"O-66" USMC rebuilt Garand

[Calfed]

I'm interested in the 60's rebuilt Garands. I've got Letterkenny and Aniston rebuilds, and this 4.2m Springfield rebuilt by the Marine Corp in 1966. The Marines electro-penciled "O" and the year of rebuild on the receiver flat behind the rear sight. Later, they EP'd "OA" or "OB" to denote either Barstow or Albany as the base where the rebuild was performed.

This one came to me in like new condition...almost appears not to have been fired after rebuild.

It is in great shape. It almost looks like it was overhauled and then went into storage. The stock, bore, and parkerizing are in near perfect condition. There are a few very light rub marks on the stock and very few dents or dings.

The bore is "1-" on the CMP muzzle gauge and the lands and grooves are shiny and sharp.

 

[Calfed]

Got out to the 200 yard range at Sac Valley today and shot it...

@200y, Hornady 168gr Garand match ammo, group 2.75", just under 1.5 MOA.

 

[LVSteve]

Nice shooting, Steve....as usual.

Does it need one of those trick gas plugs with that ammo?

 

[AJ]

Nice piece, enjoy it. With CMP running out of Garands, it is hard to find nice ones without paying an arm and a leg.

 

[loc n load]

Great group, from a great rifle. I own several M1 G’s, competed with them for years and still shoot mine. That rifle looks to be in wonderful condition, and with you behind the butt, it is obviously a shooter with those 168’s.

 

[s&wchad]

Very nice rifle!

You seem to be up on these. I've got an H&R "O-65" USMC rebuild. Mine also has a pristine bore and is in excellent condition, but I haven't shot it. It belonged to a local police chief who obtained it through the DCM. The majority of the parts are H&R, but the stock lacks the "P" proof and is stamped "A" in the same location. Any idea what the "A" means? I've heard award rifle or A grade, but I really have no idea.

 

[LostintheOzone]

Nice rifle. I don't own any Garands but I have a carbine that looks arsenal rebuilt and stored. It's hard to say because when I got it someone had sanded down the original stock. The thing was rebarreled, every part re-parked with original USGI parts. Shoots like a dream with the like new 1.0 barrel. Barrel is Winchester, receiver is Inland. Talk about a Frankengun, this is it.

 

[AJ]

Very nice rifle!

You seem to be up on these. I've got an H&R "O-65" USMC rebuild. Mine also has a pristine bore and is in excellent condition, but I haven't shot it. It belonged to a local police chief who obtained it through the DCM. The majority of the parts are H&R, but the stock lacks the "P" proof and is stamped "A" in the same location. Any idea what the "A" means? I've heard award rifle or A grade, but I really have no idea.

I have owned a boatload of Garands over the years, but do not remember seeing an "A" on one. We use to go to the CMP North Store every year and I'd buy a couple of Garands there that I would pick out. Try asking at this website M1 Garand/M14/M1A there were some pretty knowledgeable folks there.

 

[Shooter Mike]

I was 17 years old when I arrived at Parris Island in 1958. Although I had never shot any rifles before I joined I managed to qualify Marksman with the help of our rifle instructors.
What I do remember is that the boy's from Georgia, Tenn. and Ky could make their M-1's sing.
Shooting in the black out to 500 yards with a peep sight to this day is some pretty good shooting. Maybe someone can chime in because I think at 500
yards we shot at was a Baker target and the black was 12".
Good memories and a great rifle.

SF

 

[AJ]

I was 17 years old when I arrived at Parris Island in 1958. Although I had never shot any rifles before I joined I managed to qualify Marksman with the help of our rifle instructors.
What I do remember is that the boy's from Georgia, Tenn. and Ky could make their M-1's sing.
Shooting in the black out to 500 yards with a peep sight to this day is some pretty good shooting. Maybe someone can chime in because I think at 500
yards we shot at was a Baker target and the black was 12".
Good memories and a great rifle.

SF

I too, was 17years 3 months old when I arrived at Parris Island and stood on the yellow footprints.

We only used the M1 Garand for swim quals. We shot M14's at that time. Closer to a Garand than an M-16.

