M1 Garand

[Big Coulee]

I have a very nice Springfield Arm. M1 Garand with a stamp "S - A 7 41" on the left side of the barrel's chamber area. I've only fired a few 8 round clips through the rifle since I picked it up from DCM back in 1991. Is there anything (markings) on the action that might indicate it might be a reweld? I've looked everything over very closely and can't identify any discoloration or marks on any of the metal parts that appear differently. Where would I look on the rifle to see a "reweld" mark? Thanks

[Junk Yard Dog]

Rewelds are not something the DCM got involved with any more than the CMP does today. Rewelds are some shady shit quick buck operators would pull off and pass off on unsuspecting new M1 buyers back in the 70's, when M1's were hard to come by and expensive. Some were very crude and could be spotted easily, others were done with some skill and you have to look very closely at the inside areas of the receiver to spot the welds. None should be trusted and given that there are probably still some cut receiver chunks floating around today that were saw cut rather than the later torch cut ones you can bet someone will try their luck at some receiver welding so they can turn a quick buck at your expense. If you are not buying from the CMP, or you are not old enough to have bought the imports back around '91 that came home from Korea and other places then assume everything M1 Garand is a reweld until you can confirm otherwise. You confirm it by disassembling the weapon and using the Mk I eyeball to examine the receiver very closely. This goes 10X more important if the rifle lacks any import marks indicating it was brought back post '68 from our allies. Again, legitimate sellers did not deal in rewelded receivers, ever. The DCM program was supplied with real M1's from US government stockpiles. Rewelds were built from cut receivers that were from rifles the government scraped rather than sell to US citizens at reduced cost. The cut parts were sold as scrap steel and then diverted by scrap dealers to assholes with welders and very often mickey mouse welding skills. Never shoot a reweld.

[ffuries]

And if you want confirmation of what Jim above said take a picture of the side of the receiver (Out of the stock) and we can confirm it

[Big Coulee]

ffuries & junk yard dog I'll remove the action from the stock and look inside again. I've done this once already but I'll do it again. Thanks for your remarks.

[RazorBurn]

From what I've read on the CMP forums over the years the biggest single giveaway is the drawing number on the receiver leg not matching the serial number. A lot of them were rewelded I reckon in the 50's or so, and some were done so well they were hard to spot. Binding or uneveness in the op rod channel, and discoloration on the receiver especially the leg area were giveaways, but the biggest giveaway was the drawing numbers. If you can search the CMP M1 Garand forum.

And yes, never shoot a cobbled up reweld.