Military Gun Buying Guide - Amazon Web Services



righttopSelecting and owning US Military surplus firearms: M1 Garand, M1 Carbine, M1903/M1903A3, M1911/M1911A1Fernwood Armory40000100000Selecting and owning US Military surplus firearms: M1 Garand, M1 Carbine, M1903/M1903A3, M1911/M1911A1Fernwood Armoryleft250002514600Military Gun Buying Guide900007300Military Gun Buying Guide2116455302895000Contents TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u Introduction PAGEREF _Toc426032212 \h 1Evaluating a Barrel PAGEREF _Toc426032213 \h 1Barrel Gauges and Measurements PAGEREF _Toc426032214 \h 6Identifying Finish PAGEREF _Toc426032215 \h 10Parkerizing PAGEREF _Toc426032216 \h 11Blued Guns PAGEREF _Toc426032217 \h 13"Greek Black" PAGEREF _Toc426032218 \h 14Pitting and Corrosion: PAGEREF _Toc426032219 \h 15Import Marks PAGEREF _Toc426032220 \h 21Ammo: What kind is best? PAGEREF _Toc426032221 \h 22Cleaning and Care PAGEREF _Toc426032222 \h 26Seeing What You Buy in Action: Our test fire videos PAGEREF _Toc426032223 \h 27Exploded Drawings PAGEREF _Toc426032224 \h 30Fernwood Armory?Fernwood Armory 2015IntroductionMany of our customers are first time buyers when it comes to used military firearms. A quick Google search will turn up thousands of pages of information on these weapons. There are also forums, collectors’ groups and dozens of books devoted to the subject. It can be a bit overwhelming.We put together this guide to address some of the more common questions we receive, including determining condition, identifying markings, even what kind of ammunition to use. This guide also explains how we select and prepare the guns we sell at Fernwood Armory. Our inventory typically includes the M1 Garand, M1 Carbine, Model 1903 and 1903-A3, and the Model 1911-A1. ?The information here is correct to the best of our knowledge. Some aspects of gun collecting and condition are subject to opinion. We hope this guide helps you to make an informed purchase, whether you buy from us or elsewhere.?Evaluating a BarrelMost used military guns we sell are at least 60 years old. And with age comes a lot of potential problems, so close inspection of these guns both inside and out is essential. We'll start this guide with the barrel.We evaluate barrels by visual inspection and with bore gauge measurements. (We include pictures of the bore and gauge measurements in the guns we list for sale, we will discuss those measurements in greater detail later on in this guide).A bright bore light is needed to avoid unknowingly buying a gun with a corroded or damaged bore. Bore snakes are also handy, as bores of guns for sale can be dirty or dusty. We carry bore snakes with us in all buying situations. Little can be known about a bore’s condition when it is dirty.?Figure?1/M1 Carbine bore, bright with sharp riflings. ?Fernwood Armory 2015A new buyer should look down the bores of a few new barrels of various calibers to become familiar with their appearance. A new barrel’s bore should appear very bright, usually with almost a mirror-like shine, when inspecting it with a bore light. Sometimes a new bore shows tool marks, from the cutter that made the riflings.We sometimes use the term “bright but used” for a bore that is bright but has lost a little of its shine due to age and minor wear. “Frosty” to us means that there has been minor corrosion, (like the bore shown below), but little enough that its discoloration will clean out, leaving metal color with a dull appearance.Figure 2/M1 Garand bore, “frosty”?Fernwood Armory 2015A frosty bore can shoot as well as the brightest, but may require more effort to get it clean after use. A “dark” bore is very corroded, may not be safe to shoot, and is definitely undesirable. Frosty and dark bores will not get better with use, in our experience.Figure 3/Crown on M1 Garand ?Fernwood Armory 2015The muzzle end or crown should also be checked for damage. The crown is the opening or hole in the front end of the barrel, or muzzle, where the bullet exits. Crown also refers to the overall shape of the end of the barrel, as there are not separate terms for the shape and the opening itself. The opening, the last part of the bore that the bullet touches, should be uniform around the bore circumference. If it is not, the high pressure gas escaping around the bullet as it exits the bore is not uniform, and can disturb the stability of the bullet, resulting in degradation of accuracy. The edge of the opening is usually fairly sharp, and therefore fragile. This opening is usually protected by the machining of various shapes around it.Figure 4/Rounded Crown on M1 Carbine ?Fernwood Armory 2015?Figure 5/Flat Crown, M1 Carbine ? Fernwood Armory 2015An M1 carbine crown resembles a doughnut cut in half. A postwar M1 rifle crown is flat, but with a partial cone on the outside and a partial inverted cone on the inside. Some non-military target crowns consist entirely of a shallow inverted cone. Many other shapes are used. Impact damage to the outside of the barrel end is not necessarily a problem if it does not affect the escaping gas around the bullet as it exits the bore. A