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FCPDAVE
11-07-2016, 05:18
Hi,
Thought I'd share some info on a VFW rifle I have apart for cleaning and inspection. I thought I'd never see an M1 with a serial number as low as 2000 (almost). Only the receiver, trigger guard and trigger housing remain however. It was rebuilt sometime after 1951 since the bbl. is dated S-A-1-51. All the parts seem to be SA though. No one at the VFW had any idea what the ser. no. implied. I wish that I knew it's history. After a ton of cleaning on the bbl., there is still rifling under all that blank powder residue. As expected, there was corrosion at the end of the operating rod, but no where else. The gas cylinder looks new - no bayonet mounting scratches and tight in the grooves. In a few hidden areas there was black paint (as well as the ferrule) but it looks like someone in the past did a lot of work to remove the paint. I think some were painted black and also white way back.

She'll have a good retirement now - 3 rounds at the cemetery now and then - and regular cleaning and lube.

blackhawknj
11-08-2016, 09:50
Started out as a gas trap, no doubt. Perhaps a candidate for restoration ?

Johnny P
11-09-2016, 01:15
A bare receiver restoration of a Gas Trap is not for the faint of heart. Parts are horribly expensive if you can find them. The last set of Keystone springs I saw were either $5 or $6 thousand, and barrels are just non-existent.

FCPDAVE
11-20-2016, 12:47
No chance of true restoration - the rifles belong to TACOM or the CMP. I get some parts for them from CMP, but they don't have everything. Looking forward to working on the '03's, but I have to complete the M1's first. I don't think we'll ever fire the '03's again - the desire and level of practice needed are not there. They guard the colors.