We qualified on the "KD" Course (Known Distance). The bullseyes at 200 and 300 yards were a 12 inch bull. At 500 yards we got a 20 inch bullseyes, and it still looked like the head of a pin. These were for slow fire. For rapid fire we shot a Dog Target, the was a head and shoulders target.

The course of fire nowadays is in a couple of stages. First is basically the same as a KD one the first day and then another course on the second. My Grandson was at P.I. two years ago and qual'd expert. They asked him where he learned to shoot. He fessed up and told them a tired old fart by the name of Grandpa did. He had me meet his DI's upon graduation.

AJ
1stSgt. USMC(RET.)

 

[Calfed]

Nice shooting, Steve....as usual.

Does it need one of those trick gas plugs with that ammo?

Thanks, Steve! Trying to get it ready for the every other month semi-auto military silhouette match. The ammo I was using is the Hornady "Garand-safe" target ammo, so it does not need the special gas plug.

 

[Calfed]

Nice piece, enjoy it. With CMP running out of Garands, it is hard to find nice ones without paying an arm and a leg.

Thanks, AJ. All of my 1960 rebuilds are great shooters and are in good shape. I'll post pics of the Aniston (IHC) and Letterkenny (Springfield) also.

 

[Calfed]

Great group, from a great rifle. I own several M1 G’s, competed with them for years and still shoot mine. That rifle looks to be in wonderful condition, and with you behind the butt, it is obviously a shooter with those 168’s.

Thanks, l n l!

 

[cmansguns]

Yall got some sweet Garand's

Thought I'd toss mine in the pile too. Mines a January 1966 rebuild by Red River Army Depot, in Texarkana, Texas and was one of the last of the Garand program before full conversion to M14 overhauls.

This is an IHC postage stamp, with National Match trim, and it is just the way it left RRAD in whatever year, headed I assume for CMP and subsequent sale to the public. It appears unfired since rebuild, and I've kept it that way ever since I have owned it. Check out the pic of the buttplate...you can bet the farm that that buttplate has not touched any parade ground surface at the command "ORDER.....ARMS" since the rebuild.

I did have an older mix-master Springfield and my sons and I shot the daylights out of that one, but I just cannot assume the prone and ring the gong at 200 yds plus anymore so my IHC is listed locally for sale.

Used to be that the "true Garand" guys would really look down their noses at the "Armory rebuilds" as far as collector value, etc. but my IHC is as tight as any Garand I've ever handled, and even SA bolt and SA Op rod don't bother me one bit after reading the excellent history of the USGI Armory overhaul program where Bruce Canfield describes the troubles IHC had entering the armaments production early in the Korean War, and how H&R, Springfield, and others bailed them out with parts shipments to Evansville.

Anyway..........kudos to all you guys that maintain these fine real pieces of American history...........we all know that they could serve on any battlefield, anywhere, tomorrow morning if needed.

I'll post the two articles about the Garand rebuilds after I post this one. Most of you may have seen them but every now and then somebody may find these old reprints useful.

 

[cmansguns]

2 Garand articles by Bruce Canfield

As stated in above post, I tried to post the two complete articles but each one exceeds the allowable MB's for posting .pdf type files so attached please find just a scan of the cover sheet for each. They are very interesting, if old articles but they are very informative.

If you have trouble accessing the articles from your search engine on the internet, drop me a PM and I'll send you a copy by e-mail.

 

[Calfed]

Very nice rifle!

You seem to be up on these. I've got an H&R "O-65" USMC rebuild. Mine also has a pristine bore and is in excellent condition, but I haven't shot it. It belonged to a local police chief who obtained it through the DCM. The majority of the parts are H&R, but the stock lacks the "P" proof and is stamped "A" in the same location. Any idea what the "A" means? I've heard award rifle or A grade, but I really have no idea.

Beautiful rifle, chad.

As far as I know (although I don't know very far), there are several different theories regarding the "A" cartouche on your Garand. One theory is that it is indicative of MCLB Albany as the place where your rifle was overhauled. Apparently there are Garands with a "B" cartouche where your rifle has the "A". Those rifles would have been overhauled at MCLB Barstow.