shaped crown is not necessary; a perfectly flat crown will work as well as any, but the edge of the opening is less protected.Barrel Gauges and MeasurementsIn our military rifle listings you will see the terms TE and ME (or MW), along with pictures of gauges like the ones shown below. These measurements are relative indications of a used barrel’s bore condition.Figure 6/Muzzle Wear Gauge ?Fernwood Armory 2015?Figure 7/Throat Erosion Gauge ?Fernwood Armory 2015The muzzle and throat readings are easy to make, with the appropriate gauges, and usually do not require disassembly of the rifle. Lower numbers generally indicate closer to new condition. A barrel with low gauge numbers is probably more accurate than one with high numbers, but shooting it is the only real accuracy test. A barrel with lower gauge numbers is probably capable of more shooting before becoming worn to an inaccurate condition, although significant wear is the result of thousands of rounds. The measurements may affect the value of a rifle, whether for shooting or collector purposes.Many enthusiasts profess that bore measurements work like this:New barrel, will put all bullets through the same hole, ME 0, TE 0Worn out barrel, won’t put two bullets in the same time zone, ME 3, TE 5Of course this isn’t the case, but we are aware of popular opinion, and seldom offer rifles for sale with gauge numbers any higher. To be fair, ME 3 and TE 5 are less than ideal, and combined with visual inspection, may be good reason to consider replacement, if very accurate target shooting is the goal. However, a barrel with these measurements may perform quite well.We use MW gauges on M1 carbine barrels, but are not aware of any “official” TE gauges for the carbine. There are some carbine TE gauges with unnumbered scales that can be used to compare throats of carbines to themselves as they age, or to other carbines.Theoretically, a new .30 caliber barrel has a bore diameter of exactly 0.300”, and every chamber is cut exactly the same. This would result in gauge measurements of 0 TE (throat erosion) and 0 MW (muzzle wear). If thousands of rounds are fired through the barrel, the bore will wear to a slightly larger diameter, such as 0.303”. If the bore diameter becomes large enough due to wear, accuracy will decrease. Experts do not agree on which measurement, TE or MW, is most relevant to accuracy. The TE measurement of a new barrel can be affected by its installation in a rifle receiver.MW or muzzle wear is a measurement of the bore diameter at the front or muzzle. The MW gauge is slightly tapered, so it goes further into a worn barrel than a new one.? A measurement of 0 corresponds to .300”, a measurement of 1 to .301”, 2 to .302” etc. We have measured new-in-the-wrap GI barrels with MW measurements from 0 (0.300”) to 1 (0.301”). So, MW up to 1 may not mean that a barrel has had any use at all. MW of 2-3 indicates a used but possibly very good barrel.Figure 8/Muzzle gauge in M1 Garand ?Fernwood Armory 2015?How much MW is too much? Opinions vary is an understatement. The best full clip M1 group we have ever fired happened to be from a barrel with MW of >3, considered by some to be hopelessly worn.?However, MW more than 3 usually indicates fairly serious wear, and that >3 barrel would not stand up to as many future rounds as a new barrel.?Figure 9/Throat Erosion gauge in M1 Garand ?Fernwood Armory 2015TE or throat erosion is a measurement of the diameter of the riflings at the specific point where they are supposed to begin (leade) at the front of the chamber. The TE gauge has a tapered section at the front, and the scale at the back indicates the rifling diameter at the reference point. The measurement is the scale indication that lines up with the back end of the barrel. TE 0 means that the rifling diameter is 0.300” at the reference point/leade. TE 5 indicates that the rifling diameter is 0.305”, or that the throat has eroded 0.005 from new. However, we have measured TE up to 2 on newly installed, new M1 barrels. A barrel that measures TE up to 2 with low MW may very well be in new condition, because the finish reamer actually cuts the leade, the reference point for TE measurements, at a specific distance from the bolt face, which may not be exactly aligned with the back edge of the barrel. TE of a newly installed barrel can measure high because it is not practical to measure from the bolt face to the leade.Our best full clip M1 group ever, mentioned above, was with a barrel that measured MW >3 and TE 5. We shot more groups to make sure we hadn’t “got lucky”. The combination of barrel, ammunition, and the many other factors that affect accuracy can result in significant variations between individual rifles with any barrel condition.Some experimenters have deliberately shot thousands of rounds through one barrel to find out how many it takes to wear one out. In one test, the barrel was still performing quite well at 13,000 rounds (MW 7) and didn’t become noticeably inaccurate until 14,000 rounds (MW 8). The barrel was still hitting the target, but fewer hits were toward the center. MW was approaching 3 