M-1, can you tell me if the op rod, bolt and trigger group are all marked SA, Springfield Armory?
 
H&R Garand 4.76 further details as requested:

Op Rod - 7790722 SA
Bolt - D28287-12SA
S-O6(triangle)
Trigger Group - 828290 - 12 - SA

Thanks for the ongoing assistance! This is greatly appreciated.
 
That's exactly what I was thinking. I purchased three HRA's from the CMP in 2011 I believe. One in the the 4.7 million range, two others, 5.5M (CMP stock) and 5.6M. All had SA bolt, op-rod and trigger assembly. None had rebuild markings on them.
 
Suspect stamp, mixmaster hra, 700ish value if the me,te. Is less than 3-3 ,no collector value!
 
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Thanks folks for the opinions on the 'why' of the barrel markings, and a special thanks for member Steve912 for going the extra mile digging around at the CMP Forum.
The responses overall are interesting, ranging from 'it's a fake' followed with 'but why would someone fake a HRA barrel?', to 'an overstamp needed because either the machinery, or a person screwed up, and the first stamping was super light making it necessary to manually punch the numbers again, and much darker. That's the reason why the overstamped numbers aren't uniform in the height and angle.'
In any event, i find it to be a somewhat interesting detail on this Garand.
I somewhat lean with the folks who comment '...why would someone fake an HRA barrel?' I cannot come up with any reason that would make it worth the time and effort to do it.
I will say that this rifle has one of the cleanest receivers I have come across in many years, and the barrel gauges at about 2 on both ends. I think I have a good shooter here if nothing more.
The only change I am tempted to make is the stock - If I come across appropriate USGI wood at the right price I may be tempted to change it out. Only problem is that my wife fell in love with the light colored stock.
That can be worked around if need be, and she doesn't further adopt this orphan.
Again, thank you all for your thoughts, and I welcome any more that may come through. The folks on this forum are great.
 
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