Alternatively, some propose that there was a grading system, with "A" indicating a top condition rifle and "B" indicating a lesser, but still serviceable, condition.

In addition, some of the USMC rebuilds were given out as "Award" or "Trophy" rifles for official rifle matches. Some postulate that the "A" indicates an "award" rifle.

 

[Calfed]

Thought I'd toss mine in the pile too. Mines a January 1966 rebuild by Red River Army Depot, in Texarkana, Texas and was one of the last of the Garand program before full conversion to M14 overhauls.

This is an IHC postage stamp, with National Match trim, and it is just the way it left RRAD in whatever year, headed I assume for CMP and subsequent sale to the public. It appears unfired since rebuild, and I've kept it that way ever since I have owned it. Check out the pic of the buttplate...you can bet the farm that that buttplate has not touched any parade ground surface at the command "ORDER.....ARMS" since the rebuild.

I did have an older mix-master Springfield and my sons and I shot the daylights out of that one, but I just cannot assume the prone and ring the gong at 200 yds plus anymore so my IHC is listed locally for sale.

Used to be that the "true Garand" guys would really look down their noses at the "Armory rebuilds" as far as collector value, etc. but my IHC is as tight as any Garand I've ever handled, and even SA bolt and SA Op rod don't bother me one bit after reading the excellent history of the USGI Armory overhaul program where Bruce Canfield describes the troubles IHC had entering the armaments production early in the Korean War, and how H&R, Springfield, and others bailed them out with parts shipments to Evansville.

Anyway..........kudos to all you guys that maintain these fine real pieces of American history...........we all know that they could serve on any battlefield, anywhere, tomorrow morning if needed.

I'll post the two articles about the Garand rebuilds after I post this one. Most of you may have seen them but every now and then somebody may find these old reprints useful.

Fine looking rifle, cmans. I'm sure it will fetch a great price.

Boy, you are right about the 1960's rebuilt Garands. They used to be the redheaded step children for Garand collectors. However, it appears that they have been discovered as the fine looking, fine shooting rifles that they are and have become collectible.

 

[2152hq]

Thanks for posting all the great info & pics on the Grand rebuilds.
None of it I was aware of. I don't get in to that area at all but it is interesting to see and rear the info in a format like this.

I have a one and only M1. One of the early 90's Korean re-imports (BlueSky I think is the mark on it).
Orig was a 1944 or '45 Springfield. Then rebuilt in early 50's. No beauty queen, but it shoots well. I think it was $450 or $475 when I bought it.
50cal ammo boxes of 30-06 Korean M1 on clips in bandoleers was $69 shipped from a place in Ky. Still have a few boxes around.
I did install one of the adj gas ports on it, can't remember the ,,Schuster maybe?. I like it. it allows the rifle to be quickly, 3 or 4 rounds, be tuned to ejct the spent brass only a foot out of the rifle. Much softer recoil but still full functioning. Real Garand Men probably don't like them, but then
I never got my Real Garand Man Card in the mail.

I bought Walther Mod PP 32pistol's (European Police surplus) at the same time from them for about $150 IIRC. Nearly new w/ extra mag, box, papers target and cleaning rod.

Doesn't seem that long ago, but I'm trying to not feel old.

I've never had any problems with the Korean 30-06. Have both headstamp ammo and plenty of the empty brass. It's nice reloading brass and forms well for other cartridges.

 

[s&wchad]

As far as I know... regarding the "A" cartouche on your Garand. One theory is that it is indicative of MCLB Albany as the place where your rifle was overhauled. Apparently there are Garands with a "B" cartouche where your rifle has the "A". Those rifles would have been overhauled at MCLB Barstow.

Thank you! I never considered that, but I suspect you’re correct. I’ve read that the USMC did that with M14’s.

 

[Grayfox]

I'm far from being a M1 expert, but I do own two.
A 1943 Springfield that a bought from CMP back in 2007 and a 1955 H&R that I acquired after a good friend passed away two years ago. Both show signs of usage, but are in good condition.
I know they'll shoot better than I can. There's just something very special about these old warhorses. I love 'em.

I stumbled across this somewhere. No idea where it came from. But y'all might like it.