at the time. If you require a barrel that will withstand 14,000 rounds before becoming somewhat inaccurate, then you must find one with 0 gauge measurements.The same experimenters also tested a near-universal belief that MW is caused by cleaning rods. Using the jointed GI cleaning rods believed to be the most damaging, they put many thousands of cleaning strokes into a single barrel, applying side force in an effort to deliberately cause MW.?After 60,000 hard strokes, and wearing out and breaking several rods, the MW was increased by a single increment. It seems more likely that most MW is caused by the hot gas created by the burning gunpowder. When the bullet leaves the barrel, the pressurized hot gas is suddenly allowed to escape and accelerate between the crown and the bullet base,?eroding the forward end of the bore. Hot gas is considered to be the cause of throat erosion, so a similar effect, less severe due to somewhat lower pressure and temperature, is not surprising at the muzzle. Generally, MW of a used barrel measures a number or two lower than the TE.?Identifying Finish?How can you tell if a particular firearm has its original parkerized finish or has been refinished? This can be a very important question for “collector” guns. It is impossible to be absolutely, 100% certain that a particular gun has its original finish unless it can be proven, such as examples in factory museums that have never left the premises. However, experienced collectors can provide nearly 100% opinions based on the observation of many guns over time.Figure 10/Original parkerized finish, M1 Garand ?Fernwood Armory 2015Indications that a gun may have its original parkerized finish include:??very smooth exposed metal surfaces (as opposed to the sandblasted appearance of many reparkerized guns);?a reasonable amount of wear commensurate with the gun’s age;?sometimes a greenish color associated with long term exposure to Cosmolene, very difficult to duplicate;?stamped markings or lettering known to have been applied after finish at the factory.Figure 11/Reparkerized receiver, 1903-A3 ?Fernwood Armory 2015Some guns are quite obviously refinished. Indications of refinished or reparkerized guns include:?a very uniform rough and dry appearance;every metal part is exactly the same color including parts that should be blued;lettering and serial numbers eroded; parkerizing over pitting/rust or dents/gouges.Parkerizing?Many U.S. military firearms were originally parkerized, including the M1 carbine, M1 rifle (Garand), M1903A3, and M1911A1. Firearms can also be refinished using the parkerizing process. Parkerizing is a method of protecting a steel surface from corrosion and increasing its resistance to wear through the application of a chemical phosphate conversion coating.Figure 12/HRA M1 Garand parkerized ?Fernwood Armory 2015?The color of a parkerized finish varies greatly, due to the different chemicals that can be used and variations in preparation and application methods. The color?of an individual parkerized gun or part?may change over time. A parkerized surface must be covered with oil for maximum corrosion protection.Figure 13/Reparkerized M1 Carbine Parts (except for magazine) ?Fernwood Armory 2015?Blued GunsParkerizing usually has a very different appearance than bluing. Blued guns are generally polished and a very dark color, while parkerized guns usually have a matte appearance (unless the parkerizing is worn) of varying color. Some WWI military guns were originally blued, or finished with a process that looks much like bluing.Figure 14/Blued bolt, parkerized M1 carbine receiver ?Fernwood Armory 2015?Figure 15/1911A1: Parkerized with Blued Barrel ?Fernwood Armory 2015"Greek Black"Black oxide has some similarities to parkerizing as applied to firearms, but uses different chemicals. Like parkerizing, it requires oil to provide good corrosion resistance. We believe that M1 rifles said to have “Greek black” finish are black oxide. M1 and 1903/1903A3 rifles were loaned to the Greek military. Some of these were heavily used, rebuilt and refinished in black, and returned to the U.S. via the CMP (Civilian Marksmanship Program).Figure 16/Black nitride finish, M1 Garand ?Fernwood Armory 2015The nitride process we are familiar with can resemble parkerizing in appearance except that it is black. Nitride was not originally used for any of the U.S. military firearms that we are familiar with, only for later refinishing of relatively few. Nitride actually makes the surface of the metal harder than the base metal, and provides even better corrosion protection than parkerizing. The nitride process is sometimes used on barrel bores, and is said to increase barrel life. Nitride will blacken stainless steel, unlike parkerizing, so it can be used for refinishing M1 (Garand) gas cylinder assemblies.Pitting and Corrosion:??Wet = rust. Rust= bad. Pitting is what is left after rust is cleaned up as well as possible; depressions in the metal surface. Any rust or pitting is undesirable, but minor or cosmetic pitting may not affect a gun’s function. Since many military firearms are quite old, some will have pitting, usually from storage in damp conditions. If a rusty gun or part is blasted and refinished, the existing pitting will not get worse if properly oiled and stored. Pitting can sometimes be filed or polished out before refinishing.Figure 17/Pitted M1 Carbine receiver ?Fernwood Armory 2015?Corrosion in the bore can be the result of neglect, or corrosive ammunition. Most military ammunition made since approximately the 1950’s is not corrosive but some corrosive ammo is being manufactured to this day. Old ammo can often be looked up according to the lettering on the cartridge base to determine whether it is corrosive. There are cleaning procedures than can be used after shooting corrosive ammo, but if it doesn’t work, the result can be permanent damage to the bore and other parts of the gun. Corrosive ammo can be cheaper than non-corrosive but we never use it. Stainless steel barrels are not necessarily immune to damage from corrosive ammo.?Figure 18/Winchester M1 Carbine ?Fernwood Armory 2015Some collectors want nothing but absolutely, perfectly, completely original guns. To determine whether a particular gun is original can be difficult. If every part was marked with the manufacturer and the gun’s serial number, this would be easy. Some U.S. military gun parts are marked, some are not. The manufacturer of some unmarked parts can be identified by various characteristics of the part. We use various guides and reference materials, along with our experience, to identify parts in our gun listings.Figure 19/Smith Corona 1903-A3 Barrel Date ?Fernwood Armory 2015Figure 20/LMR Garand Barrel with date and proof marks ?Fernwood Armory 2015Figure 21/Inland M1 Carbine Crossed Cannons ?Fernwood Armory 2015Absolute proof that any part is original to a U.S. military gun is impossible, other than factory museum examples or other unusual cases where documentation can prove originality. Interchangeability of parts was one of the principal goals of the entire design and manufacturing process for military guns, after all; it’s not difficult to change parts.Figure 22/Rockola M1 Carbine ?Fernwood Armory 2015?A gun with “all matching” marked parts and correct unmarked parts as far as can be determined, is sometimes obviously put together. How can you tell? Here are a few clues:parts are the wrong type for the serial number rangeparts are different in color when they should matchparts show too much variation in degree of wear or corrosion?Figure 23/Rockola M1 carbine parts ?Fernwood Armory 2015Figure 24/Acceptance Stamp, M1 Garand ?Fernwood Armory 2015?Experienced collectors are very adept at detecting parts that have probably been replaced. The most knowledgeable experts are hesitant to declare any gun absolutely original; the nearest they come is to say “it feels right” or something similar.Most military firearms that we?sell here at Fernwood Armory?have mixed parts and are in good shooting condition. Occasionally we have an example that could be original, or has “all matching” parts but might be put together. We do not try to convince anyone of originality or “correct”-ness, we just show what is there, in our listings with photos and detailed descriptions.Import MarksOur gun listings include the term “no import marks”.?Over the last several decades,?several US importers have been able to bring back M1 Garands and M1 Carbines from other countries (South Korea, Philippines, and others), and sell them to civilians here in the US.? Because of federal regulations (the Gun Control Act of 1968), these guns had to be stamped with the importer’s name and location, usually on the barrel or receiver.Figure 25/Import mark on M1 Carbine barrelFigure 26/Import mark on M1 Garand receiverThese importers included Blue Sky of Arlington, VA, Federal Ordnance of South El Monte, CA, Century Arms of St. Albans, VT and others. Many of these guns were in poor condition when brought back, with pitted receivers and cracked and damaged stocks. In addition there are concerns about the depth of Blue Sky barrel stampings making their imported M1 Carbines dangerous to shoot. Some imports were in better shape and may be fine shooters. However, any import mark will decrease a gun’s value and desirability.?We choose not to offer any used US Military firearms with import marks for sale.Import marked guns should not be confused with rifles sold through the Civilian Marksmanship Program. CMP rifles are US Military surplus, many returned from allies overseas. They are generally in very good condition and contain all USGI parts (with the exception of stocks in some cases).Ammo: What kind is best?Figure?27/.45 Auto Ammo.45 auto?– There are many variations of this ammo, it is readily available in stores and online. As far as we know, none of it is unsafe in a USGI M1911 or 1911A1 other than +P ammo. Some ammo has different overall length or a different bullet shape than the original, and may not feed properly.?Figure 28/.30 Carbine Ammo?.30 Carbine?–Any commercial or surplus 30 carbine ammo will likely work in a USGI M1 carbine. The ammo is currently made by several different manufacturers, and should be readily available in your local gun shop or online.Figure 29/.30-06 Stripper Clip for 1903/1903A3.30-06 – for M1903/1903A3- any available .30-06 ammo should work, although cartridges with very heavy bullets may crack the stock if not the shooter’s shoulder. You can load one round at a time or utilitze stripper clips, shown above.For a low serial number M1903, NO ammo will work. If you are not familiar with the term “low number M1903” or “low number Springfield”, a quick Google search will turn up what you need to know. Do not fire a Springfield or Rock Island M1903 until you are.?Figure 30/.30-06 Garand Ammo?.30-06 - for M1 rifle (Garand)-?Most hunting ammo should not be used because it probably does not have the special military grade primers that are required to prevent accidental discharges. Semi-auto or auto-loading rifles such as the M1A and M1 (Garand) have floating firing pins of sufficient mass to partially dent the primer when the cartridge is chambered (when the bolt slams shut). Every round gets this dent, look and see sometime. Primers softer than military grade could be set off when the bolt slams shut, and the unintended loud bang followed by an unintended bullet could be a problem.There are some types of commercial ammo that are designed for the M1 rifle, with the correct primers. Some of this is plainly labeled as such. You may want to do your own research and determine what currently available ammo is suitable. Some military surplus ammo is made specifically for auto-loading rifles including the M1. The CMP (Civilian Marksmanship Program) is a source of nearly ideal M1 ammo, there are other online sources as well.Figure 31/7.62 x 51mm Ammo?308 and 7.62 x 51mm (NATO)?– M1A and some M1 rifles (Garand) have barrels chambered for 7.62 x 51mm ammo. Some people consider 7.62 x 51mm and .308 to be identical but they are not. External dimensions of the two cartridges are in fact the same, but cartridge construction is not, and guns designed for the two calibers are a little bit different. 308 ammo will not have military grade primers*, reason enough not to use it in the M1A or M1. 7.62 x 51 ammo seems to be available in most ?gun stores. If not, the ammo can be bought online.?Cleaning and CareFigure?32/Gun Cleaning Supplies?There are thousands of products and tools available for cleaning guns, and endless opinions on how to do it. For bore cleanup after a moderate amount of shooting, we keep it fairly simple: some Hoppe’s solvent or spray oil down the bore, a couple of patches, a few passes with a bronze brush, a couple more patches, repeat as needed. Q-tip the bolt face and inside of the receiver as needed. One pass with a bore snake is the last step if we are doing a bore photo – it pulls any small particles out.We have various special solvents for copper, etc. but rarely use them. We recommend having two one-piece cleaning rods, one for patches and the other for the bore brush. This makes cleaning faster and easier, which is very helpful when cleaning multiple guns. As explained in the muzzle wear section, we don’t believe that a few passes with a cleaning rod will cause any wear to the barrel.?Occasionally any gun needs to be taken apart for cleaning. Gas operated rifles in particular get dirty inside. If strong solvents are used to clean parkerized parts, a coat of oil is needed afterward to prevent rust, and this will make the parkerizing look good too.Military semi-autos need oil and grease, in specific places. There are many manuals, books and articles about lubrication for each type of gun.Seeing What You Buy in Action: Our test fire videosFigure?33/FernwoodArmoryTV on You Tube??Fernwood Armory 2015In addition to including lots of detailed pictures and a thorough description with our listings, we also show that the guns we sell work. We are not aware of other online dealers that offer this as part of their listings. It’s an extra step that we think is important. 60 and 70 year old guns, particularly semi-autos, can be problematic, and we work out any problems we find before they?are offered for sale.?Figure?34/ FernwoodArmoryTV on You Tube??Fernwood Armory 2015Sometimes we get an impressive group in our test firing, sometimes not so much, but we try to make them all respectable at least. Spending more time with any of these guns, really getting the feel of the trigger, and trying various loads, might produce better results than we get from the few minutes we have for shooting each one.?We post our videos with our gun listings on our website, our mobile phone app, and on Gun Broker. We also have our own You Tube channel, Fernwood Armory TV.?Figure?35/ FernwoodArmoryTV on You Tube??Fernwood Armory 2015?Along with the test firing videos, our YouTube channel features a variety of firearms videos we find to be of interest: historical films, unusual guns and some just plain fun trick shots and exhibition shooting. You can subscribe to our channel?here.Exploded DrawingsFig 36/US M1 RifleFig 37/US M1 .30 CarbineFig 38/US Model 1903 RifleFig 39/M1911A1 Pistol ................
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